Elements of Mass Media ( Print media )

Printing in India :

 The printed word, as a carrier of knowledge, information and news

stories was in fashion in China, Korea and Japan a thousand years
ago.

 As a commercial and wide spread Technology, however, it found

application in the 16th century in Europe.

 Johannes Gutenberg of Mainz in Germany streamlined the process

of printing by using

a) Metallic type set b) Screw type printing press c) Ink drawn from
dye or paint d) Printing surface which was higher than the un-printing
surface e) the contact with the paper was direct.

 The technology was called Relief Printing.

 People, however considered the identical reproduction of pages

as black magic. To remove the fear, the publishers concentrated
in the beginning on the printing of Bible and other religious books.

 The intellectual awakening caused by renaissance (14th to 16th

Century, growth of art, literature and architecture) and
industrialisation increased the demand for books and led to the
emergence of commercial publishing of news sheets called
‘CORONETS’ and later on of the regular news paper and
periodicals.

 In India printing came first to Goa in 1556 moving along the

coastal towns.
 Finally it penetrated into Calcutta and inland provinces.

 The first printing press was established in Bombay in 1674, the

second in Madras in 1772 and the third in Calcutta in 1779.

 The first English news paper ‘Bengal Gazzette’ was published in

Calcutta in 1780 by James Augustus Hicky.

 The first language book was grammar of the Bengal language.

 The first Bengali language news paper appeared in 1816 for a

short while.

 The regular Indian owned language news papers were started by

Raja Ram Mohan Ray in 1822. He is rightly known as the father of
Indian language journalism in India.

 By 1989, India had become one of the ten largest publishers of

news papers and the third biggest producer of books in English.

 In terms of UNESCO’s minimum norm of 10 news paper copies per

100 persons, India trails behind with only 7 copies per 100
persons.

 None of our daily news papers can claim a circulation figure of

one million which is a common feature in Countries like the USA,
the USSR, the UK and Japan.

 Charecterstics of Print media

 Print media is a form of communication that comes in many

different types. Messages can be sent out and printed in
newspapers, billboards and magazines. Once the pieces are
printed, they are distributed to their proper audience. The
 communication can be used to send information on promotions
or updates on news or events.

They offer -

 1. The print media like newspapers and magazines gives us an in-

depth coverage and analysis of news stories around the world.

 These stories are permanent and readily available to the common

people in times of need. The news stories can be read, re-read
and retained. large variety of coverage

 The timeliness of news in the print media is limited. Unlike the

electronic media, they do not give us immediate news but it has
the luxury of detailed representation, interpretation and analysis.

 Special articles, features, special section for sports and

business ,Review columns for books, films, media and art, gossips,
page 3 news, etc a great variety of light reading materials such as
humour, fun, comics and satire.

 Magazines serve special interests like fashion, food, politics,

economics, photography, filmmaking etc.

 Hence a good news paper is described as ‘Reader’s University’.

 They can be read only by the literate and their number is still
small in our country.

 95% of news papers are concentrated in urban areas only.

 Rise in price of magazines and new papers prevents a large

number of our people from purchasing them.
 Over the years, print media have become a less attractive source
of information because of the time it takes to produce such
materials.

Frequency of Distribution

 The frequency of distribution is a key characteristic of print media.

Some publications that contain time-sensitive information such as
newspapers and magazines can be distributed daily, weekly,
monthly, quarterly and even annually. Other media such as
newsletters, booklets and pamphlets can be distributed as needed
for individuals to pick up at their own discretion.

 People can read news papers and magazines, wherever and

whenever it is convenient to them – at home, at transit, in office,
back at home.

 This is not possible in case of the electronic media i.e., the radio
and television.

 If one fails to listen or see a programme at a given time one

misses it for ever unless the programme is recorded.

 The actual number of reader is more since they change hands.

 The news papers in India are in private sector and enjoy greater
freedom and that is why people place more reliability on the news
paper version.