Mass Communication

MASS COMMUNICATION

Introduction

It is impossible not to communicate. Everybody communicates, everything communicates.  Communication is not a process limited to human beings only. All creatures on the earth, from worms to humans, are communicating each other for their better existence. It is a universal phenomenon.

Communication is a process which includes transmission of information, ideas, emotions,

skills, knowledge by using symbols, words, gestures, and visuals and so on. Thus, the act of

communication is referred to as ‘transmission’.

As communication being a universal phenomenon that defines all human behavior, it is

important to have a clear understanding of the concepts of communication. What is communication? Why is it important to human beings? How does it work? What are the elements involved in the process of communication? How do they relate each other? What are the different types of communication? We should answer these questions to have a better

understanding of the subject. Let us look into each of them.

Communication

The word communication was originated from the Latin word ‘communis’ which means

‘common’. Communion, community, communism, commonality, communalism etc. are some related words having the same linguistic roots. Similarly, newer and newer terms are being coined as the concept of communication assumes importance day by day. Communication technology, communication media, communication age, communication management are just a few.

As the very term indicates, the ultimate aim of the communication process is to create

commonness between communicator and receiver of the message. Through communication, both

communicator and receiver enter into a mental agreement. Thus, they achieve their goal, which may be expression of an emotion or transmission of an idea.

Transaction, interchange, interaction, dialogue, discussion, sharing, contact are some of

the concepts that come up in our minds when we refer to ‘communication’.

According to Oxford English Dictionary, communication is ‘the transfer or conveying of

meaning’ (Oxford Dictionary).

Definition for communication.

1. Communication is the exchange of meanings between individuals through a common

system of symbols. (I.A.Richards).

2. Communication is the transmission and interchange of facts, ideas, feeling or course of

action. (Leland Brown)

3. Communication is a social interaction through messages ( Grabner, 1967)

The definitions given here indicate the following facts:

 A world without communication is unthinkable

 Communication is a complex process

 Communication is essential for human relationships and progress

 Human mind, body and physical conditions are vital components of communication

 A common symbol system is essential for communication

Importance of Communication

Communication is important for all beings that lead community life and form relationship. For human beings communication is as essential as food, shelter and dignity. While

animal kingdom uses low level symbols for communication, human beings have unique capacity

to use language.

The basic foundation of human society is communication and it takes place at different levels – within oneself, between individuals, between individual and a group, between groups, between countries and so on. Similarly, we use verbal and non-verbal forms of messages for communication.

Communication is essential for development of the society. We attain cultural, social and

economic prosperity by sharing out experiences. How can we share experience without better

communication?

Personal enjoyment is communication based. Just think of a person kept in isolation

without any chance for communication with his friends and relatives. It is really a punishment, a

prison life. Communication helps us interact with our surroundings, thus create positive

relationships, share love, build up friendship and depend each other to enjoy life.

Can you imagine a world without media? Not at all. The basic mission of mass media is

to create ties in human society sharing news. In modern world, media have some more roles to

play. Media defines our political system, form public opinion, support public demands and set

agenda of our social life. In short, no social activity, be it marketing, business, education, politics, media profession…, is possible without communication.

Functions of Communication

Considering the essentiality of communication, scholars enumerated the following functions of

it.

a) Education: To transfer knowledge for the progress of the society

                 (Example: class room communication)

b) Information: To find and explain something new (Example: News media)

c) Cultural promotion : To help foster social values and pass them from generation to

                 generation (Example: Festivals, parties, celebrations)

d) Social contact: To help make enjoyable companionship (Example: Friendship, clubs,

     organizations etc.)

            e) Integration: To create harmonious relationships among various social groups                            (Example:  Political parties, conferences, meetings etc.)

f) Stimulation: To create interest and develop positive thinking /behavior(Example:

                Advertisements)

            g) Counseling: To alleviate anxiety and lead to better ways (Example: guidance,  

                consolation etc.)

h) Expression of emotions (Example: crying, smiling etc)

i) Entertainment: To help pass time and enjoy life (Example: drama, song etc.)

j) Control function: To get someone to behave in an appropriate way (Example:

   Management, censorship etc)

Elements of Communication

Let us analyse Joseph A Devito’s definition that ‘communication refers to the act by one

or more persons, of sending and receiving messages distorted by noise, within a context, with

some effect and with some opportunity for feedback’ to find out the essential elements of

communication.

According to his definition, communication has the following elements:

a) Sender

b) Message

c) Channel

d) Receiver

e) Noise

f) Feedback

g) Context

h) Effect

Discussion on each of these elements with examples will give us more insight into the

entire process of communication.

Sender

Sender is the idea generating component in communication process. In human

communication, sender may be a person or persons who create or formulate the message to be

sent to the receiver. Being the primary source of the message, sender is also termed as source.

In mass media, for example, news reporter is the sender or source as he/she constructs

the message (news story). In a musical performance, the singer is the sender as his message is

enjoyed by the audience.

Sender is a critical component in communication as his/her social background,

personality status, education etc influence the quality of the message he/she creates. The

message is created from the idea generated in the mind of the sender. The idea generation

process is called encoding.

The source/sender has three functions:

a) To decide what is to be communicated

b) Encoding (Put the idea in such a way that the receiver understands it)

c) Transmitting the message to the receiver

Message

The message is any verbal or non-verbal method that produces meaning in the mind of

the receiver. Simply, it is the meaning transferred from sender’s mind to receiver’s mind. This

happens mainly in two ways: verbal and non-verbal methods.

Verbal message means written or oral messages. They are composed of words. Example:

A newspaper report or a lecture by a teacher.

Non-verbal messages are those communicated through our behaviour, movements, actions, clothes, style of conversation, pitch of the sound etc.

What is fundamental in message construction is the agreement between sender and

receiver in the code used for it. If the receiver cannot identify the language or meaning of the

message, the communication will be defective.

Channel

The channel means medium by which sender transmits the message to the receiver. Our

five senses such hearing, touching, smelling , tasting , seeing are basic natural channels of human

communication. Communication can be classified on the basis of five basic natural channels.

They are:

Tactile communication: Communication by touch or taste

Olfactory communication: communication by smell

Audio communication: Communication through sound waves

Visual communication: Communication through visual elements or properties.

We use any technically developed medium (like television, newspaper, books etc) with the help of one or more of these five senses. Similarly, sender uses one or more channels to maximize the communication effect. For example – multi-media class room where teacher uses projector, blackboard, lecture, gestures etc. simultaneously.

Receiver

Idea receiving end in communication process is called receiver. A person or thing may be at the receiving end. The receiver’s role is as important as a sender’s role. As in the case of a

sender, receiver has also three roles to play:

a) To receive the message

b) To decode the message

Decoding is the process of extracting a message from a code and interprets it. For this, sender and receiver should have knowledge about the code (for example: language) used in

communication.

c) To respond to the message through feedback

Receivers may be audience watching movies, persons listening to music, students hearing

a lecture or a computer getting e-mail from a remote server.

Communication fails or remains faulty when message is rejected or misinterpreted by the

receiver.

Feedback

Information or message that is fed back to the source is called feedback. If you get

clapping for your singing, clapping is the feedback. Questions raised by students in a class room

for more information is another example for feedback.

Feedback originated either from the sources’ own message is called self feedback.

Example: When you talk to somebody, you hear yourself and evaluate your tone, pitch etc.

Sometimes you may think that you could have sharpened or softened your tone or pitch or text,

because of your own feedback. Another type of feedback is that originated from the receiver. It may be in the form of questions, applauses, puzzled look etc. Feedback may be negative or positive, immediate or delayed.

Receiver’s indication to the sender that the message was not received well is called

negative feedback. Eg. Looks of indifference, rejection or boredom may be considered as

negative feedback. Receiver’s favourable responses like acceptance, applauses etc. are positive feedback. Feedback at the time of the communication itself or just after it is immediate feedback.

Eg. Applauses a singer gets during the performance.

Receiver’s response relatively much after the communication is delayed feedback. Eg.

Letters to the Editor.

Noise

Noise or communication barrier is anything that distorts message. Noise may originate

in any of the components of communication like source, message, channel, context, receiver etc.

Noise is present when there is difference between the message sent and received.

Communication is not possible without noise, but its effects may be reduced through various methods such as using good grammar, clear voice, simple language, quality signal etc.

Noise is of different types depending on the nature and reasons of the distortion.

They are:

Psychological noise: Any communication error due to the psychological reasons. Eg. A

fearful audience can’t enjoy the musical programme.

Semantic noise: Language related problems in communication. Eg. Poor grammar, complex sentence structure, rare vocabulary etc.

Contextual noise: If communication takes place in inappropriate time or place, message is not conveyed well. Eg. Wishing compliments during a funeral function. Or An outdoor

meeting at noon in a hot summer.

Channel noise : Medium related communication barrier. Eg. Poor signal affecting picture clarity of television.

Context

Communication takes place in a context. At times it is noticeable and at other times not.

In other words, time, place, culture, physical and social condition and psychology of the

participants are important in determining communication effect. If we try to interpret a message

out of its context, we may get an entirely different meaning which may result in communication

error.

Rules and roles are two important factors related to communication context.

Rules are the norms we have to follow while communicating in different situations. For

example, our communication behaviour is different when we are in class room, market or prayer

hall, depending on the rules the situation demands.

