Quantum Physics

B.
Sc Visual Communication‐Comunication Media
B.Sc. Visual Communication
Second Year
Paper No.IV
COMMUNICATION MEDIA
BHARATHIAR UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION
COIMBATORE – 641 046
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B.Sc Visual Communication‐Comunication Media
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CONTENT
Lessons PAGE
No.
UNIT-I
1 Management of News Paper and Magazines 7
UNIT-II
2 Radio Management 37
UNIT-III
3 Television Management 57
UNIT-IV
4 Management of Motion Pictures 81
UNIT-V
5 Management of New Media 101
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(Syllabus)
PAPER IV COMUNICATION MEDIA
UNIT-I
Print medium: Newspapers and Magazines - types of newspapers and
magazines: general and specialised - structure and functioning of newspapers
and magazinestechnological developments - competition, content and style of
English and Tamil language newspapers and magazines- an overview.
UNIT-II
Radio as a medium of mass communication - types of ownership: Private and
Public- Organisational structure and functioning - FM broadcasting and the
audiences: Programming Content and style- a critical review.
UNIT-III
Television as a mass medium : Characteristics, ownership, organizational
structure of Doordarshan - Programming pattern, content and style - foreign
and regional and cable TV - Prasar Bharati- an introduction.
UNIT-IV
Motion pictures – historical background – structure and organization of motion
picture industry in India – new developments in film production – status,
problems and prospects of film industry with special reference to regional
cinema – documentary films – future of film as a medium of entertainment – film
audiences – critical review of noted regional/national films.
UNIT-V
New Media: Information age, knowledge society and global media and
audiences; New media technologies: digital revolution, internet, satellite TV and
DTH, media convergence, ICT uses in Public and private sector - information
super high way - issues and future challenges.
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UNIT – I
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6
LESSON-1
MANAGEMENT OF NEWS PAPER AND MAGAZINES
CONTENTS
1.0 Learning Ojectives
Types of a Newspapers
Types of a Magazines
Structure and functioning of newspapers
Structure and functioning of magazines
Technological Developments
1.1 Print medium: News paper and magazines
1.1.1 Types of newspapers
1.1.2 Types of magazines
1.2 Structure and functioning of newspaper
1.3 Structure and functioning of magazines
1.4 Technological devolepments – Competition, content and style of English
and Tamil language newspapers and magazines – an overview
1.1 PRINT MEDIUM:NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES
1.1.1 TYPES OF NEWSPAPERS

To be considered a daily, a newspaper has to appear at least five times a week.
Whether a daily or a weekly, the chief concern of a newspaper is its circulation,
the number of copies delivered to newsstands or vending machines and the
number delivered to subscribers. Consequently, the ratio of newspapers per
household has seclined.this circulation crunch has not hit all papers with equal
force and this becomes evident when we divide daily news papers into market.
NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS:
Only a handful of papers fall into this category. These are publications whose
content is geared not for one particular city or region but for the entire country.
These papers typically use satellites to transmit images and information regional
printing plants where the papers are assembled and distributed.
Other papers with a national edition include the New York Times, The Wall
Street journal and the Christian Science Monitor.
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LARGE METROPOLITAN DAILIES:

The decline in circulation has hit these papers the hardest. Although the total
population of the rop 50 metropolitan areas increased more than 30 percent
from 1960 to 1996 the circulation of newspapers published in these areas
dropped about 45 percent. There are several reasons, including migration from
the central city to the suburbs, transient populations, rising costs of
distribution, and increased competition from other media, most notably
television.
SUBURBAN DAILIES:
Although suburban communities of between 1000,000 and 500,000 residents
are home to only 12 percent of total newspapers, they account for about 40
percent of all circulation.Suburban dailies, located in thee areas surrounding
the larger cities, are experiencing a period of growth. Circulation of these papers
grwe by about one third from 1987 to 1996. One reasons for this increase is the
growth of suburban shopping centers cities. To these merchants, suburban
residents are apparently less inclined to go to the city at night for dinner and
entertainment, a factor that has cut down newsstand sales of city papers.
Big-city newspapers are putting out more Zoned editions, sections geared to a
particular suburban area.
SMALL-TOWN DAILIES:
This category of newspapers has also made circualtion gains. From 1979 to
1996, newspaper circulation in towns with 100,000 or fewer inhabitants grew by
19 percent
WEEKLIES:
The number of weekly newspapers in the United States has remained fairly
stable at about 7500 over the last 20 years. The circulation of weeklies,
however,has morethan doubled for this same period, from 29 million in 1970
tomore than 65 million in 1996. Despit this increase in circulation, the rising
costs of printing and distribution have made weekly publishers more cost-
consious.
1.1.2 TYPES OF MAGAZINES
A magazines is a periodical publication,usually with a paper cover, containing
miscellaneous articles and often with illustrations or photographs.”
The first classifies magazines into five main content categories;
1. General consumer magazines.
2. Business publications.
3. Literary reviews and academic journals.
4. Newsletters.
5. Public relations magazines.

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CONTENT CATEGORIES:
GENERAL CONSUMER MAGAZINES
A consumer magazine is one that can be acquired by anyone, through a
subscriptio or a single- copy purchase or by obtaining a free copy. These
magazines are generally shelved at the corner newsstand or local bookstore.
(other types of magazines are usually not avilable to the general public.) these
publications are called consumer magazines because readers ca buy the
products and services that are advertised in their pages.some of the better-
known consumer magazines are people, Time,Reader’s Digest, Newsweek,Sports
Illustrated, and Playboy
BUSINESS MAGAZINES
Business magazines (also called trade publications) serve a particular business,
industry, or professioin. They are not sold on newsstands, and their readership
is limited to those in the progession or business. The products advertised in
these publications are generally those that would be purchased by business
organizations or professionals rather than by the general. Most if these
magazines are published by independent publishing companies that are nor
connected with the fields they serve. For example, McGraw-Hill and penton are
two private publlising companies that publications are put out by professional
organizations, which publish the magazines as a service to their
members.leading business magazine include Computerworld, Oil and Gas
Journal, and Mediacal Economics. Supplying databases and computer bulletin
board systems to their clients.
LITERARY REVIEWS AND ACADEMIC JOURNALS
Hundreds of literary reviews and academic journals, generally with circulation
under 10,000, are published by nonprofit organiszations and funded by
universities, foundations, or professional organizations. They may publish four
or fewer issues per year, and a large number do not accept advertising. These
publications cover the entire range of literary and academic interests, including
such journals as The Kenyon Review, Theater Design and Technology, European
Urology, Journalism Quarterly, poultry andEgg Marketing, and the jouranl of
Japanese Botany.
NEWSLETTERS
Newsletters are typically four to eight pages long and usually composed by
desktop publising .they are sold by subscription, and in recent years they have
become big business. In fact, there is even a Newsletter on Newsletters,
published for those wo edit newsletters. The coverage area of a newsletter may
be broad or narrow. It might deal with one particular business or governmetn
agency or it might report on a business function that crosses industry lines. The
Federal Budget report, for example, reports on just the presidents budget and
appropriations. On the other hand, the Daily Labour report covers congressional
actions that have an impact on many industries.
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Newsletters are extremely specialized with small circulations (typically under

10,000) but with high subscription prices. Some influential newsletters are
Aerospace Daily, Oil Spill Intelligence Report and the drug Enforcement Report
PUBLIC RELATIONS MAGAZINES
Public relations magazines are published by sponsoring companies and are
designed to be circulated among the company’s employees,dealers, customers
and stockholders. These publications typically carry little advertising, apart from
promotional items for the sponsoring organization. There are thousands of
public relations publications, and they have developed their own professional
organization, the International Assciation of Business Communicators.
1.2 STRUCTURE & FUNCTIONS OF NEWSPAPERS
PRODUCING THE NEWSPAPER
Newspapers as Organizations
By the mid-nineteenth century, newspapers had begun to expand their staffs.

The small papers of the colonial and early republic years generally were four
pages long and were published by a printer-editor or by a printer who compiled
writings by anonymous behind-the-scenes editors. As newspapers expanded in
size and circulation, editors began to hire reporters. Throughout the nineteenth
century the reporter was a hired hand, paid space rates by the column inch, and
not given job security or benefits. The few women who were hired as reporters
had the same lack of security. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, reporters joined together in press clubs to establish themselves as
professionals. Their desire for professional status reflected a growing movement
in many of the occupations of the day.
Newspaper Departments
To most people, the term newspaper staff brings images of reporters and photog-
raphers chasing a story. Although these jobs are crucial to a newspaper, getting
the news and advertising to readers also requires other activities. Newspaper
organizations typically divide their staffs into newsroom, production, advertising,
and circulation departments. The content starts in the newsroom and the
advertising department. The newsroom staff produces the stories and
photographs and graphics (drawings, cartoons, tables, and charts) that make up
the news and information in the newspaper. The newsroom staff organizes the
elements of each page on a computer screen in a page layout. At the same time,
the advertising department sells ad space and creates the advertisements for the
space not given to news and information. The production department runs the
newspaper copies on the presses after receiving the laid-out pages from the
newsroom and ad department via computers. As the newspaper copies come off
the press, the circulation department puts them in trucks to be delivered to
carriers, news racks, and newsstands.
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These four departments have been a part of newspapers for more than 150
years. More recently, newspapers and newspaper groups have added marketing
departments. The marketing department conducts research, develops
promotional activities, and creates advertising to sell the newspapers to readers
and advertising space to businesses and individuals. Newspapers that
emphasize the role of the marketing department in creating news and informa-
tion are called market-oriented newspapers. These newspaper organizations
typically require communication among the various departments to increase
sales to readers and advertisers. The Los Angeles Times, with its continuing
communication among its departments, is a prime example of a market-oriented
newspaper.
Critics of market-oriented newspapers fear that the advertising department will

influence content to the detriment of readers and that newspapers will only
produce news that entertains readers. As a result, independent public affairs
reporting will be reduced. Advertisers can influence coverage at some
newspapers, and examples of newspapers pandering to potential advertisers are
not difficult to find. For example, the Waco Herald- Tribune, hoping to attract
advertising from a new supermarket, ran a front-page story and two pages inside
the paper about the opening of a new store. A 1998 study conducted by Randal
Beam, professor at Indiana University, found that seeking reader input and
serving readers' needs and wants through marketing does not necessarily mean
pandering by producing only entertainment-oriented news. However, the study
also found that at market-oriented newspapers, editors interacted more with
managers from other departments, creating the potential for influence across
departments.
Newsroom Staffing
Newsrooms typically include reporters, photographers, designers, copyeditors,

desk editors, a managing editor, and an editor. Reporters interview sources,
conduct research, and write articles. Photographers provide the photographs
that illustrate articles. Sometimes several photographs printed together create a
picture story that emphasizes images more than words. Copyeditors edit stories
written by reporters and write headlines for them. Designers produce graphics
for the newspaper and organize the graphics, text, and photographs into the
layout that becomes the printed pages. Desk editors supervise other staff
members who are assigned to specific areas of news coverage. The city editor
supervises the staff that covers the city in which the newspaper is located, and
the sports editor supervises reporters and editors who put the sports section
together. The managing editor supervises the daily operations of the newsroom,
which includes coordinating the activities of the various desk editors. The editor
is the top manager in the newsroom with responsibility for all activities and staff
in the newsroom.
As the size of the paper increases, so do the degree of editorial specialization and
the staff. For example, the advertising departments of large newspapers employ
several people who specialize in classified advertising including salespeople and
designers as well as people who specialize in demographics and client relations.
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On the editorial side, the number of editors increases. Large metropolitan dailies
tend to be organized by desks, or departments, which may be classified as
national, business, news, city, education, health and science, and real estate.
Reporters are assigned to each desk, and the editor in charge of that department
ensures that reporters cover regular beats, such as the police department,
county courthouse, city hall, or statehouse. General assignment reporters pick
up developing stories, spot news, and features.
The traditional bureaucratic structure of newspapers has been highly criticized

in recent years; some critics believe that the traditional structure creates
barriers to innovative stories and coverage. In reaction to the criticism, some
newspapers have created different ways of structuring the newsroom. In addition
to the traditional beats organized around government organizations, such as the
police and city hall, newspapers have created topical beats, such as science, the
environment, and minority issues. These beats allow reporters to consider a
broad range of topics and issues in depth.
Topic beats are only one of the developments identified with the modern news-
room. Some newsrooms now pursue a team approach. The teams include
reporters, photographers, and designers who have a team leader, not an editor.
The team leaders help team members develop stories rather than telling them
how to cover the stories as traditional editors might. As part of a marketing
approach, newspapers such as the Orange County Register and the Minneapolis
Star-Tribune created teams to cover certain topics in order to better serve
readers. Debate continues over the impact of teams on the quality of news
coverage, but a study of the health and science team at the Portland Oregonian
concluded that it produced better coverage than the traditional approach.
An important member of the new teams is the designer. At some newspapers,

the way the news and information is packaged is as important as the news and
information itself. A newspaper's design must attract and retain readers; it has
become a key part of the marketing approach practiced by some newspapers.
Departments And Staff
The departmental structure and staffing of a newspaper vary with its size. All
papers, however, have certain common aspects. They have a publisher and are
given erally divided into three main departments. The publisher is in charge of
the entire operation of the paper. He or she sets the paper’s editorial policy and
is responsible for the tone and overall personality of the paper.the three
maindepartments at most newspapers are 1.business, 2. Production, and
3.news-editoral.
The managing editor oversees the total day-by-day operation of the news
department and coordinates the work of the newsroom. The wire editor scans
the thousands of words transmitted by the major news services- Associated
press and united press international-and selects those stories most relevant to
the paper, edits them, and adds headlines. The city editor swupervises the
newspaper’s local coverage. He or she assigns stories to local ‘beat’ reporters or
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general assignment reporters. beat reporters have a specified area to cover; city
hall, courts, police station. General reporters handle a variety of stories, ranging
all the way from fires and accidents to the local flower show. The city editor also
assigns photographers to go along with reporters on selected stories. The copy
editor usually works inside a special U-shaped desk (called the slot)in the
newsroom and supervises the editing, headline, writing,and changers in stories
submitted by local reporters.
Finally, there are specialized departments in the paper that generally have their
own editor and staff. These may vary from paper to paper,but typically they
include the spots, business, family real estate, and entertainment departments.
Fig : Structure of newspaper industry
Newspaper Content
Newspapers contain a variety of information, most of which is not news. The in-
formation falls into five broad categories: advertising, opinion material, news,
graphics, and photojournalism. Each category has several subcategories.
ADVERTISING : Advertising includes three major types: classified ads, display

ads, and inserts. Classified advertisements are the lists of ads set in small type
izes that advertise jobs, items for sale, and garage sales. Display advertisements,
found throughout the paper, incorporate photographs, drawings, and large type.
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For example, when the movie Star Wars: Episode 1- The Phantom Menace,
opened in theaters in 1999, many newspapers carried large display ads for the
film. Inserts, which are similar to small catalogs, most often advertise
merchandise for sale at department stores and supermarkets.
OPINION : Opinion appears on the editorial and op-ed (short for opposite the
editorial) pages. On these pages, editorial writers, political pundits, and local
citizens express their opinions about current political and social issues. These
pages make up the heart of the marketplace of ideas. For example, the opinion
pages of the Lansing State Journal carry letters, columns, and editorials about
conflicts between Michigan State University students and permanent residents
in East Lansing. Permanent residents want limits on late-night parties, whereas
students want lower priced housing. Ideas exchanged through editorial material
allow the community to explore better ways for these two groups to live together.
NEWS : The bulk of non advertising information is news. News can be soft, hard,
or deep. Soft news includes a variety of feature stories, such as the story of the
first woman to serve as drum major of a university band or the story of the birth
of a Siberian tiger at the local zoo. Soft news also includes advice columns, such
as Dear Abby. Hard news focuses on current events that have serious effects on
people, such as crime, politics, and disasters. If a child dies in a house fire, the
story is hard news. In-depth news requires the story to go beyond breaking
stories to incorporate background details and trends. Investigative articles often
fall into this category. A series of stories about the impact of changing federal
regulations on student loans is an example.
Most news in newspapers comes from three sources: the newspaper staff, wire
and news services, and feature syndicates. Staff and news service reporters
share similar standards for selecting what events and issues become news.
These
standards are called news values, and their application to particular stories is
called news judgment.
Over time, several news values have evolved. The following values are usually
cited as the reasons behind news selection and are even taught in reporting
courses in journalism school.
• Impact applies when a large number of people are affected by an event or
issue or when a small number of individuals are intensely affected. A car
accident that kills three people has a greater impact than one that causes a
small cut on one person's forehead.
• Proximity deals with the geographic location of an event. The more local the
event, the more news value it has. A story that shuts off electricity for eight
hours in Lansing, Michigan, will be reported in the Lansing State Journal
but not in the Detroit Free Press because the Journal is proximate to the
Lansing readers.
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• Prominence concerns how notable or famous a person is. Politicians, sports

figures, and entertainment stars are prominent figures. An illicit affair by a
shoe store clerk would not be news, but President Clinton's affair was
because of prominence.
• Timeliness deals with recency of an event or issue. A bank robbery that
happened yesterday has more news value than one twenty years ago. The
focus is on breaking stories.
• Conflict relates to disagreement among people. The conflict can be physical,
as in crime and war, but it need not be. Much political news involves
conflict in the marketplace of ideas.
• Disaster includes both natural calamities such as earthquakes and human-
caused catastrophes such as an oil spill in the ocean.
• Human interest relates to personal details that intrigue readers. The story of
an eighty-year-old woman who drives a school bus and is called "Grandma"
by elementary students has human interest.
News values may change as society changes. The penny press, for example, em-
phasized crime news, which contained conflict and impact. A more recent type of
news is called coping information. Life in the United States has grown more
complicated. More readers want information that will help them to live more
efficiently. Articles about how to stay healthy through better eating and exercise
help people 10 cope with daily stress.
A story can have more than one news value. The more of these values in a story,
the more likely it is that people will read it. In addition, some values are more
important than others. Because newspapers tend to emphasize local news,
proximity is important for most staff-prepared stories.
Journalists don't sit with a checklist of news values when picking events to be
covered. Rather, they internalize these values and judge whether stories will be
of interest to their readers. As the audience changes, however, the match
between the journalists' and the audience's news values can change. Coping
information emerged because readers wanted it.
Many readers criticize newspapers for emphasizing too much bad news, another
term for conflict and disaster.Journalists counter that some bad news is
important and must be understood if people are to be effective citizens. Many
readers grew tired of reading about the Clinton and Lewinsky controversy. The
debate centered not only on the amount of coverage but also on the nature of the
coverage. Readers and journalists can agree on a story having news value but
disagree on how that story should be presented to readers.
GRAPHICS : The term graphics covers a range of newspaper content from the
information graphics that present data in tables and graphs to comics and
political cartoons. Newspapers have included graphics for more than two
centuries starting with political cartoons before the American Revolution.
Currently, newspapers use graphics extensively to create visual interest and to
communicate complex ideas and data.
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The comics and political cartoons remain the mainstay of newspaper graphics.
More than 70 million people in the United States read newspaper comics and
look at political cartoons every day. Comics provide entertainment and a lighter
look at some of people's problems. Political cartoons comment on political,
social, and cultural events and the people who influence those events. Comics
appeal to the consumer market; political cartoons contribute to the marketplace
of ideas. The difference between the two is not always obvious because some
comics aimed at entertaining, such as "Dilbert," also provide commentary on
social and cultural issues.
Any newspaper editor can explain the importance of a comics section to readers.
About 95 percent of all daily newspapers carry a separate and identifiable
comics section on Sunday, and more people read comics regularly than read
sports, editorials, letters to the editor, food pages, and in-depth investigative
reports.
The use of information graphics boomed in the late 1980s and became a news-
paper mainstay because of offset printing, the use of computers, and the
development of USA Today. Information graphics, such as tables, maps, and
graphs, have become so important that the number of newspaper graphic artists
and designers has grown significantly. Most important news stories have a
designer who packages the story, and the nature and extent of graphics and
photographs available to tell the story can affect the location of the story. At
many papers, a story without good art (graphics and photography) will not make
the front page.
PHOTO JOURNALISM : Photojournalism, which integrates words and
photographs, attempts to explain people's behavior and the nature of the world.
Effective photojournalism involves skilled editing and assumes that informing
the public is essential.
Photojournalism is capable of powerfully affecting an audience's interpretation of
an event and often defines public memory. People's memories of the Elian
Gonzalez custody battle between his great uncle and his Cuban father will
forever be defined by the photograph of a terrified Elian, screaming in a man's
arms, con· fronted by an INS agent with a gun.
Photojournalism may be more critical to society than other forms of photography
because its goal is to alter our vision of the world and it is mass distributed.
Photojournalism opens up arenas of action and images that people would never
see otherwise.
Publishing the newspaper

Getting out a newspaper is a 24-hour-a-day job. News is perishable; it becomes
less valuable as it ahes. Trying to cope with the never- ending flow of news and
the constant pressure to keep it fresh requires organization and coordination
among the paper’s staff.
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There are two basic sources of news copy; local reporting and the wire services.
Early in the, wire editor will scan the output from the wire machines and flag
possible stories for the day’s paper. At the same time, the city editor is checking
his or her notes and daily calendar and making story assignments to various
reporters. While all of this is going on, the managing editor is gauging the
available space, called the newshole, that can be devoted to news in that day’s
paper. This space will change according to the number of ads scheduled to
appear on any one day.The more ads, the greater the nu mber of pages that can
be printed and the larger the newshole.
As the day progresses, reporters return from assignments and write and store
their news stories at a personal computer. These stories are “called up” by copy
editors, who trim and make changes in the stories and code them for use in the
paper. If ,upon further reflection, the manging editor decides that the story is
not newsworthy, the story can be purged from the machine. The manging editor
can also instruct the computer to store the copy for future use. The newsworthy
stories are then processed by the design desk. Decisions about page makeup
and the amount of space to be devoted to a story are made as the deadline for
publication appears. Other decisions are made about the ratio of wire copy to
local and state news. Photographs and other artwork are selected for inclusion;
headlines are written; space is cleared for late-breaking stories; updates are
inserted in breaking stories. The stories are then sent to the composing room
and finally to the press.

1.3 STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS OF MAGAZINES
PRODUCING THE MAGAZINE

The masthead, or list of owner, publisher, and staff of a magazine, usually
appears near the table of contents in the first few pages of a magazine. The list
emphasizes that publishing is a process. The number and size of departments
and types of positions vary with each publication; large consumer-magazine
staffs may employ several hundred people, whereas small specialized business
publications might have fewer than ten people. The positions and departments
in the following sections are common for all sizes of magazine staffs.
PUBLISHER : The publisher, to whom all staff members are ultimately re-
sponsible, may also be the magazine owner or editor. The publisher defines the
personality of the publication and works to ensure its financial success. Some
publishers with particularly forceful personalities and deep pocketbooks can
breathe life into a publication or kill it with an easy blow. When Lear's ceased
publication in March 1994, the New York Times reported that the magazine had
died as it had lived. "It was created by Frances Lear, who, after a bitter divorce
from television producer Norman Lear, was at a crossroads. She invented the
magazine for a particular reader: herself. She gave the magazine her vision, her
energy, her money and her name. She sustained it with her enthusiasm, and
when she lost interest, she pulled the plug."
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EDITORIAL : Once the publisher has defined the magazine's personality, the
editor develops and shapes its identity. To successfully complete an editor's
mission, the managing editor, the articles editor, and department editors work
together to give readers the information they want. Editors edit and proofread
stories, approve design and graphics, accept freelance submissions, and
contract with designers.
Most magazines rely solely or partially on freelance work for their articles. Free·
lancers or their agents (who take 15 percent of the writer's fee in return for time
spent selling the idea and the freelancer) send a query letter outlining and
justifying a story idea and giving the writer's background and qualifications for
doing the story. If the editors like the idea, they commission the freelancer to
write the story. Although it is hard initially to get an idea accepted, once a writer
does acceptable work for an editorial staff, it is likely to accept the writer's work
a second time or even to commission stories. Nevertheless, even for regular
writers, freelancing is rarely a road to financial success. For example, Running
Times pays $25 to $400 for nonfiction, TV Guide pays $500 to $1,000 for
nonfiction, and Ladies' Home Journal pays a minimum of $500 for fiction. Only a
few magazine writers, such as Gail Sheehy, hit the big time in terms of money
and prestige. Sheehy is the author of several books, including Passages, and is
the premier writer for Vanity Fair.
ADVERTISING : Advertising is often a magazine's lifeblood. According to
Magazine Publishers Association figures, advertising revenue has increased
steadily but slowly from $6.7 billion in 1990 to $13.8 billion in 1998.
Advertising staffs may include only an advertising director and several sales-
people. At larger magazines, divisional managers contribute specialized knowl-
edge about readers and advertisers in specific geographic areas or about specific
types of products.
DESIGN AND PRODUCTION : Convergence of technology is readily apparent in
the design and production departments of large and small magazines. The
design department designs the actual paper product that readers hold. The
production staff includes artistic experts, technological wizards, and people who
buy supplies for production, such as ink and paper. Desktop publishing-the
integration of design and production-has saved magazines millions of dollars
and cut production time. For example, when the National Geographic Society
converted to desktop publishing for National Geographic Traveler and World, it
saved $200,000 annually.18 Technology also has allowed publishers to print
split runs and use selective binding, in which pages are changed according to
geographic locale. Advertising copy may be based on zip codes. Geographically
divided runs allow publishers to better target their markets.
CIRCULATION : The circulation staff gets the magazine to the reader through
either subscriptions or newsstand sales. Each method has different costs. A new
subscription costs publishers about $15 in promotion expenses; each renewal
costs about $3. For single-copy sales, every stage of transport between publisher
and newsstand takes a percentage of the copy price.
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Soliciting subscriptions is one facet of circulation, and experts have become

adept at using demographic background information about individuals in
personalized, target-market selling. Publishers also design web sites aimed at
attracting subscribers.
Newsstand, or single-copy, sales go through a variety of stages before hitting the
display racks. Each publisher works with one of about ten national distributors.
The distributor supplies the printer with the mailing labels of some of the four
hundred regional wholesalers. The printer mails bundles of issues to the
wholesalers, which deliver the copies to dealers. Popular newsstand dealers
include owners of grocery stores, convenience stores, pharmacies, and
bookstores. At the same time that magazines are delivered, the wholesaler picks
up and discards the previous week's or month's unsold ones. Following are
some of the staffs of the circulation department
1. the subcription manager, who tries to increase the number of people on the
magazine’s subcription list;
2. the single-copy sales manager, who works with the national distributors,
wholesalers, and retailers;
3. the subcription-fulfillment director, whose division is in charge of making

sure that the magazine gets to subscribers by taking care of address change,
renewals, new subscribers, compliants, and so forth.
4. the subcription manager, who tries to increase the number of people on the
magazine’s subcription list;
5. the single-copy sales manager, who works with the national distributors,
wholesalers, and retailers;
6. the subcription-fulfillment director, whose division is in charge of making

sure that the magazine gets to subscribers by taking care of address change,
renewals, new subscribers, compliants, and so forth.
MAGAZINE EMPLOYEES : In 1996, Folio magazine reported that entry-level

workers were about 26 years old, earned salaries of about $25,000, and
expected a 7.8 percent pay increase that year. They were overwhelmingly white
and female, despite the fact that women earn significantly less in the industry.
Most had a bachelor's degree, and 36 percent of them got their jobs through a
connection with someone in the industry. Magazine employees in the New York
City area earned the highest salaries but expected low raises and tended to be
less satisfied with their jobs than did workers in other parts of the country. 19
In July 1999, Columbia Journalism Review reported that online jobs had
expanded the job pool for journalism graduates, and that salaries in all media
were increasing. However, the average entry-level salary still hovers around
$23,000.

