NCERT Textbook: Understanding Media | Polity and Constitution (Prelims) by IAS Masters - UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


64 Social and Political Life
Understanding Media
What is your favourite TV programme? What do you like listening to on
the radio?  Which newspaper or magazine do you usually read? Do you
surf the internet and what have you found most useful about it? Did you
know that there is one word that is often used to collectively refer to
the radio, TV, newspapers, Internet and several other forms of
communication. This word is ?media?. In this chapter, you will read
more about the media. You will find out what is required to make it
work, as well as the ways in which the media affects our daily lives. Can
you think of one thing that you have learnt from the media this week?
6
CHAPTER
Page 2


64 Social and Political Life
Understanding Media
What is your favourite TV programme? What do you like listening to on
the radio?  Which newspaper or magazine do you usually read? Do you
surf the internet and what have you found most useful about it? Did you
know that there is one word that is often used to collectively refer to
the radio, TV, newspapers, Internet and several other forms of
communication. This word is ?media?. In this chapter, you will read
more about the media. You will find out what is required to make it
work, as well as the ways in which the media affects our daily lives. Can
you think of one thing that you have learnt from the media this week?
6
CHAPTER
65
Look at the collage on the left and
list six various kinds of media that
you see.
An artist?s impression of Gutenberg
printing the first sheet of the B i b le.
Ask older members of your family
about what they used to listen to
on the radio when there was no
TV around. Find out from them
when the first TV came to your
area. When was cable TV
introduced?
How many people in your
neighbourhood use the Internet?
List three things that you know
about some other part of the
world from watching television?
Everything ranging from the stall at the local fair to
the programme that you see on TV can be called
media. Media is the plural form of the word ?medium?
and it describes the various ways through which we
communicate in society. Because media refers to all
means of communication, everything ranging from
a phone call to the evening news on TV can be called
media. TV, radio and newspapers are a form of media
that reaches millions of people, or the masses, across
the country and the world and, thus, they are called
mass media.
Media and technology
It would probably be difficult for you to imagine your
life without the media. But cable television and the
widespread use of the Internet is a recent
phenomenon. These have been around for less than
twenty years. The technology that mass media uses
keeps changing.
Newspapers, television and radio can reach
millions of people because they use certain
technologies. We also tend to discuss newspapers
and magazines as the print media; and TV and radio
as the electronic media. Why do you think
newspapers are called print media? As you read
further, you will find that this naming is related to
the different technologies that these media use. The
following photographs will give you a sense of the
ways in which technology that mass media uses has
changed over the years and continues to change.
Changing technology, or machines, and making
technology more modern, helps media to reach more
people. It also improves the quality of sound and the
images that you see. But technology does more than
this. It also changes the ways in which we think about
our lives. For example, today it is quite difficult for
us to think of our lives without television. Television
has enabled us to think of ourselves as members of
a larger global world. Television images travel huge
65 Chapter 6: Understanding Media
Page 3


64 Social and Political Life
Understanding Media
What is your favourite TV programme? What do you like listening to on
the radio?  Which newspaper or magazine do you usually read? Do you
surf the internet and what have you found most useful about it? Did you
know that there is one word that is often used to collectively refer to
the radio, TV, newspapers, Internet and several other forms of
communication. This word is ?media?. In this chapter, you will read
more about the media. You will find out what is required to make it
work, as well as the ways in which the media affects our daily lives. Can
you think of one thing that you have learnt from the media this week?
6
CHAPTER
65
Look at the collage on the left and
list six various kinds of media that
you see.
An artist?s impression of Gutenberg
printing the first sheet of the B i b le.
Ask older members of your family
about what they used to listen to
on the radio when there was no
TV around. Find out from them
when the first TV came to your
area. When was cable TV
introduced?
How many people in your
neighbourhood use the Internet?
List three things that you know
about some other part of the
world from watching television?
Everything ranging from the stall at the local fair to
the programme that you see on TV can be called
media. Media is the plural form of the word ?medium?
and it describes the various ways through which we
communicate in society. Because media refers to all
means of communication, everything ranging from
a phone call to the evening news on TV can be called
media. TV, radio and newspapers are a form of media
that reaches millions of people, or the masses, across
the country and the world and, thus, they are called
mass media.
Media and technology
It would probably be difficult for you to imagine your
life without the media. But cable television and the
widespread use of the Internet is a recent
phenomenon. These have been around for less than
twenty years. The technology that mass media uses
keeps changing.
Newspapers, television and radio can reach
millions of people because they use certain
technologies. We also tend to discuss newspapers
and magazines as the print media; and TV and radio
as the electronic media. Why do you think
newspapers are called print media? As you read
further, you will find that this naming is related to
the different technologies that these media use. The
following photographs will give you a sense of the
ways in which technology that mass media uses has
changed over the years and continues to change.