Roles are the character or part each participant in communication has to play. For example, in family communication situation, father plays a leader’s role. In class room, students play the receiver’s role.

Effect

Why do we communicate? It is a fundamental question. To make some effect on the receiver is the answer. Effect is consequence or result of communication. Every communication act makes some effect on the person/s. Effect may be positive or negative. Communication is said to be success when we achieve the indented effect.

Communication effects are of three types:

Cognitive effects: The consequences take place in the receiver’s intelligence due to

communication. Example : Knowledge acquisition

Affective effects: The consequences occurred in the emotions of the person/s due to

communication.

Eg. Compassion, love etc.

Behavioral effects: The change in the receiver’s bahaviour or actions due to communication.

Eg. Political campaign and change in people’s voting behaviour or purchasing new

products inspired by the advertisements.

What is Mass Communication?

The simplest definition of mass communication is “public communication transmitted electronically or mechanically.” In this way messages are transmitted or sent to large, perhaps millions or billions of people spread across the world. The communication passes through the different forms of mass media such as newspapers, magazines, films, radio, television and internet. Media is the plural for the word medium or ‘means of communication’.

Mass Communication is a means of disseminating information or message to large,  anonymous, and scattered heterogeneous masses of receivers who may be far removed from the message sources through the use of sophisticated equipment. In other words, communication is

the sending of message through a mass medium to a large number of people.

Mass Communication represents the creation and sending of a homogeneous message to a large heterogeneous audience through the media. Mass communication studies the uses and effects of the media by many as opposed to the study of human interaction as in other

communication contexts.

Stanley Baran defines Mass Communication as the process of creating shared meaning between the mass media and their audience. Also, John Bittner defines Mass Communication as messages communicated through a mass medium to a large number of people.

One needs to underscore the underlying fact that what is common in every definition of mass communication anywhere in the world is that it is communicated through a mass medium. In other words, for any message to be regarded as being mass communicated, it must be

disseminated through a mass medium like Radio, Television, Newspaper and Magazine.

Mass Communication can also be defined as a device by which a group of people working together transmits information to a large heterogeneous and anonymous audience simultaneously. It is a process by which information originates from the source to the receiver, having been thoroughly filtered and transmitted through a channel ( Sambe 2005:29).

The Mass

The concept “mass’’ in mass communication is defined as a large, heterogeneous, assorted, anonymous audience.

‘Large’ means we can’t exactly count the number of the members of audience. It is relatively large but it doesn’t mean that the audience includes all people.

‘Heterogeneous’ means the audience of mass media includes all types of people – the rich, the poor, farmers, bureaucrats, politicians and so on.

‘Assorted’ means the audience of mass media is not necessarily limited to a particular geographical sector. They may be scattered everywhere. For example, a newspaper may have a reader in every nook and corner of the world.

‘Anonymous’ means we can’t specifically identify a reader of a newspaper of newspaper with his certain characteristics. Today he may be reader of a particular newspaper. Tomorrow, he may change his media habit. Anybody at any time may be a member of mass media audience.

The channels of communication that produce and distribute news, entertainment content, visuals and other cultural products to a large number of people. Mass media can be classified in to three major groups on the basis of their physical nature.

They are:

 Print Media like newspaper, magazines and periodicals, books etc.

 Electronic like radio, cinema, television, video and audio records

 Digital Media like CD RoMs, DVDs and the Internet facilities.

Mass Communication Process

How does mass communication work can be well explained in linear model of mass communication?. According to this traditional concept, mass communication is a component system made up of senders ( the authors, reporters, producers or agencies) who transmit messages ( the book content, the news reports, texts, visuals, images, sounds or advertisements) through mass media channels ( books, newspapers, films, magazines, radio, television or the  Internet) to a large group of receivers ( readers, viewers, citizens or consumers) after the filtering of gatekeepers ( editors, producers or media managers) with some chance for feedback ( letters to editors, phone calls to news reporters, web-site postings or as audience members of talk shows or television discussions). The effect of this process may formation of public opinion, acceptance of   particular cultural value, setting the agenda for the society and the like.

A simple linear model of mass communication situation can be represented with the diagram  given below.

Nature of Mass Communication

From the above model of mass communication, it is easy to identify the following features of mass communication.

1. Mass communication experience is public one. It means that anybody can be a part of this communication process at any time without much effort or permission.

2. It is a mediated communication act. Nature of the media involved in the process defines the mediation in mass communication. For example, television can transmit a news instantly as it is a fast medium, newspaper takes to bring the same news report to the public because of its limitations. This is how nature of the media defines the mediation process in mass communication.

3. Mass communication is filtered communication. This filtering processing is called gate keeping. For example, a news report in a newspaper or on a television channel filtered or controlled at different level by reporter, sub editor, news editor, editor.

4. It is the most complicated form of communication as it involves complex technology like satellites digital networks, management structure, marketing chain etc.

5. Mass communication can alter the way the society thinks about events and attitudes.

6. Mass communication experience is transient. It means that once you used a message (for example, a news report or a film) you may not use it again. The message is meant to be used once and it is gone. Who will read yesterday’s newspaper?

7. Mass communication is most often remains as one-way communication. As receivers, how many of us write letters to editor (sender)? A very few. But, in interpersonal communication, senders and receivers are in active conversation sending feedback to each other.

8. Unlike other communicators, mass communicators can’t see their audience. Karan Tapar or Pranoy Roy, the leading television personalities in India know that their programmes are watched by millions of Indians. But, they can’t see how people respond or react while watching their presentations. That’s why they can’t change the style of presentation or mode of communication instantly as we do in interpersonal or group communication.

Mass Media

           Mass media influence our daily life more than any other cultural institution. They are our main sources of news and entertainment. They define our purchase decision, voting behavior, academic achievement and so on. Because of this all-encompassing impact of mass media, politicians, businessmen and government agencies depend on media to influence people. During election time, we witness politicians spending millions of rupess for political campign through mass media. Business firms across the world spend billions of dollars to market their products with the help of mass media advertisements. We are informed of the policies of our governments through newspapers and electronic media. Likewise, we people need mass media to express our needs, complaints and wishes to the authorities. In short, role of mass media in our society is omnipresent.

Defining Mass Media

           According to Wilbur Schramm ‘a mass medium is essentially a working group organized around some device for circulating the same message, at about same time, to a large number of people’. From this definition, let us know that there is a well organized system behind each mass medium. For example, a newspaper is produced everyday with the collective efforts of a lot of people using various information sources ranging from local reporters to international news agencies. Same is the case of distribution of the newspaper also. Everybody from circulation manager to local newspaper boy is actively engaged in smooth circulation of each copy of a newspaper. Moreover, every county has its own policy, laws, and telecommunication systems to facilitate mass media. In this sense, the production of a mass medium is the result of a well organized system.

And, the messages are disseminated to a large number of people ie. mass. They are called the audience. No media can sustain without a sufficient audience. We learned the characteristics of mass audience in the earlier unit.

The definition again talks about devices of circulating messages. These devices are technological means through which messages are communicated to the audience. Devices include printed documents, television, radio, DVD, cassettes, the internet etc.

Types of Mass Communication

Mass media can be categorized according to physical form, technology involved, nature

of the communication process etc. Given below are the major categories of mass media.

Print Media

           Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the moveable metallic type in the fifteenth century paved the way for proliferation of the print media. The printing press using moveable types introduced the method for mass production of texts. Before the invention of the printing press, books were expensive materials affordable only for the aristocrats and royal families. Printing reduced the cost of books and made them available to the common men also. Rapid duplication of multiple copies of handy texts led to the innovation of modern newspapers.

Print Media include

 Newspapers

 Magazines

 books

 other textual documents

Electronic Media

           The history of electronic mass media starts with the invention of radio by Marconi. The first radio station was set up in Pittsburg, New York and Chicago in the 1920s. Following the USA, European countries also started radio stations for broadcasting news and entertainment content. The colonial powers like Briton and France set radio stations in Asian and African countries in the early years of 20th century. The next step in electronic communication media history was the invention of cinema. Following cinema, television broadcasting was initiated in the US on experimental basis during 1920s. But, the dramatic impact of television as a mass medium began in 1950s. Parallel to these, recording industry was also boomed in the western countries. In short, the term electronic media mainly include:

 Radio

 Movies

 Television

 Audio and Video records

New Media

Online and digital means of producing, transmitting and receiving messages are called

new media. The term encompasses computer mediated communication technology. It implies the use of desktop and portable computers as well as wireless and handheld devices. Every company in the computer industry is involved with new media in some manner. The forms of communicating in the digital world include

 CD-RoMs

 DVDs

 Internet facilities like World Wide Web, bulleting boarding, email etc.

Functions of Mass Media

As mentioned earlier, mass media have pervasive effects on our personal and social life. The role and scope of mass media in our society are in the following areas:

 Information

 Education

 Entertainment

 Persuasion

Types of Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication has three major types. They include:

1. Dyadic communication,

2. Public speaking, and

3. Small-group communication.

DYADIC COMMUNICATION

Dyadic communication is simply a method of communication that only involves two people such as a telephone conversation or even a set of letters sent to and received from a pen pal. In this communication process, the sender can immediately receive and evaluate feedback from the receiver. So that, it allows for more specific tailoring of the message and more personal communication than do many of the other media.

