MAHARASHTRA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

PROJECT TOPIC: MASS MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

INDUSTRY, THE SCULPTORS OF SOCIETY.

NAME: DEVARSHI KHANDU SHIRSATH

ENROLLMENT NUMBER: 2022028
1ST YEAR, SEC: A
SUBJECT: SOCIOLOGY
FACULTY: PROFF. SHRADDHW GAIKWAD
 INTRODUCTION

Mass media simply means, spreading of information to large masses at the same time.
Information is This was a difficult task in ancient times, until 15th century when
Johannes Gutenberg invented the first printing press. It was for the first time when
same information could be passed to mass number of people so fast. Still the paper
information had its limit as, there was still significant time delay. Then came the
radio, in 1894, this enabled much quicker travel of information than newspapers, and
to huge number of people at the same time, which was then joined by the invention of
television, which now enabled live information to be shared at the very instant it
happened visually and to entirety of globe. Information is a very important and
valuable aspect of a society. Therefore it becomes very important to see how this
information is being transferred/spread and by whom and also for what purpose.
Information can be used for various purpose starting from making people aware of
ongoing pandemic to turning them against each other and cause riots. That’s why it is
very important that the information released to society or in public be filtered not
allowing any rumours and biased information be spread out. In today’s world the
fastest way to give out a message to public or society is by either by mass media like
radio or television or by entertainment industry like social media or movies etc. At
first glance one might think how can just a small bit information cause riots, or how
can entertainment industry even affect society, but after researching and looking
deeply one will realise how the entertainment industry subconsciously affects the
society and the way public thinks. The mass media like radio and television channels,
where brought into picture with the moto of making information accessible to greater
large number of people at the same time, without any delay and with full transparency.
But somewhere as time passed powerful entities realised how much impact the media
had on society and started influencing the media, the primary source of information in
any household, for their own benefit. They began bribing the media houses to show
information that would for example portray xyz politician as honest and trustworthy or
portray a criminal innocent by gaining sympathy for them. This happens even now,
just that people or society in general has become aware of such petty tricks and games
and stays at bay or tries at least to verify the information before trusting it. There are
tons of literary works that have conducted studies on how mass media is an integral
part of society, its importance and how it has been corrupted. The degree of
importance mass media has can be understood, since it has been declared the fourth
pillar of democracy. This implies the significant role that media plays in a democracy,
it is the medium that relays the work of government to public, transparently without
any biasness or personal additions. A media can be even called “king maker” to some
extent in a democracy. If the media decides it can be the reason for overthrowing of
ruling party or even make a street vendor the head of a state. This is the immense
power of mass media. This power is though limited and censored because it relays real
life information and cannot spread false rumours. However here is where the
entertainment industry comes in play. The entertainment industry has the power to
make people believe because they work in a fictious dimension. There is a catch to
this though. The effect entertainment industry has is not visible first hand, it is only
after a significant times an individual is exposed to a certain message from the
entertainment industry that he starts believing it.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
There is an aspect in my opinion which has not been much studied upon, “How
Entertainment Industry and Mass media subconsciously shapes and effects society”,
They say the subconscious is more powerful than the conscious. Usually, people are
more influenced by their innate subconscious desires or intent than a rational and
planned decision. This aspect of human nature is heavily influenced by your daily
activity. Firstly I would like to make it clear to the reader that here I am talking about
the subconscious effects and not conscious effects. To make it clear what I am talking
about below I am mentioning an example how mass media and entertainment industry
effects society subconsciously and consciously let’s take examples;
 Consciously:

By consciously here I mean an effect that can be directly pointed out first hand.
Like a rumour or incomplete news that talks about how one faction of society is
vulnerable and being exploited, now this might be true but is very exaggerated
to a level far from reality, basically making the targeted faction feel attacked
and cause them to take defensive stance and revolt back in self-defence, thus
causing riots or inter-factional wars. Now as this information is straight
forward and direct one can point out that it has been done with intent to
mislead and cloud one’s judgement temporarily. Once an individual takes his
time and looks out of his window to see the reality he realises immediately that
this is just another one of those petty tricks played by powerful entities in
society to cause something that will benefit them. Now in this example, if the
faction being portrayed as vulnerable thinks rationally and rechecks their status
in society, it wont pay heed to this attempt of influencing them and will just
shrug it off. Therefore the effect can be caught the moment it is being tried out
on society or is temporary therefore I call it consciously being affected, cause
it’s just for sometimes and fades away, does not stay stuck to one’s everyday
thinking.
Now a lot of research has been done on this effect and lot of literary work can
be found on internet that discusses this and its solution.