19
Fig: Structure of magazine industry

The editorial department
The editoral department handles the nonadvertising content of the magazine.
The person in charge may be called the executive editor, the editor-in-chief, or
simply the editor. Much of the editors time is spent in supervising the editorial
staff, planning topics for upcoming issues, informing the advertising department
about plans, and taking part in various public relations activities. The day-today
opertion of the magazine falls on the shoulders of the managing editor. Making
sure all articles are completed on time,selecting artwork, wtiting titles, changing
layouts, and shortening stories are all functions performed by the managing
editor. Helping the managing editor with these tasks are several editors who
handle articles,fiction, or other departments that appear regularly with in the
magazines. An art director designs the magazine, selects typeface for headlines,
and supervises the display of photos and other illustrations.

1.4 OWNERSHIP
Newspaper ownership may be public, meaning the public can buy shares of
ownership in the form of stock traded through a public stock exchange, or it
may be private, meaning the public cannot buy stock. In addition, newspapers
may have independent ownership if a company owns only one newspaper, or it
may have group ownership if the company owns more than one newspaper. Most
corporations that own newspaper groups, such as Gannett and Knight Ridder,
20
also own several types of media. In the twenty-first century there is an increased
probability that these media corporations will be bought by conglomerates,
which own both media and non-media companies. For instance, General Electric
now owns NBC television. The number of groups and the percentage of
newspapers owned by groups have both increased.
Corporations buy newspapers because, despite declining penetration, they
generate profit rates two or three times greater than the rates of most
businesses. This continuing profitability results from strict cost control and
newspapers' domination of classified advertising. Factors contributing to
increased corporate ownership include the fact that families who own
newspapers sometimes have difficulty resolving tensions among their members
about how the business should be run and the tax structure encourages families
to sell inherited property rather than keep it. Furthermore, it is much easier for
a group to acquire a newspaper and manage it successfully than to start a new
one. Starting a daily newspaper requires millions of dollars to buy printing
presses and to run the newspaper for years while it builds name recognition. In
Washington, DC, the Washington Times was started to compete with the Post,
but the Times has yet to earn a profit. It continues to exist because it is
subsidized by a religious organization.
During the 1990s, the concentration of newspaper ownership continued in a
new form. Companies began to "cluster" their newspapers by buying several
newspapers in the same geographic region. In late 1998, for instance, the Liberty
Group bought 38 weekly and twice-weekly newspapers near Chicago. Clustering
allows companies to provide better advertising coverage in an area by placing the
same ad in all their newspapers. It also allows them to cut circulation expenses
because their newspapers no longer compete with one another. This decline in
competition has been criticized as leading to reduced newsroom budgets and
lower quality.
Ownership concentration also continued in the 1990s as groups started to buy
the alternative weekly papers found in most large cities. The weeklies were first
published during the cultural movements of the 1960s and totaled more than
250 in 1999 with more than $400 million in yearly revenue. These newspapers
typically emphasize politics and entertainment. Some of these alternative
newspapers joined together to avoid being bought by daily chains. By 1999, New
Times, Inc., of Phoenix owned nine alternative weeklies. In 1999, the Hartford
Courant, which is owned by Times Mirror Corporation, bought five alternative
weeklies in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. Some observers express
concern that group ownership will change the independent, irreverent nature of
alternative weeklies, whereas others argue that the increased financial support
will help them improve their journalism.
Group ownership has been criticized since the first chains were formed during
the nineteenth century. Some community leaders and journalists fear that group
ownership will standardize newspapers at the expense of their local
distinctiveness, that absentee owners are less likely to invest in the newsroom,
and that ownership groups will impose their editorial will on a local newspaper.
21
Supporters of group ownership argue that financial strength makes groups less
vulnerable to manipulation by advertisers or political groups; that groups have
more money to invest in staff and equipment; and that when managers are
moved from one location to another, they are less likely to become part of the
local power establishment with policies and interests to protect. Researchers
have found that many of these problems have little to do with whether a
newspaper is owned by a group or by an individual or family. The impact of
ownership comes from local commitment and management goals – two elements
that vary among newspapers regardless of whether owners are groups or
individuals. For instance, research indicates that publicly held ownership can
negatively affect local newspapers. The more stock is owned by the public, the
higher profit rate a newspaper company will pursue. 19 This reflects
management goals. The high profit keeps stock prices up, but the result is
reduced newsroom budgets that can lower the quality of the local coverage.
Competition
Direct competition among daily newspapers has all but disappeared. In
1920,552 of 1,295 U.S. cities with daily newspapers had two or more dailies
owned and operated by different companies. By 1960, only 61 of 1,461 cities had
separately owned and operated dailies. Currently, about a dozen cities have two
or more daily newspapers that are separately owned and operated.
Why this downward trend? Newspapers serve more than one market. The diverse
reading audience chooses from a variety of media outlets in the consumer
market as discussed in Chapter 2. Potential advertisers compose another
market. These advertisers want to reach the most people possible for the least
amount of money per individual. Accordingly, advertisers buy newspaper space
according to the number of readers. This factor is referred to as cost-per-
thousand, or the price an advertiser pays to reach 1,000 subscribers. In a two-
newspaper town, the newspaper losing readers has a higher cost-per-thousand
because newspapers rarely reduce their advertising prices. As a result,
advertisers take advantage of the better buy at the other paper. Because readers
buy newspapers for ads as well as for news, readers of the trailing newspaper
switch to the competing one. Once a newspaper begins to lose readers, it also
loses advertisers, and as it loses advertisements, subsequently it loses readers.
A downward spiral begins. One newspaper gains a disproportionate amount of
advertising, and before long, a two-newspaper town becomes a one-newspaper
town.
Competition is an important factor in newsroom quality. Research shows that
competition gives the reader choice, and therefore, power. Usually, as the
intensity of competition increases, publishers spend more money on the
newsroom, resulting in better-quality reporting. With more news and advertising
space available in each market, advertisers get lower advertising rates, and
reporters and editorial writers strive for new ideas for stories. The existence of
two editorial sections also increases the possibility that the marketplace of ideas
will become more lively and that readers will have access to varied points of
view.
22
With these competition factors in mind, Congress in 1970 created the News-
paper Preservation Act, which allows two newspapers in the same town to
combine all of their operations, such as business and circulation, with one
exception: the newsroom. This legislation exempts newspapers from the
antitrust laws that regulate competition. Congress felt that the political role
played by newspapers in a democracy warranted efforts to maintain two daily
newspapers in the same city. In 1999, twelve of the twenty-seven joint operating
agreements (JOA) approved by the Justice Department since 1970 remained in
operation. Research indicates that the quality of JOA newspapers is not as good
as that in competitive markets but that it is much better than the quality in
cities with one daily newspaper. However, JOAs do not end the downward
circulation spiral that forces newspapers out of business, and eventually at least
one newspaper in all the JOAs will close.
Even though daily newspapers lost most of their daily newspaper competition,
other forms of competition have taken its place. TV's national cost-per-thousand
for common items, such as household soaps and soft drinks, is much lower than
that of newspapers. As a result, newspapers carry little national advertising, but
they retain local advertising. Also, as the number of big mass market
newspapers declined, other portions of the industry restructured. The number of
weeklies has grown dramatically, and regional competition has become a factor.
Metro dailies have responded to competition from regional and suburban
newspapers by zoning their coverage.21 For example, the Washington Post
includes Fairfax County and Montgomery County sections once each week to
compete with the Journal papers. Such sections also allow local advertisers to
reach smaller, geographically zoned areas at reduced costs. Zoning has earned
profits for newspapers only when the zones are designed narrowly and the
sections carry information that readers want and believe they can use.
Declining Credibility
Newspapers cannot prosper as suppliers of news and information unless their
readers trust what they read. The decline in newspaper credibility has become a
primary issue facing newspapers at the beginning of the new century. A study
conducted by Time magazine in 1998 found that newspaper credibility had sunk
to a level at which only 21 percent of Americans believed all or most of the
content in the local newspaper, representing a decline from 28 percent in 1985.
In response to the continuing decline, the American Society of Newspaper Ed-
itors (ASNE) began a $1 million project to improve credibility. They discovered
that the public finds too many factual and spelling/grammar errors in
newspapers, too little respect for and knowledge about their communities, too
much influence of reporters' biases on what is covered and how it is reported,
too much sensationalism to increase sales, and too much concern with profit.
The fact that all news media have seen a decline in credibility does not make
newspaper publishers and editors feel any better about their slipping public
image. As a follow-up to the survey, eight daily newspapers in 1999 undertook
multiyear projects to reverse the trend and improve readers' trust in them.

23
Minority and Ethnic Press

Social groups often have information needs that are not met by large commercial
newspapers. Historically, immigrants and other minority groups used their
newspapers to protest their treatment by the mainstream society or to fight for
changes in laws. These newspapers not only serve as political tools, but they
also reaffirm membership in communities and reinforce ties to native cultures.
For example, African American newspapers that developed after the Civil War
challenged segregation laws established in the 1870s, and they printed news of
social events, marriage engagements, and weddings. During the 1960s Chicano
movement, Spanish-language news· papers fought discrimination against
Hispanics. The ethnic and minority press is an important part of society today
as well as historically, and immigrants who speak no English start newspapers
in their native tongue just as they did 100 years ago.
Despite their cultural importance, the minority press has constantly struggled
with adequate financing. African American newspaper publishers still report that
their main threat to survival is lack of advertisements.24 Publishers of minority
newspapers believe that a single-billing, multiple-placement approach to
advertising will enable advertisers to improve financial support for minority
newspapers. To address the problem, Hispanic newspapers formed the Latino
Print Network, which bills an advertiser only once for placement in more than
120 Hispanic newspapers. A similar organization, Amalgamated Publishers,
serves about 200 African American newspapers. In 1999, these two
organizations joined with the Newspaper National Network, a marketing
organization run by the Newspaper Association of America, to make single-
billing advertising in 320 minority newspapers available to advertisers.

1.5 TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
Trends and Innovations

During the 1980’s, the nation’s newspapers changed from drab, gray, and text-
heavy layouts to livelier news and graphics formats. The 1990s saw a boom in
alternative news and information options through cable and the Internet, which
reduced newspapers' ability to attract readers. Newspaper publishers and
editors continue to pursue a variety of innovations designed to turn around the
decline of newspapers' popularity.
As a result, newspapers are aggressively experimenting with new technologies.
Although electronic delivery systems are showing a profit for newspapers only in
rare instances, publishers recognize the importance of being involved at the
experimentation stage. Questions about how to integrate print news into web
sites, what types of advertising will sell on the Web, and how much reader
participation to allow on newspaper web sites continue to confront newspaper
managers.
24
Pursuing Young Readers

Publishers realize that they must be attuned to the needs of children and young
adults because they will form the readership group for the twenty-first century.
Before television gained popularity, young people learned the newspaper-reading
habit from their parents. With television's arrival, families began to move away
from newspapers as their source of entertainment. A 1999 study found that only
three percent of the 1,200 teenage participants thought newspapers were "enjoy-
able" or "entertaining." To counteract this trend, newspapers pursue young read-
ers in a variety of ways, including Newspaper-in-Education (NIE) Programs that
encourage reading newspapers in public schools, special sections in newspapers
aimed at children and young adults, and youth-oriented web sites run by news-
papers.
Young readers have not deserted newspapers entirely. Almost 70 percent of
teenagers look at a newspaper at least once during the week, and more than 60
percent believe newspapers carry information useful to them in their daily lives.
However, newspapers ranked behind television and radio, but above the
Internet, in amount of use.
Content is the key to attracting young readers, or any readers for that matter,
and newspapers use market research to help them identify the content reader
want. A focus group of sixteen-year-olds conducted by the Survey Research Lab
at Northwestern University suggested the following topics as ideal newspaper
subjects:
• Crime but not a lot of violence
• World events and how they affect me
• Money (how to make it, how to save it, how to spend it)
• Earth issues and the environment
• Social issues and how I can help
• Analysis, perspective, and explanations of events and controversial issues
• New products and technology
• Fashion ins and outs
• Sports and in-depth interviews with sports stars
• News of upcoming concerts
• Music reviews by people my age
• Things to do
• Getting along with people who are different from me
• Careers and life after high school
• Shopping

25
Identifying topic areas, however, is only the first step. The news and information
must be prepared and delivered in a format appealing to younger readers.
Progressive news organizations, such as the New York Times, do this in several
ways. In September 1998, the Times started a web site aimed at sixth through
twelfth graders. The New York Times Learning Network (nytimes.com/learning)
is a resource for students, teachers, and parents. The Times also started a teen
magazine called Upfront in September 1999 in conjunction with Scholastic,
which is an educational publisher.
Convergence and Newspapers

A second trend is delivering news online. Despite the staid image of newspapers,
the companies that own newspapers fight for readers and advertisers every day
on an electronic battlefield. The almost limitless ability of the Internet and World
Wide Web to deliver information, news, entertainment, and advertising into peo-
ple's homes has led newspapers, television, radio, magazines, and even non-
media companies into a war for the attention and money of people around the
world. The number of companies participating in the battle is growing so quickly
that it is difficult to keep pace. In June 1999, Editor & Publisher Interactive
(mediainfo.com/ ephome) listed more than 11,300 news and information sites
around the world. Of these, newspapers ran more than 3,500, which represents
an increase of 120 percent over the number of newspaper sites only two years
earlier.
Even though the number of news sites grows rapidly, the long-term nature of
newspapers' presence on the Web continues to evolve. Few newspaper web sites
are making a profit even as the number of hits and visits grows. The number of
registered subscribers to nytimes.com reached about 7 million in 1999, but the
total revenue generated by the fifty web sites owned by the New York Times Co.
reached only $24 to $26 million. Newspapers gravitate to the Web because they
have to protect their businesses. Web advertising has grown, exceeding $3
billion in 1999.
The first few years of online newspaper publishing revealed three important ob-
servations about the future of electronic newspapers. First, most newspapers
must provide their news and information for free. One study found that only a
small percentage of current readers will pay to access newspapers online.46 The
exception seems to be the Wall Street Journal, which in 1999 charged $59
annually (or $29 annually for those who also subscribed to the print version).
Second, the advertising battle on the Web will center first on classified adver-
tising. Even though the Web holds promise for selling banner ads for retailers,
the battle for the important classified advertising market is underway. Classified
advertising fits the Web well. Creating classified ads requires little work, and the
ad can be removed quickly after the item is sold or the job is filled. Classified
advertising also provides a lucrative market, with newspapers generating $16.8
billion in classified advertising in 1997, which was 40 percent of total adverting
revenues47 The main competitors for classified advertising are sites that provide
information about a specific city (such as Microsoft Sidewalks), portals (such as
26
AOL and Yahoo!) that people use to enter and navigate the Web, and other media
outlets (such as the national network of local CBS station web sites).
The third observation concerns content. Newspapers have a lot of news and in-
formation produced for the print version that can be put on the Web, but they
have to do more than simply show the text from the print version on the Web.
Some newspapers, such as the Tampa Tribune, have a staff exclusively devoted
to generating news for their Web version. Other newspapers add features that
the print version cannot supply, such as the Minneapolis Star-Tribunes up-to-the
minute traffic and commuter conditions, whereas still other newspapers
experiment with opening their web sites to the community. For instance, the
Philadelphia Inquirer allows community organizations to put information on the
Inquirers web site. The web sites allow for very local zoning of information. The
first week of the Inquirer's southern New Jersey site publicized the community's
oldest residents and announced the winners of a children's coloring contest. The
Inquirer sometimes publishes the Web information in its zoned edition.
The experimental nature of newspapers on the Web will continue. Newspapers
remain local in nature whether on the Web or on paper. The features and types
of information that generate advertising revenue and reader interest will likely
vary from community to community.
Computer Assisted Reporting

A third trend in newspaper publishing is the use of computers for reporting.
During the 1970s, computers altered the way newspapers produced and printed
news. During the 1990s, computers allowed newspapers to distribute news
electronically. The 1990s also saw the computer's expanded use in news
gathering and reporting. Computer assisted reporting (CAR) is an umbrella
term for several uses of computers in reporting. CAR activities range from
finding addresses and phone numbers online, to accessing government
databases, to using programs that manipulate data to create new interpretations
of old data.
Initially, only investigative reporters at large newspaper organizations practiced
CAR because it involved more computer and database skills than most
journalists possessed. As journalists gained better computer skills and
governments put databases online, CAR use increased. However, it remains a
complex and expensive tool.
The Public Journalism Controversy

The fourth trend in newspaper publishing involves the controversy about public
journalism and the role of journalism in the community. Newspapers have
always gathered their strength from local readers and local advertisers. But
during the mid-twentieth century, community journalism lost respect. Reporters
viewed working for big papers, such as The New York Times, Chicago Tribune,
and Washington Post, as the road to professional advancement and career
success. On a smaller scale, journalists left the small towns for papers in the
state capitals. Urban journalists could adopt the professional values of being
27
detached, objective, tough, and critical. They stood apart from the communities
they served.
As their audience and their competition changed, newspaper organizations
found themselves with diminishing circulations and a lack of connection to their
communities. Seeking to reestablish their identities, some newspaper editors, as
well as academicians, began to explore a philosophy of public journalism. The
American Journalism Review lists five components of public journalism:
asking readers to help decide what the paper covers and how it covers it; becom-
ing a more active player and less an observer; lobbying for change on the news
pages; finding sources whose voices are often unheard; and, above all,
dramatically strengthening the bonds between newspaper and community. At its
heart is the assumption that a newspaper should act as a catalyst for change.
One key goal of public journalism is to involve readers as news sources in focus
groups as critics of the newspaper. Journalism cannot be measured by media
professionals alone but also must involve the people who buy and use the
product.
But words such as involvement invoke specters of political corruption from the
past, and editors feared that trying to influence the outcome of public action
would affect the newspaper's credibility. In addition, some editors saw the new
approach as a loss of control of their own product. One outspoken opponent has
been Leonard Downie, Jr., executive editor of the Washington Post, who
advocates a strict policy of not getting involved. Downie has said that he does
not vote, rarely reads editorial pages, and tries not to form opinions on matters
covered by the Post. Marvin Kalb, director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the
Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, while acknowledging that
the public journalism movement "is not a flash in the pan phenomenon," urged
caution: "A journalist who becomes an actor, in my view, is overstepping the
bounds of ... traditional responsibility."
The Pew Center for Civic Journalism funded fifteen civic journalism projects
during 1999 involving newspapers, television, and radio stations. Each news
organization received $20,000. The Portland Press Herald and the Maine Sunday
Telegram in Portland, Maine, used the grant to allow teenagers to work with the
news staff to publish news and features online. The Savannah Morning News in
Georgia studied and wrote about the effects of an aging population on taxes,
lifestyles, and services in the region.
As newspapers struggle with declining readership and credibility, the debate
over public journalism will rage for some time. The debate centers on three main
questions: (1) What is public journalism? (2) Does public journalism increase
circulation and improve attitudes toward the newspaper? (3) What should be the
role of readers in determining newspaper content? The first question seems easy
to answer, but critics maintain that public journalism represents the worst of
newspaper marketing-giving readers what they say they want just to sell
newspapers. Sup· porters say journalists cannot recognize all the issues that
readers need to know about without communicating with those readers.
28
Evidence indicates that some types of public journalism projects increase

circulation and reader satisfaction. Furthermore, the credibility report
mentioned earlier in the chapter seems consistent with the position of public
journalism sup' porters. The national survey of 3,000 readers found that the
public thinks newspapers do not "consistently demonstrate respect for, and
knowledge of, their readers and their communities," and they think "newsroom
values and practices are sometimes in conflict with their own priorities for their
newspapers."
The core issue of the debate about public journalism continues to be the ability
of readers to influence news selection. At one extreme is the argument that only
journalists should determine news, regardless of what readers think. At the
other extreme is the position that journalists should conduct research to
determine what readers want and only print news that meets the readers'
expectations. Few journalists would support either extreme, but too often
opponents and proponents of public journalism argue that the second issue
represents an unacceptable extreme. Perhaps public journalism, like beauty, is
in the eye of the beholder.
Competition, content and style of English and tamil language newspapers
and magazines: an overview
The last three decades have seen developments in reporting, economics, content,
and technology. In newspaper reporting, the underground press grew out of the
antiestablishment feelings of the late 1960s. papers such as The village voice
and Rolling stone featured politically liberal news and opinion ion cultural
topics. Many underground papers ran oput of steam in the 1970s, while others
lost their original edge. The Village voice and Rolling stone, for example, are now
more in line with the mainstream establishment press.
The most controversial trend in reporting surfaced in the mid-1990’s public
journalism espouses the philosophy that newspapers should do more than
report the news. They should try to help communities solve problems, encourage
public participation in the political process, and generally help improve public
life.
The 1980s and 1990s have recorded a series of peaks and valleys for the
newspaper business. On balance, the 1980s brought good economic times,
which ended abruptly in the early 1990s when weak economy, a depressed
advertising market, and slipping circulation figures created one of the worst
economic climates for newspapers in recent memory and forced several big –city
papers out of business. The situation improved by mid-decade, but huge
increases in the price of newsprint are into newspaper profits and many papers
downsized by cutting staff. By the late 1990s, layoffs and other cost-cutting
measures, plus a decline in newsprint prices, helped newspapers increase their
profits, but this new profitability didn’t translate to an increased number of jobs.
On the content front, the biggest influence on newspapers during the 1980s was
the birth of use today. The brainchild of allen neuharth of the gannett company,
some of the innovations sparked by use today that had a lasting impact on the
industry were.
29
• Splashy graphics and color.