Basic Elements in Interpersonal Communication

The basic elements involved in interpersonal communication process

are:

1. Sender; person who sends information.

2. Receiver: person who receives the information sent.

3. Message: content of information sent by sender.

4. Feedback: response from receiver.

Barriers against Effective Interpersonal Communication

Emotions

Sometimes when people communicate an idea or matter across, the receiver can feel how the sender perceives the subject matter. Often messages are interpreted differently for different people. Extreme emotions are most likely to hinder effective communication because the

idea or message may be misinterpreted. It's always best to avoid responding or reacting to the subject matter when you're upset or angry because most of the time, you'll not be able to think in a clear manner.

Filtering

This is where the sender manipulates the information that he communicates to the receiver. The purpose of this is because sometimes people would shape and reform the message so that it appears and sounds favourable to the receiver. Filtering information may mislead the receiver into thinking something favourable and the let down may be upsetting if it is found out that information has been filtered.

Overloaded with Information

Too much information about the same subject matter may be confusing. For example, you have 50 e-mails on the same subject matter, each email contains a little part of the subject matter. It would be better to have one e-mail from the sender which includes all the information in clear and simple form with only the information that you asked for. Normally, the human brain can only take in so much information to process, overloading it with information will exceed our human processing capacity, and the receiver would misunderstand or not understand at all what the sender is telling them.

Defensiveness

Humans tend to refuse for a mutual understanding when they feel that

they are being threatened or are put in a position in which they are at a

disadvantage. Defensiveness normally consists of attacking what the

sender tells you, putting out sarcastic remarks, questioning their motives

or being overly judgmental about the subject matter.

Cultural Difference

Sometimes our culture may be a huge hinderance for effective interpersonal communication. When two people with different cultures communicate, they often do not understand each other's cultures and may misunderstand the true meaning of what each other are trying to convey through such a sense. For example, Japanese people would say "􀀀􀀀 "  pronounced as 'ha-i') and Americans may misunderstand that they are saying "hi". This makes the intentions unclear between both people.

Jargon

Not everyone understands each other's jargon words. Jargon should be avoided when talking to someone who isn't familiar with you personally or within your organization.

Overcoming the Barriers of Effective Interpersonal Communication

Simplify Language

By structuring your language to clear simplistic sentences, the receiver would be able to easily understand what the sender is saying. For example, jargon can be used within your organization as it will only use one word rather than a whole sentence to explain what you are trying to communicate across.

Constrain Emotions

Hold back emotions whilst discussing a certain sensitive issue. Speaking in a neutral manner allows mutual understanding to occur and for both sender and receiver to communicate in a rational manner.

Listen Actively

Often, when the sender says something, the receiver normally hears but does not listen. Place yourself in the sender's position and try to understand exactly what they are trying to convey to you. The receiver is trying to understand fully what the sender is trying to say, so putting the receiver in the sender's point of view makes understanding much easier.

Feedback

Done by the sender, as a word of confirmation by using closed ended questions such as "Did you understand what I just said?" or "Is what I said clear to you?", or using an open ended question to have the receiver summarize the message. This results in the sender knowing that the receiver has fully understood what is being communicated.

Intra-Personal Communication

This is essentially a neuro-physiological activity which involves some mental interviews for the purposes of information processing and decision making. The basic operations of intrapersonal communication are to convert raw data from environment to information; to interpreter and give meaning to that information and to use such meaning. In other words, it is communication that occurs within you. Because intrapersonal communication is centered in the self, you are the sender and the receiver. The message is made up of your thoughts and feelings and the channel is your brain, which processes what you are thinking and feeling. There is also feedback because you talk to yourself, you discard certain ideals and replace them with others.

Intrapersonal communication is language use or thought internal to the communicator. Intrapersonal communication is the active internal involvement of the individual in symbolic processing of messages. The individual becomes his or her own sender and receiver, providing feedback to him or herself in an ongoing internal process. It can be useful to envision intrapersonal communication occurring in the mind of the individual in a model which contains a sender, receiver, and feedback loop.

Although successful communication is generally defined as being between two or more individuals, issues concerning the useful nature of communicating with oneself and problems concerning communication with non-sentient entities such as computers have made some argue that this definition is too narrow.

Kinds of Intrapersonal Communication

Below are the different kinds of intrapersonal communication:

Writing (by hand, or with a word processor, etc.) one's thoughts or observations: the additional activities, on top of thinking, of writing and reading back may again increase self-understanding ("How do I know what I mean until I see what I say?") and concentration. It aids ordering one's thoughts; in addition it produces a record that can be

used later again. Copying text to aid memorizing also falls in this category.

Making gestures while thinking: the additional activity, on top of thinking, of body motions, may again increase concentration, assist in problem solving, and assist memory.

· Sense-making e.g. interpreting maps, texts, signs, and symbols

· Interpreting non-verbal communication e.g. gestures, eye contact

· Communication between body parts; e.g. "My stomach is telling me it's time for lunch."

· Day-dreaming

· Nocturnal dreaming, including and especially lucid dreaming

· Speaking aloud (talking to oneself), reading aloud, repeating what one hears; the additional activities of speaking and hearing (in the third case of hearing again) what one thinks, reads or hears may increase concentration and retention. This is considered normal, and the extent to which it occurs varies from person to person. The time when there should be concern is when talking to oneself occurs outside of socially acceptable situations.

Journalism

JOURNALISM

Unit I

What is Journalism? , A Short history of Journalism in India, Principles of  Journalism, Press Codes and Ethics of Journalism, The role played by journalism as part of the mass media

Unit II

Freedom of Press, Threats to Press Freedom, Government and the Press, Press Laws   - Defamation, Libel, contempt of Court, Copyright laws, Press Regulation Act, Press Registration Act,  Law of Privileges

Unit III

The role of the Reporter, Sub Editor, Editor, News  -   News Reports  - Types -  Straight, Interpretive, Investigative, Scoop, Sting, Reporting, Headlines, Editing, Editorial, Feature Writing, Personal Column , Reviews, Interviews, Press conference, Reporting  -  News Values,  human interest, story angle, obituaries.

Unit IV

Layout,-  Aims – Designing –Types  - Advertisements –Types –Advertising and social responsibility, Editing, Proof Reading, Photographic Journalism, Cartoon, News Agencies, , Press Council of India,

Exercises: Editing , Proof Reading , Feature Writing, News Reporting, Planning interviews, Reviews

                                                      Unit I: What is Journalism?

        The words ‘Journalist’, ‘Journal’ and ‘Journalism’ are derived from the French word ‘Journal’, which in turn comes from the Latin terms ‘diurnals’ or ‘daily’. Journalism is a form of writing that tells people about things that really happened, but that they might not have known about already. People who write journalism are called journalists. They might work at newspapers, magazines, and websites or for TV or radio stations .The most important characteristic shared by good journalists is curiosity. Good journalists love to read and want to find out as much as they can about the world around them.

                                                              Principles of Journalism

In 1997, an organization then administered by PEJ, the Committee of Concerned Journalists, began a national conversation among citizens and news people to identify and clarify the principles that underlie journalism. After four years of research, including 20 public forums around the country, a reading of journalism history, a national survey of journalists, and more, the group released a Statement of Shared Purpose that identified nine principles. These became the basis for The Elements of Journalism, the book by PEJ Director Tom Rosenstiel and CCJ Chairman and PEJ Senior Counselor Bill Kovach. Here are those principles, as outlined in the original Statement of Shared Purpose.

A Statement of Purpose

After extended examination by journalists themselves of the character of journalism at the end of the 20th century, we offer this common understanding of what defines our work. The central purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with accurate and reliable information they need to function in a free society.

            This encompasses myriad roles--helping define community, creating common language and

common knowledge, identifying a community's goals, Hero's and villains, and pushing people

beyond complacency. This purpose also involves other requirements, such as being entertaining,

serving as watchdog and offering voice to the voiceless.

Over time journalists have developed nine core principles to meet the task. They comprise what

might be described as the theory of journalism:

1. Journalism's first obligation is to the truth

           Democracy depends on citizens having reliable, accurate facts put in a meaningful context. Journalism does not pursue truth in an absolute or philosophical sense, but it can--and must—pursue it in a practical sense. This "journalistic truth" is a process that begins with the professional discipline of assembling and verifying facts. Then journalists try to convey a fair and reliable account of their meaning, valid for now, subject to further investigation. Journalists should be as transparent as possible about sources and methods so audiences can make their own assessment of the information. Even in a world of expanding voices, accuracy is the foundation upon which everything else is built--context, interpretation, comment, criticism, analysis and debate. The truth, over time, emerges from this forum. As citizens encounter an ever greater flow of data, they have more need--not less--for identifiable sources dedicated to verifying that information and putting it in context.

2. Its first loyalty is to citizens

         While news organizations answer too many constituencies, including advertisers and shareholders, the journalists in those organizations must maintain allegiance to citizens and the larger public interest above any other if they are to provide the news without fear or favor. This commitment to citizens first is the basis of a news organization's credibility, the implied covenant that tells the audience the coverage is not slanted for friends or advertisers. Commitment to citizens also means journalism should present a representative picture of all constituent groups in society. Ignoring certain citizens has the effect of disenfranchising them. The theory underlying the modern news industry has been the belief that credibility builds a broad and loyal audience, and that economic success follows in turn. In that regard, the business people in a news organization also must nurture--not exploit--their allegiance to the audience ahead of other considerations.

