M.A.

(PUBLIC RELATIONS)
SEMESTER - I (CBCS)

PUBLIC RELATIONS
THEORY AND PRACTICE
SUBJECT CODE: 00
 © UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

Dr. Suhas Pednekar

Vice Chancellor
University of Mumbai, Mumbai
Prof. Ravindra D. Kulkarni Prof. Prakash Mahanwar
Pro Vice-Chancellor, Director,
University of Mumbai IDOL, University of Mumbai

Programme Co-ordinator : Anil R. Bankar

Head, Faculty Head, Arts and Humanities,
IDOL, University of Mumbai
Course Co-ordinator & Editor : Dr. Naresh Tambe
Assistant Professor (Psychology),
IDOL, University of Mumbai

May 2022, Print - 1

Published by : Director,
Institute of Distance and Open Learning,
University of Mumbai,
Vidyanagari,Mumbai - 400 098.

DTP composed and Printed by: Mumbai University Press

 CONTENTS
Unit No. Title Page No.

1 Publics, Relationships and Social Exchange Theory ................................1

2 Group Dynamics Definition and Theory..................................................12

3 Mass Society, Mass Culture and Mass Media..........................................22

4 Definition of PR, Grunig’s four models. Events and PSEUDO events....32

5 Origin and Growth of PR in the world and India.....................................42

6 Propaganda Public Opinion and Publicity................................................52

7 Public Relations : Catalyst, Persuasion and Motivation...........................65

8 Communication Theories with Special Reference to Persuasion

Theory, Cultivation Theory and Uses and Gratifications Theory.............81

9 Understanding Evolution of Mass Media and Mass Communication

with specific reference to India.................................................................96

10 Print Media in India .........................................................................104

11 Electronic Media and Digital Media in India.........................................113

 M.A. (PUBLIC RELATIONS)
SEMESTER - I (CBCS)

PUBLIC RELATIONS
THEORY AND PRACTICE
10

Course I SYLLABUS
Public Relations Theory and Practice

Definition of PR, Its nature, process and Public, Origin and growth of PR in the world and India,
Propaganda, Public Opinion & Publicity, Public Relations: catalyst, persuasion and motivation,
Communication theories & Models in Public Relations, Reputation, perception and relationship
management, The PR process, Research and Planning and Evaluation, PR ethics.

The course shall comprise of the following units :

Week 1 What are publics, what are Managing Public Relations, James
relationships, social exchange theory Grunig and Todd Hunt, Holt,
Week 2 Group dynamics definition and Rinehart and Winston, 1984
theory
Week 3 Mass society, mass culture, mass Handbook of Public Relations,
media Robert L. Heath, Sage, 2001
Week 4 Definition of PR, Grunig’s four
models. Events and pseudo-events Indian News Media: From Observer
Week 5 Origin and growth of PR in the world to Participant, Usha M. Rodrigues,
and India Maya Ranganathan, Sage, 2015
Week 6 Propaganda, Public Opinion &
Publicity
Week 7 Public Relations: catalyst, persuasion
and motivation
Week 8 Communication theories with special
reference to persuasion theory,
cultivation theory and uses and
gratifications theory
Week 9 Communication models with
emphasis on social learning theory
(Bandura), Carl Hovland,
Gatekeeping, framing, agenda
setting
Week 10 Reputation management
Week 11 Relationship management with
specific reference to Ballinger's
(1991) Relational Model of Public --
Organizational Relationships
Week 12 Organisational behaviour
Week 13 Understanding evolution of mass
media and mass communication
with specific reference to India
Week 14 Print media in India
 Week 11 Relationship management with
specific reference to Ballinger's
(1991) Relational Model of Public --
Organizational Relationships
Week 12 Organisational behaviour
Week 13 Understanding evolution of mass
media and mass communication
with specific reference to India
Week 14 Print media in India
Week 15 Electronic media and digital media in
India
Total 60 Hours
11
Hours

Class methodology
10
This is a six credit course. It will involve teaching-learning for four hours a week for a period of 15
weeks. Of the total 60 teaching-learning hours, 40 will comprise the central teaching component
while 20 hours will comprise the self-study component. The self-study component will consist of
academic tasks outside the classroom that will be assigned by the teacher. The 40 hour teaching
component will include two tests conducted in the classroom. These tests may be written, oral or
presentation. Altogether these tests will be for 25 marks. The self-study component of 20 hours will
include film analysis that will be evaluated for 15 marks. The self-study component assigned in this
manner will be related to or an extension of but not in lieu of the prescribed syllabus.
 1
PUBLICS, RELATIONSHIPS AND SOCIAL
EXCHANGE THEORY
Unit Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Public relations: A misunderstood field
1.2.1 Public relations definitions
1.2.2 Importance of PR
1.3 What is Publics in PR
1.3.1 Types of Publics
1.3.2 Factors aiding growth of PR
1.4 Functions of a PR practitioner
1.5 Importance of Relationships in Public Relations
1.5.1 Characteristics of a mutually beneficial relationship
1.5.2 Types of relationships in public relations
1.6 Social Exchange Theory
1.6.1 History of the social exchange theory
1.7 Advantages and Disadvantages of PR
1.8 Let’s sum up
1.9 Questions
1.10 References