• Short, easy-to-read stories.
• Lots of graphs, charts and tables.
• Factoids (a factoid is a list of boiled- down facts with a little dot in front of
them –much like this list)
More-recent trends include changes in typography and layoput designed to
make the paper easier to read and a trend toward what might be called
more;’feature” content. Sections with names such as “life,.
“living,and”lifestyles”were becoming more typical as papers blended in this
material with their content to attract new readers, particularly latino Americans,
and many papers introduced new sections aimed at asian americans.
The biggest trend in technology in the 1990s was the move of newspapers into
the digital age as many newspapers went online. In 1998 more than 800 web
sites were sponsored by newspapers into the digital age as many newspapers
went online. In 1998 more than 800 websites were sponsored by newspapers,
including such well-known papers as the wall street journal, the newyork times
and the washington post. Most papers have been unable to generate a profit
from their online activites. A 1997 survey found that only 10 percent of
newspaper web sites were showing a profit for their owners.
MAGAZINES ONLINE : Consumers have accessed magazines and newspapers

using commercial online services, such as CompuServe Information Services
Inc., since the mid-1980s. However, readership online has shown slow growth.
In 1995, 3.7 million Americans read online magazines. In 1997, that number
grew to 4.6 million. Online magazine readers tend to be highly educated and to
read print magazines as well as those online. The Magazine Publishers
Association reported in 1999 that 1,170 print magazines had established web
sites. Readers use online versions to browse, search, and seek information on
subscribing. Magazine publishers predict that the Internet will enhance print
magazine development rather than threaten it. New print magazines that deal
with the online world include Wired, Family Computing, PC World, and Yahoo!
Internet Lift.
CD - ROM MAGAZINES : Magazines have used CD-ROM technology to produce

special editions and to enhance the information in printed issues. Newsweek
owned by the Washington Post Company, began producing quarterly CD-ROMs
in mid-1993. The first Newsweek CD-ROM centered on the environment and
included a full-length story, seven sidebars, 189 photographs, twelve charts, ten
minutes of video, a thirteen-minute narrated documentary, five hours of radio
interviews from the weekly program "Newsweek on Air," twenty columns from the
Washington Post, and three recent months of Newsweek magazine searchable by
keywords. In 1999, the online magazine (Newsweek.com) continued posting
items from washingtonpost.com, as well as its own stories.
30
CD-ROM companies also license material from magazines, produce CDs, and
then pay royalties to the magazine companies. Such is the case at Creative
Multimedia, which licenses material from u.s. News & World Report, Sports
Illustrated for Kids, Consumer Reports, Travel & Leisure, Lift, Smithsonian, and
Golf Digest.
International Markets
Mailing costs and lack of access to lists of potential foreign consumers have
slowed the growth of international circulations, but those difficulties may be
overcome as international readers begin to show more of an interest in U.S.
consumer magazines. In some countries, censorship prevents distribution of
U.S. magazines. Nevertheless, some publications already have successful foreign
markets. Reader's Digest is read in about 163 countries; Time produces about
thirty-four foreign editions; and in April 1994, Cosmopolitan, on sale in about 84
countries, became the first major women's magazine published in the former
Soviet Union. Hearst Corporation has joined with Televisa S. A. of Mexico to
translate more of its titles into Spanish-language editions for the Latin American
market. Currently, Spanish-language editions of Hearst's Cosmopolitan, Harper's
Bazaar, Popular Mechanics, and Good House-keeping are distributed in Latin
America. A Canadian edition of Sports Illustrated, launched in 1993,
encountered protests from Canadian magazine publishers. Under new Canadian
government regulations, U.S. companies will have to obtain government
approval for future Canadian editions of their magazines. The Canadian
overnment restricts Canadian editions because it fears the impact those
magazines may have on Canada's economy and on Canadian culture.
Even the very American launching of George magazine in September 1995 rep-
resents internationalism in the magazine industry. Hachette Filipacci Magazines
inI'ested $20 million in George, the magazine begun by the late John F.
Kennedy,Jr., ihatcombines politics, entertainment, and celebrity worship. The
cover of the first issue showed model Cindy Crawford dressed as George
Washington. What could be more American than a magazine named after the
first U.S. president being run by a former president's son? Not much, except
perhaps an American owner of the magazine.
Summary
• Rapidly advancing technology and mass marketing of goods reduced
production costs and created an advertising base that fostered magazine
development.
• A rising middle class, increased public education, and the opportunity for
social advancement encouraged a reading audience. By 1900 that educated
middle class used magazines as the medium for social protest.
• Magazines survived competition from radio and television by targeting
groups of readers. This specialization was attractive to both the audience
and the advertiser.
31
• In today's market, specialization is key. Consumer magazines and literary

journals make up the bulk of magazine publishing.
• Huge business conglomerates are the primary owners of magazines.
However, in response to the recession of the early 1990s, magazine
publishers are downsizing and decentralizing.
• Many new magazines do not survive. Those that do have solid financial
backing, a specific advertiser base, and a staff of highly trained
professionals.
• Demographic changes force magazines to attract new audiences. Magazines
must meet the needs of changing audiences and of advertisers.
• Combined – or converging – technologies foster new methods of production
and distribution. Magazine publishers increasingly are enhancing their
products with web sites and online magazines.
Despite the impact of new technologies, magazines will continue to function as
important generators of a national conversation about political and socia
Summary
• Newspapers historically focused on their local communities and provided
information about local events. However, they also carried national and
international news, and Congress debated early the relative merits of local
versus national circulation of newspapers.
• During the revolutionary period, newspapers helped to develop political
rhetoric that supported independence. In doing so, they were seldom
tolerant of competing voices.
• With developments in manufacturing during the nineteenth century,
newspapers began to carry national advertising and expand their markets.
• Newspaper markets today are determined by several components, including
the number of choices available within a geographiC area, the probability of
product substitution, and barriers to entering the market.
• Changing demographies make it difficult for newspaper editors to
understand the components of the market. Publishers can no longer
assume that middle-class readers will subscribe to the newspaper.
• Newspaper readers now have many choices. They can choose to read a
newspaper, subscribe to cable television, listen to the radio, watch network
television, or sub· scribe to a computer online database service.
• Newspaper content includes advertising, opinion material, and news. It
comes from newspaper staff reports, wire and news services, and feature
syndicates.
• Journalists apply news values in determining what stories to assign and
write. Many of their judgments are made almost unconsciously but tend to
follow a predictable pattern.
32
• To combat changes in the markets, newspaper executives are trying new

approaches. Some newspapers use survey research and focus groups to
determine the needs of their particular communities and then target their
reporting and writing to those needs. Others have reorganized their news-
gathering operations, relying less on institutional news and more on
topically defined news.
• Newspapers will remain an important component of the media mix, as long
as their staffs take advantage of new technologies and ensure their content
serves their audiences.
• Computer assisted reporting is becoming an important part of all reporting.
• Newspaper publishers recognize the opportunities of online delivery of
information, but they have not determined yet how to be profitable using
this new technology.
Some newspaper organizations are engaging in public journalism in an attempt
to involve their readers and to make themselves essential to their communities.
33
34
UNIT – II
35
36
LESSON-2
RADIO MANAGEMENT
CONTENTS
2.0 Learning Objectives
Nature and characteristics of radio
To understand the ownership : private and public
To study the organizational structure and functioning
To analyse the content and style of radio programmes
2.1 Radio as a medium of mass communication
2.2 Types of ownership :Private and public
2.3 Organizational structure and functioning
2.4 FM broadcasting and the audiences: Programming Content and style – a
Critical review
2.5 Programming content and style – a critical review
2.6 Trends and Innovations

2.1 RADIO AS A MEDIUM OF MASS COMMUNICATION
2.1.1 Introduction
Radio is the perfect medium for mass communication. If we compare it to other
mass media, radio consistently ranks as the most popular means of
disseminating information, regardless of the continent. What makes radio
particularly appealing, however, is its interactivity, its capacity to provoke
dialogue and to solicit the participation of local populations.
With its lower production costs and extreme versatility, radio lends itself just as
well to rapid interventions as to the broadcasting of in-depth reports, and is just
as suitable for the dissemination of information as it is for entertainment or
educational purposes. Radio allows villagers to make their voices heard directly,
regardless of their level of education or social standing.
A number of factors account for the predominance of radio over other forms of
mass media
37
– High illiteracy rates, particularly in rural areas and among women, and the
fact that it is an oral medium give radio an advantage over other media.
– The advent of transistors had a democraticizing effect by making radio
receivers much more widely accessible audience.
The practice of collective listening developed by many rural or local radio
stations gives even more people access to radio and can play an important role
in the community. Its potential for interactivity is also enormous.
With the emergence of rural, community, and associative radio stations, radio
has become a tool for bringing people closer. These small stations, with their
limited broadcasting range, have clearly identified audiences whose needs they
know well and to which they are able to adjust.
What they lack in professionalism, they make up for in connectivity with the
rural communities and the groups or associations they work with. Moreover,
their production costs are very affordable.
More and more research projects and community groups are taking advantage of
the participatory potential of radio.
The most consistent characteristic of radio has been the ability to survive in
emerging competitive markets. Radio began as a medium for live entertainment
and short news broadcasts. It developed situation comedy programs and
dramatic fare that eventually transferred to television. After television sapped the
best performers and programs from radio, radio altered its format, turning
primarily to music, news, and talk. In the 1990s, especially in developed
countries, radio faces increased competition from computer-based interactive
technologies. Listeners can play music on CD-ROMs that are integrated into
computer video, Software allows online listeners to hear live music broadcasts
from rock and blues clubs, Users of the Internet and online services can access
the latest news on demand. Even radio's grip on talk could be loosened as
individuals communicate with each other over the Internet. As radio continues
to compete with other media and enters the world of converging technologies,
the major issues will be the following:
• Will computer-based, interactive programming force domestic radio to shift

its content, or will radio's music, talk, and news format still appeal to
tomorrow's population?
• How will radio reflect or contribute to cultural life?
• What role will radio have in political campaigns and decision making in the
United States? Will the growth of "talk radio" have an effect on political
debate?
• Will radio continue to be significant as a carrier of international news and

information, crossing boundaries of countries that try to block external
influence?

38
2.1.2 THE EVOLUTION OF RADIO AS A MASS MEDIUM

Early radio broadcasting was crude, amateurish, and thoroughly unpredicable;
occasionally, no one would show up at the local station to perform, and the
station would not go on the air; early microphones overheated, so performers
had to be careful nor to burn their lips; You could hear far better music on thse
phonograph; and the telephone was a far better way of communicating. Many
thought that radio would never amount to much. However, several remarkable
events were to change their minds.
BIG BUSINESS STEPS IN RADIO

While radio development before World War I had been characterized by
indicidual inventions, during the postwar years it would be characterized by
corporate maneuvers. Shortly after the war, the Marconi Company started
negotiations to acquire rights to Fessenden’s generator in an attempt to
establish a monopoly in U.S-European Radio communication. The United States,
with the lessons of the war still gresh, did not want to give a foreign-owned
company access to that much power. After much negotiating, bargaining, and
downright coercion, the Marconi Company agreed to sell its American interests
to general Electric (GE) seet up a new company, the Radio Corporation of
America (RCA), to recive the Marconi assets. Stock in RCA would be held by?
American Telegraph and Telephone (AT&T), Westinghouse, and GE. All of this
happeded in 1919, before ay none of them seriously considered broadcasting to
the general public as a viable moneymaking activity.
RADIO REACHES A MASS MEDIUM

Conrad was a Westinghouse engineer who tinspent his weekends playing
records, reporting sports scres, and showcasing the musicak abilities o fhis
sons. In a short time, he had developed a smalll but dedicated aujdience .
Horne’s department Store saw an opportunity; The store took out a newspaper
ad that highlighted Conrad’s broadcasting activities and offered its customers a
$ 10 ready – built wireless set that could be used to listen to the conrad
broadcasts. Westinghouse saw an even bigger opportunitu. The company
proposed to build a station that would broadcast programs on a more-or-less
regular basis and would, the company hoped, encourage alarge audience to
listen Westinghouse would manufacture the radio sets and, in turn, would
receive “free” advertising because of its identification with the station. The idea
worked. KDKA went on the air November 20, 1930 broadcasting with 100 watts
from a shack atop a six-story building. (it still on the air as of this day, making it
the country’s oldest station.)
After a slow start, sales of radion sets reached the half-million mark in 1924.
The next year roughly two million were sold. Other companies recognized a good
thing when they saw it. RCA started broadcasting in 1921; General Electric in
1922. Radio was on its way. By discovering that an audience existed for
broadcast programs intended for the general public, radio had found the role it
was to play for the foreseeable future.
39
2.2 TYPES OF OWNERSHIP : PRIVATE & PUBLIC CONTROL AND OWNERSHIP

OF THE MEDIA
Radio Ownership
Congress drastically changed ownership rules for radio stations with the 1996
Telecommunications Act. Before the act, companies could own no more than
thirty stations, and those stations could not have more than 25 percent of the
national
audience. The new law removed all national limits on audience and stations. The
law also expanded the number of stations a company could own within a
particular market. The number varies with market size.
As a result of changes in ownership limits, large corporations grew significantly
during the late 1990s by buying independent stations and other radio groups.
By the end of 1999, Clear Channel Communications was trying to buy AMFM
Inc., which would give Clear Channel ownership of 830 radio stations, which is
more than twenty times the number it could have legally owned before the 1996
Telecommunications Act. The concentration of ownership reduced the number of
minority owners and raised concerns about access by a diversity of citizens to
the airwaves. The FCC has introduced a controversial plan to license lower
powered radio stations that might increase diversity in radio ownership.
The 1996 act represented efforts to increase radio companies' profits, but not
everyone was pleased. Smaller markets could now be dominated by two or three
companies. This placed power in the hands of companies to increase advertising
prices, to reduce jobs by combining operations, and to limit access to the
airwaves. Some critics have argued that profitability could have been enhanced
and accessibility maintained with lower ownership limits.
One helpful way of distinguishing amoung the various media systems throught
the world is to classify them along the dimensions of 1. ownership and 2.
control.
Ownership can range from private to public (public ownership usually means
some form of government ownership), while control can range from centralized to
decentralized. The print media could be placed in one cell of the matrix and the
broadcasting system in another. Nonetheless, this model is helpful in displaying
some of the major differences among systems.
In the upper-left cell are type a systems. These consist of decentralized control
and public ownership, a type best illlustrated by the broadcasting systems in
European countries such as France, Denmaerk and Italy. Some of the
Broadcasting media are publicity owned, but no single political or special-
interest group can control their messages.
In the upper-right cell are type B systems. This arrangement is typical of
communist or socialist countries in which the media are publicly owned and
controlled by the dominant dominant political party. China would be an
example.
40
In the lower-left cells is the decentralized-control, private ownership model. This

is the system that currently operates in the United States and in many
European countries. The media are owned by private companies and there is
little, if any, centralized control.
The lower-right cell contains the centralized-control, privately owned system. In
many countries, particularly in the developing countries of Africa and latin
America, the media are owned by private organizations but are firmly controlled
by the government.
Press control is exercised in several ways. First, the government controls the
source. Printing and broadcasting equipment are given only to approved
organizations. In Cuba, for example, there is a newsprint shortage and only the
government newspaper is supplied with it. Next, journalists are state trained
and state approved. Finally, news agencies are state owned and news sources
state controlled.
The state-run media organizations have seen much of their control taken a way
and private media outlets are permitted. Individual media outlets are given
much more freedom to criticize the government.
The most significiant trend in those countries that fall into cell A of the matrix
has been a move toward pluralsim in their broadcasting systems. State-owned
monopolies in many countries, including France, Italy, Greece, Spain, and some
of the Scajndinavian countries, have given way to way to privately owned and
commercially sponsored broadcasting systems. In additional cable promise to
bring even more video diversity to these countries.
Radio Ownership in India

The most visible and perceptible change can be observed in the field of television
and radio, where one out of three households in India has access to television
and almost every household has a radio. Twenty years ago, total television
ownership in India had not reached even three million and only one out of 80
households had access to television. Only the government-owned black and
white television channel was accessible in selected urban and rural areas. Radio
ownership in India had achieved greater penetration, particularly after the
transistor revolution.
The reach of television has increased as a result of satellite and cable television
distribution systems, and now more than 70 colour television channels owned
by both private and government-supported corporations are on offer. Radio has
been privatised, but private investment in radio programming remains limited.
Information, both news and entertainment, continue to be invisibly regulated
and controlled by government policies and local conventions that have evolved
over several decades. Radio listening and television viewing, and especially the
consumption of indigenously produced cinema, have been the prime movers of
social change. People, by and large, whether political workers, social scientists,
or technocrats and technologists, consider television to be an important means
of mobilising change. In this respect, the expansion of television has helped to
41
accelerate the process of change and is leading to the adaptation of life styles.
This process is punctuated by the arrival of new material goods from
international markets as a result of privatisation and the globalisation of the
Indian economy.
Television has, to some extent, influenced the daily routines of the viewers who
are no longer bound by sunrise and sunset to regulate their daily routine. There
seems to be a major shift from a broadly agrarian to an industrial and
information society. Changes are also evident in several social domains of Indian
life where food habits, clothing, leisure, recreation, mode of travel and inter-
personal communication have undergone modifications.
Three issues are being debated in various academic, political and social circles
where fears have been expressed about the ‘homogenisation of the multilingual
and multi-ethnic cultures’, ‘undesirable western cultural influences due to
transnational satellite television’ and ‘increasing consumerism and
individualisation’. However, the sporadic observations generated by a limited
number of research initiatives and cross-regional comparisons do not permit
definitive conclusions about the implications of the changes that are occurring.
There is no clear direction of change although there is a fair amount of change
visible among the rich as compared to the poor. In spite of all the technological
expansions, individualised television viewing, a preference for ‘Direct to Home’
television has remained extremely limited as compared to collective and family
viewing of television. Much remains to be understood about the nature and
growth patterns of television viewing and, so far, access, rather than ownership,
has been emphasised by policy makers. It seems there is a lack of will and effort
to understand the cultural process of broadcasting and to develop concomitant
policy guidelines to chalk out directions for desirable culturally compatible
societal changes.
2.2.1 Ownership and Control
AIR is today fully owned, controlled, and run by the Central Government. But
this is not what the founding fathers intended. Nehru believed that 'we should
approximate as far as possible to the British model, the BBC; that is to say it
would be better if we had a semi-autonomous corporation under the
Government, of course with the policy controlled by the Government, otherwise
not being conducted as a Government department .but as a semi-autonomous
corporation.
The Chanda Committee on Broadcasting and Information Media said in its
Report in April 1966 that 'it is not possible in the )ndian context for a creative
medium like broadcasting to flourish under a regime of departmental rules and
regulations' and therefore recommended an 'institutional change' so that AIR
can be liberated; and separate corporations for Akashvani and Doordarshan. In
April 1910, four years later, the Indira Gandhi Government responded stating
that 'the present is not an opportune time to consider the conversion of AIR into
an autonomous corporation'. However, with effect from April 1, 1976, Television
was separated from AIR and constituted into a new body, Doordarshan.
42
The Verghese Committee in February 1978 called for the establishment of a

'National Broadcasting Trust' called Akash Bharati as an "autonomous and
independent public service". Accordingly, the Akash Bharati Bill, 1978 was
introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Janata Government though it had some
reservations about it.
The present regime headeQ by the Indira Congress has assured 'functional
autonomy' for broadcasting. Independence for Indian broadcasting from
Government control must thus remain a pipedream for years to come.
2.2.2 Broadcasting Policy

Both radio (All India Radio or 'Akashvani') and television ('Doordarshan') in India
are 'media units' of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is this same
Ministry that is the offical policy-making body for the broadcasting system
today. The Minister is assisted by the Secretary, who is the senior-most civil
servant, supported by a massive Secretariat divided into three wings
(Broadcasting, Information, and Policy and Coordination), each under a Joint
Secretary.
The Government's monopoly of broadcasting rests on Article 246 of the Indian
Constitution which states that Parliament has 'exclusive' powers to make laws
with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List I of the seventh schedule.
Item 31 in this list includes 'posts and telegraphs, telephones, wIfeless,
broadcasts and. other like forms of communication'. The lnd-Lan Telegraph Act
of 1885 and the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1933 (which were drawn up
during the British regime) continue to be in force, and to give the Government
the legal right to a monopoly in broadcasting, besides the right to intercept and
to censor mail.
Current broadcastingpoliey is based on the AIR Code of 1970, which sets down
that "broadcasts on All India Radio will not permit:
1. criticism of friendly countries;
2. attack on religion or communities
3. anything obscene or defamatory;
4. incitement to violence or anything against the maintenance of law and
order;
5. anything amounting to contempt of court;
6. aspersions against the integrity of the President, Governors, and Judiciary;
7. attack on a politicallJarty by name;
8. hostile criticism of any State or the Centre; or
9. anything showing disrespect to the Constitution or advocating change in
the Constitution by violence; but advocating change in a constitutional way
should not be debarred."
43
This Code· applies to criticism in the nature of a personal tirade, either of a

friendly Government or of a political party or of the Central Government or any
State Government. But it does not debar references to and/or dispassionate
discussion of policies pursued by any of them.
The Code adds that 'if a Station Director finds that the above Code has not been
respected in any particular or particulars by an intending broadcaster he will
draw the latter's attention to the passage objected to. If the intending
broadcaster refuses to accept the Station Director's suggestions and modify his
script accordingly, the Station Director will be justified in rejecting his or her
broadcast. Cases of unresolved differences of opinion between a Minister of a
State Government and a Station Director about the interpretation of the Code
with respect to a talk to be broadcast by the former will be referred to the
Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, who will decide
finally whether or not any change in the text was necessary in order to avoid
violation of the Code'.
The Code and other restrictions on broadcasting are based on Clause 2 of Article
19 of the Indian Constitution. Other restrictions include the broadcasting of the
news of the death of high dignitaries such as the President, the Vice-President,
the Prime Minister and a few others only after it has been cleared by the Home
Secretary. The AIR or Doordarshan correspondent has to get the news from him,
inform the News Room, before it can be broadcast. This explains the excessive
delay in the announcement of the news of Indira Gandhi's assassination, though
the BBC had made it known worldwide hours earlier. According to an agreement
arrived at by all political parties in 1977, air time is allocated for political
broadcasting prior to national and state elections.
2.2.3 The Case for Autonomy

As long as All India Radio and Doordarshan function as government
departments, non-professionals will decide aU policies and programmes, and all
professionals remain government officials in a rigid hierarchy, wary of
overstepping their roles. Creative programming is impossible under such
restrictive conditions. "Freedom is the very life-l::>lood of the creative spirit. At
present, the Director General is a mere functionary lower in status than the
Secretary of the I & B Ministry and cannot take decisions about programmes,
news, staff policies, budgetary allocations on the basis of professional
requirements and professional judgement.'~ Administrative and financial rules
and procedures of Government are unsuited to a broadcasting service.
Broadcasting is very different from other activities of Government servants. It
can thriye only in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom, unrestrained by the
Government of the day. Its responsibility is not to the Government in power but
to the people and to democracy.
The Chanda Committee called for the setting up of a National Council for Mass
Communication, which the government accepted but has done nothing about so
far. It was seen as an autonomous body, with "the professional status of
advising the government on policy for all the media of communication, tradi-
44
tional and modern, and on future developments such as satellites, cable TV and
so forth. It would have representatives of the press, publishing, advertising, the
cinema and Central and State governments.
An autonomous organisation alone can fulfil the main purpose of broadcasting,
which is, according to Hugh Greene, former Director-General of BBC, "to make
the microphone and the TV screen available to the widest possible range of
subjects and to the best exponents available of the differing views on any given
subject to let the debate decide-or not decide as the case may be.''
Besides BBC, NHK of Japan, Radio France, Canada, countries like Sri Lanka,
Mauritius, Jamaica and Guyana have by an Ad of Parliament, granted autonomy
to broadcasting bodies. West Germany has 9 independent broadcasting
corporations.
Government control over broadcasting is misused to present one-sided reports
and news. It has become a weapon of propaganda, as in Russia and China, and
is therefore no more credible. This was clearly evident during the emergency,
with no official willing to stand up to an authoritarian government.
Broadcasting bodies would at least for a start need governm~nt funds or grants.
The BBC depends on licence fees and grants; yet it retains its independence. It
could, for instance, deny Harold Wilson the opportunity to make a broadcast or
to appear in the 'Panorama' programme.
Commercial interests could easily be prevented from exercising influence as in
Japan, Canada, U.K. and West Germany. Besides, our Parliament has accepted
corporations under the public sector which do not in any way reduce
government authority. Broadcasting bodies can be made accountable to
Parliament. The BBC presents an annual report to Parliament which can be
discussed, but Parliament has no control over policy or expenditure, or over
editorial content of programmes. The Committee on Public Undertakings in our
country could, for instance, keep Parliament informed of policies and per-
formance of the corporations. With their earnings from commercials, they could
even finance themselves.
Autonomy would break a dangerous government monopoly, and an element of
competition could be introduced. Broadcasting in India could then be both a
public service, responsible to the people, and a commercial service, supporting
itself financially through licence fees and advertising.
The Verghese Committee, fully aware of the political bias of the Code, has
recommended its replacement by a more suitable Broadcast Code, which will
protect the rights of a broadcaster to air his views, no matter which political
party he belongs to. He would be bound only by the ordinary laws of the land on
defamation, contempt of court, incitement to violence, parliamentary privilege
and the like.
45
Audience Studies
"AIR started audience research in 1946. Listener Research officers were
appointed at the Stations to study listening habits, opiniens and tastes.
Techniques of research suited to Indian conditions were tried out and adopted,
and the procedure was standardised to provide a uniform method of collecting
data in different parts of the country. A number of surveys were conducted and
information was compiled on such questions as the composition of listening
groups, their educational level, the average size of the listening family, reactions
to news bulletins, talks, plays, music and other types of programmes".
But in 1952 the research units were wound up, perhaps because the findings
proved unpalatable, and could not be stomached by those in authority.- In the
mid-sixties, however, an A~ese..arch UniLwas revived, but was not well-staffed
or financed. Its findings are usually never made public. Perhaps, it would be
more credible if such research were left to pro-fessional institutes like the Indian
Institute of Public Opinion, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the IMRB and
MARG.
AIR receives fairly adequate feedback from its listeners in the Home and the
External Services. In 1978, for example, it received around 187,79,211 letters
from listeners to the Home Service and 3,41,567 letters from listeners to the
External Service. One wonders whether such correspondence is even dipped into
by the staff, for changes and improvement in the quality of the programmes are
nowhere in sight.
IIMC Studies: The Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, has
carried out some significant studies on radio listening in the rural areas. The
studies reveal that radio is an important source of information for opinion
leaders in rural areas. For instance, it was the radio that first. brought news
about the Sino-Indian and Indo-Pakistan conflicts to village folk. Radio played
an important role in the national elections of 1971 but because of its loss of
credibility during the emergency it had a negative effect in the 1977 elections.
The Institute's studies on agricultural broadcasts demonstrate once again the
vital role of opinion leaders in the adoption of high yielding varieties of seeds and
fertilizers. Concludes Dr. J. S. Yadava of the Institute, "The very fact that the
high yielding varieties are popularly knowlY as 'radio-seeds' and the fertilizer-
mixer as 'radio-khad' in villages in many parts of country indicates the
effectiveness of radio in this area.''
2.3 ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS
PRODUCING RADIO PROGRAMS

Organizational patterns are similar for AM and FM stations. A general manager
supervises the entire operation; makes business decisions with the assistance of
other department heads; and runs the business department, which handles
payroll, hiring, billing of advertisers, and buying of supplies.
46
At least three departments-programming, sales, and engineering-report to the

general manager. The programming department and its manager select and
produce all of the station's programming. If a station has a news format or
substantial news programming, it may have a separate news department and
news director.
The sales department sells radio time-and, implicitly, the attention of its
listeners-to advertisers. A sales manager runs the department, and account
executives sell time and serve the advertisers. This service includes helping
advertisers pick the best time for their ads to air and helping them develop the
advertisements.
The engineering department, headed by the chief engineer, is responsible for the
technology at the station. This includes a variety of equipment, from CD players
to modulators and antennas. Members of this department make sure the
station's broadcasting meets the requirements of the FCC.
The traffic manager works with the sales and programming departments. She or
he prepares a log of what is supposed to play every day and keeps a record of
what actually goes on the air. The traffic manager supplies the information that
is used to bill advertisers for time on the radio.
Large stations may have additional departments, such as a promotions de-
partment, which is in charge of advertising and public relations for the station.
At small stations the general manager usually handles these responsibilities.
Departments and staff
The departmental structure of a radio station varies according to its size,
Obviously, a small station with five or six employees has a different
departmental setup than a large station with a hundred-person staff.
The two top management positions are the general managher and the programm
director. The manager has the responsibility for planning and carrying out
station policy, maintaining contact with the community, and monitoring
program content, audience ratings, and sales information, the program director
is responsible for the stations sound. He or she supervises the music or other
program material that the station broadcasts and is also responsible for the
hiring and firing of announcers and DJs.
Most stations ate diveded into the four departments.the sales department
consists of the sales manager and the station’s sales force. The news department
is responsible for compiling the station’s local newscasts and rewriting the wire-
service reoports of national and regional news. The programming department,
under the supervision of the chief engineer, is staffed with technicians
responsible for keeping the station on the air and maintaining the equipment.
Putting together a program
This section will concentrate on how radio programs are produced for the music,
talk, and new formats.
47
Music format
When the staff of local station puts together their program, the first step is
generally to lay out a format wheel (also called format clock), a pie chart of an
hour divided into segments representing different program elements.
Talk Format
Most of the content of the talk format is produced by the local station. As is the
case with the music format, the makeup of the audience is take into account.
Duringn drive time, talk segments should be relatively short and liberally
interspersed with news, weather, and traffic reports. The audience for the 10
A.M-4P.M. day segment tends to be primarily female and, therefore, topics for
discussion would reflect the interests of this group. The early evening audience
is generally younger and contains more males.