3. Its essence is a discipline of verification

Journalists rely on a professional discipline for verifying information. When the concept of objectivity originally evolved, it did not imply that journalists are free of bias. It called, rather, for a consistent method of testing information--a transparent approach to evidence--precisely so that personal and cultural biases would not undermine the accuracy of their work. The method is objective, not the journalist. Seeking out multiple witnesses, disclosing as much as possible about sources, or asking various sides for comment, all signal such standards. This discipline of verification is what separates journalism from other modes of communication, such as propaganda, fiction or entertainment. But the need for professional method is not always fully recognized or refined. While journalism has developed various techniques for determining facts, for instance, it has done less to develop a system for testing the reliability of journalistic interpretation.

4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover

Independence is an underlying requirement of journalism, a cornerstone of its reliability. Independence of spirit and mind, rather than neutrality, is the principle journalists must keep in focus. While editorialists and commentators are not neutral, the source of their credibility is still their accuracy, intellectual fairness and ability to inform--not their devotion to a certain group or outcome. In our independence, however, we must avoid any tendency to stray into arrogance, elitism, isolation or nihilism.

5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power

Journalism has an unusual capacity to serve as watchdog over those whose power and position most affects citizens. The Founders recognized this to be a rampart against despotism when they ensured an independent press; courts have affirmed it; citizens rely on it. As journalists, we have an obligation to protect this watchdog freedom by not demeaning it in frivolous use or exploiting it for commercial gain.

6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise

         

            The news media are the common carriers of public discussion, and this responsibility forms a basis for our special privileges. This discussion serves society best when it is informed by facts rather than prejudice and supposition. It also should strive to fairly represent the varied viewpoints and interests in society, and to place them in context rather than highlight only the conflicting fringes of debate. Accuracy and truthfulness require that as framers of the public discussion we not neglect the points of common ground where problem solving occurs.

7. It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant

           Journalism is storytelling with a purpose. It should do more than gather an audience or catalogue the important. For its own survival, it must balance what readers know they want with what they cannot anticipate but need. In short, it must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant. The effectiveness of a piece of journalism is measured both by how much a work engages its audience and enlightens it. This means journalists must continually ask what information has most value to citizens and in what form. While journalism should reach beyond such topics as government and public safety, a journalism overwhelmed by trivia and false significance ultimately engenders a trivial society.

8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional

            Keeping news in proportion and not leaving important things out are also cornerstones of truthfulness. Journalism is a form of cartography: it creates a map for citizens to navigate society. Inflating events for sensation, neglecting others, stereotyping or being disproportionately negative all make a less reliable map. The map also should include news of all our communities, not just those with attractive demographics. This is best achieved by newsrooms with a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. The map is only an analogy; proportion and comprehensiveness are subjective, yet their elusiveness does not lessen their significance.

9. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience

            Every journalist must have a personal sense of ethics and responsibility--a moral compass. Each of us must be willing, if fairness and accuracy require, to voice differences with our colleagues, whether in the newsroom or the executive suite. News organizations do well to nurture this independence by encouraging individuals to speak their minds. This stimulates the intellectual diversity necessary to understand and accurately cover an increasingly diverse society. It is this diversity of minds and voices, not just numbers that matters.

JOURNALISM IN INDIA

Augustus Hickeys started this ‘Bengal Gazette’ in 1780 in Calcutta. James Silk Buckingham was a progressive thinker and writer of eminence. His ‘Calcutta Chronicle’, which appeared on October 2,1818, showed the way for future journalism in India. The editor was a staunch believer in the freedom of the press. He fearlessly condemned social evils like sati and criticized the Government for its inefficiency in curbing superstitions among people. Raja Rammohan Roy gave him moral strength. The forthright approach of this great English journalist annoyed the rulers of that day and the result was Buckingham was deported. If Calcutta gave birth to Indian journalism, Bombay became the hub of social reform. Dadabhai Naoroji, Behram Malabari, M.G.Ranade and a few others began reforming society with the help of their writings and speeches. Dadabhai Naoroji’s own monthly journal, ‘The Voice of India’ came out on February 1,1882 aiming at securing fair hearing and justice for India.

‘The Hindu’ of Madras started in 1878 as a weekly by G.Subramaniya Iyer and his enthusiastic team supported the raising of the age for marriage from 10 to 12 years. In those days it was thought an unorthodox and rebellious view, not consistent with the ideas of the leaders of the Indian society. G.Subramaniya Iyer respected and prestigious of the English dailies of India, still holds sway over the educated and the enlightened. This newspaper under the editorship of such stalwarts as N.Ram has done great service to the nation.

‘The Madras Times’ started in 1860 came out again in 1868 as ‘The Madras Mail’. It became simply ‘The Mail’ in 1950 and remains the oldest of the English newspapers from Madras. It had been serving the cause of the European and other English speaking communities in and around Madras. Charles Lawson and Henry Cornish and several other Europeans served on the board of this famous newspaper. For many years, ‘The Mail’ as an evening newspaper held sway over the educated middle class people in Madras.

‘The Pioneer’ was started in Allahabad in 1861. During the years, 1907-1908 there were many prosecutions and confiscations in which journalists were involved. Balagangadara Tilak who was the editor of ‘Kesari’(Marathi) was jailed in Andamans and Aurobindo Ghosh, Editor of ‘Bande Mataram’ sought asylum in Pondicherry.

Annie Besant launched Home Rule League in 1916 and started her newspapers, a weekly and a daily. Mrs. Besant opposed repressive laws of the British Government. ‘New India’ of Mrs.Besant propagated freedom to the people through Home Rule Movement. Madan Mohan Malviya established ‘Leader’ in Allahabad in 1909, which reached great heights under the editorship of C.Y.Chandramani. Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Young India’ played a dominant role in awakening the masses of India.

ETHICS OF JOURNALISM AND PRESS CODES

As journalism has remained for years a recognizably unregulated occupation unlike law, medicine and industry, there has been no central authority to control the working of journalists. The interference of the state in the field of journalism was practically nil and so journalists themselves have formulated the self regulating ethical standards. In Britain, in 1947, the Press Council was established and the media came under some sort of regulation. Between 1060 and 1967 there were widespread complaints about the liberalism among the journalists of England. The Criminal Justice Act of 1967 restricted the reporting of the court cases, which many journalists saw as a major breach of the principle of open justice. A few journalist were jailed for refusing to divulge the sources of the information vital in court cases. The tabloid journalism came to the forefront around 1980’s. ‘The Daily Mirror’ and the other British newspapers began publishing stories, which were in the previous year considered unworthy of publication. There was a rivalry among the newspapers to secure sensational stories since they changed the fortunes of the newspaper business. This trend came to be known as ‘cheque-book journalism’. The stories were a mix of sex, royalty and the aristocracy. There were more fabrications than the actual happenings. There was a great revival of public taste for such unfounded, unethical and illegal stories. ‘The Sun’ specialized in this area and was the most successful venture among the British newspapers. In this context attempts were made by MP’s to introduce press regulations in the form of legislation. Many more such press intrusions into the private lives of the top people in the country led to the restrictions on the journalists.

This activity of imposing restriction on the press freedom gained momentum with the police, prosecutors and the public taking their cases of libel to the courts. Photographers were arrested, journalists were searched and their houses raided. There were pressures on the journalist community to think a little more on what they do, the effect it can have on their fellow citizens and the impact their work has on the reputation of the press. Even in America there was interest in journalistic ethics. In April 1994 the National Union of Journalists(NUJ) organized a conference on ethics which was attended by more than 100 participants. In journalism courses conducted by universities ethics found an important place.

NUJ Code of Conduct:

The rules of ethics given below can be understood as general code of conduct to journalists all over the world. Students of journalism find these rules helpful in the pursuit of their careers.

-          A journalist has a duty to maintain the highest professional and ethical standards.

-          A journalist shall at all times defend the principle of the freedom of the Press and other media in relation to the collection of information and the expression of comment and criticism. He/she shall strive to eliminate distortion, news suppression and censorship.

-          A journalist shall strive to ensure that the information he/she disseminates is fair and accurate, avoid the expression of comment and conjecture as established fact and falsification by distortion, selection or misrepresentation.

-          A journalist shall rectify promptly any harmful inaccuracies, ensure that correction and apologies receive due prominence and afford the right of reply to persons criticized when the issue is of sufficient importance.

-          A journalist shall obtain information, photographs and illustrations only by straightforward means. The use of other means can be justified only by overriding considerations of the public interest. The journalist is entitled to exercise personal considerations of the public interest. The journalist is entitled to exercise a personal conscientious objection to the use of such means.

-          Subject to the justification by over-riding considerations of the public interest, a journalist shall do nothing, which entails intrusion into private grief and distress.

-          A journalist shall protect confidential sources of information.

-          A journalist shall not accept bribes nor shall he/she allow other inducements to influence the performance of his/her professional duties.

-          A journalist shall not lend himself/herself to the distortion or suppression of the truth because of advertising or other considerations.

-          A journalist shall only mention a person’s age, race, colour, creed, illegitimacy, disability, marital status(or lack of it), gender or sexual orientation if this information is strictly relevant. A journalist shall neither originate nor process material, which encourages discrimination, ridicule, prejudice or hatred on any of the above-mentioned grounds.