 Subconsciously:
 By subconsciously I mean, the information is slowly made to sediment into
your way of thinking, it basically changes your way of looking at things, or
your perspective in short. This is a very well thought out process and is
executed with strong agenda’s in mind. This technique is not something new
and was used in beginning magic performers or mind readers. They would
basically show u things which would all point to one common subject that they
would want you to think, and in the end they would guess it and would claim
that they read your mind. But this is nothing more than a psychological
phenomenon, in which if the human mind is shown certain hints or clues that
would point to one common object they will just join the dots subconsciously
and start thinking about it. Now this was on small scale. The powerful entities
realised this and used this phenomenon when they wanted the general public or
society to think about something or start believing in something from their core
nature, so in a way change their perspective. For eg, in movies if the director
wants to show that a certain faction which in reality may not be good and has
bad reputation, wants to just change society’s perspective on them, the he/she
will not jut portray the specific faction good in one movie but in multiple
movies and so naturally such that the society will start believing from its core
thoughts that maybe the faction is good, and this thoughts will get mixed with
their day to day thinking as they keep meeting people from those factions, even
their small acts like letting one pass first will be noted by society and start
believing what the film portrayed. This is a long process and is well planned
out. This is like certain perspective or thoughts being continuously hammered
into the heads of the society and slowly it gets mixed with the society therefore
making it a long-term affect that can be caught or noticed only if one where to
observe as third person what exactly is happening. Therefore I refer it as
subconscious effect. There have been research and literature works on this too.
The society heavily relies on mass media for information and is greatly influenced by
mass media and entertainment industry, so much so that some things just become
normalized. These dimensions of mass media and entertainment industry should be
studies upon more deeply because now a days they are going more and more
unchecked in the process of transparency and normalization of taboos. It should be
studied how the media is responsible for many events that shook the society but yet no
one has reached the root cause which if done would be traced back to mass media.
There is a need to understand how and when did the mass media get corrupt in its
journey. There is a need to come up with solutions to rein the media so as to help
society stay organised and not run free in name of liberty and normalization. More
research should be done to know how can the mass media and entertainment industry
can be used more efficiently in there roles in society and how can one constrict them
in a framework so that they don’t backfire on society. There is an urgent need for
researchers to come up and jot down there their findings after observing the changes
the entertainment industry has caused by hammering certain ideas into the society
subconsciously, and if they can be reversed.

Literature Review

1) Similar to how one may analyse the effects of a prescription drug, the
effects of entertainment might be studied. In fact, some critics even assert
that media like movies, television, music, and video games may have
effects similar to those of drugs. When testing a novel drug, researchers
look at both the intended effects (how well it accomplishes the intended
task, such as relieving a headache, clearing up acne, or curing an illness)
and potential, unintended side effects (e.g., nausea, weight gain, sun
sensitivity, and so on). In a similar way, researchers have looked at the
effects of entertainment, particularly media entertainment, frequently using
tools and procedures used in medical research. (Entertainment and
society; influences, impact and innovation by Shay Sayre, Jennings
Bryant, Cynthia King, 2010)
2) Most people think advertising does not affect them. We rarely pay attention
to it, they say. "Our eyes glaze over when the commercials come on. In one
ear, out the other." But that is not the whole story. As we saw in chapter 7
on effects of mass media, the content of media has become so pervasive that
our minds absorb the messages without our even being aware of it. The
communication has become our culture, our vocabulary, the fabric of our
lives. And that includes advertising. Repeated many times in a variety of
media, the calls to action of ads and slogans have acquired lives of their
own, images and messages that are now nearly inseparable from our
culture, our social exchanges, our dialogue, and our self-image.(Exploring
Mass Media For Changing World by Ray A Hiebert, Sheila Gibbons,
1999)
3) The advent of television has been a major phenomenon of American life in
recent years. Judged by its rate of growth, the size of its audience, and the
man-hours of attention devoted to it, television promises to become the
nation's principal communication medium." Specific data are cited with
regard to many topics including the following: dimensions of the medium,
characteristics of the audience, owner's usage and opinion of TV, effects on
other entertainment industries, effects on family and social activities, effects
on children, political impact of TV, impact of TV on the economy, and the
effectiveness of television advertising. (Television’s Impact on Society by
Coffin and Thomas E. ,1995)
 4) . Similarly, it is extremely difficult to test the argument that the media, in
combination with other social forces, bring about gradual social changes
over the long term, as part of the social construction of reality. Yet for
many, these 'drip drip' effects of the media are likely to exist, for television
is 'telling most of the stories to most of the people most of the time'
(Gerbner, et al., 1986, p.18).There are, then, difficulties in conducting
empirical research on both change and reinforcement conceptions of media
effect. As we shall see, the findings of the field are in many ways
inconclusive. It has been argued, consequently, that the media effects debate
can never be resolved and so research should cease. This raises two related
questions. First, can any general conclusions be drawn from effects research
to date concerning both the overall balance of findings and promising future
directions. Second, if the issue will not go away -- as the history of effects
research and public concern throughout this century suggests -- how should
the question of effects be reformulated. (Impacts OF Media on Society: A
Sociological Perspective, 1,Hakim Khalid Mehraj, 2,Akhtar Neyaz
Bhat ,3, Hakeem Rameez Mehraj, 2014)

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

 To research and analyse the development of Mass Media and Entertainment

industry

 To research and understand the dynamics of mass media and how it functions
and plays major role in society

 To research and understand how mass media and entertainment industry are
affecting society presently, is it good or bad?

 To try and find solutions to get unbiased information which has not been
influenced by powerful entities to gather support for their own good.

Research Methodology

The research should be based on both qualitative and quantitative methods of

research. The study should rely on the Secondary Method of Research.
Secondary data is information which has already been collected, compiled and
published by other researchers. Data is collected from secondary sources such
as research papers on the same or similar topics, government figures and other
websites, and then further analysed to provide greater depth and content. To
understand the effects such as the one which effect subconsciously I propose to
 work closely with various film and television shows and other entertainment
media, which will help in identifying and help in analysing the effect.

REFRENCES
 Mehraj, H. K., Bhat, A. N., & Mehraj, H. R. (2014). Impacts of media on
society: A sociological perspective. International Journal of Humanities and
Social Science Invention, 3(6), 56-64.
 Coffin, T. E. (1955). Television's impact on society. American
Psychologist, 10(10), 630.
 Hiebert, R. A., & Gibbons, S. (2017). Exploring mass media for a changing
world. Routledge.
 McQuail, D. (1985). Sociology of mass communication. Annual Review of
Sociology, 93-111.
 Unplug Yourself: How Advertising and Entertainment Shape Your
Subconscious by Andre Evans, (2012)