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335 Mass Communication Eng L21
335 Mass Communication Eng L21
New Media
21
Notes
CHARACTERISTICS OF
NEW MEDIA
OBJECTIVES
After studying this lesson, you will be able to do the following :
• distinguish between new media and other mediums of communication;
• illustrate the characteristics of new media;
• discuss about the interactivity of new media;
• compare the strengths and weaknesses of new media with television , radio
and print media;
• analyse the limitations of new media.
21.1 NEW MEDIA: AN INTRODUCTION
Mrs. Madhavan looks extremely worried these days. She is hardly seen at social
gatherings. And, when people see her on the roads, she avoids talking. Earlier she
was so active. Now her neighbors don’t know what has happened to her.
118 MASS COMMUNICATION
Characteristics of New Media MODULE - 6
New Media
Her neighbours daughter, Anjali is in class XII. She often goes over to Mrs
Madhavan’s house to help her son Aditya with his maths lessons.
Anjali has just finished her pre-board exams. In the evening she goes over to meet
Aditya. There she finds Mrs Madhavan looking as worried as ever.
Anjali asks her, “What’s wrong with you? Why are you looking so worried?”. Notes
“I am worried Anjali,” Mrs Madhavan replies. “Aditya doesn’t study nowadays.
His school is closed for winters. The entire day he spends in front of the computer.
On top of that he lies. He says his teacher has asked him to surf the internet and
do his homework. I am sure he is either playing computer games or doing something
else. I just don’t know what to do.”
Fig. 21.1: A worried Mrs Madhavan and Aditya working on his computer. Aditya doesn’t
care that his mother is worried. He looks happy sitting in front of his computer.
Anjali smiles and holds Mrs Madhavan’s hand. “Don’t worry aunty. I will talk to
Aditya. I am sure he knows what he’s doing.”
You have already learnt that in print media, the products are either a newspaper
or a magazine. Similarly, in the electronic media, the products are either a news
channel or an entertainment channel or a sports channel. For instance, Doordarshan
has a news channel, Star Plus is an entertainment channel and Discovery and
Animal Planet are non-fiction channels.
In new media, the product is called a website. Every website has an address. To
see a website you need a computer. On every computer, there is an icon called
internet explorer. You have to click on it and a new screen opens up. On this, you
type the address of the website and it will open up for you. Then you can see and
read whatever is posted on the website.
Notes
Now, in a country like India, where there are so many villages, how many people
have access to the computer? And, if they cannot use computers, then what’s the
use of new media?
To answer this question, let us recall the way television has expanded its base in
India. When television first arrived in India, very few people could buy a television
set. Whenever cricket matches were played, people used to stand outside a shop
that had a television set and enjoy the match. In villages, people often sit together
and watch television programs.
Similarly, there are cyber cafes all over the country. Several computers are kept
in these cafes. People can go there and work on computers after paying for it.
We must all realise that people have to be educated about computers. So after
you have learnt about computers, you must tell your friends about the benefits of
using a computer. You may also tell your parents what they can do with a computer.
We read in the beginning of the unit that Mrs Madhavan was worried. She’s
worried because she does not understand what Aditya is doing with a computer.
She’s also worried because she has heard a lot of things about the internet from
other parents. Some of them have told her that children should never be allowed
to see a computer because the internet contains a lot of information and pictures
that are only meant for adults.
Activity 21.1
Activity 21.1
1. Start writing your own diary. Write down your experiences at least once
a week. Include things like the book that you have read and some
interesting person you have met.
21.6 ADVANTAGES OF NEW MEDIA OVER PRINT MEDIA AND
TELEVISION
So what does the new media do? It has simply changed the way we communicate.
It is also a very important mode of communication that we cannot ignore. Do you
know that almost every organization today has a website. Anybody who wants
to know about an organization will simply log on to the internet and check their
website. Let us say, somebody wants to know details about the courses offered
by the National Institute of Open Schooling. The best thing to do would be to
open the NIOS website that will most likely contain most of the information that
anyone would want to know.
Newspapers also have their own websites. These websites are often copies of
their print editions. If we look at the history of online journalism, newspapers like
‘The Hindu’ and ‘The Indian Express’ were the first newspapers which started
their web editions in India. But then the websites were not different from the print
versions. The same stories that appeared in the morning newspaper were seen
on the websites without any major changes. The websites did not even use
animations or other forms of visual communication which is possible in the new
media and not in print.
These web editions also have another purpose. Let us say, readers in the southern
states of India are familiar with ‘The Hindu’. But how would an Indian reader in
Most television channels also have their own websites. Essentially, these websites
are meant for information. A person can log on to the website of any television
news channel and find out the different programmes that are going to be aired. A
website is also an important feedback vehicle. Viewers can log on to the website
and give their feedback and comments about any programme.
Which do you think is a better medium - print, television or new media ? It’s a
difficult question to answer. All mediums have their own strengths and weaknesses.
We often feel that like Aditya, most children nowadays are losing interest in
reading. That’s because the habit of reading a newspaper everyday in the morning
is no longer there. Most of us get quick information from the internet. That’s why
we are losing our reading habits.
Mr Madhavan also agrees to this. It’s true that a lot of information is available on
the internet, but the indepth information that he wants on certain social and political
issues is readily available in the newpaper that he reads. That’s why he will never
stop reading it.
In fact, Mr Madhavan surfs the internet only when he is in office. When he doesn’t
have much time, that’s the only form of communication that suits him. But at night,
he prefers to listen to at least one news bulletin on television. Again in the morning,
he manages some time to quickly read through the newspaper. He even marks
some of the articles and reads them carefully when he comes back home in the
evening.
Notes