Changing technology, or machines, and making
technology more modern, helps media to reach more
people. It also improves the quality of sound and the
images that you see. But technology does more than
this. It also changes the ways in which we think about
our lives. For example, today it is quite difficult for
us to think of our lives without television. Television
has enabled us to think of ourselves as members of
a larger global world. Television images travel huge
65 Chapter 6: Understanding Media 66 Social and Political Life
Can you list three different
products that are advertised
during your favourite TV
programme?
Take a newspaper and count the
number of advertisements in it.
Some people say that newspapers
have too many advertisements. Do
you think this is true and why?
John L. Baird sits in front of the
apparatus with which he demonstrated to
the Royal Institute, his invention, the
?televisor?, an early television.
With electronic typerwriters, journalism
underwent a sea-change in the 1940s.
distances through satellites and cables. This allows
us to view news and entertainment channels from
other parts of the world. Most of the cartoons that
you see on television are mostly from Japan or the
United States. We can now be sitting in Chennai or
Jammu and can see images of a storm that has hit
the coast of Florida in the United States. Television
has brought the world closer to us.
Media and money
The different technologies that mass media use are
expensive. Just think about the TV studio in which
the newsreader sits ? it has lights, cameras, sound
recorders, transmission satellites, etc., all of which
cost a lot of money.
In a news studio, it is not only the newsreader
who needs to be paid but also a number of other
people who help put the broadcast together. This
includes those who look after the cameras and lights.
Also, as you read earlier the technologies that mass
media use keep changing and so a lot of money is
spent on getting the latest technology. Due to these
costs, the mass media needs a great deal of money
to do its work. As a result, most television channels
and newspapers are part of big business houses.
Mass media is constantly thinking of ways to make
money. One way in which the mass media earns
money is by advertising different things like cars,
chocolates, clothes, mobile phones, etc. You must
have noticed the number of advertisements that you
have to see while watching your favourite television
show. While watching a cricket match on TV, the
same advertisements are shown repeatedly between
each over and so you are often watching the same
image over and over again. As you will read in the
following chapter, advertisements are repeated in the
hope that you will go out and buy what is advertised.
Page 4


64 Social and Political Life
Understanding Media
What is your favourite TV programme? What do you like listening to on
the radio?  Which newspaper or magazine do you usually read? Do you
surf the internet and what have you found most useful about it? Did you
know that there is one word that is often used to collectively refer to
the radio, TV, newspapers, Internet and several other forms of
communication. This word is ?media?. In this chapter, you will read
more about the media. You will find out what is required to make it
work, as well as the ways in which the media affects our daily lives. Can
you think of one thing that you have learnt from the media this week?
6
CHAPTER
65
Look at the collage on the left and
list six various kinds of media that
you see.
An artist?s impression of Gutenberg
printing the first sheet of the B i b le.
Ask older members of your family
about what they used to listen to
on the radio when there was no
TV around. Find out from them
when the first TV came to your
area. When was cable TV
introduced?
How many people in your
neighbourhood use the Internet?
List three things that you know
about some other part of the
world from watching television?
Everything ranging from the stall at the local fair to
the programme that you see on TV can be called
media. Media is the plural form of the word ?medium?
and it describes the various ways through which we
communicate in society. Because media refers to all
means of communication, everything ranging from
a phone call to the evening news on TV can be called
media. TV, radio and newspapers are a form of media
that reaches millions of people, or the masses, across
the country and the world and, thus, they are called
mass media.
Media and technology
It would probably be difficult for you to imagine your
life without the media. But cable television and the
widespread use of the Internet is a recent
phenomenon. These have been around for less than
twenty years. The technology that mass media uses
keeps changing.
Newspapers, television and radio can reach
millions of people because they use certain
technologies. We also tend to discuss newspapers
and magazines as the print media; and TV and radio
as the electronic media. Why do you think
newspapers are called print media? As you read
further, you will find that this naming is related to
the different technologies that these media use. The
following photographs will give you a sense of the
ways in which technology that mass media uses has
changed over the years and continues to change.
Changing technology, or machines, and making
technology more modern, helps media to reach more
people. It also improves the quality of sound and the
images that you see. But technology does more than
this. It also changes the ways in which we think about
our lives. For example, today it is quite difficult for
us to think of our lives without television. Television
has enabled us to think of ourselves as members of
a larger global world. Television images travel huge
65 Chapter 6: Understanding Media 66 Social and Political Life
Can you list three different
products that are advertised
during your favourite TV
programme?
Take a newspaper and count the
number of advertisements in it.