-          A journalist shall not take private advantage of information gained in the course of his/her duties, before the information is public knowledge.

-          A journalist shall not by way of statement, voice or appearances endorse by advertisement any commercial product or services save for the promotion of his/her own work or of the medium by which he/she is employed.

THE PRESS AND THE SOCIETY

Long back Walter Lippman pointed out that news and truth were different. He said that news foresees an event and truth brings to light the hidden facts. Man can act after knowing the truth not after knowing the news. According to Lippman, the public should rely more on truthful presentation and interpretation and for this purpose they should depend on institutions other than the press. After Lippman, many have come to the defence of the society relegating the press to the background. Unless an institution is socially relevant it cannot fulfill the essential needs of the society. Press is such an institution, and if it loses its social appeal it becomes irrelevant to society. 
           

India is a vast country with more than a billion people living in it, but the circulation of our newspapers is found to be very low. Not even 10% of the population is reading newspapers. The number of buyers of newspapers would be lower than that percentage. The consumption of newsprint in India stands very low in comparison with that of the Western countries. Sometimes ago, the editor of the Planning Commission’s Journal made a survey of the developmental issues published in Indian newspapers and reported that the space covered by them indicates how the newspaper managers are indifferent to a large section of the society.
           

It is a common knowledge that all the important newspapers in India published more political and sensational news than the news related to the planning and development of society. The importance given to parliamentary debates and political intrigues by our newspapers is evident to the regular readers. One can find more features based on rural development, rural industries, animal husbandry, irrigation, household planning and welfare of children. Welfare measures to be taken in remote villages like solving problems of water scarcity, electricity failures, lack of communication should find place in all newspapers. Social issues, according to the Department of Journalism, Osmania University, find no place in major English newspapers. It is an open secret that most of our popular newspapers in English are urban-oriented or bureaucrat-oriented or white-collared oriented rather than society-oriented.

            There is some truth in the criticism that the newspapers of today are distinctly separated from the masses of India. We cannot blame the newspapers in India for publishing more political news because all these newspapers took part in the struggle for independence and the revolutionary political fervor has not died down yet. There is also some amount of affinity between the politicians and the proprietors of important newspapers. This is due to the fact that political parties in India either run or patronize news channels and newspapers.

Unit II:   FREEDOM OF PRESS

Freedom of Press under Constitution (Press at par excellence): “A Free press stands as one of the great interpreters between the Government and the People. To allow it to be fettered is to fetter over selves. ‘Freedom’ means absence of control, interference or restrictions. Hence, the expression ‘Freedom of Press’ means the right to print and publish without any interference from the state or any other public authority. But this, Freedom, like other freedoms, cannot be absolute but is subject to well known exceptions acknowledge in the public interest, which in India are enumerate in Article 19 of the constitution.”

         The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers"
Besides legal definitions, some non-governmental organizations use other criteria to judge the level of press freedom around the world:

• Reporters without Borders considers the number of journalists murdered, expelled or harassed, and the existence of a state monopoly on TV and radio, as well as the existence of censorship and self-censorship in the media, and the overall independence of media as well as the difficulties that foreign reporters may face.

• The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) uses the tools of journalism to help journalists by tracking press freedom issues through independent research, fact-finding missions, and firsthand contacts in the field, including local working journalists in countries around the world. CPJ shares information on breaking cases with other press freedom organizations worldwide through the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, a global e-mail network. CPJ also tracks journalist deaths and detentions. CPJ staff applies strict criteria for each case; researchers independently investigate and verify the circumstances behind each death or imprisonment.

• Freedom House likewise studies the more general political and economic environments of each nation in order to determine whether relationships of dependence exist that limit in practice the level of press freedom that might exist in theory. So the concept of independence of the press is one closely linked with the concept of press freedom.

PRESS LAWS

          Press Laws are the laws concerning the licensing of books and the liberty of expression in all products of the printing-press, especially newspapers. The liberty of the press has always been regarded by political writers as of supreme importance. Give me liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all other liberties, says Milton in the ‘Areopagitica’.

Libel:  Libel is defined as defamation by written or printed words, pictures, or in any form other than by spoken words or gestures.

Contempt of Court:  Contempt of Court includes: charging the judge with unreasonability and inability, expressing doubts on the prestige, status, rights or fairness of the judiciary, publication of any comment on the matters, which are under the proceedings of the court and which may mislead the general public and which, lead them to be prejudiced, to cast aspersion or to attempt in influence or the judge, jury, advocates or witness of nay matters which are under the proceeding of the court, to interfere in the judicial administration, to threat the witnesses, to attempt to obstruct in the police inquiry against the order of the judge, publication of the proceedings of the court or the publications of the picture of the accused, publication of the report of the proceedings of the court and distorting the facts, etc.,

Copyright Laws: What a man produces by the application of his labour, intellect, or skill is his property. The creator has right to his properties. The Law of Copyright creates a further statutory intangible right of property in respect of such product if it is an original work. The possibility of its misuse has increased with efficient coping in mechanism. Anybody by copying others work can not only earn money but also serve his own interest. When any person, without a license granted by the owner of the copyright or the Registrar of Copyrights under this Actor in contravention of the conditions of a license so granted or of any condition imposed by a competent authority under this Act does anything the exclusive right to di which is by this Act conferred upon the owner of the copyright.

Law of Privilege:   Reporter’s Privilege in the United States is a “reporter’s protection under constitutional or statutory law, from being compelled to testify about confidential information or sources.

The Press and Registration of Books Act 1867
        According to this Act the newspapers submit two copies of a newspaper soon after its publication to the government free of charge. The earliest surviving enactment specifically directed towards the press was passed in 1867, the Press and Registration of Books Act (PRB Act) (XXV of 1867). During the reign of the British Government in India writing of books and other inform related material took a concrete shape and with the advent of printing presses various books on almost all the subjects and periodicals touching every aspect of life started appearing. Thrust on education gave an impetus to this with the result that lot of printed material became available. Those in the field of writing, publishing and printing gave a thought to organize a system for keeping a record of the publications. The then East India Company was urged to keep a record of the publications. An attempt was made by the authorities to make a collection of the books and other publications emanating from the various printing presses throughout India. Board of Directors of East India Company issued an instruction that copies of every important and interesting work published in India should be dispatched to England to be deposited in the library of India House. Such an instruction had a slow impact. Again the Royal Asiatic Society in London urged the then Secretary of State for India to repeat the instruction of the late Board of Directors of East India Company and also desired that catalogs of all the works published in India should be sent to England. A system of voluntary registrations of publications was evolved but it failed. It was found necessary to establish a system of compulsory sale to Government, of three copies of each work in India. To achieve this purpose a Bill was introduced in the Legislature for the regulation of printing presses and newspaper for the preservation of copies of books and periodicals containing news printed in the whole of India and for the registration of such books and periodicals containing news. The objective was however not to establish governmental control over the freedom of the Press. It was a regulatory law which enabled Government to regulate printing presses and newspapers by a system of registration and to preserve copies of books and other matter printed in India. A number of minor amendments were made in the Act from time to time to make the Sections/Clauses compatible with the changing situation, particularly after Independence. But major amendments were carried out in 1955 following the recommendations of the First Press Commission in 1953, consequent upon which the Office of the Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI) was created and started function.

                       Unit III:  THE ROLE OF A REPORTER IN A NEWSPAPER

        

          The reporter is a very important person in the newspaper organization. He makes the newspaper or mars it. While doing his job he should show speed, clarity and accuracy. So these three are called the pillars of reporting. Time and tide waits for no one. It is so with the news. Delayed news becomes stale and worthless. He is comparable to Sage Naradha, the ideal reporter of important events in the universe. He is said to have appeared in places all over the world where important events occurred.

         The reporter should have the best qualities of a detective, a psychologist and a lawyer. Over the years reporters develop in them the ability and faculty to sense news and bring it out. Take the case of Winston Churchill and Ernest Hemingway the Journalist turned novelists. A month after an atom bomb destroyed Hiroshima, the reporter of ‘The Daily Express’- London – Wilfred Burchett described the devastating effects caused by the atomic radiation which made the world turn against atomic warfare.

          Though journalists do not agree that there should be prescribed qualification for the reporters, the reporter should have some general education and a good knowledge of history, geography and current affairs. Without a sound knowledge of the history of a region, reporters cannot cover events occurring in those regions. A reporter with average education standard has to limit himself to cover some local or municipal news. A well-educated reporter may turn out to be an efficient Court Reporter or Crime Reporter.Specialization is essential in the field of reporting. Some reporters started as sports reporters and turned out to be popular columnist at the end. In country like India it is very important for the reporters to learn as many languages as possible so as to have very good access to native politicians.

Reporters:

         1. The essential act of journalism is gathering information. This is done by Reporters.

         2. Deadline: the time when a story is due.

         3. Interview: the way in which much information for journalism is gathered; reporters talk with sources(people who have information) in person, by telephone, by email, or any number of other ways of communicating.

         4. Beat: the area or subject that a reporter regularly covers and writes stories about, such as the police beat or education beat.

         5. Editors oversee and direct the activities of reporters. Few people in journalism work alone. Many people are involved in the process of gathering and disseminating information.