1.0 OBJECTIVES
This unit is designed to introduce you to the basics of public relations, under
mass communication and help you clear your misunderstandings of what
public relations actually is as a field. After having studied this unit you
should be able to
1. Define public relations and its meaning
2. Outline reasons for it being a misunderstood field
3. Describe the importance of 'publics' in PR
4. Compare and contrast types of publics
5. Ascertain factors that are helping the field of public relations
6. Discuss the function of the PR practitioner
7. Classify types of relationships and their importance in public
relations.
8. Evaluate the overall importance of public relations in the field of mass
communication.
1
PR Theory and Practice 1.1 INTRODUCTION

Public Relations has been around for quite some time now but has genuinely
begun approaching a professional status lately. In 1982, the International
Public relations Association, which consisted of PR professionals from
around the world, released a 'Gold paper', proposing a model for public
relations education. The paper sought to teach public relations in an
educational institute with an academic and professional emphasis on social
science.
In today's globalized world, a boost in the adoption of the internet of things
(Iot), technological advancement and sophisticated means to target a
particular audience have increased the demand for Public relations
professionals.
Public Relations comes under the broader umbrella of Mass
Communications, just like Marketing, Journalism, Electronic Media, etc.
It is not just seen as a professional practice but is also an academic field
with its own theories and foundation. Before we dive into the ocean of
public relations and try and figure out our whats and hows, it is imperative
to have clarity of our basic concepts. A quick revision will help strengthen
our basic foundation of the topic before building upon it in the following
chapters. To understand public relations, we need to know what 'Mass
communication' is. In simple terms, mass communication means
exchanging information ideas via any medium with a large audience,
usually done to inform, educate, entertain, and persuade people/ Audiences.
At the same time, public relation is strategic communication done for a
mutually beneficial relationship.

1.2 PR: A MISUNDERSTOOD FIELD

A common misunderstanding among youth about this field is that people

think PR is just about being a pleasant fellow or simply doing publicity,
lobbying or running propaganda. But the lesser-known truth is that it goes
beyond all of the activities mentioned above. Today, public relations has
made great strides with sophistication, responsibility, ethics and plays a
considerable role in maintaining peace in society.
Some consider it the same as Journalism, which is not true. It is different
from journalism in many aspects. PR serves a client or an organization while
a journalist serves the public, society. Although in both the professions
intensive research, writing and editing is involved, but the motive of doing
so differs. A PR professional research with an intention to understand
perpections people, or a political climate or for other concerns related to the
organization of the client they represent. Whereas a journalist does this
research to support his facts, give voices to people’s opinions. Due to their
nature of the job both the professions meet on some platforms but engage
with people in a different way.

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1.2.1 Public Relations definition Publics, Relationships and
Social Exchange Theory
There are more than 600 standard and acceptable definitions of public
relations out there. But not all are 'standard and acceptable', but with many
more emerging definitions, it is clear how important this field is to
practitioners, researchers and scholars. Public relations is practised by
someone who is a PR head in a significant corporation having more than
100 employees or someone who is a part-time employee. It can be someone
preparing brochures and helping make press releases to keep the public
aware of the latest developments. A public relations practitioner is primarily
involved in writing press releases, stories for an employee publication,
public service announcements or informational pamphlets. Anyone
managing such people, setting up meetings with management or dealing
with the press is also a public relations practitioner. Such individuals may
draw paychecks from various institutes, whichever they decide to work for,
ranging from business, government NGOs, hospitals, churches. Therefore,
it isn't straightforward to develop one definition that can encompass such
dimensions of public relations.
Definitions
"PR is the management function that identifies, establishes, and maintains
mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the various
publics on whom its success or failure depends." - Cutlip, Center and
Broom, Effective Public Relations (7th ed., 1994)
Public relations exist to help an organization achieve its goals by ensuring
that the right public thinks the right thing." - Simon Moore, An Invitation
to Public Relations (1996)
"PR is the activities and attitudes intended to analyze, adjust to, influence,
and direct the opinion of any group or groups of persons in the interest of
any individual, group, or institution."- Richard Weiner, Dictionary of media
and communications (1990)
Edward L.Bernays, the doyen of Public Relations in the USA, defines it as
"the attempt by information, persuasion and adjustment to engineer public
support for an activity, cause, movement or institution."
1.2.2 Importance of PR
Although all the definitions range from more straightforward to complex
ideas, they all point towards one direction, i.e. deliberate use of actions to
influence opinions and persuade others by securing people's acceptance
towards the cause. Public relations practices are not restricted within the
corporate framework or context. It is used in our society and day to day life
at different levels by the government, community, social institutions,
religious organizations, social groups, NGOs, etc.
1. Public Relations actions are to be focused on achieving positive ends.
2. All efforts must take place in an organized manner.
3. The actions must get clearly communicated to the target publics 3
PR Theory and Practice 4. All actions must have an end goal that it tries to achieve. E.g. building
a favourable image of a celebrity or brand.
5. Overall, all Public Relations actions are aimed towards achieving a
good social atmosphere for an organization