Some people say that newspapers
have too many advertisements. Do
you think this is true and why?
John L. Baird sits in front of the
apparatus with which he demonstrated to
the Royal Institute, his invention, the
?televisor?, an early television.
With electronic typerwriters, journalism
underwent a sea-change in the 1940s.
distances through satellites and cables. This allows
us to view news and entertainment channels from
other parts of the world. Most of the cartoons that
you see on television are mostly from Japan or the
United States. We can now be sitting in Chennai or
Jammu and can see images of a storm that has hit
the coast of Florida in the United States. Television
has brought the world closer to us.
Media and money
The different technologies that mass media use are
expensive. Just think about the TV studio in which
the newsreader sits ? it has lights, cameras, sound
recorders, transmission satellites, etc., all of which
cost a lot of money.
In a news studio, it is not only the newsreader
who needs to be paid but also a number of other
people who help put the broadcast together. This
includes those who look after the cameras and lights.
Also, as you read earlier the technologies that mass
media use keep changing and so a lot of money is
spent on getting the latest technology. Due to these
costs, the mass media needs a great deal of money
to do its work. As a result, most television channels
and newspapers are part of big business houses.
Mass media is constantly thinking of ways to make
money. One way in which the mass media earns
money is by advertising different things like cars,
chocolates, clothes, mobile phones, etc. You must
have noticed the number of advertisements that you
have to see while watching your favourite television
show. While watching a cricket match on TV, the
same advertisements are shown repeatedly between
each over and so you are often watching the same
image over and over again. As you will read in the
following chapter, advertisements are repeated in the
hope that you will go out and buy what is advertised.
67
The cost to advertise on a TV channel
varies from  1,000 to  1,00,000 per
10 seconds depending on the popularity
of the channel and time.
Media and democracy
In a democracy, the media plays a very important
role in providing news and discussing events taking
place in the country and the world. It is on the basis
of this information that citizens can, for example,
learn how government works. And often, if they wish
to, they can take action on the basis of these news
stories. Some of the ways in which they can do this
is by writing letters to the concerned minister,
organising a public protest, starting a signature
campaign, asking the government to rethink its
programme, etc.
Given the role that the media plays in providing
information, it is important that the information be
balanced. Let us understand what we mean by a
balanced media report by reading two versions of
the same news event given on the next page.
Chapter 6: Understanding Media
The print media offers a large variety of
information to suit the tastes of different
readers.
Page 5


64 Social and Political Life
Understanding Media
What is your favourite TV programme? What do you like listening to on
the radio?  Which newspaper or magazine do you usually read? Do you
surf the internet and what have you found most useful about it? Did you
know that there is one word that is often used to collectively refer to
the radio, TV, newspapers, Internet and several other forms of
communication. This word is ?media?. In this chapter, you will read
more about the media. You will find out what is required to make it
work, as well as the ways in which the media affects our daily lives. Can
you think of one thing that you have learnt from the media this week?
6
CHAPTER
65
Look at the collage on the left and
list six various kinds of media that
you see.
An artist?s impression of Gutenberg
printing the first sheet of the B i b le.
Ask older members of your family
about what they used to listen to
on the radio when there was no
TV around. Find out from them
when the first TV came to your
area. When was cable TV
introduced?
How many people in your
neighbourhood use the Internet?
List three things that you know
about some other part of the
world from watching television?
Everything ranging from the stall at the local fair to
the programme that you see on TV can be called
media. Media is the plural form of the word ?medium?
and it describes the various ways through which we
communicate in society. Because media refers to all
means of communication, everything ranging from
a phone call to the evening news on TV can be called
media. TV, radio and newspapers are a form of media
that reaches millions of people, or the masses, across
the country and the world and, thus, they are called
mass media.
Media and technology
It would probably be difficult for you to imagine your
life without the media. But cable television and the
widespread use of the Internet is a recent
phenomenon. These have been around for less than
twenty years. The technology that mass media uses
keeps changing.
Newspapers, television and radio can reach
millions of people because they use certain
technologies. We also tend to discuss newspapers
and magazines as the print media; and TV and radio
as the electronic media. Why do you think
newspapers are called print media? As you read
further, you will find that this naming is related to
the different technologies that these media use. The
following photographs will give you a sense of the
ways in which technology that mass media uses has
changed over the years and continues to change.
Changing technology, or machines, and making
technology more modern, helps media to reach more
people. It also improves the quality of sound and the
images that you see. But technology does more than
this. It also changes the ways in which we think about
our lives. For example, today it is quite difficult for
us to think of our lives without television. Television
has enabled us to think of ourselves as members of
a larger global world. Television images travel huge
65 Chapter 6: Understanding Media 66 Social and Political Life
Can you list three different
products that are advertised
during your favourite TV
programme?