         6. Journalists must adhere to a personal standard of integrity; they must be able to deal honestly with their sources and they must be able to evaluate information honestly.

         7. Journalists must pay attention to details – the exact spelling of someone’s name, the exact time that something happened, and so on.

THE ROLE OF THE SUB-EDITOR

            Sub-Editors are not as well-known as Editors or News Editors, but they carry more responsibility in dispensing the news and the articles. They always work in the backyard of the establishment. They work hard gathering and selecting material. They are the real craftsmen among journalists, because they make newspaper material very attractive by giving a proper shape. The imprint of the sub-editor can be found all over the newspaper and without the artistic ability of this person newspapers will not be interesting. News items, features and various articles become colourful, dramatic and readable when they come through the cutting edge of this experienced craftsman. Today the flow of news is ever increasing in quantity and it is the job of the sub-editor to choose the best among the raw material and shape it as a consumable product.

The tasks performed by the ‘subs’ are of many types:

-           The raw news has to be polished with his craftsmanship in bringing out the finished product.

-           He has to re-write manuscripts when they are sent by writers not accustomed to journalistic way of presentation(scientists, economists, educationists, sportsmen)

-           He should improve stories with his creativity since most stores contain unnecessary wordings, which may eat away the precious space.

-           He should also check-up the accuracy of the news or articles so that the editor may not be questioned by the authorities or the public.

-           He should see that stories, leads, etc., conform to the journalistic ethics.

The Role of the Editor

         The name of the editor appears at the bottom of the newspaper. If a newspaper goes against the Press laws, the man held responsible is the editor. There would be pressures on an editor from all sides – the government, the boss of the organization, the industrial circle of the country, etc, drag him towards them. Under these circumstances, the editor should strengthen his will-power and act according to his conscience.

         

         One cannot expect editors to be masters of everything in India or elsewhere in the world. Some editors may not have specialized knowledge of economics or science. They may not have time to cope with new developments in several fields of activity. It is the capacity of the editor to allot work to his sub-editors and reporters that counts for the success of the newspaper. The editor should know who among his staff is competent to write on a particular theme.

         In most newspapers, the ‘morning conference’ usually held around a coffee table is an important occasion for the editor to spot his talented leader writers. He should also know more about his reporters and the places they should visit for the reportage. As the leader of the newspaper, the imprint of the editor is found on all aspects – editorials, news reports, features, commentaries and articles by external writers the editor should also see that his newspaper becomes a viable venture and for this purpose he should control the advertisement department and circulation department. Like a commander taking on the spot decisions for the defence of the country, the editor should be able to take quick decisions on the matters of the day.

         It is important for an editor to be aware of the needs of the public. An editor who fails to feel the pulse of the public will be a failure. His job consists in building public opinion for the safety and honour of the nation. If something goes wrong either in the government or in private sector, it is the job of the editor to express his unbiased and daring opinion to arrest the trend and also bring it before the public eye. This responsibility of the editor may place him in difficulties, but he cannot escape his professional responsibility. Editors should also build up credibility of their views among the public. The public turns to them in times of crisis. It is the duty of the editor to come to the rescue of the public and save them from stress and uncertainty.

                                                      TYPES OF NEWS REPORTING

INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING: ‘Interpretative reporting’, as the phrase suggests, combines facts with interpretation. It delves into reasons and meanings of a development. It is the interpretative reporter’s task to give the information along with an interpretation of its significance. In doing so he uses his knowledge and experience to give the reader an idea of the background of an event and explain the consequences it could lead to. Besides his own knowledge and research in the subject, he often has to rely on the opinion of specialists to do a good job. Interpretative reporting thus goes behind the news, brings out the hidden significance of an event and separates truth from falsehood.

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING: It is difficult to define the term ‘investigative’ journalism. Some newspapers scoff at the very idea of an investigative journalist. In one way, of course, ‘investigative’ journalism is a redundant concept, since all stories require some kind of investigation on the part of the reporter. However, the investigative reporter is expected to dig deeply beyond the facts stated in the hard news.

Investigative Reporting has three elements: (i) It has to be the own work of the reporter. Under no circumstance should it be of others; (ii) The subject of the reporting should be such that it is of importance for the readers to know, and (iii) There must not be any attempt made to hide the truth from the people.

In the pursuit of his quarry, the investigative reporter must draw a line between candid reporting and character assassination. He should base his report on incontrovertible facts, not on half-truths and lies. He should be wary of lobbies and lobbyists, political or commercial – trying to misguide him. And he should not behave like a peep tom or a prosecutor.

The best kind of investigative reporting is that which keeps the public interest in mind. It may highlight an injustice, expose corrupt practices or unmask dishonest politicians and bureaucrats.

STRAIGHT / OBJECTIVE REPORTING:  Reporting of news, unlike editorial writing is often described as a coldly impersonal job. A reporter is essentially a story teller and he should tell the story in an objective and truthful manner, without lacing it with personal opinions or subjective comments. He should be fair and impartial and present both sides of the story.

Complete objectivity is a mere concept. The reporter is a human being, not a robot, and he has certain ideas, feelings, attitudes, opinions and prejudices. However a good reporter should try to rise above them and tell the facts as he has collected them in his search for truth.

SCOOP: A scoop is an exclusive news story broken by a single journalist or a group of journalists working together. Good scoops will attract a great deal of attention for the journalists and newspapers involved, with most major papers urging their staffs to get as many scoops as possible to add to the paper's prestige and perceived value. When a journalist manages to swoop in on a major story ahead of other journalists, he or she is said to have “scooped” the competition.

         Scoops can take a wide variety of forms. Many relate to scandals and secret information, which by their very nature tend to be greeted with intense interest when they are exposed on the news. The story may also simply be important or particularly exciting; major breaking news is often a scoop. For example, the first newspaper to report on a major natural disaster may consider their reporting to be a scoop, as will the public, which will flock to the paper for more information while its competitors scramble to keep up.

STING: A sting operation is an operation designed to catch a person committing a crime by means of  deception or exposing a wrong deed by a hidden camera.  Sting operations are just one of the tools of investigative journalism.

          Sting operations are a matter of contention because there are myriad questions of ethics, which are very subjective. Traditionally, the role of the media has been that of a ‘watchdog’. With the coming of the TV, that role has begun to change-infotainment is a necessity. The media saw sting operations as a news strategy that would fulfill their role of a ‘watchdog’ at the same time provide a sense of entertainment. Sting operations make people sit up and watch.  The problem is that, somewhere the distinction between exposing a wrongdoing and sensationalizing it is lost. Another common contention is that sting operations are an invasion of an individual’s privacy. The problem is compounded by the lack of a commonly accepted definition of privacy. Right to privacy in India is derived both from the common law and the constitutional law (Article 21). But when we discuss Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression of the media in the same length as the privacy of an individual, we reach a deadlock. In that, there cannot be a rule to place one above the other at all times.

News Conference:    A news conference or press conference is a media event in which news makers invite journalists to hear them speak and, most often, ask questions.

Personal column:   A columnist is someone who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Readers often open a publication with an expectation of reading another short essay by a specific writer who offers a personal point of view. In some instances, a column has been written by a composite or a team, appearing under a pseudonym, or (in effect) a brand name. Some columnists appear on a daily or weekly basis and later reprint the same material in book collections. In defining a column, Dictionary.com provides a breakdown of a few popular subjects covered by columnists: A regular feature or series of articles in a newspaper, magazine, or the like, usually having a readily identifiable heading and the byline of the writer or editor, that reports or comments upon a particular field of interest, as politics, theater or etiquette, or which may contain letters from readers, answers to readers' queries, etc

HUMAN INTEREST STORIES: Much of the news is focused on presenting us with facts and statistics, which may admittedly get a little boring unless you have a keen interest in the subject. While we may be very interested in the latest presidential polls, something that may cause cancer, a food recall, or what the weather will be like tomorrow, news sources like newspapers, magazines and television shows may also want to put a “human face” on the news by covering a story more in depth. Sometimes called the story behind the story or an emotional news story, the human interest story may look at news in a more personal way, especially by interviewing people affected or creating a report on one or several people facing challenges that have been covered in the news. The goal is to engage us emotionally in presentation of the news.

         It’s common to see at least one human interest story on a nightly news broadcast or in your morning newspaper. A newspaper might be covering home foreclosure rates and have an article that deals with statistics regarding them. To flesh out this story and offer greater coverage, they might then feature an article on a few people in the neighborhood who are experiencing a home foreclosure. Emphasis would be on the personal effects of such a difficult experience, and would be likely to raise readers’ understanding about how the “facts and numbers” on home foreclosure were really working in their community.

          Unlike in straight journalism, where it is hoped that journalists will remain objective, human interest stories may be more flexibly written. Sometimes details of a human interest story are so intense, that the journalist hardly needs to insert any editorial information. At other times, coverage of these stories has a decided slant, and the decision to include a human interest story to flesh out other reports may be deliberate. Putting a human face on bare facts can move an audience to react in a certain way, and push an agenda by the media source that isn’t at all objective. There’s some contention that these stories shouldn’t make it into objective journalism at all, but many people find them beneficial, moving or entertaining diversions from bare facts news.     A human interest story doesn’t have to be deeply moving, and may be added more for entertainment value. A news story about a presidential candidate’s favorite vegetable, or his or her daily workout really isn’t “news” in the traditional sense. Other stories that can make it into the news may be unrelated to news content and provide a needed break from the “if it bleeds it leads” style of journalism. For instance, Anton the Amazing Squirrel who has learned to build with dominoes, might be added as a human interest story that adds levity to a broadcast or newspaper that primarily covers murders, dangerous statistics, and reports on the negative aspects of the country. 

