MASS COMMUNICATION

Mass communication refers to the process of transferring or transmitting a message to a large group of people. Typically, this requires the use of some form of the media, including newspapers, television, and the internet. The term mass communication was coined in the 1920s, with the advent of nationwide radio networks, newspapers, and magazines which were circulated among the masses. The distribution of information to a wide range of people remains the main function of mass communication. Mass communication is the term used to describe the academic study of the various means by which individuals and entities relay information at the same time. It is usually understood to relate to newspaper and magazine publishing, radio, television and film, as these are used for both disseminating news and for advertising.

Mass Media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media (also known as electronic media) transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles. Alternatively, print media uses a physical object as a means of sending their information, such as a newspaper, magazines, brochures, newsletters, books, leaflets and pamphlets. Photography can also be included under this subheading as it is a medium which communicated through visual representation. The term also refers to the organizations which control there technologies, such as television stations or publishing companies. Mobile phones, computers and internet are sometimes referred to as new age media. Internet media is able to achieve mass media status in its own right, due to the many mass media services it provides such as email, websites, blogging, internet and TV. For this reason, many mass media outlets have a present on the web, by such things as having TV ads which link to website, or having games in their sites to entice gamers to visit their website.

Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It is usually printed on relatively, irresponsive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. General-interest newspapers typically publish stories on local and national political events and personalities, crime, business, entertainment, society and sports. Most traditional papers also feature an editorial page containing editorials written by an editor and column that express the personal opinions of writers. The newspaper is typically funded by paid subscriptions and advertising. 1

A wide variety of material has been published in newspapers, including editorial opinions, criticism persuasion, entertainment features such as crosswords, horoscopes, weather news and forecast, reviews of radio, movies, television, plays and restaurants.

Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space. Information is carried by systematically changing (modulating) some property of the radiated waves, such as amplitude, frequency, phase or pulse width. When radio waves pass an electrical current in the conductor, the oscillating fields review an alternating current in the conductor. This can be detected and transformed into sound or other signals that carry information.

Uses of Radio
Early uses were maritime, for sending telegraphic messages using Morse code between ships and land. Radio was used to pass an orders and communications between armies and navies on both sides in World War I. Today, radio takes many forms, including wireless networks and mobile communications of all types, as well as radio broadcasting. Before the advent of Television, commercial radio broadcasts included not only news and music, but drams, comedies, variety shows, and many other forms of entertainment (the era from 1930 to the mid-1950s is commonly called radios Golden Age). Radio was unique among methods of dramatic presentation in that it used only sound.

Audio
AM radio uses amplitude modulation, in which the amplified of the transmitted signal is made proportional to the sound amplitude captured (transdued) by the microphone, while the transmitted frequency remains unchanged. Transmissions are affected by static and interference because lighting and other sources of radio emissions on the same frequency add their amplifies to the original transmitted amplified. FM broadcast radio sends music and voice with higher fidelity than AM radio. In frequency modulation, amplified variation at the microphone causes the transmitter frequency to fluchate. Because the audio signal modulates the frequency and not the amplified, an FM signals is not subject to static and interference in the same way as AM signals.

Telephony
Mobile phones transmit to a local cell site (transmitter/receiver) that ultimately connects to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) through an optic fiber or microwave radio and other network elements. When the mobile phone nears the edge of the cell sites radio coverage area, the Central Computer Switches the phone to a new cell. Cell phones originally used FM, but now most use various digital modulation Schemes. Satellite phones use satellites rather than cell towers to communicate.

Video
Television sends the picture as AM and the sound as AM or FM, with sound carrier a fixed frequency (4.5MHZ in the NTSC system) away from the video carrier. Analog television also uses a vestigial sideband on the video carrier to reduce the bandwidth required.

Navigation
All satellite navigation systems use satellites with precision clocks. The Satellite transmits its position, and the time of the transmission. The receiver listens to four Satellites, and can figure its position as being on a line that is tangent to a spherical shell around each satellite, determined by the time-of-fright of the radio signals from the satellite.

Radar
Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging) detects objects at a sight distance by bounding radio wave off them. The delay caused by the echo measures the distance.

Data (Digital Radio)

Most new radio systems are digital, see also Digital TV, Satellite Radio, Digital Audio Broadcasting. The oldest form of digital broadcast was spark gap telegraphy used by pioneers such as Marconi. Radio teletype equipment usually operates on shortwave (HF) is much loved by the military because they create written information without a skilled operator. They send a bit as one of the two tones using frequency-shifting keying.

Amateur radio Service

Amateur radio also known ham radio, is a hobby in which enthusiasts are licensed to communicate on a number of bands in the radio frequency spectrum non-commercially and for their own enjoyment.