Fig: organizational structure of a radio station
Producing a talk show requires more quipment than does a simnple DJ

program. Speaker telephones and extra telephone lines are needed, as well as
delay system. This device gives the talk show moderator a 7-to 30 second delay
period during which he or she can censor what is said by the caller. Another
important part of the talk show is the telephone screener ranks the waiting calls
for importance,letting the most interesting callers go first, and filters out crank
calls or calls from regulars who contact the station too frequently.
48
All-News Format
The all-news station also works with a programming wheel. Similar to that of the
music format. Instead of music, however, the news wheel shows the spacing
between headlines, weather, news, sports, business reports, and commercial. It
also illustrates the cycle, the amount of tme that elapses before the program
order is repeated.
The all-news format is the most difficult to produce. A large staff,consisting of
anchor persons, a managing editor, local reporters, rewrite people, a traffic
reporter, and stringers (freelance reporters who are paid per story), is needed.
The list of necessary facilities is also long; radio wire services, sports wire,
weather wire, mobile units, police and fire-frequency scanners, short-wave
receiver, and perhaps even a helicopter.

2.4 FM BROAD CASTING AND THE AUDIENCE
The FM broadcasting is being increasingly adopted as it provides listeners with

high quality signals free from interference. FMbroadcasting for local services is
capable of expansion in a way which relieves much of the burden in the low,
medium and high frequency bands and would improve conditions for regional,
national and international trabsmissions. The introduction of FM broadcasting
is of special significiance to developing countries adopted as it provides listeners
with high quality signals free from interference. FM broadcasting for local
services is capable of expansion in a way which relives much relieves much of
the burden in the low, medium and high frequency bands and would improve
conditions for regional, national and international transmissions. The
introduction of FM broadcasting is of special significance to developing countries
and particularly to tropical areas affected by solar interference.
FM broadcasting has become popular in india and other foreign countries within
a very time. Its objective is to bring about qualitive improvement in
broadcasting. Since FM signals do not interfere beyond a certain area, it is
possible to operate several stations on the same frequency. There is hardly any
disturbance from other radio stations. Another important feature of FM
broadcasting is that it provides paging services along with the main channel.
Paging is one-way communication which is becoming more and more popular
among institutions like banks. Radio Data Service is alos available on FM. An
other feature of FM broadcasting is that the quality of this broadcast is uniform
during the day or night, in hills or deserts and the quality us not disturbed due
to extraneous factors.
Ever since the government decided to auction FM channels there has been an
upsurge in FM broadcasting. According to newsreports has AIR will earn Rs. 530
crores in the first year from the auction of 108 FM stations in 40 cities with a 15
percent increase every year. The growth in the FM sector would have a spill over
effect and generate employment related to entertainment and electronics. The
49
government is also planning to extend FM to small cities. Over a period of time it

is expected that this initiative will result in creation of specilised channels
providing value added services like market/ traffic information, weather
forecasts, local events and other local news.

2.5 PROGRAMMING CONTENT AND STYLE – A CRITICAL REVIEW
Popular Radio Genres

Radio programmes may be classified into two broad groups:
(1) Spoken word programmes, which include news bulletins, talks,
discussions, interviews, educational programmes for schools and colleges,
specific audience programmes directed at women, children, rural and
urban listeners, drama, radio features and documentaries.
(2) Music Programmes which include disc jockey programmes, musical
performances of all types and variety programmes.
It is obvious that a good number of programmes like drama, features and
documentaries need both the spoken word and music. This is true in particular
of programmes broadcast on Vividh Bharati.
News Bulletins: News bulletins are put out by AIR almost every hour of the day
in English and the various regional languages. The major bulletins are of 15
minutes' duration, while others are of only 5 minutes' duration. They present
summaries of news stories in order of importance and interest-value. National
and international happenings get pride of place, while regional and local news is
read out if time permits. Human interest stories and sports news generally
round off the major bulletins.
AIR's news bulletins are much too formal in language, structure and
presentation, suitable more for a lecture than a talk across the table which news
reading really is.
Newsreels: Newsreels, generally of 15 minutes' duration, present 'spot' reports,
comments, interviews, and extracts from speeches. A'much more complex and
expensive format than the news bulletin, it calls for skilled tape editing and well-
written link narrations .
Documentaries / Radio Features: Documentaries or radio features are usually
factual, informational in character and sometimes educational in intent. They
bring together the techniques of talks and drama to tell the story of events, past
or present or those likely to happen in the future. They may sketch the
biography of a great leader, or merely offer an interpretation of the world around
us, or teach us about peoples and cultures unfamiliar to us, or even inquire into
social, political, economic or cultural problems. Indeed, any subject of interest is
grist to the mill of a feature writer.
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The use of a narrator interspersed with voices of real people or/and actors and
of appropriate background' effects and music bring a documentary/feature to
throbbing life. In Fielden's words, 'a feature programme is a method of
employing all the available methods and tricks of broadcasting to convey infor-
mation or entertainment in a palatable form.'
Drama: Radio drama is a story told through sound alone. The sound is of course
that of dialogue and voices of people, background or mood effects, musical
effects, atmospheric effects and the like. Radio drama, like stage drama is based
on conflict, uses characters and has a beginning, a middle and an end.
Movement and progress, generally to a crisis or climax, must be suggested in
radio drama through sounds. The voices of characters must be sufficiently
distinguishable, one from the other, lest the listener gets confused. They must
sound natural, speak true to character and above all, be interesting.
Radio listeners would be confused by the presence of more than three to four
characters. In fact, the shorter the drama (the average duration is 30 to 60
minutes) the fewer should be the major characters .. In the early years of Indian
broadcasting, the radio play took on the characteristics of the theatre as it
existed on the stage in a partkular region. Radio plays were broadcast then for
three hours at a time. In Bombay, Parsi, Gujarati and Urdu plays were
frequently put on the air: in Madras, mythological plays proved very popular.
Fielden introduced the present norm of the 30-minute radio play on AIR.
Talks: Radio talks are not public speeches; they are chats with a friend who does
not see you, but is nevertheless close and attentive to you. Radio talks should
give the impression to a listener that the speaker is addressing him alone in an
informal manner.
The words of a radio talk need to be kept simple and familiar, yet descriptive and
powerful, and the sentences short and without dependent clauses and awkward
inversions. Care should be take to keep close to the rhythm of ordinary speech
when writing the talk, and also when recording it.
Radio talks have no definite structure. All that the listener expects from them is
that they should be interesting and informative.
Music Programmes: Music programmes enjoy much greater popularity than talk
shows, as is evident from the popularity of Vividh Bharati programmes which
are musical through and through. We enjoy music for its rhythms, melodies and
harmonies and above all for the relaxation it provides.
Like any talk show, a music programme must have unity andform. Disc jockey
programmes of 'pop' or 'disco', therefore, should not be mixed up with classical
or light classical music. Variety is the keynote to any music programme; the
different items should be linked together with interesting comments,
announcements and narration .
Movie trailers: Vividh Bharati's movie trailers are sponsored programmes usually
of 15-30 minutes' duration. They are fastpaced, and packed with extracts of
dialogue and songs from the film being advertised. The narrator links the
elements with dramatic appeals and announcements. The names of stars, of the
51
producer, director, playback singers and musicians figure prominently in the

trailers.
Quizzes: Easily the most popular quiz programme is Bournvita's broadcast every
Sunday afternoon. Beginning with the Boomvita jingle, the programme gets off
the ground quickly and moves "at a hectic pace, taking listeners along with it.
It's the sense of participation and involvement in the quiz questions that makes
the programme very enjoyable' family fare.

2.6 TRENDS AND INNOVATIONS
Radio will change during the early 2000s as a result of three important trends:
consolidation of radio ownership and the growth of Internet radio and satellite ra-
dio. These trends will determine both how we receive radio and the nature of
radio content.
2.6.1 Consolidation of Radio Ownership
The consolidation of radio ownership into large corporations will continue unless
the FCC and Congress reverse themselves, which is unlikely. Just how this
consolidation affects radio content remains uncertain, but early results of
corporate ownership suggest a variety of changes. Consolidation reduces
expenses for the company, but this typically means a reduction in the number of
radio jobs. There is concern that music will be standardized across stations
because of centralized control of programming. In addition, the need to payoff
large loans used to buy stations could cause companies to increase the number
and duration of commercials.
Not everyone sees consolidation as a negative trend. One company owning more
stations reduces duplication of formats in medium-size markets. So, instead of
having two "oldies" stations, a market might have an "oldies" station and a
sports talk station. Others argue that without consolidations, radio stations
would find it difficult to survive financially with the increasing options offered by
new computer technology.
Internet Radio
Computer technology has generated an increase in radio programming delivered
over the Internet. Begun in 1995, radio broadcasting over the Internet grew
quickly. By 2000, more than 1,900 U.S. licensed radio stations and hundreds of
non-licensed stations around the world broadcast programming over the Web.
Arbitron estimated that in 1999, about 31 million people listened daily to radio
over the Web. Although the technology is improving, the quality can be erratic.
Despite occasional technology problems, Internet radio brings stations from all
over the world into a person's home. Someone sitting in Kansas can listen to sta-
tions from France and Japan. In order to help listeners cope with the increased
availability of stations, radio portals have sprung up. Broadcast.com carried
more than 400 networks and radio stations during 1999.
52
Internet radio could pull listeners from local radio stations, but the long-range
impact remains uncertain. Local stations continue to have larger audiences to
sell to advertisers. The technology has not been perfected, and many listeners
report difficulties connecting to some stations. To some degree, Internet radio,
with a national audience, resembles the radio industry of the 1940s more than
radio in 2000. Perhaps, having an audience on a large geographic scale will
increase non-music radio entertainment and news available over the Internet.
Satellite Radio
Even newer than Internet radio technology is satellite radio. Two companies, CD
Radio and XM satellite, expect to launch services in late 2000. Both plan to pro-
vide more than 100 channels of programming, and both will charge for their ser-
vice. Satellite service will accommodate radio listening on long car trips. Instead
of losing stations as cars leave broadcast areas, listeners can stay tuned in to
the same station wherever they drive. Estimates for subscribing set the price at
$10 a month and about $200 a receiver.
Satellite radio will compete with radio stations the way cable competes with TV
stations. It is unlikely that radio stations will go out of business (although some
might), because these stations will carry local programs serving local advertisers.
However, just as fewer viewers watch television stations because of cable, fewer
listeners may tune in local radio stations.
Summary
• Radio began as a point-to-point communication form before becoming a
mass medium during the 1920s.
• Radio became the center for home entertainment during the 1930s, much
as television is today.
• During World War II, radio news gave war coverage a speed and intimacy
that never existed before.
• A central debate throughout the history of radio is whether it should be a
commercial medium serving owners or a noncommercial medium serving
society.
• In the United States, radio has become a medium that attracts
demographically defined audience and sells the attention of those
audiences to advertisers.
• Music makes up most of radio’s programming, but news and talk radio
remain important, especially in large markets.
• More than two dozen music formats are available to radio stations.
• There are eight types of radio stations : commercial, state-run, public,
educational institution, community, special interest, shortwave, and pirate.
53
• Radio remains the most used medium throughout the world.

• International broadcasts grew during the 1980s as more countries used
improved technology to communicate their ideologies.
• Radio stations face increased competition during the twenty-first century
from internet and satellite distribution of radio.
• Radio ownership concentration has increased greatly as a result of the
1996 Telecommunications Act.
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UNIT – III
55
56
LESSON-3
TELEVISION MANAGEMENT

CONTENTS
Nature and characteristics of Television
To analyse the content and style of radio programmes
To study the global network of television
3.1 Television as mass medium: Characteristics of TV
3.2 Characteristics of Television
3.3 Ownership of Television
3.4 Organizational structure of Doordarshan
3.5 Programming pattern Content and style
3.6 Foreign and regional Satellite and Cable TV
3.7 Prasar Bharati – an Introduction
3.8 Trends and Innovations

3.1 TELEVISIONS AS MASS MEDIUM
Introduction
Television has a positive side as well. It expands the world of people who have
limited opportunities to experience faraway places and events. For many,
television is the great entertainer and informer. Television also brings the world
to our homes and can create common experiences.
At times, programming pushes cultural boundaries; at other times, it reinforces
the status quo. But television content and the amount of television being
watched remain concerns for people who are interested in individual
development, social change, political life, and the evolution of a democratic
society. Consider the following issues:
• Television in the United States has been, for the most part, a commercial
venture. How has the commercial nature of television shaped its content?
Is content shaped by advertisers? By public need and desire? By the over-
whelmingly commercial structure of the medium?
57
• Until recently, the broadcast television industry was dominated by three

networks. Now, many viewers have access to more than 100 channels. Has
this change benefited the public?
• Television is a force for political and social change. How do you think the
content of television has shaped or changed U.S. culture and society? Has
television fostered democracy? Has it turned politics into entertainment?
Has it made people more accepting of violence? Has it encouraged tolerance
of diversity?

3.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF TELEVISION
Television is known as the ‘Theatre of Home’ it is a medium of communication

for national development.
The following are same of the characteristics of Television
1. To act as a catalyst for social change
2. It is a family medium
3. Picture speaks louder than words
4. It is an entertainment medium
5. Flexible medium
6. T o disseminate messages in the field of agriculture, family planning,
pollution, health, machinery, family welfare etc,
7. Educating the society & human resources
8. Creates awareness in all sections of the society about the poor & the down
trodden
9. To promote interest in games & sports
10. To create values of appraisal & act & our cultural heritage.
3.3 OWNERSHIP OF TELEVISION
Television Station Ownership Patterns

When buyers consider purchasing a television station, they must first examine
the other media they own within that market. FCC regulations limit multiple
ownership of the same medium and cross-ownership of other media (radio and
newspaper) within the same market. The intent is to prevent a controlling media
monopoly and to encourage a variety of voices within the marketplace.
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GROUP OWNERSHIP : Of all ownership types, network-owned and – operated

("0 and 0" groups receive the most attention. The 0 and 0 stations in these
groups tend to be in larger markets, such as Chicago, New York, and Los
Angeles, because they attract larger audiences and profits than they would in
smaller markets. The four major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox) generate
or acquire programming that runs on their own stations and on affiliated
stations. The networks make money by selling advertising time at their stations
and during network programs. Because of declining network ratings and
increasing production costs, networks make more profit from their stations than
from network advertising.
Other companies besides the networks own groups of stations. Some of these
companies are major players in the industry. For example, Gannett, which is
known more for its newspapers than TV stations, owned twenty-one stations in
1999, which reached more than 17 percent of all U.S. households. United
Television, Inc. owned ten stations that reached about 21 percent of U.S.
households. Stations that are owned by groups mayor may not be affiliated with
networks. Affiliates make money from networks, which pay them to run
programming, and by selling advertising at their stations. Affiliated stations also
buy syndicated programs to run and use network shows.
INDEPENDENTLY OWNED STATIONS : Independently owned stations are
owned by individuals or families. They are not part of groups and may or may
not be affiliated with networks. Programming can be expensive for independently
owned stations that do not have a network on which to rely. However,
independent stations have total freedom in deciding content, and much creative
programming has originated at these stations.
PUBLIC TELEVISION STATIONS : Public broadcast stations do not carry direct
advertising; they are supported mostly by private donations, tax revenues,
grants, and corporate underwriting. Corporate underwriting, in which a large
company or corporation provides funding for a series, a program, or a particular
time slot, is reflected in statements such as "This program is made possible in
part by. . . "Public television is known for its long-running popular educational
programs, such as Sesame Street and Masterpiece Theatre and explorations of
nature and science. In addition, its multipart social and cultural programs, such
as Ken Burns's The Civil War, often attract large audiences of people who do not
regularly watch public television. Public television is also known for carrying
important congressional proceedings such as the Senate Judiciary Committee's
confirmation hearings when Clarence Thomas was nominated to the Supreme
Court. However, C-SPAN and CN now generally provide more thorough coverage
in this area.
The federal government supports public television by giving money to the Cor-
poration for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which, in turn, partially funds 1,000
public radio and television stations. With some of this money, public stations
produce or buy programming. Television stations buy shows such as The News
Hour with Jim Lehrer from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), a network
created by CPE. Theoretically, public stations are free from outside pressures
and can present all points of view. However, the federal government continues to
59
provide about 15 percent of the funding for the $2 billion spent on public TV,
and it remains a target for those who see television as an entity that should be
privately funded. Critics argue that if federal funding were reduced or
eliminated, many small stations might go out of business. Figure 8.1 illustrates
where public television gets its money. Another controversy arose in 1999 when
PBS told the U.S. Congress that twenty-eight out of seventy-five stations
surveyed had either given, sold, or swapped donor lists with the Democratic and
Republican parties. This seemed to violate the stations' independence and
resulted in calls for cutting the budget given to CPB, but others pointed out that
decreasing government funds might lead to more selling of donor lists because of
the need to raise additional money.
As of 1998, all but one of the major networks was under the control of large
conglomerates. To be specific:
1. NBC is owned by general electric. In addition to its holdings in non media
areas such as aerospace, aircraft engines, consumer products, and
financial properties, GE has interest in TV stations; cable/satellite
networks including CNBS, MSNBC, and Court TV; plus a video production
company.
2. ABC is owned by the Walt Disney Company, which also owns theme parks,
a professional hockey team, a cruise line, retail stores, and media holdings
that include daily newspapers, magazines, film production companies,
radio networks, record companies, cable networks, and TV stations.
3. Aox is controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, which owns a
major film and TV production company, more than 20 TV stations, cable
networks, satellite networks, a record company, newspapers, magazines,
and a book publishing company.
4. CBS was acquired by Westinghouse in 1995, but in late 1998 the network
became part of a newly organized CBS Corp., a pure media company with
interests in TV, radio, and cable.
The two newer networks, WB and UPN, are also part of large organizations. WB
is owned by the giant Time-Warner conglomerate, while UPN is part of the
Viacom/ paramount organization.
At the station level, the telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed a person or
organization to own as many TV stations as they wished as long as the combined
reach of the stations did not exceed 35 percent of the U.S population. This
change sparked a trend toward consolidation. By the start of 1998, big groups
controlled most of the TV stations in the top 100 markets.

60
3.4 ORGANISATIOINAL STRUCTURE OF DOORDARSHAN
PRODUCING TELEVISION PROGRAMS

Departments and Staff
There are many different staffing arrangements in television stations, Some big
city stations employ 300-400 people and may be divided into a dozen different
departments. Small-town stations may have 20 to 30 employees and only a few
departments.
At the top of the chart is the general manager, the person ultimately responsible
for all station activities. The sales departments is responsible for selling time to
local and national advertisers, scheduling ads, and sending bills to customers.
Maintaining all the technical equipment is the responsibility of the engineering
department. The production department puts together locally produced
programming. At many stations the programming function is also handled by
this department. Those involved in programming function decide what programs
should be broadcast and at what times they should be presented. The news
department includes the news director, anchor people, reporters, and writers
responsible for the station’s newscasts. The administrative department aids the
station manager in running the station.

Fig: Departmental chart for a Medium size TV station
61
At the network level, the divisions are somewhat more complicated. Although the
major networks differ in their setups, all seem to have departments that perform
the following function;
1. Sales; Handles sale of network commercials and works with advertising
agencies.
2. Entertainment; Works with producers to develop new programs for the
network.
3. Owned and operated stations; administers those station owned by the
networks.
4. Affiliate relations; a very important job in the 1990s supervises all contacts
with stations affiliated with the network (and generally tries to keep the
affiliates happy).
5. News; Responsible for all networks news and public affairs programs.
6. Sports; Responsible for all sports programming.
7. Standards; Checks all network’s programs to make sure they don’t violate
the law or the network’s own internal standards.
8. Operations; Handles the technical aspects of actually sending programs to
affiliates.
Television Operations
About 99 million households in the United States have one or more television
sets. About 67 million households subscribe to cable. However, after the
introduction of 18-inch satellite dishes in the spring of 1995, a growing number
of households began to subscribe to a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) system. By
2000, about 10 million households subscribed to a DBS system.
BROADCAST STATIONS : The United States has about 1,590 full-power
television stations. Some 1,200 are commercial, in business primarily to make a
profit. They are licensed by the FCC, transmit programs over the air, and carry
commercial messages to pay costs and make a profit. Noncommercial stations,
often referred to as educational or public television, are not operated for profit.
These 365 stations are financed primarily by grants from foundations, viewers'
donations, and government funds and carry no traditional advertising. Low-
power broadcast stations serve limited areas because the stations' signals
cannot reach long distances. There are about 1,600 low-power broadcast
stations. Broadcast operations can be further classified according to their
spectrum location in the very high frequency (VHF) or ultra high frequency
(UHF) band. VHF broadcasting uses larger radio waves to carry television signals
than does UHF broadcasting. The VHF signals travel farther and provide a
clearer picture than UHF TV signals.
CABLE INDUSTRY : The $40 billion cable industry profits mostly by selling
cable service to subscribers, although many systems and networks also sell ad-
62
vertising. Cable systems originally functioned as boosters for broadcast signals,

but in the 1950s they began to augment programming by producing limited local
programs. Later, cable companies offered additional features, such as movies
without ads, for an extra charge to their subscribers.
By the mid-1960s, broadcasters began to fear the power of cable competition
and asked the FCC to design protective regulation that would keep cable opera-
tors from competing with traditional broadcast stations. From 1966 until the
late 1970s, the FCC imposed heavy restrictions on cable development. However,
such regulations did not hold up under Supreme Court scrutiny, and during the
late 1970s the FCC reversed its position on cable regulation. In 1984, Congress
passed a strongly deregulatory Cable Communications Policy Act, which limited
interference in cable operations by local communities, state governments, and
the FCC. Recent disputes over cable have centered primarily on subscriber rates,
with a fair amount of government and private concern directed toward the
rapidly increasing costs of cable television to the consumer.
Deregulation paved the way for cable superstations. In 1976, Ted Turner turned
the lowest rated Atlanta TV station, UHF Channel 17, into superstation WTBS.
He contracted with a satellite company to uplink his signal to RCA's SATCOM I
for distribution to cable systems. At first, only twenty systems downlinked
WTBS, but within two years more than 200 systems downlinked programs from
the station, and by 1979 more than 2,000 systems were participating. Using
WTBS, Turner made the Atlanta Braves, which he also owns, one of the most
popular baseball teams in the United States.
Today, cable advertising revenues are the fastest growing segment in the com-
munications industry. In 1981, cable television had less than 1 percent of the
total television advertising pie. By 1994, its share had risen to nearly 9 percent,
whereas the broadcast networks' share fell by the same amount. The average
cable system offers about 60 channels, but this average includes systems that
have 100 channels and systems that have 30. The average number of channels
will grow with increasing use of fiber optics and digital signals by cable systems.
Changing programs into a digital signal requires less space on a cable.
Even though the United States has more than 11,000 cable systems, most of
them are owned by a few companies. These companies are called multiple sys-
tem operators (MSO). AT&T, which owned no cable companies in early 1998,
became the largest MSO when it acquired TCI and MediaOne within a year's
time. It served about 27 million subscribers by the end of 1999. Because cable
lines can carry telephone signals, owning cable companies gives AT&T the
potential for reentering the local telephone business and competing with the
"baby bells," which are the regional telephone companies that were created by
the federally mandated breakup of AT&T in the early 1980s.
Time Warner is the second largest MSO in the United States with 13 million
subscribers. AT&T also owns a small percentage of some cable systems operated
by Time Warner. Both also own a variety of other media. Time Warner owns HEO
and Cinemax. TCI AT&T owns shares of Court TV, E!, the Family Channel, Dis-
covery, Elack Entertainment Television, The Learning Channel, and a variety of
63
other cable networks. The ownership of cable networks by MSOs explains why
some cable systems carry certain networks and not others. An MSO cable
system is likely to carry networks that the MSO owns.
SATELLITE DISTRIBUTION : Direct broadcast satellite (DES) distribution has
become the fastest growing segment for delivering TV content, and it promises to
grow with changes in regulation. The number of DES subscribers reached 10
million in 1999, paying DES companies more than $5.5 billion in revenue. The
growth has brought about mergers among companies in the industry. DirecTV
merged with USSE and Primestar, bringing its total subscribers to about 7
million. Echostar ranks second in number of subscribers with about 3 million.
The consolidation of the industry will make DES more competitive with cable
because it will give the larger companies more money to invest in improved
services.
DES's continued growth improved during 1999 with the approval of federal
legislation that allows satellite systems to distribute local station broadcasts into
those stations' home markets. This had been illegal and had been the largest
stumbling block for DES in its growing competition with cable systems