Editorial: (1) An article written by, or on behalf of, an editor, giving the news organisation’s opinion on an issue. (2) An adjective describing issues relating to news content as opposed to advertising or other non-news aspects of a newspaper or magazine.

Headline or head:  A word or short phrase in large type at the top of an article designed to either summarise the news or grab the reader’s attention and make them want to read it. In broadcasting, headlines are short summaries of a few important stories that will follow in full in the bulletin. Closing headlines come at the end of a bulletin.

Feature: A longer article or radio story, usually in greater depth and complexity than a simple news item. Features may grow from a current news event or simply be examining a timeless issue. Features which are not strongly connected to hard news events are often called soft features. In radio, features usually have a mixture of elements, including the reporter’s voice, interviews and other sounds. Longer features may be called documentaries.

Human interest story: A news story or feature which focuses on individual people and the effects of issues or events on them. Human interest stories are often used to make ideas more real and concrete in the minds of the viewer, reader or listener. Human interest stories can also cover unusual and interesting aspects of other people's lives which are not particularly significant to society as a whole.

Obituary: An article summarizing the life and achievements of a person recently dead.

Angle: Short for news angle, it is that aspect of a story which a journalist chooses to highlight and develop. Usually the most newsworthy of its key points

                                                      Unit IV: LAYOUT

         Edmund Arnold is widely credited as the father of modern newspaper design. News design is the process of arranging material on a  newspaper page, according to editorial and graphical guidelines and goals. Main editorial goals include the ordering of news stories by order of importance, while graphical considerations which includes readability and balanced, unobtrusive incorporation of advertising.

         The era of modern newspapers begins in the mid-nineteenth century, with the Industrial Revolution, and increased capacities for printing and distribution. Over time, improvements in printing technology, graphical design, and editorial standards have led to changes and improvements in the look and readability of newspapers. Nineteenth-century newspapers were often densely packed with type, often arranged vertically, with multiple headlines for each article. A number of the same technological limitations persisted until the advent of digital typesetting and pagination in late 20th century.

         Designers typically use desktop publishing software to arrange the elements on the pages directly. In the past, before digital pre-press pagination, designers used precise "lay out dummies" to direct the exact layout of elements for each page.

A complete layout dummy was required for designating proper column widths by which a typesetter would set type, and arrange columns of text. Layout also required the calculation of lengths of copy (text in "column inches"), for any chosen width.

         Much of the variance and incoherence of early newspapers was due to the fact that last minute corrections were exclusively handled by typesetters. With photographic printing process, typesetting gave way to paste-up, whereby columns of type were printed by machines (phototypesetters) on high-resolution film for paste-up on photographed final prints. These prints in turn were "shot to negative" with a large format production camera —directly to steel-emulsion photographic plates.

Though paste-up put an end to cumbersome typesetting, this still required planned layouts and set column widths. Photographic plates are (still) wrapped on printing drums to directly apply ink tone newsprint(paper). In the mid 1990s, the paste-up process gave way to the direct to plate process, where computer-paginated files were optically transmitted directly to the photographic plate. Replacing several in-between steps in newspaper production, direct to plate pagination allowed for much more flexibility and precision than before. Designers today still used column grid layouts only with layout software, such as Adobe InDesign or Quark.

         Designers choose photo sizes and headline sizes (both the size of the letters and how much space the headline will take). They may decide what articles will go on which pages, and where on the page, alone or in consultation with editors. They may choose typefaces for special pages, but newspapers usually have a design style that determines most routine uses.

                                                               ADVERTISEMENT

What is advertisement?
         The purpose of advertisement is to convey visual or oral messages to the public thus influencing them either to buy goods or services or to act favourable towards ideas, institutions, etc. This advertisement activity is different from propaganda and publicity, because advertising is a commercial transaction where the advertiser is clearly identified. The advertiser pays some amount and incurs expenditure for sending the message of advertisement to the public. It is clear that advertising is a mass-selling technique. It is a commercial device through the use of which business organizations make people buy their products. It also acts as an informative and educative force that aids the consumer to form judgment on what to buy. The message of the advertiser reaches not just a small group of people, but thousands of people over a network of media.

Objects and Purpose of Advertising:

          Communication is the main purpose of advertising. Apart from bringing the advertised product to the notice of the consumers, the advertisement serves a number of other related purposes:

-          It helps salesmen. They get employment.

-          It creates demand for the new product.

-          It removes the doubts in the minds of the buyer about the goods advertised.

-           It creates an image and good will of the firm advertising its products.

-          Customers will get the know-how of the product.

-          It increases the sale of the product reducing the cost of production and distribution.

-          The manufacturer can compete with other manufacturers of the similar product.

-          It is a reminder to the consumer to buy the product again.

In brief, advertising helps the producer, consumer and the salesmen. It is a link between the manufacturer and the consumer.

         There is another aspect of the advertisement, which cannot be ignored. This is the educative aspect. The advertiser places his advertisements in the regional language newspapers because these papers are favoured in the remote areas of the country. This is a kind of encouragement to the regional language publications.

Advertising and social responsibilities:
         

         Advertising is one of the most exposed aspects of business. It is one of the most economical means of tapping the wide market. It facilitates the introduction of new products and new uses of old products. It thus serves as a medium for educating the consumers. Advertising aids in the stabilization of production by striving to get the consumer buy certain goods throughout the year rather than seasonally. Thus, it does not serve manufacturers alone but the consumers and society as well. But there is a feeling in the mind of some people against advertising. They criticize it from the point of view of some social concepts. The general social criticism which is leveled against advertising is as follows:

-          Advertising makes false statements which confuse and mislead consumers.

-          Advertising forces consumers to buy goods and services they really do not need or they cannot afford.

-          Advertising promotes the use of products which are inherently harmful.

-          Advertising, as it is exposed to the customers, lacks aesthetic attributes.

-          Advertising is sometimes forced on the customers.

         This criticism of advertising proves it to be anti-social and lacking in good taste. It has been said that without social responsibility advertising may become a great evil and social nuisance. These allegations are apparent and there is a tendency on the part of the critics of advertising to base their allegations against the advertisers for their want of social responsibility.

After examining and resolving social criticisms against advertising, we can discuss the social responsibilities of advertising. Advertising owes certain obligations to the society:

-          The first obligation of advertising is to communicate with the people. It must educate the public.

-          It must spread aesthetic and moral values in the society according to social traditions.

-          The advertising system must contribute to a higher standard of living. It must motivate people to work hard in order to acquire more purchasing power and satisfaction.

-          It must contribute to effective marketing and selling systems of the national economy as a whole. Advertising must be instrumental in promoting a dynamic and expanding economy.

-          The chief task of advertising from a social standpoint is to encourage the development of new products, gearing high consumption and toning up production.

Thus we can conclude our discussion of social responsibilities of advertising by saying that basically there is no conflict between social values and advertising. The conflict arises due to a misunderstanding of the casual relationship between advertising, social values and social good. Our social aim is “maximum welfare for maximum people’ or ‘greatest good to the greatest numbers’. Advertising helps us in attaining this social goal as it prepares us to play our role as well-informed consumer. Thus, advertising is merely a means to an end, and the end is a consumption-oriented people. So, advertising helps us in achieving social goal and social welfare.

EDITING

         Editing is an intellectual pursuit that requires meticulous and careful analysis of content, judgment of story value in relation to other news and weighing of the significance of all news that gets into the paper. Hence editing demands judgment, imagination, dedication and some creativity – all qualities derived from experience rather than from principles and formulas.

Purpose of Editing:

-          To adjust story length to available space

-          To ensure uniformity of style

-          To detect and correct errors of fact and interpretation

-          To simplify language

-          To make the news item meaningful

-          To restructure the news item and make it readable

-          To ensure objectivity and fairplay

-          To give appropriate tone

-          To ensure decency and good taste

PROOF READING

         The main task of a proof-reader is to check whether the composed matter agrees with the edited copy. The reporter writes in a hurry. As he/she is often under pressure, he/she is likely to commit mistakes. That is why the copy is edited. At times even the sub-editor may not notice the mistakes. It is here that an alert proof reader comes to the rescue of the editor. When the proof-reader discovers the mistake in the edited copy and the proof he has to inform the sub-editor concerned and after consulting him he has to carry out the corrections.

          There are two methods of proof-reading – the formal method and the tracking method. In the ‘formal method’, a single proof-reader corrects the proof and he checks the proof by looking into the edited copy. He makes two marks for every correction, one at the point where the mistake is found, the other in the margin, to show what change is to be made.

          In the ‘tracking method’ corrections are tracked onto the margin. The second method is followed in newspapers. Generally corrections in the left half of the proof are made on the left margin. Corrections in the right half are made on the right margin. Usually the proof-readers do the corrections in pairs. One proof-reader reads aloud the proof and makes corrections while the other holds the edited copy and follows the reading. Standard symbols and terms are used in indicating the corrections. The indication should be clear and unmistakable.