Television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome (black and white) or colored, with accompanying sound. Television may also refer specially to a television set, television programming, television transmission. Commercially available since the 1920s, the television set has become commonplace in homes, business and institutions, particularly as a vehicle for advertising, a source of entertainment and the news. Since the 1970s the availability of video cassettes, laserdiscs, DVDS and now Blueray Disc, have resulted in the television set frequently being used for viewing recorded as well as broadcast material. In the recent years internet television has been the rise of television available via the internet e.giplayer andHulu. In the recent years internet television has seen the rise of television. Although other forms such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) are in use, the most common usage of the medium is for broadcast television, which was modeled on the existing radio broadcasting systems developed in the 1920s and uses high powered radio frequency transmitters to broadcast the television signal to individual TV receivers. The broadcast television system is typically disseminated via radio transmissions on designated channels in the 54-890 MHz frequency band. Signals are now often transmitted with stereo and/or surround sound in many countries. Until the 2000s broadcast TV programs were generally transmitted as an analog television signal, but in 2008 the USA went almost exclusively digital. A standard television set comprises multiple internet electronic circuits, including those for receiving and decoding broadcast signals. A visual display device which lacks a tuner is properly called a video monitor, rather than a television. A television system may use different technical standards such as digital television (DTV) and high-definition television (HDTV). Television system are also used for surveillance, industrial process control, and guiding of weapons, in places where direct observation is difficult or dangerous. Amateur Television (ham TV or ATV) is also used for non-commercial experimentation, pleasure and public service events by amateur radio operators. Ham TV stations were on the air in many cities before commercial TV stations came on the air.

Internet:
The internet (also known simply as the Net or less precisely as the web) is a more interactive medium of mass media and can be briefly described as a network of network. Specifically it is the world wide, publicly accessible network of interconnected computer networks that transmit 4

data by packet switching using the standard internet Protocol (IP). It consists of millions of smaller domestic academic, business, and the governmental networks, which together carry various information and services, such as e-mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other documents of world wide web. The internet is quickly becoming the center of mass media. Everything is becoming accessible via the internet. Instead of picking up a newspaper or watching 10 oclock news, people can log onto the internet to get the news they want, when they want it. For example, many workers listen to the radio through the internet while sitting at their desk. Even the education system relies on the internet. Teachers can contact the entire class by sending one e-mail.

Film
Film encompasses motion pictures as individual projects as well as field in general. The name comes from the photographic film (also known as filmstock), historically the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Films are produced by recording people and objects with cameras, or by creating them using animation techniques and/or special effects. They comprise a series of individual frames, but when these images are shown rapidly in succession, the illusion of motion is given to the viewer. Film is considered to many to be an important art form; films entertain, educate, enlighten, and inspire audience.

Advertising and Publicity

What other people say about you (publicity, referrals and testimonials) is infinitely more believable and less expensive than what you say about yourself (advertising). That is why advertising isnt enough effective publicity is a vital part of any marketing campaign.

Advertising
Advertising is the most exciting, ingenious, colorful and resourceful way of communication. The word advertise means to describe or present in some medium of communication in order to induce the public to buy, support or approve of it.

Kinds of Advertisements
There are mainly two kinds of advertisements a) Informative, and b) Persuasive and competitive Bothe these kinds are overlapping and cannot always be distinguished. The purpose of informative advertising is to educate consumers by giving them information about the goods and services available. The aim of competitive advertisement, on the other hand, is to persuade consumers to buy one particular manufacturers brand of a commodity rather than others competitive advertisement has, therefore, come to be associated with the marketing of branded goods.The effect of competitive advertising is that the prices are kept up, and the selling costs are passed on to the consumers. Salient features of present day advertising (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) A suggestive title/slogan or forceful declaration, A reader-friendly introduction to the organization Highlighting the achievements of the organization/ government. Convincing arguments in favour of the organization and its products/services. Clear and emphatic statement of commitment to public good, Attractive layout, enriched with photos, diagrams, maps etc. Repeated emphasis on the brand/name of an organization 6

Basics of an advertising copy

Designing/writing out an advertisement requires great skill on the part of the copy writer. The first and foremost aim of an advertisement is to influence the public/audience so as to make them act in a particular way. This requires the gearing up of the communication process in such a way as to achieve the following aims (i) The reader/audience must be exposed to the communication (j) The reader/audience must be able to perceive what action is desired by the advertiser. (k) The reader/audience must retain the message of the advertisement. (l) The reader/audiences must act on the basis of the facts and arguments given in the advertisement. Whatever be the values of the advertisement copy the following points imagine as the essential elements of its structure (a) Title: bold or prominently displayed (b) Illustrations: photos, charts, figures etc. (c) Text: description, explanation, appeals etc. (d) Brand/Trade Mark (e) Name, address, fax, e-mail of the manufacturer

Deceptive aspects of advertising

It is very interesting to note that on the one hand advertising plays an important part in our life, on the other it has come to be regarded as deceptive marketing communication. This is the result of what has widely come to be known as image first reality later syndrome. As advertising is a powerful means of communication between the marketer and the consumer the information contained in the ads directly influences consumer decisions. And the consumer may discover to his dismay that he has made a wrong decision. It is, therefore, of paramount importance that the consumer by will aware of the deceptive practices adopted by marketers. In a nutshell consumer knowledge is the best defense against consumer deception. Inappropriate timing/place of advertisements, and the advertisements directed towards children the most impressionable and therefore vulnerable session of society also cause consumer problem. It is very easy to misguide children about nutritionally unsound products or to distract them from an educationally sound programme by inserting an ad likes a cricket star modeling for cigarettes or liquor. 7

Advertising and Publicity

Using advertising and publicity are very effective methods to promote and create positive awareness for the business. But there is a difference between advertising and publicity. Advertising is something you get by paying for it. Publicity, known, is something that can be gained at no cost. And it generally has many times the credibility of advertising. So, advertising is content you pay for (radio, TV, newspaper etc.). Publicity on the other hand, refers to free content about a company that appears in media. Its what others say about you.