3.5 PROGRAMMING PATTERN CONTENT AND STYLE
Supplying News: The World in Our Living Rooms

Local stations, national networks, CNN, and news syndicates generate
programming in a variety of TV news formats. Local stations usually produce
their own community news, and satellite technology allows them also to carry
national and international news. CNN, Fox News Network, and MISNBC use
cable and satellite technology that provides twenty-four-hour access to news. TV
news syndicates take the form of either a video exchange by local stations joined
in a cooperative or a pay service. CONUS, a cooperative formed in 1984, has
more than 100 member stations. Reuters and Associated Press, which provide
video services for subscribers, are pay services.
EVENING NEWSCAST : The evening news format, as exemplified by the network
shows featuring Peter Jennings, Dan Rather, and Tom Brokaw, is the most basic
news presentation model. Chet Huntley and David Brinkley popularized the
anchor format, in which one or two anchors present the news, usually with video
or other visual accompaniment. This format later became identified primarily
with former UPI reporter Walter Cronkite. Cronkite became the evening CBS
anchor in 1963 and soon ranked in public opinion polls as the most trusted
person in the United States. Since Cronkite's retirement in 1981, no newscaster
has enjoyed such a high level of credibility.
Local stations have their own news teams. Teams include the anchors and sup-
porting team members who report on local weather, sports, and other topics,
such as health and consumer information. Station reporters videotape reports or
report live from story sites. There may also be remote feeds, usually from
64
stations affiliated with the same network, for stories of special interest. For
example, during the criminal and civil trials of O.J. Simpson, many local news
broadcasts around the country featured live reports from California.
DOCUMENTARIES : Documentaries evolved from a tradition of news and
exposure that was prominent in film during the 1930s. They moved to television
in the 1950s as 30-minute or one-hour programs concentrating on a single is-
sue. The purpose of a documentary is to provide depth and context for important
public issues. Some memorable documentaries include Harvest of Shame (1960),
which exposed mistreatment of migrant workers, and The Selling of the Pentagon
(1971), which centered on the use of federal money to promote the military. In
1999 Bill Moyers produced a critically acclaimed documentary for PES entitled
Facing the Truth. The two-hour program covered South Africa's Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, which allowed the people of South Mrica to confront
the crimes that occurred when the country was run entirely by white South
Africans. The number of network documentaries has declined because ratings
for documentaries remain low and controversial issues are rarely attractive to
advertisers. Today, documentaries are most often associated with independent
production companies, cable channels such as Discovery, and public television.
NEWS MAGAZINES : Magazine programs contain several stories in each
segment. News magazines reached the level of prominence they enjoy today in
the late 1990s. Magazine programs such as Dateline NBC air more than once a
week, and they often receive high ratings, especially during summer when
entertainment programs are reruns. For instance, in the week of July 12 to 18,
1999, six of the top ten programs were news magazines. Only the major league
All-Star baseball game prevented news magazines from taking the top five spots
in the ratings.
The shows vary in the degree of hard and soft news they carry and in the degree
of sensational treatment. However, they are profitable because they cost less
money to produce than a prime-time drama and they allow the networks to
share the high salaries of news personalities among several programs.
INTERVIEW SHOWS : Meet the Press and Face the Nation, in which journalists
interview one or more prominent people in the news, are some of the longest
running programs. They provide the public with the opinions of prominent politi-
cians, military leaders, and other important public figures. In doing so, these
programs serve the marketplace of ideas.
MORNING NEWS SHOWS : Morning news shows have completed a circle,
arriving where they were when the Today Show started on NBC in 1952. The
early Today Show, hosted by Dave Garroway, provided news, but in a very broad
sense of the term. Celebrity interviews, a large picture window where people on
the street could hold up signs of greetings, and even chimpanzees named Mr.
Kokomo and J. Fred Muggs greeted viewers in the morning. Eventually, the
Today Show spawned a variety of imitations. The morning shows took on a
harder edge during the late 1960s and early 1970s. But Good Morning America
started a return toward softer news in the mid-1970s. This sometimes
sensational news approach became the norm for morning shows after 1979,
65
when Good Morning America replaced the Today Show as the ratings leader for
morning news shows.
The morning time slot can generate a large amount of advertising for the net-
works. As a result, the morning shows became a battleground in 1999. In order
to boost sagging ratings, ABC moved Diane Sawyer to Good Morning America.
CBS retaliated by bringing Bryant Gumbel back to the early morning
competition. Gumbel had drawn a large audience at Today before leaving NBC.
Whether Gumbel or Sawyer, who does not plan to stay on at Good Morning
America, can take viewers away from NBC remains to be seen. But NBC, CBS,
and ABC seem ready to spend considerable amounts of money to go after this
audience.
TABLOID TELEVISION : Tabloid television includes confrontational talk shows
such as Jerry Springer, gossip shorts such as A Current Affair, and so-called
reality-based shows such as Cops and America's Most Wanted. These are
inexpensive to make, easy to syndicate, and wildly profitable. Tabloid shows
continue to receive criticism because of their emphasis on sex, reenactments,
and the practice of paying sources. During the 1990s, some programs toned
down their excesses in these areas, but the emphasis on sex and violence is part
of what defines tabloid shows.
Supplying Entertainment
Because it is difficult for programming directors to predict the success of shows,
they rely on entertainment formulas that have worked in the past. Costs are high,
and risks are great. When a network's new show pulls good ratings, other
networks quickly will produce shows with similar plots or casts of characters.
This copy-cat programming increases the chance of success. Thus programming
often goes through three stages: invention, in which new genres or types of
shows are developed; imitation, or copycat programming; and ultimately decline.
Primetime television has been through Old West periods, war periods, doctor
periods, and police periods. The late 1990s saw a boom in situation comedies
that concentrated on the lives and relationships of people in their late twenties
and early thirties. Spurred by the success of Friends, the networks created
Dharma and Greg, Ally McBeal, Two Guys and a Girl, and a variety of other
programs with similar story lines aimed to attract young viewers. Low-budget
programs are a mainstay, especially during daytime programming. Low-budget
programs include soap operas, game shows, and interview shows. Soap operas
hire actors who often begin (and end) their careers in soap operas. Game shows
and interview shows need only one set and use amateurs, who are less
expensive than professional actors.
Entertainment programming includes prime-time network shows, which run
between 8:00 and 11:00 P.M. Syndicates' prime-time shows are first-run shows
that are sold through syndicates and not by networks. Other programming is
composed of syndicated reruns, which are former or current successful prime-
time shows that produced enough episodes to run five days a week. Still other
programming includes movies, sports programming, and public broadcasting.
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Who produces entertainment programming? Overwhelmingly, television shows

have been produced by Hollywood studios. However, freed from regulation
during the early 1990s, networks began producing more of their own television
programs. This allowed them greater control of the program content, but it also
raised concerns among independent producers. With network-produced shows
taking up more time slots, networks will buy fewer independent programs. As
media companies have merged, corporations increasingly look to own a
production company and a television company to distribute the film and video.
For instance, Disney owns ABC, and Murdoch owns both the Fox Network and
Twentieth Century Fox.
Although First Amendment considerations prevent government action in most
content areas, Congress and public interest critics have repeatedly raised
concerns about the impact of sexual and violent content on television,
particularly its effects on children.
Programs aimed at teenagers typically emphasize relationships between boys
and girls, which translates on television into sex. Fox has been successful with
programs such as Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90270 in attracting highly
sought after young viewers, who spend much of their money on consumer goods
and services. These programs target teenagers who conceive of themselves as
young adults. Proponents argue that these programs introduce social issues and
teach teenagers how to deal with them. Critics are quick to point out that
dilemmas are usually solved within the hour and that choices made by the
characters seldom have lasting consequences.
The public and Congress express even greater concern about the impact of pro-
gramming on young children, particularly in regard to violence. Some people ar-
gue that parents should monitor what their children watch, others support
installing V-chips that can block specified programming, and still others
advocate outright control of content production.
Increased concern about the influence of television content on children and the
impact of violent programming on society led to a television program ratings sys-
tem in 1997. The television industry developed the system not out of altruism
but because the 1996 Telecommunications Act mandates a system that can be
used with a computer chip. The industry hopes the ratings system will help to
blunt any further efforts to control content.
The Motion Picture Academy of America helped to develop the ratings system,
which is similar to the one used for movies. The system has been adopted by the
networks and most basic cable channels. The system has six levels that are
indicated by icons in the upper left corner of the TV screen during the first
fifteen seconds of the program. The levels are based on age and run from TV-Y,
which means that the program is suitable for all children, to TV-M, which means
that it is not suitable for children under 17.
The ratings system has not received unanimous support. Critics argue that the
ratings should address content more specifically and that separate ratings
should be available for sex and violence. Others argue that determining the
suitability of TV content should be left to parents, not a ratings system.
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Surveys conducted in the six weeks following the introduction found that many
parents were not using the system. In one poll, 86 percent said that they sup-
ported having a ratings system, and 73 percent said that they were aware of the
new system. However, only 37 percent said that they had used it to help select
programs.
ADVERTISING AND TELEVISION CONTENT : Company sponsorship of

individual television shows declined in the 1960s after the quiz show scandals.
Today, it is rare for an entire program to be sponsored by one advertiser. Rather,
networks or stations sell time for ads, known as spots, during a show. Does this
mean that advertising has little impact on programming? No. The influence
remains, but it is more subtle. Individual advertisers occasionally affect content
but advertising as a form of financing has a more pervasive impact.
Because cable television fragmented audiences during the 1980s, advertisers in-
creasingly appeal to precise demographic groups. To provide efficient advertising
within these groups, programs need to attract as large a proportion of the
targeted group as they can. A company selling jeans to eighteen- to twenty-four-
year-olds wants to reach as much of that audience as it can with one program
because buying the ads on several programs cuts into the company's profit
margin. Therefore, the company may prefer a program that concentrates on sex,
action, and violence, which have a visceral impact that attracts many viewers in
the target age group. But some programs, such as the hospital drama ER, are
high-quality shows that may include sex and violence but do not rely heavily on
them. The muscular chests and jiggling breasts of the lifeguards in Baywatch,
for example, attract viewers, whereas the occasional shot of Detective Sipowicz's
buttocks probably does not significantly increase the audience of NYPD Blue.
High-quality dramatic shows attract viewers with complicated plots, character
development, and sophisticated writing.
NYPD Blue provides an example of the declining influence of advertisers on adult
programming. The program first aired in the fall of 1993 amidst controversy over
its language, violence, and occasional nudity. During its premiere season, au-
tomotive, food, and beer advertisers stayed away because they were frightened
by protests from some organizations. As it turned out, the violence did not
exceed that found in the earlier Hill Street Blues, and the language could be
heard daily on talk shows. The sex, although racy by traditional network
standards, proved to be mild by cable standards. Two years after its inception,
NYPD Blue was awarded an Emmy for best drama of the 1994-1995 season and
consistently ranked in the top ten programs on television. Advertisers flocked to
reach its audience.

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3.6 FOREIGN AND REGIONAL SATELLITE AND CABLE TV FOREIGN

AND REGIONAL SATELLITE TV
The satellite TV revolution in urban area was ushered in by five star hotels in
Bombay and Delhi which brought the ‘live’ coverage of the Gulf War to the small
screen via the CNN (Cable News Network (f Atlanta, Georgia. STAR-TV (with four
channels) was launched in 1991 when there were around 11,500 cable networks
in the entire country. In Delhi alone, there were at the time around 45,000
households linked to cable TV. (STAR-TV added a fifth channel – the BBC World
Service, on October 14,1991). The number of cable networks increased steadily
as it became clear that only a dish antenna would be necessary to transmit
STAR-TV channels to basic cable linked households. Around 78% of the cable
households get STAR-TV programmes.
Conducted in May 1992, the ARU’s study covered ten cities and towns: Delhi,
Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Nagpur, Jaipur
and Cuttack. These cites and towns represent different sizes of population,
different levels of cable penetration and different levels of knowledge in English
and Hindi. The study estimated that none of the satellite TV programmes have
more than eight per cent viewing and very few programmes reach even five
percent. The programmes with higher than five percent viewing were feature
films, serials, cartoon shows and news. The study concluded: it appears that
most of the satellite TV viewing is chance viewing. The programmes are yet to
build up a loyal audience. The reasons are obvious. The programmes are in
English and even for a majority of English knowing people the accent in the
dramatic programmes is not easy to comprehend.
The study added that ‘the VCR programmes of the local operator have good
viewing which goes up to 24% at times. These are mostly feature films, some
new and other popular hits of yester years. Generally, the local VCR peaks in the
afternoons and after 10.00 pm when feature films in the local languages are put
on the cable network. An IIMC survey of 300 respondents in Delhi conducted in
January 1992 arrived at a similar conclusion.
The major effect of the mushroom growth of cable and satellite television has
been on the advertising revenue earned by Doordarshan and the print media.
Advertisers of sanitary napkins, pan masalas, alcoholic drinks, jewellery and
other products which are banned on other advertisers too are taking advantage
of the lower rates of soaps, consumer items and consumer durables.
Doordarshan has launched a metro channel and four other channels which are
available via satellite in any part of the country, in a bid to win back the top
advertisers. Doordarshan’s efforts are veering fruit since advertisers and ad
agencies are provided opportunities to produce programmes on the metro and
the national networks.
The effect of satellite television on other mass media and such as the cinema,
radio, recorded music and even the press has been equally remarkable. Though
the production of films continue at the same rate as in earlier years (around 800
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a year), several cinema theatres have been forced to close down, Especially in
Bombay and other cities of Western India. the ‘privatization of FM radio in the
metros is clearly a fallout of the widespread access to satellite and cable
television, and an attempt to combat the popularity of the MTV channel on
STAR-TV. The recorded music industry too has been forced to change its
strategies to keep pace with the interests of the ‘MTV-generation’.
The press has not escaped the onslaught either. With round the clock news on
BBC World, CNN, STAR NEWS, and Zee India News, Indian newspapers find that
their reports cannot match the immediacy of satellite networks which present,
as the claim goes, ‘news as it happens’. In an effort to compete, Indian
newspapers and magazines have introduced visuals and color as well as
interesting layouts to keep the attention of their readers. Besides, both
newspapers and magazines now present news stories in the form of ‘snippets’
and ‘briefs’, and features that are investigative and analytical in nature. Several
publications, such as Bombay (of the Living media group) and The Illustrated
Weekly of India (of Times of India Group) have fallen by the wayside.
Satellite television has had some influence undoubtedly on the socio-cultural
environments of the urban and rural groups that afford access to the cable and
satellite channel. The operas, sitcoms, talk shows and game shows of the
American British and Australian networks often deal with subjects that are of
little relevance to Indian society; yet they are eminently watchable. Zee TV’s
shows are pale imitations of the American genres. The openness with which
topics related to sex and violence are discussed or enacted is passed in affluent
societies; it is not so in most Eastern cultures. Constant exposure to ‘images’
and ideas from dominant and powerful cultures give rise to media and cultural
imperialism. During the ‘seventies’ and ‘eighties’, the non-aligned countries
brought up this issue in UNESCO and other fora and pleaded for a New World
Information and Communication Order (NWICO), wherein the flow of information
between the countries of the North and of the South would be ‘fair, equal and
balanced’, and not predominantly from North to South. The United States and
Britain saw this struggle as a ‘communist plot’, and walked out of UNESCO.
The reporting of the BBC, CNN and ABC News on culturally and politically
sensitive issues over the satellite channels has been far from commendable.
Apparently, they have little concern for the possible repercussions of their
frequently provocative visuals and reports. Some national governments have
pointed out that this is tantamount to “interfering in the internal affairs” of
Asian nations under the guise of providing world news.
CABLE TELEVISION
With the sudden and spectacular growth of satellite and cable television network
since 1991, the most dramatic revolution on the TV screen got underway, when
India ended decades of television from the rest of the world. Cable television
promised multiple channels and multiple channels and multiple choices for the
viewer. Its introduction had profound effects on the broadcasting situation-
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programming, advertising, advertising and innovating formats to attract the

attention of viewers.
Liberalization of airwaves has resulted in a proliferation of satellite channels in
India. Doordarshan began telecast on as many as 13 channels on independence
day, 1994. Some other channels available in 1994 included CNN, BBC, Star
plus, prime Sports, v, Zee, Jain Sun, Asianet and ATN.The advertisement code of
doordarshan and All India Radio was amended in march 1994 allowing
advertisements relating to jewellery, precious stones, approved mutual funds,
foreign banks, including financial services, matrimonial agencies, astrologies
and manufacturers of hair-dye.
CABLE TELEVISION (Regulation Bill)

The advent of satellite and cable television has led to proliferation of television
channels-mostly in private sector. The main concern of television industry is to
earn as much revenue as possible through commercial advertising which is
directly related to the size of its audience. The private channel operators know
that the easiest and quickest way to build up viewership is by providing just
entertainment which essentially means-heavy reliance on films and film-based
programmes, tele-serials, soaps, chat-shows, etc. The film industry provided
substantial proportion of such channels programming. The key to success for
the private TV channels is-entertainment, more entertainment and more
entertainment. These channels hardly provide useful information and education
for the development of the society.
In the wake of proliferation of cable channel network, it has been observed that
television, which was generally regarded as a serious business of ideas and
creativity, become a business of pure economics. TV was shaping up as a vehicle
for entertainment. Which is aimed at garnering maximum advertising. At the
same time, advertising should not offend morality, decency, aesthetics and
ignore societal concerns.
The rapid television expansion-an ongoing process since 2984-is gathering speed
in the wake of cable and satellite television invasion. Television in India is no
longer and urban phenomenon. It is fast penetrating into mofussil and rural
areas of the country. The major cable and satellite television companies in the
world view India as one of the top five TV markets in the 21st century. Along with
this rapid and uncharted expansion of TV in India are tied a host of related
sociocultural issues-cultural alienation, Accessibility, credibility, violence and
vulgarity, encouragement to the forces of commercialization and consumerism in
the society.

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3.7 PRASAR BHARATI (BROADCASTING CORPORATION OF INDIA)
The first serious effort to legislate a comprehensive Broadcast Law was the draft
Akash Bharati bill, 1978, proposed by the working group on Autonomy for
Akashvani and Doordarshan, constituted under the chairmanship of Mr. B.G.
Verghese. the Draft Bill, intended to be an aid to legislation, provided for a
simple statue establishing the national Broadcast Trust, and set out its
objectives, scope, powers and basic structure. It was, at that point of time,
hoped that the Akash Bharati Act establishing the National Broadcast Trust,
and set out its objectives, scope, powers, and basic structure. it was, at that
point of time, hoped that the Akash Bharati Act establishing the national
Broadcast Trust would come into force from January 1979 and Akashvani and
Doordarshan would cease to be the attached offices of the Ministry of
information and Broadcasting. What happened to this initial effort is now a part
of history, the Janata party government, which introduced the Bill, with diluted
provision for autonomy, was voted out of office before the legislation could be
enacted.
A unique feature of the Act was that it enlarged the definition of broadcasting.
According to section 2(C), “Broadcasting means the dissemination of any form of
communication like signs, signals, writing, pictures, images and sounds of all
kinds by transmission Prasar Bharati Act, 1990
It was nor for another twelve years, that the parliament in 1990, enacted the
Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, provided for
establishment of a broadcasting Corporation of India. of electromagnetic waves
through cables intended to be received by the general public either directly
through the medium of relay stations and all its grammatical variations and
cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly”. It is more comprehensive
because it takes care of the transmission of electromagnetic waves through
space or through cables.
Objectives:
The corporation shall, in the discharge of its functions, be guided by the
following objectives, namely;
(a) upholding the unity and integrity of the country and the values enshrined
in the constitution;
(b) safeguarding the citizen’s right to be informed freely, truthfully and
objectively on all matters of public interest, national or international and
presenting a fair and balanced flow of information including, contrasting
views without advocating any opinion or ideology of its own;
(c) paying special attention to the fields of education and spread of literacy,
agriculture, rural development, environment, health and family welfare and
science and technology;
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(d) providing adequate coverage to sports and games so as to encourage

healthy competition and the spirit of sportsmanship;
(e) providing adequate coverage to the diverse cultures and languages of the
various regions of the country by providing
(f) Providing appropriate programmes keeping in view the special needs of the
youth;
(g) Informing and stimulating the national consciousness in regard to the
status and problems of women and paying special attention to the
upliftment of women;
(h) Promoting social justice and combating exploitation, inequality and such
evils as untouchability and advancing the welfare of the weaker sections of
the society;
(i) Safeguarding the rights of the working classes and advancing their welfare;
(j) Serving the rural and weaker sections of the people and those residing in
border regions, backward or remote areas;
(k) Providing suitable programmes keeping in view the special needs of the
minorities and tribal communities;
(l) Taking special steps to protect the interests of children, the blind, the aged,
the handicapped and other vulnerable sections of the people;
(m) Promoting national integration by broadcasting in a manner that facilitates
communication in the languages in India; and facilitating the distribution
of regional broadcasting services in every state in the language of that
state.
(n) Providing comprehensive broadcast coverage through the choice of
appropriate technology and the best utilization of the broadcast frequencies
available and the best utilization of the broadcast frequencies available and
ensuring high quality reception;
(o) Promoting research and development activities in order to ensure that radio
and television broadcast technology are constantly updated; and
(p) Expanding broadcasting facilities by establishing additional channels of
transmission at various levels.

3.8 TRENDS AND INNOVATIONS
Trends and innovations in television can be categorized according to technology,

ownership, and content. Just as they have been in the past, the three will
continue to be interdependent.
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Technology: Digital Television

Technology and economics will drive many of the changes that are expected. In-
teractive television is on the horizon, but marketers have not determined yet
exactly how much interactivity audiences want, what types of interactive
programs they will watch, how willing they will be to use complex technologies,
and how much they will pay for it. Interactive trial runs have been inconsistent.
Although some experiments have been welcomed in households, few consumers
seem willing to pay for the service after the free trial period ends. The most
popular services seem to be movies-on-demand, games, children's services, and
content created specifically for interactive television.
Thanks to an FCC decision in April 1997, the next generation of television sets
likely will have a higher quality picture and will connect easily to the Internet.
After years of debate and experimentation, the FCC began allocating additional
spectrum space for high-definition television (HDTV). HDTV uses digital
technology to improve the quality of the TV picture by increasing the number of
lines on the screen. Eventually, each television station will send two signals until
2006. One signal will be the current analog signal, and the other will be the
same programs in digital form. In 2000, the stations in the fifty largest markets
were broadcasting a digital signal. After 2006, people either will have to buy a
digital TV set or use a converter for their old TV sets. Not everyone is pleased
with HDlV. Some station owners would rather see lower quality digital
transmission because that would allow stations to broadcast multiple signals.
The multiple signals could be used for more television signals, data, or even
voice communication. Multiple signals instead of one HDTV signal would bring
in more money for the stations. Alter the transition to digital in 2006, prime-time
programming will be HDTV, but stations will be able to broadcast lower levels of
digital during other time periods.
Initially, HDTV was developed to improve picture quality, but the growth of the
Internet pushed the new system toward digital transmission. The move to digital
may have been the most important element in the adoption of HDTV because it
will lead to the convergence of television and computers. PCTV is a combination
of the acronyms for television (TV) and personal computers (PC), and it
represents the convergence of television and computers. PCTV will connect
homes to electronic distribution systems, such as the Internet, without having
both a television and a computer. The development of digital technology as a way
just to improve picture quality would have faced much greater opposition than
developing digital technology as a way to connect households to growing
electronic distribution systems. PCTVs will become the basis for sophisticated
interactive television systems. The development of PCTV appears to have gotten
a boost in January 2000 when AOL merged with Time Warner. AOL, which is the
world's largest online service, acquired access to Time Warner's empire of
magazines, movies, television news and entertainment and music. Time Warner
also has about 13 million cable subscribers, many of whom have access to fiber
optic delivery systems. With the large delivery capacity of fiber optics and the
Time Warner content, AOL can make PCTV a service consumers will want to
buy.
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The future of interactive television is also connected to the creation of digital

videodiscs (DVD). At some point during the next decade, many, if not most,
households will buy PCTV s. The introduction of DVD in 1997 should increase
the adoption of PCTVs because eventually they will replace VCRs. Recording
onto DVDs will require digital TV sets. The DVDs look exactly like the audio
discs that replaced records and they hold seven times more data than the audio
disc. DVDs likely will become the standard for watching movies at home because
they have higher reproduction quality than videocassettes and are cheaper than
laser discs. In addition, DVD allows for interactivity with films. Viewers can
select different languages and even the format in which a film can be viewed.
One drawback of the DVD is that it cannot be used for recording from television.
However, this is expected to change soon.
Ownership and Delivery of Services

The passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 guaranteed massive
changes in television station ownership and the mix of delivery services. The act
changed regulations governing broadcast television and cable ownership,
programming, and cable rates. The far-reaching law affects all areas of the
television industry and will alter the nature of the industry well into the twenty-
first century.
Old rules limited companies to ownership of twelve television stations reaching
up to 25 percent of the national audience. The 1996 act eliminated the limit on
the number of stations one entity could own and increased to 35 percent the na-
tional audience a company's stations could reach. Companies grew quickly in
size, and the broadcast lobby continues to push for a higher national audience
percentage, which will make the media corporations even bigger.
As a result of the act, networks and TV stations now can own cable systems, and
cable systems can own TV stations. A network can own a second network, pro-
vided it starts the second one rather than buying an existing network. The new
law also requires the FCC to consider whether it should relax the rule against a
broadcaster only owning one TV station in a market. The FCC has taken a liberal
stance toward ownership of a TV and radio station in the same market.
The conglomeration of media mentioned in Chapter 3 also affects television as a
result of the Telecommunications Act. In 2000, Viacom, which owns Paramount
and cable networks, acquired CBS. As with Fox and ABC, critics fear that the in-
tegration of movie studios and television cable and broadcast outlets will reduce
the chance that networks will buy independently produced programs.
Perhaps the most drastic changes are in the cable industry. With the ending of
rate regulation in 1996, cable rates outpaced the inflation rate by 200 to 300
percent. The success of cable rate deregulation hinges on telephone companies'
ability to provide programming. Regional operating companies can deliver
programs as a cable system, which will require a franchise agreement from local
government, or as an open video system. Open video systems do not have to get
local franchise agreements and are subject to limited federal cable regulations.
In return for more freedom, the open systems make cable channels available to
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unaffiliated programmers without discrimination in one of two ways: The system

operators can rent entire channels to programmers without control of the
content; or the systems can make a channel available that will vary in its
content. A person or group could buy an hour of time on a given day to
broadcast any message that falls within the limits of the law.
Open video systems allow greater access to people and organizations that are not
affiliated with an existing network or television station. Economists would say
that this lowers barriers to entry for non-established businesses and will make
content more diversified.
Just as telephone companies can enter the cable business, cable companies can
begin to provide telephone service. Existing telephone companies must negotiate
with new service providers about interconnections and a variety of other issues
required to keep telephone use simple.
Content
Will these changes affect content? What will these multiple technologies deliver
to individuals? Will the content differ from what is currently available? Or will
consumers simply have more control over what they can receive at a given time?
If a telephone service gives the consumer the ability to order a specific movie to
be shown at the consumer's convenience, the viewer may switch from her or his
standard cable service to a new delivery technology. Viewers may receive the
same or similar programming as before, but they may be able to make better
choices within their viewing time frames.
The most controversial parts of the 1996 Telecommunications Act involved
content regulation. Under the law, cable systems must scramble programs that
a subscriber deems unsuitable for children. In addition, cable operators can
reject programs that they deem indecent or obscene. The fine for sending
obscene material either over cable or by broadcasting was increased from
$10,000 to $100,000. Supporters of the bill argued that this gives people more
control over programming that comes into their homes; opponents say that it
provided the FCC with the ability to affect content by threatening fines.
An even more controversial part of the Telecommunications Act is the V-chip.
The law requires every new TV set to have an electronic chip that can screen
programs for sex and violence on the basis of a ratings system embedded in the
programs. Supporters of the V-chip argue that it will reduce exposure of children
to sex and violence. Opponents say that this provision is censorship and violates
the First Amendment, and some have challenged this section of the law in court.
Despite protest, by 2000 the major broadcast networks and most of the top 40
cable channels started encoding ratings information needed by the V-chip. At
the same time, manufacturers were installing V-chips in new TV sets.