          The proof-reader must be a language adept: he has to be libel-conscious. In fact an alert proof-reader with these qualities will be an asset to a newspaper. (Refer Appendix : Proof Reading Symbols)

PHOTOJOURNALISM

         

         Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography by complying with a rigid ethical framework which demands that the work is both honest and impartial whilst telling the story in strictly journalistic terms. Photojournalists create pictures that contribute to the news media.

• Timeliness — the images have meaning in the context of a recently published record of events.

• Objectivity — the situation implied by the images is a fair and accurate representation of the events they depict in both content and tone.

• Narrative — the images combine with other news elements to make facts relatable to the viewer or reader on a cultural level.

CARTOONS

         Newspaper cartoons are primarily editorial cartoons or syndicated comic strips. Competition in both fields is fierce, although there is a niche market at some newspapers for editorial cartoons on local and state issues.

          An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration containing a commentary that usually relates to current events or personalities. They typically combine artistic skill, hyperbole and biting humour in order to question authority and draw attention to corruption and other social ills.

          A comic strip syndicate functions as an agent for cartoonists and comic strip creators, placing the cartoons and strips in as many newspapers as possible on behalf of the artist. In some cases, the work will be owned by the syndicate as opposed to the creator. A syndicate can annually receive thousands of submissions from which only two or three might be selected for representation. The leading strip syndicates include Creators Syndicate, King Features Syndicate, NI Syndication, United Media and the Washington Post Writers Group.

NEWS AGENCY

         News Agency also called press agency, press association, wire service, or news service - organization that gathers, writes, and distributes news from around a nation or the world to newspapers, periodicals, radio and television broadcasters, government agencies, and other users. It does not generally publish news itself but supplies news to its subscribers, who, by sharing costs, obtain services they could not otherwise afford. All the mass media depend upon the agencies for the bulk of the news, even including those few that have extensive news-gathering resources of their own.
         

         Despite the plethora of news services, most news printed and broadcast throughout the world each day comes from only a few major agencies, the three largest of which are the Associated Press in the United States, Reuters in Great Britain, and Agence France-Presse in France and Press Trust of India in India.

PRESS COUNCIL OF INDIA

         The Press Council Of India is a statutory body in India that governs the conduct of the print media. It is one of the most important bodies that sustain democracy, as it has supreme power in regards to the media to ensure that freedom of speech is maintained. However, it is also empowered to hold hearings on receipt of complaints and take suitable action where appropriate. It may either warn or censure the errant journalists on finding them guilty. The press council of India is protected by the constitution and its actions may not be questioned unless it is proved to be in violation of the constitution, which makes it exceedingly powerful a body.

         The Press Council of India was first set up in the year 1966 by the Parliament on the recommendations of the First Press Commission with the object of preserving the freedom of the press and of maintaining and improving the standards of press in India. The present Council functions under the Press Council Act 1978. It is a statutory, quasi judicial body which acts as a watchdog of the press. It adjudicates the complaints against and by the press for violation of ethics and for violation of the freedom of the press respectively.

         The Press Council is headed by a Chairman, who has, by convention, been a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. The Council consists of 28 other members of whom 20 represent the press and are nominated by the press organisations/news agencies recognized and notified by the Council as all India bodies of categories such as editors, working journalists and owners and managers of newspaper; 5 members are nominated from the two houses of Parliament and 3 represent cultural, literary and legal fields as nominees of the Sahitya Academy, University Grants Commission and the Bar Council of India. The members serve on the Council for a term of three years.     The Council is funded by revenue collected by it as fees levied on the registered newspapers in the country on the basis of their circulation. No fee is levied on newspapers with a circulation of less than 5000 copies. The deficit is made good by grants by the Central Government, through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of Human Sciences, the center is not the center

Why does Derrida say that the center is not the center in his essay “Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of Human Sciences?''

Jacques Derrida first read his paper “Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of Human Sciences (1966)” at the John Hopkins International Colloquium on “The Language of Criticism and the Sciences of Man” in October 1966 articulating for the first time a post structuralist theoretical paradigm. Derrida starts this essay by putting into question the basic metaphysical assumptions of Western philosophy since Plato which has always principally positioned itself with a fixed immutable centre, a static presence. The notion of structure, even in structuralist theory has always presupposed a centre of meaning of sorts. Derrida terms this desire for a centre as “logocentrism” in his seminal work “Of Grammatology (1966)”. ‘Logos’, is a Greek word for ‘word’ which carries the greatest possible concentration of presence. As Terry Eagleton explains in “Literary Theory: An Introduction (1996)”, “Western Philosophy…. has also been in a broader sense, ‘logocentric’, committed to a belief in some ultimate ‘word’, presence, essence, truth or reality which will act as the foundation for all our thought, language and experience.

Derrida then introduces the idea that some "event" has occurred. This "event" is some sort of "rupture" or break.  What he's talking about is what he sees as a major shift or break in the fundamental structure of western philosophy (the episteme). This break is a moment where the whole way philosophy thought about itself shifted. That shift, or rupture, was when it became possible to think about "the structurality of structure." In other words, this is the moment when structuralism pointed out that language was indeed a structure, when it became possible to think (abstractly) about the idea of structure itself, and how every system--whether language, or philosophy itself--had a structure. 

As Peter Barry argues in “Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural (1995)” that in the twentieth century, through a complex process of various historico-political events, scientific and technological shifts, “these centers were destroyed or eroded”. For instance, the First World War destroyed the illusion of steady material progress; the Holocaust destroyed the notion of Europe as the source and centre of human civilization. Scientific discoveries – such as the way the notion of relativity destroyed the ideas of time and space as fixed and central absolutes. Then there were intellectual and artistic movements like modernism in the arts which in the first thirty years of the century rejected such central absolutes as harmony in music, chronological sequence in narrative, and the representation of the visual world in art. This ‘decentering’ of  structure, of the ‘transcendental signified’ and of the sovereign subject, Derrida suggests – naming his sources of inspiration – can be found in the Nietzchean critique of metaphysics, and especially of the concepts of Being and Truth, in the Freudian critique of self-presence, as he says, “a critique of consciousness, of the subject, of self-identity, and of the self-proximity or self-possession”, and more radically in the Heideggerean destruction of metaphysics, “of the determination of Being as Presence”.

A less concrete example of a system with a center would be a philosophical or belief system--say, the Puritan mindset. In the Puritan system of belief, GOD was the center of everything--anything that happened in the world (i.e. any event, or "unit", of the system) could be referred back to God as the central cause of that event. And nothing in the system was the equivalent of God--nothing could replace God at the center as the cause of all things. Refer this back to Saussure's idea that value comes from difference; that idea is based on the exchangeability between units (verbs are not nouns, but both are words, and could be exchanged for each other). The center of a system is something that has no equivalent value, nothing can replace it or be exchanged for it, it's the cause and ultimate referent for everything in the system. 

Because of this, Derrida says, the center is a weird part of a system or structure--it's part of the structure, but not part of it, because it is the governing element; as he puts it (84) the center is the part of the structure which "escapes structurality." In the Puritan example, God creates the world and rules it, and is responsible for it, but isn't part of it. 

The center is thus, paradoxically, both within the structure and outside it. The center is the center but not part of what Derrida calls "the totality," i.e. the structure. So the center is not the center. The concept of the centered structure, according to Derrida, is "contradictorily coherent."

Thus it has always been thought that the center, which is by definition unique, constituted that very thing within a structure which governs the structure, while escaping structurality. This is why classical thought concerning structure could say that the center is, paradoxically, within the structure and outside it. The center is at the center of the totality, and yet, since the center does not belong to the totality (is not part of the totality), the totality has its center elsewhere. The center is not the center.

Derrida argues that this centre thereby limits the “free play that it makes possible”, as it stands outside it, is axiomatic – “the Centre is not really the centre”. Under a centered structure, free play is based on a fundamental ground of the immobility and indisputability of the centre, on what Derrida refers to “as the metaphysics of presence”.

Derrida argues that all these attempts at ‘decentering’ were however, “trapped in a sort of circle”. Structuralism, which in his day was taken as a profound questioning of traditional Western thought, is taken by Derrida to be in support of just those ways of thought. Semiotics and Phenomenology are similarly compromised. Semiotics stresses the fundamental connection of language to speech in a way that it undermines its insistence on the inherently arbitrary nature of sign. Phenomenology rejects metaphysical truths in the favor of phenomena and appearance, only to insist for truth to be discovered in human consciousness and lived experience. It is important to note that Derrida does not assert the possibility of thinking outside such terms; any attempt to undo a particular concept is likely to become caught up in the terms which the concept depends on. For instance: if we try to undo the centering concept of ‘consciousness’ by asserting the disruptive counterforce of the ‘unconscious’, we are in danger of introducing a new center. All we can do is refuse to allow either pole in a system to become the center and guarantor of presence.

Derrida concludes this seminal work which is often regarded as the post-structuralist manifesto with the hope that we proceed towards an “interpretation of interpretation” where one “is no longer turned towards the origin, affirms freeplay and tries to pass beyond man and humanism”. He says that we need to borrow Nietzsche’s idea of affirmation to stop seeing play as limiting and negative. Nietzsche pronouncement “God is dead” need not be read as a destruction of a cohesive structure, but can be seen as a chance that opens up a possibility of diverse plurality and multiplicity.