Take a newspaper and count the
number of advertisements in it.
Some people say that newspapers
have too many advertisements. Do
you think this is true and why?
John L. Baird sits in front of the
apparatus with which he demonstrated to
the Royal Institute, his invention, the
?televisor?, an early television.
With electronic typerwriters, journalism
underwent a sea-change in the 1940s.
distances through satellites and cables. This allows
us to view news and entertainment channels from
other parts of the world. Most of the cartoons that
you see on television are mostly from Japan or the
United States. We can now be sitting in Chennai or
Jammu and can see images of a storm that has hit
the coast of Florida in the United States. Television
has brought the world closer to us.
Media and money
The different technologies that mass media use are
expensive. Just think about the TV studio in which
the newsreader sits ? it has lights, cameras, sound
recorders, transmission satellites, etc., all of which
cost a lot of money.
In a news studio, it is not only the newsreader
who needs to be paid but also a number of other
people who help put the broadcast together. This
includes those who look after the cameras and lights.
Also, as you read earlier the technologies that mass
media use keep changing and so a lot of money is
spent on getting the latest technology. Due to these
costs, the mass media needs a great deal of money
to do its work. As a result, most television channels
and newspapers are part of big business houses.
Mass media is constantly thinking of ways to make
money. One way in which the mass media earns
money is by advertising different things like cars,
chocolates, clothes, mobile phones, etc. You must
have noticed the number of advertisements that you
have to see while watching your favourite television
show. While watching a cricket match on TV, the
same advertisements are shown repeatedly between
each over and so you are often watching the same
image over and over again. As you will read in the
following chapter, advertisements are repeated in the
hope that you will go out and buy what is advertised.
67
The cost to advertise on a TV channel
varies from  1,000 to  1,00,000 per
10 seconds depending on the popularity
of the channel and time.
Media and democracy
In a democracy, the media plays a very important
role in providing news and discussing events taking
place in the country and the world. It is on the basis
of this information that citizens can, for example,
learn how government works. And often, if they wish
to, they can take action on the basis of these news
stories. Some of the ways in which they can do this
is by writing letters to the concerned minister,
organising a public protest, starting a signature
campaign, asking the government to rethink its
programme, etc.
Given the role that the media plays in providing
information, it is important that the information be
balanced. Let us understand what we mean by a
balanced media report by reading two versions of
the same news event given on the next page.
Chapter 6: Understanding Media
The print media offers a large variety of
information to suit the tastes of different
readers.
68 Social and Political Life
Are the above stories in the two
newspapers similar? And if not,
why not? What, in your view, are
the similarities and the
differences?
If you read the story in the News
of India, what would you think
about the issue?
T
he closure of one lakh factories in the
city?s residential areas is likely to become
a serious issue. On Monday, thousands of factory
owners and workers took to the streets to strongly
protest this closure. They said that their
livelihoods would be lost. They say that the fault
lies with the municipal corporation because it
continued to issue licenses for new factories to
be set up in residential areas.They also say that
there were no adequate relocation efforts. The
owners and workers plan a one-day city bandh
to protest against this closure. Mr. Sharma, one
of the factory owners said, ?The government says
that it has done a lot to relocate us. But the areas
they have sent us to have no facilities and have
not been developed for the last five years.?
Closure of factories causes unrest
Daily News Service
News of India Report
India Daily Report
The fact is that if you had read either newspaper
you would only know one side of the story. If you
had read the News of India, you would most likely
think of the protestors as a nuisance. Their
disrupting traffic and continually polluting the city
with their factories leaves you with a bad impression
about them. But on the other hand, if you had read
the story in the India Daily, you would know that
the protests are because a lot of livelihoods will be
lost if the factories close because the relocation efforts
have not been adequate. Neither of these stories is a
balanced report. A balanced report is one that
discusses all points of view of a particular story and
then leaves it to the readers to make up their minds.
Writing a balanced report, however, depends on
the media being independent. An independent media
means that no one should control and influence its
coverage of news. No one should tell the media what
Violent protests by owners
and workers brought the
city to a standstill today.
People getting to work
could not do so on time
because of huge traffic
jams. The owners and
workers are protesting the
government?s decision to
close down polluting
factory units. Although the
government did take this
decision rather hastily, the
protestors have known for
quite some time that their
units are not legal.
Moreover the levels of
pollution in the city will be
greatly reduced by this
closure. Mr. Jain a well-
known figure in the city
said, ?With our city
gradually becoming
Indias?s new business hub,
it is important that it be a
clean and green city.
Polluting factories should
be moved. The factory
owners and workers
should accept the
relocation being offered by
the government instead of
protesting.?
Radhika Malik | INN