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Summary
• Television, as a medium and as content, has always been controversial in

U.S. society.
• Television station licensees are charged with operating in the public interest.
• Getting the television industry on its feet after World War II was difficult
because each important element (station owners, set manufacturers,
programmers, consumers, and advertisers) was waiting for someone else to
begin the process.
• Although blacklisting did not alter the structure of the television industry, it
reminded television executives of their vulnerability and underscored the
necessity for free expression.
• Three networks, CBS, NBC, and ABC, dominated television during its first
forty years. This dominance declined during the late 1980s and early 1990s
because of cable television and the advent of Fox and three other new
networks.
• Early television programming borrowed from radio and was broadcast live.
• Early advertising took the form of sponsorship, and advertisers controlled
the content of specific programs.
• Network television journalism began as fifteen-minute evening newscasts
but later expanded to include a variety of news formats.
• Television combined with changes in the political landscape to shift power
from political parties to television. The emphasis is on the candidates'
images rather than on substantive discussions of the issues or
investigations of the candidates' past positions.
• Broadcast stations profit by selling an audience to advertisers, whereas
cable stations profit mostly by selling programming to subscribers.
• Television involves a variety of distribution technologies such as broadcast,
cable, satellite, fiber optics, and combinations of these and other
transmission processes.
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78
UNIT – IV

79
80
LESSON-4
MANAGEMENT OF MOTION PICTURES

CONTENTS
To study the historical background and latest developments of cinema
To analyze the latest trends and problems
To study the changing audience of cinema
4.1 Motion pictures
Historical background
4.2 Structure and organization of motion picture industry in India
4.3 New development in film production
4.4 Status, problem and prospects of film industry with special reference to
regional cinema
4.5 Documentary films
4.6 Future of film as medium of entertainment
4.7 Film audience
4.8 Critical review of noted regional/national films

4.1 MOTION PICTURES HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Pre-cinema age
Telling stories from the epics using hand-drawn tableaux images in scroll
paintings, with accompanying live sounds have been an age old Indian tradition.
These tales, mostly the familiar stories of gods and goddesses, are revealed
slowly through choreographic movements of painted glass slides in a lantern,
which create illusions of movements. And so when the Lumire brothers'
representatives held the first public showing at Mumbai's (Bombay) Watson's
Hotel on July 7, 1896, the new phenomenon did not create much of a stir here
and no one in the audience ran out at the image of the train speeding towards
them, as it did elsewhere. The Indian viewer took the new experience as
something already familiar to him.
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Harischandra Sakharam Bhatwadekar, who happened to be present for the

Lumiere presentation, was keen on getting hold of the Lumiere Cinematograph
and trying it out himself rather than show the Lumiere films to a wider
audience. The public reception accorded to Wrangler Paranjpye at Chowapatty
on his return from England with the coveted distinction he got at Cambridge was
covered by Bhatwadekar in December 1901- the first Indian topical or actuality
film was born.
In Calcutta, Hiralal Sen photographed scenes from some of the plays at the
Classic Theatre. Such films were shown as added attractions after the stage
performances or taken to distant venue where the stage performers could not
reach. The possibility of reaching a large audience through recorded images
which could be projected several times through mechanical gadgets caught the
fancy of people in the performing arts and the stage and entertainment
business. The first decade of the 20th century saw live and recorded
performances being clubbed together in the same programme.
The strong influence of its traditional arts, music, dance and popular theatre on
the cinema movement in India in its early days, is probably responsible for its
characteristic enthusiasm for inserting song and dance sequences in Indian
cinema, even till today.
Dada Saheb Phalke

Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (1870 - 1944) affectionately called Dadasaheb Phalke
is considered as the 'father of Indian Cinema'. Central in Phalke's career as a
filmmaker was his fervent belief in the nationalistic philosophy of swadeshi,
which advocated that Indians should take charge of their own economy in the
perspective of future Independence.
Phalke, with his imported camera, exposed single frames of a seed sprouting to a
growing plant, shot once a day, over a month-thus inadvertently introducing the
concept of 'time-lapse photography', which resulted in the first indigenous
'instructional film'- The Birth of a Pea Plant (1912) - a capsule history of the
growth of a pea into a pea-laden plant. This film came very handy in getting
financial backing for his first film venture.
Inspired from an imported film - Life of Christ - Phalke started mentally
visualising the images of Indian gods and goddesses. What really obsessed him
was the desire to see Indian images on the screen in a purely Swadeshi venture.
He fixed up a studio in Dadar Main Road, wrote the scenario, erected the set and
started shooting for his first venture Raja Harishchandra in 1912. The first full-
length story film of Phalke was completed in 1912 and released at the
Coronation cinema on April 21, 1913, for special invitees and members of the
Press. The film was widely acclaimed by one and all and proved to be a great
success.
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Raja Harishchandra
The opening tableaux presents a scene of royal family harmony- with a space
"outside" the frame from where the people emerge, and to which space the king
when banished seeks shelter. The film's treatment is episodic, following the style
of the Indian flok theatre and the primitive novel. Most of the camera set-ups are
static, with plenty of movements within the frame. The bathtub sequence where
Harishchandra comes to call his wife Taramati, who is in the tub, with her fully
drenched attendants is indeed the first bath-tub scene in Indian cinema. All the
females in their wet sarees and blouses clinging to their bodies are in fact all
males in female grab.
Phalke hailed from an orthodox Hindu household - a family of priests with
strong religious roots. So, when technology made it possible to tell stories
through moving images, it was but natural that the Indian film pioneer turned to
his own ancient epics and puranas for source material. The phenomenal success
of Raja Harishchandra was kept up by Phalke with a series of mythological films
that followed–Mohini Bhasmasur (1914), significant for introducing the first
woman to act before the cameras – Kamalabai Gokhale. The significant titles
that followed include - Satyawan Savitri (1914), Satyavadi Raja Harischandra
(1917), Lanka Dahan (1917), Shri Krishna Janma (1918) and Kalia Mardan
(1919).
Regional Cinema
The first film in Southern India was made in 1916 by R Nataraja Mudaliar-
Keechaka Vadham. As the title indicates the subject is again a mythological from
the Mahabharata. Another film made in Madras - Valli Thiru-Manam (1921) by
Whittaker drew critical acclaim and box office success. Hollywood returned
Ananthanarayanan Narayanan founded General Pictures Corporation in 1929
and established filmmaking as an industry in South India and became the single
largest producer of silent films. Kolhapur in Western Maharashtra was another
centre of active film production in the twenties. In 1919 Baburao K Mistry -
popularly known as Baburao Painter formed the Maharashtra Film Co. with the
blessings of the Maharaja of Kolhapur and released the first significant historical
- Sairandhari (1920) with Balasheb Pawar, Kamala Devi and Zunzarrao Pawar in
stellar roles. Because of his special interest in sets, costumes, design and
painting, he chose episodes from Maratha history for interpreting in the new
medium and specialised in the historical genre. The exploits of Shivaji and his
contemporaries and their patriotic encounters with their opponents formed the
recurring themes of his 'historicals' which invariably had a contemporary
relevance to the people of a nation, who were fighting for liberation from a
colonial oppressor. The attack against the false values associated with the
Western way of life and their blind imitation by some Indians was humorously
brought out by Dhiren Ganguly in his brilliant satirical comedy - England
Returned (1921) - presumably the first 'social satire' on Indians obsessed with
Western values. And with that another genre of Indian cinema known as 'the
contemporary social' slowly emerged. Baburao Painter followed it up with
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another significant film in 1925 - Savkari Pash (The Indian Shylock) - an attempt
at realistic treatment of the Indian peasant exploited by the greedy moneylender.
In Bengal, a region rich in culture and intellectual activity, the first Bengali
feature film in 1917, was remake of Phalke's Raja Harishchandra. Titled
Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra, it was directed by Rustomjee Dotiwala. Less
prolific than Bombay based film industry, around 122 feature films were made
in Calcutta in the Silent Era.
The first feature film in Tamil, also the first in entire South India,
Keechakavatham was made during 1916-17, directed by Nataraja Mudaliar.
Marthandavarma (1931) produced by R Sunder Raj, under Shri.Rajeswari Film,
Nagercoil, directed by P V Rao, got into a legal tangle and was withdrawn after
its premiere. Based on a celebrated novel by C V Raman Pillai, the film recounts
the adventures of the crown prince and how he eliminates the arch-villains to
become the unquestioned ruler of the Travancore State. The film has title cards
in English and Malayalam, some of which are taken from the original text. A few
of the title cards and action make obvious reference to the Swadeshi Movement
of the time. Had it not been for the legal embargo, the film would have had a
great impact on the regional cinema of the South.
Indian Cinema Starts Talking
In the early thirties, the silent Indian cinema began to talk, sing and dance.
Alam Ara produced by Ardeshir Irani (Imperial Film Company), released on
March 14, 1931 was the first Indian cinema with a sound track.
Mumbai became the hub of the Indian film industry having a number of self-
contained production units. The thirties saw hits like Madhuri (1932), Indira,M A
(1934), Anarkali (1935), Miss Frontier Mail (1936), and Punjab Mail (1939).
V Shantaram
Among the leading filmmakers of Mumbai during the forties, V Shantaram was
arguably the most innovative and ambitious. From his first talkie Ayodhya ka
Raja (1932) to Admi (1939), it was clear that he was a filmmaker with a distinct
style and social concern whose films generated wide discussion and debate. He
dealt with issues like cast system, religious bigotry and women's rights. Even
when Shantaram took up stories from the past, he used these as parables to
highlight contemporary situations. While Amirt Manthan (1934) opposed the
senseless violence of Hindu rituals, Dharmatama (1935) dealt with Brahmanical
orthodoxy and cast system. Originally titled Mahatma, the film was entirely
banned by the colonial censor on the ground that it treated a sacred subject
irreverently and dealt with controversial politics. Amarjyoti (1936) was an
allegory on the oppression of women in which the protagonist seeks revenge. It
could perhaps be called the first women's lib film in India.
Duniya Na Mane (1937) was about a young woman's courageous resistance to a
much older husband whom she had been tricked into marrying. Admi (1939)
was one of Shantaram's major works.
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Calcutta film Industry

Madan Theatres of Calcutta produced Shirin Farhad and Laila Majnu (1931) well
composed and recorded musicals. Both films replete with songs had a
tremendous impact on the audience and can be said to have established the
unshakeable hold of songs on our films. Chandidas (1932, Bengali), the story of
a Vaishnavite poet-priest who falls in love with a low caste washerwoman and
defies convention, was a super-hit. P C Barua produced Devdas (1935) based on
Saratchandra Chatterjee's famous story about frustrated love, influenced a
generation of viewers and filmmakers.
The South Indian Cinema
Tamil cinema emerged as a veritable entertainment industry in 1929 with the
creation of General Picture Corporation in Madras (Chennai). Most of the Tamil
films produced were multilingual productions, with versions in Telugu,
Malayalam and Kannada until film production units were established in
Hyderabad, Trivandrum and Bangalore. The first talkie of South India, Srinivas
Kalyanam wa s made by A Narayanan in 1934.
The Golden Fifties
Fifties saw the rise of great directors like Mehboob, Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt and
Raj Kapoor who changed the fate of Indian cinema. These directors entered the
film industry during the 1930s and '40s, which were traumatic years for the
Indian people. The fight for independence, famines, changing social mores,
global fight against fascism all contributed to the ethos in which the directors
grew up.

4.2 STRUCTURE AND ORGANISATION OF MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY IN

INDIA
Producing Motion Pictures

Departments
Film studios differ in the way they are structured. There are three main
departments illustrated. The distribution department handles sales and
contracts for domestic and worldwide distribution. The production division is in
charge of all those elements that actually go into the making of a film. Also
illustrated is the TV production division, which would handle all the studio’s
work in the development and production of series and made-for-TV motion
pictures.
Behind the scenes
There are three distinct phases in moviemaking; (1) preproduction, (2)
production, and (3) postproduction. All films begin with an idea. The idea can be
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sketchy, such as a two – paragraph outline of the plot, or detailed, such as a

novel or Broadway play.
The next step of the preproduction process is writing the screenplay. In general,
the route to a finished motion picture script consists of several steps;
1. Step one is called a treatment. This is a narrative statement of the plot and
description of the main characters and locations; it might even contain
sample dialogue.
2. Step two is a first-draft script. This version contains all the dialogue and
camera setups and a description of action sequences.
3. The third step is a revised script incorporating changes suggested by the
producer, director, stars, and others.
4. Finally, step four is a script polish. This includes adding or subtracting
scenes, revising dialogue, and other minor changes.

Fig : Department chart for a typical motion picture Company
The latest trend in Hollywood is encouraging for anybody who wants to be a

screenwriter. In the past, screenwriters have traditionally been the lowest paid of
all the creative people who put together a movie. Scripts by newcomers and less-
established writers brought far less. In the 1990s however, thanks to good years
at the box office and an increased demand for scripts, prices skyrocketed.
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While all of this is going on, the producer tries to find actors and actresses (in
the film industry, people who act in films are described by the generic term
“talent.” Whether they have any or not) who will appear in the film. The
contracts and deals that are worked out vary from astronomical to modest. One
common arrangement is for the star to receive a flat fee. These fees have been
rising in the past few years and they are one of the reasons films cost so much
to produce.
The producer is also trying to secure financial backing for the picture. At the
same time, the producer is also busy lining up skilled personnel to work behind
the camera. Of these people, the films director is central. When all the elements
have been put together, the director will determine what scenes get
photographed from what angle and how they will determine what scenes get
photographed from what angle and how they will be assembled in the final
product. Working closely with the director is the cinematographer (the person
responsible for the actual lighting and filming of the scenes) and the film editor
(the person who will actually cut the film and assemble the scenes in the proper
order). In addition, a movie crew also contains dozens of other skilled people; set
designers, makeup specialists, electricians, audio engineers, crane operators,
painters, plumbers, carpenters, property masters, set dressers, caterers, first-aid
people, and many others.
Shortly after the director has been signed for the project, his or her and the
producer scout possible location for shooting the film. Some sequences may be
shot in the sound studio, while others may need the authenticity that only
location shooting can provide. As soon as the locations have been chosen, the
producer makes the necessary arrangements to secure these sites for filming.
Sometimes this entails renting the studios of a major motion production
company or obtaining permits to shoot in city streets or other places at the same
time.
Production
Once all these items have been attended to, the film moves into the actual
production phase. Cast and crew assemble on the chosen location, and each
scene is shot and reshot until the director is satisfied. The actors and crew then
move to another location, and the process starts all over again.
The average shooting schedule for the typical film is about 70 days. Each days,
shooting (and some days can be 16 hours long) results in an average of less than
two minutes of usable film. Exhibitors prefer feature films that are about 100
minutes in length.
At the end of each day’s shooting, the film is sent to the laboratory where it is
developed overnight. Also, the film of the previous day’s shooting is projected for
the director and cast. This is called viewing the dailies and lets the director see
how the film is coming along.
Post production
The postproduction phase begins after the filming has been completed. A film
editor, working with the director, decides where close-ups should be placed, the
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angle from which the scene is shown, and how long each scene should last. The
elaborate optical special effects that some films require are also added during
postproduction. Once the scenes have been edited into an acceptable form,
postproduction sound cab added. This might include narration, music, sound
effects, and original dialogue that, for one reason or another, has to be redone.
Finally, the edited film, complete with final sound track and special effects, is
sent to the laboratory where a release print of the film is made. In the case of
some films, the final version is shown to special preview audiences. These
audiences fill out special preview cards that indicate their reactions to the film. If
the reaction is overwhelmingly negative, the film may be returned to the editing
room for more work. If the reaction is favorable, the film is made ready for
distribution.

4.3 NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN FILM PRODUCTION
Film Content; 1980-Present

Probably the most notable trend of recent years has been the steady popularity
of the sequel- a movie that continues a story started in an earlier film. Godfather
II, the first modern example, was quickly followed by a slew of Rocky, Star Traek,
Superman, and Batman sequels, as well as many others. The trend will
doubtless extend into the next century; for example, 1997 saw the release of
speed 2 and the Lost World, the sequel to Jurassic park. The motivating factor
behind this large number of sequels to Jurassic Park. The motivating factor
behind this large number of sequels is an economic one. As films cost more to
produce (recall titanic), Hollywood producers believe it is less risky to finance a
story and a cast of characters that have proven box-office appeal.
Another development in the industry has been the tendency of the studios to
release films aimed at audience segments other than teenagers. To be sure, films
that appeal to teens will always be popular recent hits have been designed to
appeal to more mature audiences have broad appeal to all ages. A third notable
trend that was at its peak in the mid- to late 1990s was the popularity of the
special – effects film, where story and characterization often took a back seat to
spectacular computer-generated special effects.
Production
Films are produced by a variety of organizations and individuals. For many
years, the major studios controlled virtually all production, but independent
producers have recently become prevalent. In 1996, independents produced
more than two thirds of all feature films. The major studios now finance and
distribute many films made by independent companies. The influence of
independent producers was demonstrated at the 1996. Oscars when four of the
five nominated films were independently produced.
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Probably the biggest change in production in the late 1990s has been the
increased number of films that are released each year. Prompted in part by the
additional revues from home video and the theatrical box office, a total of 426
films were released in 1996, an increase of 29 percent since 1982. The major
film production company
The Videocassette Revolution
When Sony introduced the Betamax home videocassette recorder in 1976, few
people anticipated the impact that the VCR would have on the film and
television industries. This technology would allow viewers to control when they
watched what programs on television and, with the advent of video rental stores,
would keep even more viewers home from the movies. However, the high cost
kept many people from purchasing the VCRs. JVC introduced VHS technology a
few months later and provided the competition that drove the cost down and led
to the eventual demise of the Beta format. Today, VCRs can be purchased for
less than $200.
When the VCR first appeared, it was not a popular piece of equipment among
movie moguls. Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of
America, called the VCR a "parasitical instrument." Valenti was about to witness
a VCR revolution. At first, the studios attempted to sell movies on videocassettes
directly to the public, but high costs made that impractical. Sensing a business
opportunity, some entrepreneurs bought the expensive videocassettes and
rented them out at affordable rates. As rental stores began 10 spring up in
neighborhoods, film studios capitalized on the new market by releasing more
and more films on video. As more videos became available, more people bought
VCRs and the price for the purchase of popular videos decreased. Today,
popular family movies, such as Home Alone, first make money at the box office.
Then the theater popularity prompts buyers to pay $15 to $25 for a
videocassette they can watch over and over again. Films people watch a single
time are successful as rentals. Top video sales include children's and family
movies.
The Walt Disney Company has been one of the true entrepreneurs in the
videocassette business. The company has excelled both at marketing popular
theater movies and at using those movies to sell less expensive videos to the
home market. For example, after amazing success with the film and video
versions of Aladdin, Disney began selling The Return of Jafar, a home video
sequel, in May 1994 and moved 1.5 million cassettes in the first two days.
Although Jafar never showed in movie theaters and was panned by critics,
industry experts predicted that it would sell more than 10 million copies, thus
ranking among the ten top-selling videos of all time.
Jafar was successful because of Aladdin's popularity. By late 1994, Aladdin had
grossed $486 million worldwide in theaters. Disney's merchandising for Aladdin
was greater than any previous Disney film. It sold a record 24 million
videocassettes, a triple-platinum soundtrack album, 20 million story and activity
books in print, and a Sega Genesis video game with sales pushing 1 million
copies. Aladdin reportedly garnered $1 billion in revenue for Disney during its
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first year after release. Disney was also successful with such straight-to-video
hits as Hercules: Zero to Hero, Madeline: Lost in Paris, and Belle's Tales of
Friendship.
The production of direct home video has obvious advantages. The budget for
Jafar was about $5 million, which was considerably more than the $500,000
Disney spends on a half-hour of animated television programming but
considerably less than the estimated $30 million spent on Aladdin. Although
critics argue that there is a creative loss, producers claim that the product can
get to the market quickly and inexpensively without the cumbersome creative
and financial restrictions of filmmaking.
Disney was among the first to exploit the new technology of the digital videodisc
(DVD), which extended the capacity for success in the home video
market. DVDs provide better sound and video quality but do not revolutionize
the market created by the videocassette. Disney, which entered the DVD market
in 1999, began recycling its classics such as Snow White. However, the
videocassette will continue to capture a wide segment of the market until DVD
players become more common in homes.
Supplying the International Market
International revenues increasingly are considered as studios decide which films
to fund and which stars to hire. Although Europe is an established market, pro-
viding about 60 percent of the international revenue, Asia provides another 30
percent. However, in 1999, distribution in Asia suffered because of financial
crises, particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia. Genre and star identity often
determine a film's success overseas. For example, Bruce Willis's Die Hard with a
Vengeance earned $100 million in U.S. revenues and cost $90 million to
produce. Willis's salary was $15 million. Did the studios take a loss? Definitely
not. Overseas grosses were expected to be between $225 and $275 million.
Action is the most foolproof genre for overseas sales, and films such as Die Hard
will gross almost as much in Japan as in the United States, which has twice
Japan's population.
Some films encounter international political barriers. Schindler's List, which
grossed $100 million in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, was barred from many
Arab and Islamic nations. Director Steven Spielberg told the New York Times
that the banning was disgraceful. "It shocks me because I thought the Islamic
countries would feel this film could be an instrument of their own issues in what
was happening in Bosnia.
International Film
Film has always been an international medium. In 1895, the first public
screening of short films occurred in France, the United States, Germany, and
Belgium. Today, despite the dominance of U.S.-made films in most markets,
movies remain essentially international. Three trends demonstrate the global
nature of films: strong domestic film industries in many countries, growing
exportation of films from many countries, and increasing coproduction of films
across national boundaries. Competition in the international market, therefore,
takes a variety of forms.
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Strong Domestic Film Industries

Many countries with growing populations have developed their own film
industries to meet the increased demand for entertainment. The Indian film
industry out-produces all other countries with 800 or more films a year, about
twice the number produced by Hollywood. The Indian industry peaked in 1990
with 945 films in twenty-one native languages. The United States ranks second
in film production and has not been the leading producer since the 1950s.
China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan experienced similar growth in films during the
1980s and 1990s. China reopened the Beijing Film Academy in 1978, with a re-
sulting growth in the film industry. In the 1990s, about 120 domestic films a
year were produced in China. In 1990, Ju Dou, a film directed by Zhang Yimou,
was nominated for an Academy Award for the best foreign-language film released
in the United States. This film, a story about a peasant woman who is forced to
marry an old factory owner, was banned in China because of its focus on
individualism. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Hong Kong produced more
than 120 films annually, mostly martial arts movies, for domestic and
international markets. During the 1980s, some filmmakers moved toward more
complex plots. Taiwanese films, which were similar to those released from Hong
Kong, also moved toward more socially meaningful themes during the 1980s and
1990s.
Growing Exportation of Films
In addition to growing domestic markets, several countries have seen growth in
the exportation of their films. Australian and New Zealand movie companies
have found both financial success and critical acclaim in the United States. The
string of successes include Australia's My Brilliant Career (1979), the "Mad Max"
movies, and Crocodile Dundee (1986). Following the success of these films,
several members of the Australian movie industry, including actor Mel Gibson
and director Peter Weir, moved to Hollywood. The Australian film industry
continues to enjoy its renaissance, however, with successes in the United States
in the late 1990s with films such as Muriel's Wedding and Me, Myself, I. Foreign
films have succeeded not only in the marketplace but in U.S. award
competitions as well. In 1993, The Piano, a New Zealand film starring a New
Zealander and two Americans, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best
Picture.
An important element of the growing exportation of films from a variety of
countries is the number of serious filmmakers throughout the world. Beginning
in the 1980s, Satyajit Ray of India, Aki Kaurismaki of Finland, Luis Puenzo of
Argentina, and Pedro Almodovar of Spain have represented a new wave of
serious directors. These filmmakers and others use film to explore personal
problems and social relations in a way that transcends geographic boundaries.
International Coproduction
Increasingly, movie companies from different countries are joining together to
make truly international films. French financiers, for example, funded The Oak,
a 1992 Romanian film written and directed by Lucian Pintilie. During the 1980s
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and 1990s, Akira Kurosawa, one of Japan's greatest filmmakers, directed films
that were financed by companies in the Soviet Union, the United States, and
France. In 1999, India and Australia began a joint coproduction company.
Today, it is common for a film crew from a variety of countries to work on a
movie that is financed by multinational companies. A film's financial and artistic
prospects are more relevant issues in the quest for financing than are the
countries in which the director, producer, and actors live.
4.4 STATUS, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF FILM AS A MEDIUM OF

ENTERTINMENT
Hindi, a language common to northern India but that varies by region, has had a
complex relationship with cinema and national politics. Declared a national
language after independence, Hindi has met powerful resistance in southern
states. Yet the popularity of Hindi cinema has allowed it to cut across regional
and linguistic divisions, giving Bombay cinema a national or "all-India" status
distinct from regional language cinemas that usually remain limited to
audiences within the states in which they are produced. Emerging as a language
of trade in colonial and multilingual Bombay, Hindi was popularized through
cinema as Hindustani, a hybrid of Persian-based Urdu and northern Indian
dialects, arguably more native to cinema than any distinct region. After
independence strains of Urdu associated with Muslim influence were slowly
diluted and replaced by Sanskrit vocabulary, identified with the majority's Hindu
culture. Hindi film songs especially drew heavily on Urdu, which lends itself to
poetry and drama; although this reliance has been reduced in the post-
independence period at the cost of some poetic flair, many of the key terms in
cinema, especially for discussing the varieties of love, retain Urdu influences. At
the same time, some Hindi films have successfully employed the regional
Bhojpuri dialect (popularly associated with rustics), and the street slang of
contemporary Mumbai has also cropped up in film, commonly mixed with
English words and phrases; these trends continue to undermine the easy
identification of "Hindi" cinema strictly in terms of its language.
Although Hindi cinema emerged as India's most prominent and broadly popular
form, its dominant status as a national commodity has often been challenged by
or threatens to obscure the steady production of films in India's regional
cinemas, often in annual numbers rivaling or exceeding Bombay's figures. (The
claim that India leads the world in film production depends on collapsing these
differences into a total national figure.) Although the arrival of sound in Indian
cinema eventually isolated the production and distribution of films by linguistic
regions, early sound studios often produced films in multiple languages before
dubbing became a common practice. Films produced in the major South Indian
languages of Tamil and Telegu have generated some crossover artists,
exemplified by Mani Ratnam (b. 1956), maker of the controversial Roja (1992)
and Bombay (1995), and the prolific composer A.R. Rahman (b. 1966), both
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active in the Bombay industry. Ratnam is also among the leading filmmakers
who bridged the divergent popular and art cinema by melding their aesthetics in
superbly crafted films.
In addition to the Bengali art cinema associated internationally with Satyajit

Ray, Ritwik Ghatak (1925–1976), and Mrinal Sen (b. 1923), the regular
production of popular Bengali cinema has challenged Hindi cinema in a major
urban market like Calcutta. Films produced in the southwestern state of Kerala
in the Malayalam language also reflect that state's distinct leftist political
history, with the work of directors G. Aravindan (1935–1991) and Adoor
Gopalakrishnan (b. 1941) receiving international acclaim. Although relatively
small in number, films produced in languages such as Kannada (from
Karnataka), Marathi (from Maharastra, which includes Mumbai), Assamese
(from Assam), or Oryia (from Orissa) round out an unusually diverse linguistic
map, rendering the typical association of a national cinema with a single
national language entirely untenable for India. In a few cases, prominent figures
such as the actor-director-writer Kamal Hassan (b. 1954) have traversed
regional cinemas and worked in Hindi cinema, whereas others find immense
success only within a particular context. Moreover, art cinemas produced within
any region often share stylistic and thematic affiliations that override the
linguistic distinctions that otherwise distinguish popular films by region.

