Mass Communication Interview Preparation Guide

Communication
Mass communication
Mass Media
Culture

Communication - It refers to a message which has been originated from a source /sender who send or rather encodes the data which is then received by and decoded by the target/receiver. In simple words it is the process by which humans send and receive information amongst each other.

Mass communication - Refers to the message sent by a person or a group to a large anonymous audience through a specialized medium or a transmitting device.

Mass Media - Refers to a particular specialized part of the media which is designed to reach a fairly large number of target audiences. Mass media in other words is the medium by which mass communication takes place.

Culture- Refers to the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought.

► Print-Newspapers and magazines
► Audio visual- television, radio, films
► Mobile phones
► Video games
► Internet media- Blogs, Message boards, Personal web pages, Pod casts, Video hosting services, social networking sites.

The elements of mass communication are:

► Public who has to be communicated with
► Media(Medium) which is the means of communication
► Message because of which the process has been created
► Sender of the message
► Marketing, advertising, Public relations extra can be termed as the sub elements of mass communication.

A company is usually engaged in the process of creating and then selling products or services to earn profits. But this can only be achieved when mass production and then mass distribution accompanied by mass consumption by the public in general takes place. So in simple terms mass communication helps the company to communicate on a large level with large chunk of public to induce them to consume the product.

The most basic difference between mass communication and personal communication is the size of the audience and the source of the message. By which we mean that in personal communication the sender as well as the receiver is a person while in mass communication the sender as well as the receiver maybe a person ,a group or a huge chunk of population of a country.

The other important difference between them is the reason why the message actually originated and the conditions under which it is been communicated. For instance in personal communication the expression of certain emotions could be a reason while in mass communication it might be to induce the audience of the message to buy or try a product or service.

The tools or rather the medium in both are also different, mass communication will have print, audio visual, internet etc. but personal communication will have mobile, mail or internet as a tool to communicate.

a.)Direct effects theory

The direct effect theory of communications says that a message is directly received and completely accepted by the receiver. The "Direct effect theory" implies that mass media always has a direct, immediate and powerful effect on their audiences. The mass media in specific is perceived as a powerful influence on culture.
b.) Two-step flow theory

The two-step flow theory stresses on human agency which means mass media information is channeled to the "masses" through opinion leadership. The people with most access to media, higher understanding of media content, explain and intercept the content to the public. Diffusion of innovations is the product of the two step flow theory.
c.) Agenda setting theory

The agenda-setting theory refers to the fact that media has a very large effect on people’s perception and mind. Agenda-setting theory’s core concept says that mass media can transfer important items on their mass agendas to the publics mind and priority.
d.) Attitude change theory

The attitude-change theory suggests that attitudes being functions of cognitive, affective and conative components are a part of brain’s associative networks that consist of affective and cognitive nodes linked through associative pathways. These nodes contain affective, cognitive, and behavioral components that can be altered by the activation of a single node. Thus, by activating an affective or emotional node, attitude change may be possible. So the attitude change theory suggests that targeting these emotions can help the media or the sender to actually change the attitude of general public and create a brand new dimension in terms of consumer perception
e.) Uses and gratifications theory

Uses and gratifications theory refers to the idea that people use the media to get specific gratifications. This is in opposition to the direct effect theory which says that people have no control over how the media influences them and brings about a change in them. The main idea of the Uses and Gratifications is that people are not helpless victims of all powerful media, but use media to fulfill their various needs.

Culture refers to the attributes such as lifestyle, habits and moral ethics that a population in a specific place might adhere to, as the way of life. Its ever changing and is subject to influences, this is where the mass communication can have an effect on the cultural ethos of a society.

Communicating on a mass level gives the sender of a message the power to alter certain things or introduce new things that might affect the cultural dynamics of a society, and it can’t happen in isolation. Every individual part of that culture is subject to the ramification. For instance coffee and coffee shops have never been a part of the Indian culture but today due to the idea been promoted in every medium of mass communication it has almost become a part of it. This example demonstrates how culture is affected by mass communication and ultimately altered

a.) Media Literacy

Media literacy refers to the act of creating a message in all the available media. It uses an inquiry-based mode of process encouraging questions about what the target audience wants in terms of what they watch, see, and read. Media literacy facilitates an understanding as to the strengths and limitations of each medium and to create new ones.

b.) Media as place of ideas

Media as place of ideas is a metaphor to help think of ideas in a medium as products or services that are produced, imported and shared by community members. Ideas have value and cost which can be registered and protected in the form of patents, trademarks and copyrights. Ideas also have opportunity, distribution and production costs.

c.) Media Convergence

Media convergence refers to many products coming together to form one. In media convergence old and new media merge in such a way that there is a balance of power between media producers and media consumers and ultimately results into a brand new scenario of operations.

d.) Media Consolidation.

Media consolidation refers to the majority of the media means owned by a few media conglomerates who view this as detrimental and characterized ownership structure of mass media. Media ownership may refer to monopoly in a given media. Times group in India is a example of a media conglomerate.

The major participants in business buying process are

► Initiators-are the ones who initiate or recognize the need of a particular product requirement in the organization for enhancement or to combat depravation.
► Users-are the ones who are going to use the product or require it for the smooth functioning of their operations.
► Influencers --Influencers can be of different levels and the decisions that they influence might differ from person to person or post to post. These are basically the people who will influence the decision of which product to buy from where and what suitable price to buy it in.
► Deciders - they decide or have the authority to decide whether to buy a certain product or not.
► Approvers-they approve the deciders decision to by usually these people are authorized to do so.
► Buyers--They are the once who make the actually purchases from other business.

The responsibilities of a mass communication professional are as follows

► He has to understand the message of the sender and execute it effectively to have the desired results.
► He has to understand the receiver and his psychology well, to design a message to suit his taste
► He has to come up with the best possible medium that is required to transfer the message
► He has to analyze the after effect of the message and alter it to suit the target better

These are some of his basic responsibilities which might change by means of the level or sector of media he works