Ch 12Mass Media and Communications — Class 12 Sociology, concept-first.

It's hard now to picture a day without television, newspapers, radio, films, the internet or a mobile phone — the various forms that make up what we call 'mass' media, so named because they reach very…

The story of modern mass media begins with a single invention: the printing press. While some societies had experimented with print centuries earlier, the first truly modern printing technology was de…

When India became independent, the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru gave the media a clear responsibility: to function as the watchdog of democracy.

In the early years after independence, the Indian state had a clear vision for the media. It was not seen merely as a source of entertainment or news, but as an active instrument for nation-building.

Radio broadcasting in India began through amateur ‘ham’ broadcasting clubs in Kolkata and Chennai during the 1920s.

Television in India began not as entertainment, but as a tool for development. The first experimental telecast, in 1959, was aimed at promoting rural development.

The print media in India began as a tool for social and political awakening. Its earliest role was in spreading the ideas of the social reform movement and later in mobilising support for the national…

Globalisation and the communication revolution are deeply linked. The media has always had an international side — news stories have been gathered from around the world, and Western films have been di…

Contrary to the prediction that television and the internet would push print media into decline, newspapers and magazines in India have not only survived but grown remarkably.

The story of television in India is a story of explosive change. In 1991, there was just one state-controlled channel: Doordarshan. By 1998, there were almost 70 channels.

Radio was the first electronic mass medium to reach a mass audience in India, and its reach remains enormous.

Mass media is not a separate sphere that we step into and out of. It is woven into the fabric of everyday life — the news we wake up to, the advertisements we scroll past, the shows we discuss with fr…