4.5 DOCUMENTARY FILMS
The Indian documentary was pioneered by three Europe-trained film-makers.

The first was P.V Pathy, who had his training in Paris the second D.G
Tendulkar, a student of sergei Eisensteinin the Moscow Film school; and the
third K.S.Hirlekar, who studied film making in Germany. These three led the
development of the Indian documentary. They introduced editing, a vivid
commentary style, effective music and sound effects. Between 1920 and 1940,
more than 1500 short film were produced. In 1947, Paul Zils together with Fail
Billimoria established the Documentary Unit of India. A master editor and
producer trained in Germany, Zils made a number of notable films; Hindustan
Hamara, Zalzala, The Ripening Seed, the Vanishing Trine and Kurvandi Road.
Zils got together with Jag Mohan to edit the quarterly periodical, Indian
Documentary.
In 1949 and 1950 as many as 32 black-and-white documentaries were made.

The films were dubbed in five Indian languages- English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil
and Telugu. (Today, as many as 16 languages are in use in the Indian
documentary). In june 1949, the first three documentary films were released;
Kashmir Carries on, India Independent, and Immersion of Gandhiji’s Ashes.
Commenting on the development of the Indian documentary film, P.V. Pathy

said in 1957, “the rightful claim to credit for having fostered the adolescence of
the documentary seems to be linked with Government. Even the future of our
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documentary film goes to our government sponsorship”. In the mid-1990s, that

future was uncertain as multi-channel television grabbed audience interest and
cinema exhibitors’ resentment against obligatory screening of documentaries
and newsreels rose to a crescendo.
4.6 FUTURE OF FILM AS A MEDIUM OF ENTERTAINMENT
Film as a Contemporary Art Form

It is only in recent times that the cinema has come to be looked upon as a
serious art form worthy of study at the university level, while accepting an
Honorary Doctorate from the Jadavpur University in 1980; Sathyajit Ray made a
strong plea for including the teaching of cinema as part of the educational
curriculum.
The popular attitude to cinema as a means of mass entertainment has its origin
in the type of films made up to the ‘fifties in India, Satyajit Ray told the Working
Group that ‘the works of the early film makers suffered from a low level of
conception, as right from the beginning cinema in India was aimed at the lowest
common denominator and became primarily concerned with providing
entertainment. Even when well-known writers became involved with cinema,
they deliberately changed the quality of their writing. It is only in the last decade
or so that intellectuals have begun associating actively with the making of films
and thereby raised the status of cinema to an art form’.
The government’s attitude too has reinforced the popular view that cinema is a
means of cheap entertainment. As the working Group’s Report notes; ‘one of the
major factors which has impeded the growth of cinema as an art form and as a
medium of cultural expressions is that despite a history of about 70 years if film
making, cinema in India continues to be treated almost as a sub-culture. This
general attitude seems to permeate the total spectrum of the Government’s
policies towards cinema houses gives the impression that cinema is an
undesirable activity, which needs to be kept at an adequate distance from the
social life the Government has set up a Directorate of Film Festivals, a National
Film Awards to give a fillip to cinema. The film society movement indirectly
supported by the Government has spread it many cities, making it possible for
film lovers to be exposed to outstanding films of other countries.
To continue these efforts at promoting film as an art form, the Working Group
has recommended the establishment of the Chalachitra Akadeemi, on the lines
of the Sahitya Akademi, the Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Lalit kala
Akademi. It has also recommended the setting up of a film Educational Advisory
Service for inculcating a critical attitude towards cinema in schools and colleges
as well as film Information and Documentation Centre, a National Film Museum,
and Children’s Film Centre.
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The cinema is the art of today, just as drama was in earlier ages. It is, as
pudovkin, the Russian theorist of film wrote in 1933;’a synthesis of each and
every element- the oral, the visual, the philosophical; it is our opportunity to
translate the world in all its lines and shadow into a new art form that has
succeeded and will supersede all the older arts, for it is the supreme medium in
which we can express today and tomorrow.

4.7 FILM AUDIENCE
Audience research has become more influential in the movie business because of
the tremendous cost of motion pictures. At most studios the first step is concept
testing to find promising plot lines. The next step is an analysis of the script. If
the script seems promising, the studio will make a rough cut of the finished film.
The rough cut is then used by movie researchers in a series of test screenings.
In addition, focus group sessions are held. A focus group is a small sample
(usually about 10 to 15 people) of the target audience, which is asked detailed
questions about what they liked or didn’t like. With this information, the studio
can add or drop a scene, modify the ending, change the musical score, or make
other alterations.
Audience members fill out preview cards that summarize their reactions to the
film, its characters, and its stars. It is possible for the director to make limited
changes. Consequently, the preview cards are used mainly for fine-turning. Once
the movie opens, the studio hire independent research firms to interview
members of the audience as they leave the theater. The results of this survey tell
the studios if they have a promising or a disappointing film on their hands and
allow them to adjust their advertising and marketing plans.
Information on the motion picture audience is sketchy. Hollywood seems to put
little faith in detailed audience study, preferring instead to concentrate on the
“bottom line,” the amount of money a film brings in. In general terms, we know
that after a slump during the early 1970s, movie attendance picked up. Average
weekly attendance has been steady for about the last 20 years attendance
however, is nowhere near the levels of the 1930s and 1940s when film was in its
heyday.
The movie audience is a young audience. Three out of every four moviegoers are
under 30. Teenagers are a significant part of the movie audience. Although teens
make up only 20 percent of the population, they make up nearly 30 percent of
the film audience. The movie audience has changed in recent years. Older fans
are now more likely to go out to a theater than they were five years ago. The
audience for movies is largest some indirect information is available if we
examine what the industry calls “film rental fees” this is the money that the
theater pays to the distribution company to show the film. If we assume that
films that earn large rental fees are attracting large audiences a list of the most
popular films can be complied.

95
4.7.1 TRENDS AND INNOVATIONS
As it has in the past, the movie industry will surely continue to take advantage
of new technologies and respond not only to changes in demographics of the
U.S. population but also to the demands of the international markets.
The conglomerates that own numerous media companies are experimenting with
the concept of movies on demand. Such services include not only pay-per-view
movies on a particular cable channel but also the selection of films from a
library of movies to be ordered and watched at the viewer's preferred times.
The availability of movies on demand is affected by two factors: the integration of
computer and television technology and the deregulation of telephone
companies. Deregulation enables telephone companies not only to provide
technology for transmitting messages but also to design and provide
entertainment and information services. Bell Atlantic has already begun testing
information services in large urban areas. If regional telephone companies begin
to provide such services, cable companies will face a huge challenge.
DVDs may prove to be an interim technology. In 1999 DVDs began to challenge
the videotape market for home movies. Although DVD players have not pen-
etrated the market adequately enough to affect the widespread VCR market yet,
those who own DVD players believe they are the best home movie technology.
Disney entered the DVD market with classics such as Snow White, and other
companies have done the same. DVDs take little room to store and provide
higher quality than videotapes do. But if movies on demand appear before DVD
players penetrate the market, it may remain a specialized niche for high-end
users.
Demographics
Demographics have always been an integral part of the movie business. Film
producers and distributors aimed first at the family audience, then at teenagers.
Recently changing demographics favor older groups of moviegoers. Merchant-
Ivory Productions, for example, produces movies that appeal to the older U.S.
audience. Films such as Howard's End (1992) feature the typical qualities of
Merchant-Ivory production: "good taste, a strong narrative line, impeccable
period detail, and superb performances. Martin Scorsese, who in 1976 targeted
twenty-five-year-olds with the culturally critical Taxi Driver, in 1993 gave U.S.
middle-age baby boomers an adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel, The Age
a/Innocence. Shakespeare in Love, Elizabeth, and Saving Private Ryan were the
1998 movies targeted to the middle-age population.
Women emerged in the mid-1990s as an important demographic group. In 1996,
for example, The First Wives Club earned $105 million because its tale of women
gaining revenge on their former husbands appealed to women. Conversely, the
critically acclaimed The People vs. Larry Flynt failed at the box office after criti-
cism from feminists that it degraded women. Industry sources explain that
teenage males tend to choose the movies they see for dates, but women play the
96
dominant role in selecting movies for people in the 30 to 50 age range. The
growing strength of women as movie consumers may pressure Hollywood to offer
more managerial opportunities for women in the movie industry.
Influences of the International Market
Because the market is lucrative, international audience demands will continue
to affect the types of films that are produced in the United States. Currently, it
seems that this will sustain an increase in action films such as Independence
Day. Comedies and romantic films traditionally have done less well, but a recent
trend indicates international demand may grow for these films. The international
market also enhances the traditional U.S. star system. Because stars are known
quantities and are easier to sell than concepts, the international market is more
willing to take a risk on a film if it features a star.
The success of the U.S. film industry through world wars, regulation, public
opinion, and changing economic and social conditions reflects its ability to
adapt. How it responds to new markets and new technologies will lay the
groundwork for the film industry of the twenty-first century.
4.8 CRITICAL REVIEW OF NOTED REGIONAL/NATIONAL FILMS
Black Friday
Language : Hindi
Year : February 9, 2007 in the U.S.
Actors : Kay Kay Menon, Pavan Malhotra, Aditya Srivastava,
Kishore Kadam, Gajraj Rao
Director : Anurag Kashyap
Producer : Arindam Mitra
Screenplay : Anurag Kashyap
Music : Shantanu Moitra
Dialogs : Swanand Kirkire
"They didn't spare anyone," a bunch of desis were talking among themselves as
they left the Regal Cinema at Union Square in New York City on Saturday
February 10, 2007 after watching Black Friday, the movie based on the Bombay
bomb blasts of 1993.
How true.
In a low key fashion and without the garish excesses typical of Hindi cinema,
Black Friday is a stark indictment of all those involved in the serial bomb blasts
of March 12, 1993 that cost 257 people their lives and injured over 700.
97
Muslims, Hindus, corrupt police officers, Dawood Ibrahim, politicians, the

government, the system and Pakistan all come under the unsparing, critical
glare of the lens.
More than just a preface or an account of the bomb blasts, Black Friday also
takes a close look at the lives of some of the alleged low-level perpetrators on the
lam after the blasts.
Unlike most Bollywood movies built on the crude scaffolding of big-name stars
and their crude gyrations to loud music, Black Movie has a powerful story to
work with.
The star of this fine movie is the compelling story - the bomb blasts, the
conspiracy that preceded it and the hunt for the alleged perpetrators.
There are moments when the narrative sags and the movie fails to keep the
audience engaged. We'd have liked better photography and a tighter script
overall.
Also, the manipulation of religious sentiments of the underlings by the vengeful
Tiger Memon fails to come through strongly. Tiger Memon leaves for Dubai
before the blasts leaving behind the underlings to implement his devilish plan
and face the music subsequently.
Kay Kay Menon as the police officer Rakesh Maria determined to quickly nab the
suspects, Pavan Malhotra as the vengeful Tiger Memon and Aditya Srivastava as
the embittered Muslim Badshah Khan shine in their respective roles.
(The Indian government has named Ibrahim Memon a.k.a Tiger Memon the main
conspirator of the Bombay bomb blasts but has been unable to nab him.)
Black Friday is finally seeing the light of the day after delays owing to legal
issues.
Although the movie was completed a few years back, its release in theatres was
held up after some of the alleged perpetrators of the blasts - and named in the
movie - asked the court to stay its release arguing that it would prejudice public
opinion against them and affect the outcome of the verdict. The court accepted
the argument of the alleged perpetrators and stayed the release of the movie.
The special court in Mumbai handling the case recently announced its verdict.
The movie is based on the book Black Friday: The True Story of the Bombay
Bomb Blasts by crime reporter S. Hussain Zaidi.
98
UNIT – V
99
100
LESSON-5
MANAGEMENT OF NEW MEDIA
CONTENTS
Nature and characteristics of New Media
To study the characteristic of Internet
To study the digital revolution
To study the media convergence and ICT
5.1 New media: Information age
5.2 Knowledge society and global media and audiences
5.3 New media technologies
5.4 Digital revolution
5.5 Internet
5.6 Satellite TV and DTH
5.7 Media convergence
5.8 ICT uses in Public and private sector
5.9 Information super highway
Issues and future challenges
6.0 Trends and Innovation – Issues and future Challenges

5.1 NEW MEDIA: INFORAMTION AGE
The internet is a network of computer networks. You can think of it as a system

that combines computers from all over the world into one big computer that you
can operate from your own PC. Some computers are run by government agencies
(like the National Aeronautics and Sapce Administration), some are run by
universities, sime by libraries, some by school sytems, some by businesses, and
so on. The connections between these networks can be ordinary phone lines,
microwaves, optical fibers, or wires built specially for this purpose. A related
example might be the phone systems. When you searcg for information, send
mail, or chat online, several different networks may handle your messages. Just
as there’s no one phone company, there’s also no one Internet company.
101
From ARPANET to internet

Back in the early 1970s’ when the cold war was still rafing, the U.S Department
of Defense was concerned about the vulnerability of its computer network to
nuclear attack. The Pentagon did not want to lose all its computing and
communication ability because of one well-placed atomic bomb. Consequently,
defense computer experts decentralized the whole system by creating an
interconnected web of computer networks. The net was designed sop that every
computer could talk to every other computer. Inform ation was bundled in a
packet, called an Internet Protocol packet, which con tained the destination
address of the target computer. The computers themselves then figured out how
to send the packet. Thus, if one portion of the network happened to be disabled,
the rest of the network could still function normally. The system that the
Pentagon eventually developed was called ARPANET.
At about the same time, companies developed software that allowed computers
to be linked to local area (LANs) that also contained the Internet Protocol
programs. Not surprisingly, many of these LANs were also connected to
ARPANET, causing the network to grow even more.
The users of this early network were primariliy scientists and computer experts,
and most observers thought it would continur to be of interest only to high-tech
types. In the late 1980s, however, the late 1980s, however, the National Science
Foundation, whose own network was already connected to the net, created
supercomputing centers at U.s universities. Since they were so expensive, only
five could be built. This meant that they had to be shared and interconnected.
The ARPANET seemed like the obvious choice for interconnection, but there were
too many problems involved. Instead the National Science Foundation built itw
own system using the internet Protocol and hooked together chains of regional
networks that were eventually linked to supercomputer. Thus the Internet was
born.
5.2 KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY AND GLOBAL MEDIA AUDIENCES
In the 21st century, a new society is emerging where knowledge is the primary
production resource instead of capital and labour. Efficient utilisation of this
existing knowledge can create comprehensive wealth for the nation. Such a
knowledge society has two very important components driven by societal
transformation and wealth generation. The societal transformation has to be
through large-scale development in education, healthcare, agriculture and
governance. These in turn will lead to employment generation, high productivity
and rural prosperity. How do we do that? For us to be in the Knowledge society,
we need three networks - The Knowledge Network, the Transport Network and
the River Network. The IT industry of the country had amply demonstrated the
economic advantages and possible wealth generation by the electronic network-
this network permits knowledge to pass between villages, towns, cities and even
the continents. The IT industry has shown that by transferring bits and bytes
102
across geographically dispersed locations, knowledge multiplies and generates

wealth. The national initiative in building golden quadrilateral transport super
highways cris crossing the country is already underway and will soon become
the pride of the nation. In similar way we need connectivity among the villages
providing them urban amenities.

5.3 NEW MEDIA TECHNOLIOGIES
THE INTERENT
Structure and Features of the Internet:

The Internet is a global network of computer networks. In more-0 technical
terms, this means that a group of two or more networks is electronically
connected and able to communicate with one another. Together they act as a
single network. In order for this to work, however, the computers have to speak
a common language, called a protocol by computer programmers,. That was
developed for the Internet is called the TCP/IP protocol. TCP/IP stands for
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet protocol. It is actually a set of protocols
that govern how data travel from one machine or another over networks. IP is
sort of like the address on an envelope. It tells a computer where to send a
particular message. TCP breaks up the information into packets that can be
transmitted efficienctly and reassembles them at their destination.
E-MAIL:
Millions of people are connected to the Internet, and you can send mail to one of
them or to a lot of them or to a lot of them. E mail works on the client/server
arrangement. To send read e-mail, users must access another computer (the
server), where their mailbox resides. E-mail messages are not limited to text.
Attachments, such as graphics or spreadsheets, can also be sent.
103
TELNET:
Technically speaking, telnet is used for remote log-in.; In plain language, it lets
you “get into “ computers at other locations. Once you’re “in.” you can do lots of
things; scan databases, check card catalogs at libraries, check weather reports
for various parts of the country, get the latest sports scores.. you name it.
NEWSGROUPS:
Newsgroup are collevtions of electronic bulletin boards, arranged according to
topic, where people can read and post messages. Some newsgroups are devoted
to current events, but the “news” in “newsgroups” refers to topical discussion
groups, not news are written by people interested in the topic. Others can read
the articles and comment on them. The newsgroups exist on a special network
called Usenet, one component of the Internet.
WORLD WIDE WEB(WWW):

The world wide web (www) is a network of information sources incorporating
hypertext that allows the user to link one piece of information to another. The
WWW is nonlinear. This means that the user does not have to follow a
hierarchical parh from one piece of information to another,. A user can jump
from the middle of one document into the middle of another.
The WWW incorporates text, graphics, sound,and motion. Some terminology
might be useful at this point. The structure of the web is based on the web
server, a computer connected to the internet that allows the transfer of hypertext
pages. One server can hold thousands of hypertext pages. A website is a
complete set of hypertext pages linked to each other that contain information
about a common topic. A web page is a hypertext page that is con tained within
a web site. The home page of a web site is the page that lists the other pages
available on the site.

5.4 DIGITAL REVOLUTION
INFORMATION TECHNLOGIES; DEVELOPMENTS IN INDIA

Prior to liberalization of the computer industries, the Indian government’s policy
was on ‘self-realiance through import import substitution’ the setting up of the
electronics corporation of India (ECIL) and the computer Maintenance
corporation (CMC) under the public sector signalled this policy, as much as the
side-lining of the multinational IBM. Liberalization by the Rajiv Gandhi
government in the mid-1980’s and by the Narsimha rao government in the early
1990’s gave a fillip to joint ventures with multinational companies. Import duties
for hardware and software were stashed and incentives offered for private
investment in the industry. Over forty multinational companies such as Texas
Instruments, Motorola, Honeywell, IBM, Digital, Helwlett-Packard and Microsoft
104
have set up operations in Bangalore, Hyderabad, gandhinagar, pune, and other

cities, primimarily for exporting software. Indian softrware exports are tied to the
unites states market which accounts for up to 58% of export destinations, with
Europe at 20% India’s total computer software exports in 1997-98 was
US$2,500 million in 1998-9. computer software is thus one of the largest foreign
exchange earners for India. India’s share of the global software business is
16.7% for customized software, but only.05 of the product and package market.
A second area of impressive growth has been in the education and training
sector. Indian software education is also an export item; the National Institute of
Information Technology (NIIT) ,its leading institution, is an exporter of
educational software and provides courses through offices in Southeast Asian
capitals. National institutes offering advanced training in computers
number1,675, training over 55,000 professionals every year. Around a hundred
doctorates in computer science and over 2000 M.Techs .and 14,060 B.Techs.
besides 2,250 M.Scs and 2600 B.Scs, and 16,200 diploma graduates are trained
every year.
The Indian information technology industry is growing at the annual rate of
more than 40% ,with software alone worth US$1,2 billion. ‘bodyshopping’, a
common practice in the United States and other countries, involves employing
Indian softwareprofessionals overseas at low wages. More common is the
practice now of contracting companies in India to service foreign clients; most of
this exported software is in the form of customized work for corporate clients in
the United Statess. Technology Parks are being established in collaboration with
Singapore, South Korea and other nations in Bangalore, Hyderabad,
Bhubaneshwar, and other cities to promote the software and applications
industry.
Top ten Indian exporters of computer software (revenue in Rs .million)

Company 1995-96 1994-95
1 Tata consultancy Services 4,505.2 2,860.0

2 Wipro 1,639.0 8,506.0
3 Pentafour Software 1020.3 552.6
4 Tata Unisys 940.0 835.0
5 Silverline Industries 814.9 514.0
6 Infosys Technologies 806.5 509.0
7 Fujitsu-ICM 664.6 420.0
8 Square D Software 621.0 381.0
9 Patni Computer Software 560.0 352.0
10 Satyam Computer Services 504.7 254.0
105
THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION

The Information Revolution differs from the Industrial Revolution of the 19th
century. The Industrial Revolution ushered in the factory system at the hub of
which was the division of labour. Mass production of goods and their mass
distribution in the markets of the world were the driving forces. Both depended
on massive labour recruitment. This was the origin of the need for the mass
media, which would promote the mass-produced goods to potential customers in
cities and villages. The manufacturing industries were labour-intensive, while
the new service industries were capital intensive, new modes of energy like
steam, gas and electricity, the railways, the automobile and the aircraft.
The concept of 'information society' gained widespread currency in the 1970s
and 1980s to explain the social, economic and technological changes that were
taking place during those decades in advanced industrialised societies. The
social changes included the entry of entertainment media and computers in the
home, and the growth of telecommuting, that is working from home. The
divisions between home and the factory or office were breaking down. The main
work telecommuters did was gathering, processing and storing information with
the help of personal computers.
Where the economy was concerned, more workers were involved with
information-related industries (travel, tourism, hospitality, banking, insurance)
than the production of commodities for a mass consumer market. This was
because such production had been moved to developing countries where low-
paid labour was easily available. Later, this was known by the euphemism,
'outsourcing'. Industrialized economies were therefore gradually turning into
'information economies'; they were non- polluting, were capital-intensive, and
were oriented to 'service' rather than 'production'.
But it was the technological changes that made the new kind of social changes
and economic changes possible. The innovations in information and
communication technologies brought about by the integration of
telecommunications, mass media and computing, promised greater flexibility,
greater efficiency and lower costs.
In sum, these societies were on the way to becoming information-centered
societies. Their primary resource was information of all kinds rather than
production of consumer goods. Some sociologists believed that an 'information
revolution' was taking place, a complete break from the 'industrial revolution' of
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The Japanese writer, Yoneji Masuda, pioneered the use of the term 'information
society' to describe a society which would eventually 'move to the point at which
the production of information values became the formative force for the
development of society'. Daniel Bell, the American sociologist, and author of 'The
Coming of Post-Industrial Society', preferred the term 'post-industrial society' to
describe the same socio-economic process, and Alvin Toffler and John Naisbett,
authors of 'Future Shock' and 'Megatrends' respectively, popularised the concept
of 'information society'. However, the information that has been transformed
106
into a resource and a commodity is technology-mediated, most of it in digital

form. Since different countries are at different stages of the adoption of
information technologies, we have several 'information societies' rather than
only one type. Indeed, every society is in a sense an information society, for
information and communication is what holds it together, despite its many
diversities and rivalries. An alternative view suggests that the information
society is a continuation of the industrial society rather than a revolutionary
break from it, as consumer-oriented free-market capitalism is still at its heart.
Others like Martin (1995) would rather label it a 'broadband society' since it is
telecommunications (rather than computers and the media) which has become
the true catalyst for change. Vincent Mosco of Canada has opted for the more
vivid term, the 'pay-per society'.

5.5 INTERNET

From ARPANET to internet
Back in the early 1970s’ when the cold war was still rafing, the U.S Department
of Defense was concerned about the vulnerability of its computer network to
nuclear attack. The Pentagon did not want to lose all its computing and
communication ability because of one well-placed atomic bomb. Consequently,
defense computer experts decentralized the whole system by creating an
interconnected web of computer networks. The net was designed sop that every
computer could talk to every other computer. Inform ation was bundled in a
packet, called an Internet Protocol packet, which con tained the destination
address of the target computer. The computers themselves then figured out how
to send the packet. Thus, if one portion of the network happened to be disabled,
the rest of the network could still function normally. The system that the
Pentagon eventually developed was called ARPANET.
At about the same time, companies developed software that allowed computers
to be linked to local area (LANs) that also contained the Internet Protocol
programs. Not surprisingly, many of these LANs were also connected to
ARPANET, causing the network to grow even more.
107
The users of this early network were primariliy scientists and computer experts,
and most observers thought it would continur to be of interest only to high-tech
types. In the late 1980s, however, the late 1980s, however, the National Science
Foundation, whose own network was already connected to the net, created
supercomputing centers at U.s universities. Since they were so expensive, only
five could be built. This meant that they had to be shared and interconnected.
The ARPANET seemed like the obvious choice for interconnection, but there were
too many problems involved. Instead the National Science Foundation built itw
own system using the internet Protocol and hooked together chains of regional
networks that were eventually linked to supercomputer. Thus the Internet was
born.
Structure and Features of the Internet:
The Internet is a global network of computer networks. In more-0 technical
terms, this means that a group of two or more networks is electronically
connected and able to communicate with one another. Together they act as a
single network. In order for this to work, however, the computers have to speak
a common language, called a protocol by computer programmers,. That was
developed for the Internet is called the TCP/IP protocol. TCP/IP stands for
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet protocol. It is actually a set of protocols
that govern how data travel from one machine or another over networks. IP is
sort of like the address on an envelope. It tells a computer where to send a
particular message. TCP breaks up the information into packets that can be
transmitted efficienctly and reassembles them at their destination.

5.6 SATELLITE TELEVISION
The satellite TV revolution in urban area was ushered in by five srar hotels in
Bombay and Delhi which brought the ‘live’ coverage of the Gulf War to the small
screen via the CNN (Cable News Network( f Atlanta, Georgia. STAR-TV (with four
channels) was launched in 1991 when there were around 11,500 cable networks
in the entire country. In Delhi alone, there were at the time around 45,000
households linked to cable TV. (STAR-TV added a fifth channel- the BBC World
Service, on October 14,1991). The number of cable networks increased steadily
as it became clear that only a dish antenna would be necessary to transmit
STAR-TV channels to basic cable linked households. Around 78% of the cable
households get STAR-TV programmes.
Conducted in May 1992, the ARU’s srudy covered ten cities and towns:DElhic
Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Nagpur, Jaipur
and Cuttack. These cites and towns represent different sizes of population,
different levels of cable penetration and different levels of knowledge in English
and Hindi. The study estimated that none of the satellite TV programmes have
more than eight per cent viewing and very few programmes reach even five
percent. The programmes with higher than five percent viewing were feature
films, serials, cartoon shows and news. The study concluded: it appears that
108
most of the satellite TV viewing is chance viewing. The programmes are yet to
build up a loyal audience. The reasons are obvious. The programmes are in
English and even for a majority of English knowing people the accent in the
dramatic programmes is not easy to comprehend.
The study added that ‘the VCR programmes of the local operator have good
viewing which goes up to 24% at times. These are mostly feature films, some
new and other popular hits of yester years. Generally, the local VCR peaks in the
afternoons and after 10.00 pm when feature films in the local languages are put
on the cable network. An IIMC survey of 300 respondents in Delhi conducted in
January 1992 arrived at a similar conclusion.
The major effect of the mushroom growth of cable and satellite television has
been on the advertising revenue earned by Doordarshan and the print media.
Advertisers of sanitary napkins, pan masalas, alcoholic drinks, jewellery and
other products which are banned on other advertisers too are taking advantage
of the lower rates of soaps, consumer items and consumer durables.
Doordarshan has launched a metro channel and four other channels which are
available via satellite in any part of the country, in a bid to win back the top
advertisers. Doordarshan’s efforts are veering fruit since advertisers and ad
agencies are provided opportunities to produce programmes on the metro and
the national networks. The effect of satellite television on other mass media and
such as the cinema, radio, recorded music and even the press has been equally
remarkable. Though the production of films continue at the same rate as in
earlier years (around 800 a year), several cinema theatres have been forced to
close down.
Especially in Bombay and other cities of Western India. the ‘privatization of FM
radio in the metros is clearly a fallout of the widespread access to satellite and
cable television, and an attempt to combat the popularity of the MTV channel on
STAR-TV. The recorded music industry too has been forced to change its
strategies to keep pace with the interests of the ‘MTV-generation’.
The press has not escaped the onslaught either. With round the clock news on
BBC World, CNN, STAR NEWS , and Zee India News, Indian newspapers find
that their reports cannot match the immediacy of satellite networks which
present, as the claim goes, ‘news as it happens’. In an effort to compete, Indian
newspapers and magazines have introduced visuals and color as well as
interesting layouts to keep the attention of their readers. Besides, both
newspapers and magazines now present news stories in the form of ‘snippets’
and ‘briefs’, and features that are investigative and analytical in nature. Several
publications, such as Bombay ( of the Living media group) and The Illustrated
Weekly of India ( of Times of India Group) have fallen by the wayside.
Satellite television has had some influence undoubtedly on the socio-cultural
environments of the urban and rural groups that afford access to the cable and
satellite channel. The operas, sitcoms, talk shows and game shows of the
American British and Australian networks often deal with subjects that are of
little relevance to Indian society; yet they are eminently watchable. Zee TV’s
shows are pale imitations of the American genres. The openness with which
109
topics related to sex and violence are discussed or enacted is passed in affluent
societies; it is not so in most Eastern cultures. Constant exposure to ‘images’
and ideas from dominant and powerful cultures give rise to media and cultural
imperialism. During the ‘seventies’ and ‘eighties’, the non-aligned countries
brought up this issue in UNESCO and other fora and pleaded for a New World
Information and Communication Order (NWICO), wherein the flow of information
between the countries of the North and of the South would be ‘fair, equal and
balanced’, and not predominantly from North to South. The United States and
Britain saw this struggle as a ‘communist plot’, and walked out of UNESCO.
The reporting of the BBC, CNN and ABC News on culturally and politically
sensitive issues over the satellite channels has been far from commendable.
Apparently, they have little concern for the possible repercussions of their
frequently provocative visuals and reports. Some national governments have
pointed out that this is tantamount to “interfering in the internal affairs” of
Asian nations under the guise of providing world news.

5.7 MEDIA CONVERGENCE
Form stand-Alone Technologies to ‘Convergence’

The concluding decades of the 20th century witnessed revolutionary
developments in the mass media, telecommunications and information
technologies. The old mass media technologies were stand-alone isolated
technologies: radio, television, cinema, the press and book publishing were
looked upon and used as distinct and discrete technologies.
Telecommunications (primarily the telegraph and the telephone) developed on
their own, and were never considered as ‘mass media’. This was also the case
with which too were not taken to be ‘mass media’. A computer was just a
computer, a telephone was just a telephone and television set just a box in the
corner for watching broadcast programmes. This administration, where the
mass media, telecommunication and computer technologies were under three
different ministries: Information and broadcasting, Department of
Telecommunications (DoT) and the Department of Electronics. This was further
reinforced in the Indian university system where departments of communication
and journalism remained isolated from developments in telecommunications and
computer science, which of course had their own separate departments.
Besides, ownership of such technologies too was generally restricted to one or
two of the media. In Europe and the developing countries, radio and television
were government-owned and government-run, though the press and book
publishing remained the responsibility of the private sector. Film-making was in
both the public and private sector: the feature film industry was in private
hands, while newsreels, documentaries, short films and animation films were
the responsibility of the public sector.
110
Few attempts were made to combine the different print and electronic media;
cinema films were shown on the small screen with the help of ‘telecine chain’ (
an electronic device which can transfer film material to standard TV format) ,
but one could not read the newspapers on television,of listen to the radio on
television. The ‘two-in-one’ combined the radio and the audio-recording and
playback technologies. The video-recorder was an add-n to television, and to
begin with was used primarily for ‘time-shifting’. This was the beginning of the
asynchronous element in the new exposure of radio and TV programmes at the
same time as others; this greater control of the electronic media was gradually
leading to the ‘de-massification’ of the media. The audio and cassette recorders,
the walkman, and later the personal computer were further examples of greater
audience control over content, as well as over the time and place media
exposure. The earlier concept which took into account factors like flexibility and
asynchronicity.
Further, in telecommunications, the telegraph and the telephone remained
isolated from the mass media, except as ‘carriers’ of information. Audio and
cassette recording and playback technologies extended radio and television,
giving them the facility of ‘delayed’ or flexible exposure. Simultaneity of listening
and viewing gave away to media access at one’s convenience.
Communication satellites, cable, optical fibre, wireless technologies and
computers changed the very nature of mass media and telecommunications.
When the computer appeared on the scene in the 1970’s and 1980’s, it was a
stand-alone desktop technology; interactive, but discrete. Computers could not
‘talk’ to each other; compatibility was a critical stumbling block. Apple-Macs,
Apricots, Tangerines, Amstrads and IBMs were often incompatible, and could
not read or understand one another. Magnetic tapes and later floppy disks had
to be used to transfer or copy data or graphics from one computer to another.
The ‘modem’ (an abbreviation of “Modulation and Demodulation”) revolutionized
the entire stand-alone approach. It is and electronic device, which changes
analogue to digital signals and vice versa. It brought fogether the media, the
computer and telecommunication technologies so that computers in different
parts of the world could start ‘talking’ to each other using the international
telephone networks and the supporting satellite and cable hardware. Electronic
mail (or e-mail) and the Internet with its World Wide Web were developed in
uick succession. Convergence of the various media, computer and
telecommunication technologies now became possible, reaching its acme in the
multi-media systems so common today for the transfer and exchange of
information, data, graphics and sound. One could now watch films and video on
the computer screen, or surf the Internet on the television screen. One could
also use the computer for surfing and receiving fax messages, electronic mail, for
surfing the Internet, and even using the Net Phone for phoning and tele-and
video conferences. Cable telephony Digitization was the key here, aided by
miniaturisation, wireless telephony, digital compression, and comparatively low-
costs and user-friendliness.

111
5.8 ICT USES IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR
NEW INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

In the contemporary media scenario, broadcasting organizations are becoming
more and more technology oriented. Their objectives is no longer to be only a
programme or content provider- they have to organize themselves to adapt the
latest technological innovations. The technology is fast becoming more versatile,
sophisticated and cheaper.

5.9 INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY
This image or metaphor for a wired universe interlinked by networks of

computers was popularised by Al Gore, the Vice-President of the United States,
in the early 1990s. The information highway is an electronic network that
connects libraries, corporations, government departments and individuals.
The information superhighway can be defined as 'an information and
communication technology network, which delivers all kinds of electronic
services – audio, video, text, and data - to households and business'. It is
usually assumed that the network will allow for two-way communication, which
deliver ‘narrow-band’ services can like telephone calls as well as 'broad-band'
capabilities such as video-on-demand, tele-shopping, and other 'interactive TV
multi-media applications. Services on the superhighway can be one-to-one
(telephones, electronic mail fax, etc.); one-to-many (broadcasting: interactive TV,
videoconferencing, etc.); or many-to-many (bulletin boards and forums on the
Internet).
The example of the 'Information Superhighway' is the Internet, which had its
roots in the need during the mid-1960s for linking military computer
researchers in the United States. The United States Defense Department
established a computer network that permitted military contractors and
universities involved in military research to exchange information. This was the
origin of Arpanet, the network of the Pentagon's Advanced Research Project
Agency (ARPA). In 1975, Arpanet which had grown from four to about one
hundred nodes was handed over to the Defense Communication Agency. 1980s,
the National Science Foundation developed its own academic networks
(NSFNET), providing researchers access to super-computers" at Cornell, Illinois,
Pittsburg and San Diego. It comprised high capacity telephone lines, microwave
relay systems, lasers, fiber optics and satellites. The NSF network became a
backbone connecting several other networks of educational agencies,
government agencies and research organizations. The cost of the backbone was
borne by NSF, with members funding cost of their local networks including cost
of outsiders who enter the system.
112
By 1990, NSFNET had replaced Arpanet. This later developed into the
INTERNET, a network to networks. Up to this time, access to the networks was
'universal' and free in academic and research institutions. In 1992, the National
Education and Research Network, or 'enhanced Internet' permitted the exchange
of more and lengthier material, even full-motion video. Doctors could send x-
rays and cat-scans to far-away colleagues in other countries, students could
access the Library of Congress, and have whole books transmitted to them, and
farmers and weather pundits could receive maps from satellite phones.
The Department of Science and Technology (India) established the ERNET in
India, serving to link the institutes of science and technology across the nation.
Later, the universities and other teaching and research institutes too were linked
together. Other networks the government of India established included NICNET
(for administration and planning), Indonet (for access to specialized information
through satellite communication), and Railnet – (for the Indian Railways'
ticketing, scheduling and planning activities)".
Commercialisation of the networks began when the Internet was opened up to
private service providers like Prodigy, Delphi, Genie, America Online (AOL), and
CompuServe.
The World Wide Web was developed at the European Centre for Particle
Research in 1989, but took off only in 1993 when software developed at the
University of Illinois, and subsequently elsewhere, created 'browsers' and
graphical interfaces making the search and interrogation of 'pages' on the WWW
possible. Hundreds of 'sites' were placed on the Web, but the number of
commercial (.com) sites soon outnumbered the education (.edu), government
(.gov) and organisation (.org) domain names'2. Newspapers, magazines, radio,
television and cable channels from around the world set up their own websites,
offering news services, headline news, accompanied with colourful graphics. The
services were offered free to begin with, but gradually most of the services were
restricted to 'subscribers'. By mid-1998, most major Indian newspapers,
magazines, publishing houses, political parties, commercial firms, banks, etc.
had their own sites; so did most State governments.
All India Radio, Doordarshan, police departments, municipalities and non-
government organisations. However, one could not wade through the cornucopia
of information on offer without encountering 'banner' advertisements on almost
every home page. The information offered was replete with propaganda and
hype. Surfing the net often turned into an irritating experience, especially with
the frequent breaks in power supply and the monopolistic service provider
VSNL's tendency to let the sites 'hang' intermittently. The accessing of e-mail too
has turned into nightmare: one cannot read one's mail without having to leap
over 'junk mail" (also termed "spam' or unsolicited mail). Entertainment rather
than information is the primary motivation for accessing the Net; games,
pornography and sex chat lines and cross national prostitution have proved
extremely popular in the United States and elsewhere. The lack of control over
the Net has led to the development of 'blocking" software (such as NetNanny and
113
Surf watch) to protect children and young people from obscenity and
pornography on the Net.
Advertising and commercial interests have taken over the Internet, and e-
commerce is on the upswing. Perhaps one of the greatest success-stories has
been the 'virtual' bookstore, Amazon.com. It has no physical bookstore any
where in the world, but has more titles for sale than any other, with offers of up
to 40% discount on its titles. Orders are placed online and payment too can be
made online using one's credit card. The marketing of other products too,
especially computer software programs, browsers, computer games and CD-
ROMs have caught on. Once security of payment is assured through
introduction of encryption technology, the Web is bound to be transformed, into
the largest cross-national shopping mal in the world. The Internet has already
been turned into the latest medium for advertising, marketing and public
relations. Free e-mail facilities offered Hotmail, Altavista and other search
engines are not free at all: ads clutter their Koine pages, and unsolicited direct
mail (termed 'spam' ) has to be tolerated.
However, the numerous positive benefits of the Internet must not be overlooked.
It has helped to network non-Government organisations in India and across the
world, social action groups fighting for human rights, the environment, and
AIDS awareness in different continents. Communities like the overseas Chinese,
nonresident Indian!*, and groups with similar interests have come together to
form 'electronic communities. The Internet has thus become a force for lobbying
with authorities on various issues at local, national and international levels. It
was instrumental in bringing the world's attention to the attempted genocide in
Bosnia-Herzogovina, and to the struggle of peasant movements in South"
America. Electronic mail assists families scattered across the globe to keep in
touch.
In the United States, males represent 66%pf Internet users and account for 77%
of Internet usage. On average, Web users are upscale (25% have an income over
$80,000), professional (50% are professional or managerial), and educated (64%
have at least college degrees). The upper and middle socio-economic strata
dominates Internet and e-mail usage in India. The typical Indian Internet user is
young, educated, and has easy access to computers at his institute or
workplace. The home PC has yet to find a market in the country.

6.0 TRENDS AND INNOVATIONS –ISSUES AND FUTURE CHALLANGES
Computers have been used for communication for about three decades. Almost
daily, newspapers and magazines contain articles about changes in the Internet,
the World Wide Web, and online services. Almost as often articles consider the
social and cultural impact of the Internet as well as regulation in the
information age. Look for four trends:

114
1. Development of a national-perhaps international-information highway.

What that highway will look like, who will fund it, and who will travel on it
remain open for discussion. If electronic media are to provide information
that helps individuals function in a democratic society, the highway will
have to accommodate all kinds of travelers.
2. Hardware technology probably will become smaller, more flexible, and more
portable. The quality of cellular and wireless connectivity will increase.
Software will become more integrated. New digital technologies will allow
for increased storage on small discs, advancing the integration of video,
audio, and text online.
3. E-commerce will increase and may drastically affect the way that retail
stores operate.
4. Regulation will emerge to control the information highway. Many issues of
the traditional media-privacy, copyright, and freedom of expression-will
continue to be issues for computer-based media.
A National-or International – Information Highway
The dream of an information highway is spawning a modern-day Gold Rush as
telephone companies, cable TV operators, publishers, movie studios, computer
makers, and cellular phone operators hurry to stake a claim on an enormous
consumer market that could reach hundreds of billions of dollars.
In late 1993 the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
issued a report concluding that connecting computers in people's homes and
places of business and allowing nearly universal access to computer systems
would enable U.S. firms to surge ahead in the world economy, increasing jobs
and creating
economic growth for the nation. Furthermore, creation of an information
highway could transform people's lives, lessening the constraints of geography,
disability, and economic status and giving them a greater measure of equal
opportunity. One of the major objectives of the Clinton administration beginning
in 1995 was to develop policies that would make the United States a leader in
the global information age. When Vice President Albert Gore spoke of an
"information highway," he did not mean commercial services, but rather a coast-
to-coast grid of computer-linked, fiber-optic "highways" transporting knowledge
to form a new foundation of wealth in the twenty-first century.
A major issue is whether large corporations will dominate the highway or
whether it will remain open for the interactivity and individuality its users prize
today. In the mid-1990s, a group called the Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility (CPSR) argued that a national information infrastructure should
be designed in the public interest.28 Commercial interests should be prevented
from controlling a national computer network. The group advocated universal
access, an extension of the Bill of Rights to the highway, no censorship, and
protection from invasion of privacy. CPSR also argued that a diverse and
competitive marketplace would contribute to an open highway. The group
advocated that regular users, not just telecommunications experts, should be
115
involved with the design and policies of this new information infrastructure. The
group also recognized the need to physically maintain the infrastructure that
underlies the information conduit.
Hardware Development
Fulfilling the CPSR recommendations depends on the availability of technology
to people. The image of the information highway running through a fiber-optic
cable may have to change to one of an information skyway with information
bouncing off satellites. Although the residents of highly developed countries
such as the United States, Germany, and Japan have access to the fiber-optic
information highway, most people in the world are unlikely to have a cable
running into their homes. The expense is too high. But a plan to use satellites
for Internet distribution might solve the problem. In 1997, Teledesic announced
plans to launch 840 satellites about the size of a small car. The project is
scheduled to start in 2000 and is expected to take two years and $9 billion to
finish. These satellites, located about 435 miles above Earth, will allow access to
the Internet and other online services from any spot on Earth.
The plan is financed by Bill Gates and Craig McCaw, a pioneer in the cellular
phone business. Traditional communication satellites, which orbit 22,300 miles
above Earth, are difficult to use for interactive media. It takes about a half-
second for an electronic message to go from the earth to these high-orbiting
satellites. Although this may seem fast, to a packet of Internet information it is
more than a lifetime. Information sent on the Internet must be checked to see if
it got where it was going. If this checkback process is delayed for even half a
second, the information will not get to its destination. The satellites that are only
435 miles up reduce the delay, and these satellites can be used to access the
Internet. If the satellites are 435 miles up, more will be needed to connect the
globe than if they are 22,300 miles up, but because of the closer distance, less
money will be required to launch the satellites. The work of Teledesic indicates
the reality of a worldwide Web may have to take place in the sky and not under
the ground.
E-Commerce
One of the newest and hottest developments on the Web is e-commerce. Although
online sales at the beginning of 2000 represented only a small portion of
consumer spending, e-commerce has grown tremendously from 1997 to the
present. Online sales escalated from a mere $3.01 billion in 1997 to an
estimated $18.43 billion in 2000. Predictions are that it will reach more than
$41 billion by 2002. Interestingly enough, consumers have not always been
happy with their online shopping experiences. They complained that items were
out of stock, they didn't like paying for shipping and handling, web sites were
slow, and they didn't like putting their credit card numbers on the Web.
Nevertheless, 58 percent of the respondents to a 1999 survey said they would
continue to buy about the same amount on the Web, and 37 percent said they
would increase their online buying. Stocks for online sales companies also
soared. Amazon.com increased its stock value 966 percent in 1998. Many
analysts predicted the Internet stock bubble would burst, and indeed in 1999 it
116
did slow down, but the increased growth represented a sense of public
confidence in the importance and durability of Web-based sales.
New Communication Technologies and Regulation
In some ways, cyberspace resembles the Old West-law, order, and regulation
have not arrived. Although online services have some standards, the Internet is
policed only by the social norms of those who use it. The world of
communicating and researching on the computer is exciting partly because
there are no rules and regulations telling one what to do or where to go.
The areas that are proving to be most immediately problematic include cen-
sorship, privacy, copyright, and access to information. The Telecommunications
Act of 1996 outlawed computer transmission of sexually explicit and other
indecent materials to minors. This computer-decency provision of the act was
challenged immediately in court on the grounds that it violated free expression.
In June 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that the Computer Decency Act was
unconstitutional.
Computer communication has many international implications. The Internet is
international; users can reach across borders that are guarded with barricades
and guns. But not all countries are happy with the free flow of information. The
government of China, for example, in an attempt to control pornography,
political
expression, and profits, would like to provide citizens with unlimited access to
each other but only to "screened links" with the outside. China has discouraged
investment by technology companies from outside the country and hopes to
funnel profits through its state-run news agency.
Privacy issues are paramount because almost every move a person makes on the
computer can be tracked electronically. Databases record when and where you
change addresses, subscribe to magazines, and apply for credit cards. The 1994
movie The Pelican Brief was realistic in showing that the FBI and others can
identify a person's exact location by tracking credit cards used for shopping,
hotel accommodations, and ATM machines. Another film, The Net, revealed an
even darker side of the computer links to a person's identity. Sandra Bullock's
character was consistently-and intentionally-identified as someone other than
herself. Her own identity seemed nearly lost.
Databases that are available for finding a person's location or
biographical information include Post Office Change of Address, People Finder,
Address Search, Phonefile, and Credit Abstracts. Information in these databases
includes a person's name, age, date of birth, Social Security number, spouse's
name, current and previous addresses, phone number (sometimes even an
unlisted one), all residents at that particular address, and neighbors and their
phone numbers and addresses.
Some of these databases are put together from information found in standard
directories, product response cards, and magazine subscription cards. Herein
lies an ethical and perhaps legal issue. Private citizens filling out magazine
subscription cards and the like assume that they are providing information to
117
one company for the single purpose of receiving a magazine subscription.

However, this information is often sold to other companies that use the
information to create databases for anyone to buy. The information use goes
beyond what the individual originally intended, and at least two companies are
profiting from information that a person has provided freely.
Privacy and copyright issues arise in obtaining information from bulletin boards
and electronic mail. Many mass media professionals scan electronic networks
looking for story ideas, information, and sources to quote. They believe that
because these electronic postings are available to the public, they can be
repeated in other printed publications or broadcast (and cable) products.
However, they may be sued if the source has not granted permission to be
quoted or deemed that the use of material invaded his or her privacy. Web-based
documents are easily downloaded and pasted to other documents. The
technological ease of copying material, however, does not ensure that such
copying is legal. Furthermore, e-mail messages, like letters, belong to the
originator, not to the recipient. They are not considered part of the public
domain. Although media organizations may win specific judgments, they often
experience financial and time losses.
Summary
• Computers are used in every application by traditional mass media
organizations. They are also a medium in their own right and are used
directly by consumers.
• Convergence-or the combining of more than one communication form into
a single distribution process-is increasing rapidly.
• The computer began as an attempt to create calculating machines, then
evolved as scientists sought efficient means to organize, retrieve, and
process information.
• Although the computer industry is highly diversified and competitive,
giants such as IBM and Microsoft have held leading roles and dominated
different portions of the industry at different times.
• Computer research and networking have been heavily funded by the U.S.
government because of the implications in defense and strategic
applications.
• The development of the silicon chip in 1959 made it possible for the
computer to shrink in size.
118

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B.

B.Sc. Visual Communication

1 Management of News Paper and Magazines 7

4 Management of Motion Pictures 81

5 Management of New Media 101

PAPER IV COMUNICATION MEDIA

1.1 PRINT MEDIUM:NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES

1.1.1 TYPES OF NEWSPAPERS

LARGE METROPOLITAN DAILIES:

Newsletters are extremely specialized with small circulations (typically under

1.2 STRUCTURE & FUNCTIONS OF NEWSPAPERS

PRODUCING THE NEWSPAPER

By the mid-nineteenth century, newspapers had begun to expand their staffs.

Critics of market-oriented newspapers fear that the advertising department will

Newsrooms typically include reporters, photographers, designers, copyeditors,

The traditional bureaucratic structure of newspapers has been highly criticized

An important member of the new teams is the designer. At some newspapers,

Departments And Staff

Fig : Structure of newspaper industry

ADVERTISING : Advertising includes three major types: classified ads, display

• Prominence concerns how notable or famous a person is. Politicians, sports

Publishing the newspaper

1.3 STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS OF MAGAZINES

PRODUCING THE MAGAZINE

Soliciting subscriptions is one facet of circulation, and experts have become

3. the subcription-fulfillment director, whose division is in charge of making

6. the subcription-fulfillment director, whose division is in charge of making

MAGAZINE EMPLOYEES : In 1996, Folio magazine reported that entry-level

Fig: Structure of magazine industry

Minority and Ethnic Press

1.5 TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS

Trends and Innovations

Pursuing Young Readers

Convergence and Newspapers

Computer Assisted Reporting

The Public Journalism Controversy

Evidence indicates that some types of public journalism projects increase

• Splashy graphics and color.

MAGAZINES ONLINE : Consumers have accessed magazines and newspapers

CD - ROM MAGAZINES : Magazines have used CD-ROM technology to produce

• In today's market, specialization is key. Consumer magazines and literary

• To combat changes in the markets, newspaper executives are trying new

2.1 RADIO AS A MEDIUM OF MASS COMMUNICATION

• Will computer-based, interactive programming force domestic radio to shift

• How will radio reflect or contribute to cultural life?

• Will radio continue to be significant as a carrier of international news and

2.1.2 THE EVOLUTION OF RADIO AS A MASS MEDIUM

BIG BUSINESS STEPS IN RADIO

RADIO REACHES A MASS MEDIUM

2.2 TYPES OF OWNERSHIP : PRIVATE & PUBLIC CONTROL AND OWNERSHIP

In the lower-left cells is the decentralized-control, private ownership model. This

Radio Ownership in India

The Verghese Committee in February 1978 called for the establishment of a

2.2.2 Broadcasting Policy

This Code· applies to criticism in the nature of a personal tirade, either of a

2.2.3 The Case for Autonomy

2.3 ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS

PRODUCING RADIO PROGRAMS

At least three departments-programming, sales, and engineering-report to the

Fig: organizational structure of a radio station

Producing a talk show requires more quipment than does a simnple DJ

2.4 FM BROAD CASTING AND THE AUDIENCE

The FM broadcasting is being increasingly adopted as it provides listeners with