1.3 PUBLICS IN PR

We learned so far that public relations is seen as a positive force in society

that benefits not only an organization but also its publics.
Whenever one reads any definition of public relations, nearly 90% of all the
descriptions use the term 'publics'. Now the concept of publics does not exist
in conventional grammar. But in the field of Public relations, the term exists
as jargon.
According to sociologist Herbert Blumer, the difference between publics
and masses is that the latter is a heterogeneous group, whereas the former
is homogenous. People make up mass not because they have something in
common, but publics, on the other hand, have something in common that
could be an issue or a problem.
According to Blumer, a public is a group of people who
1. impacted by an issue

2. may have varied ideas to deal with an issue

3. engage in discussion over an issue.

Meanwhile, philosopher John Dewy defines publics in a somewhat similar

manner. According to him, publics means
1. People facing similar problems

2. They believe that the problem exists

3. Take action to resolve an issue.

In conclusion, both explanations suggest that publics consists of individuals

who detect a problem and may behave similarly without ever meeting face
to face. For example, environmentalists may react similarly to a proposal to
clear a part of the forest cover to build real estate, even though they may
never formally meet each other. Such publics may have learned about such
a decision by the government or a company via mass media. Other
environmentalists can meet face to face and organize some action. Either
way, the public function as a single system because they face the same
problem and want a similar outcome. Thus it is safe to say that publics is a
loosely structured group that detects a problem and behaves as though they
are one body to resolve an issue. One of the key things to note is that
consequences, concerns, and problems create 'publics', and the presence of
publics makes a public relations problem for the organization.
44
For example, let's say a metal factory at the banks of river Yamuna is letting Publics, Relationships and
Social Exchange Theory
its untreated waste in the water body. People facing the consequences of
Yamuna pollution will approach the factory's organization to discuss the
problem and even organize an activist group to confront the mill owner.
Now without the pollution, there would have been no public. The presence
of the public creates a public relations problem. In such a situation, the
functions of a public relations professional will be discussed in the
following unit.
1.3.1 Types of Publics
John Dewy identified three types of publics The first type is a 'non-public'
because there are no consequences for this group. Until the public does not
recognize the problem, they are considered latent public. Once the problem
is identified, it becomes public. When the public takes action over an issue,
they are an active public. Understanding the types of public one is dealing
with is necessary to take appropriate action to resolve an issue.
1.3.2 Factors supporting the growth of Public Relations
The field of public relations has witnessed steady growth over the years.
Today be it a politician a businesses man, small or large, make use of either
in-house or outside Public relations services to enhance their images and
reputation in the eye of the public. Some of the significant factors
influencing the growth and practice of public relations are
Technological advancement has made Mass production, distribution and
marketing possible. The companies now have resources for efficient and
effective organizational communication and more specific audiences.
Better Literacy rate and growth of an educated middle class created a
demand for information about people and organizations. A rise in social
science research has led to an accumulation of reliable, dependable data that
can interpret public opinion or sentiments. The very "professionalization"
of Public relations has led to almost every corporate firm, Government body
having PR professionals at various levels.

1.4 FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

PRACTITIONER

Communication is a behaviour of individuals, and the transfer of a message

from one person to other is an act that we call "to communicate". For a
public relations professional, communication is all about managing,
planning, and executing communications for the organizations and moving
a message into the organizations. For example, a pr professional will
conduct research on the public's knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. The
knowledge gained through such research can be used to counsel managers
on their future actions. It will help the management decide the future course
of their action or decision so that the message is well received by its public.

5
PR Theory and Practice 1. To identify and evaluate public opinion attitudes about the
government, individuals, or organizations on a particular issue.
2. To create plans and execute them in the short, medium and long term
to win people's consent or make them aware of facts about an issue.
3. To disseminate critical information regarding the policies, activities
and plans of government or a community.
4. To undertake conflict management and settle any crisis by wading off
adverse press reports that can impact the image of an organization.
5. Within an organization, a PR practitioner helps in facilitating a
healthy interaction between the management and its public.
6. Maintaining a relationship with media houses to guard against any
damaging mass media war

1.5 THE IMPORTANCE OF RELATIONSHIPS IN

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Relationship building is crucial to public relations. There is a saying, "in

business; it is not about what you know, it's about who you know?". In every
industry, for success, one needs to have a network of people to
produce/deliver the best of their potential. A relationship is most vital when
it is mutually beneficial and has 'win-win" outcomes. It is a mutually
beneficial relationship when people share accurate and relevant
information. A relationship should be open to trustworthy dialogue and has
a spirit of cooperation, aligned interests, openness to see others' perception
and a commitment to make a positive difference in the lives of involved
publics affected by your organization. Relationship building is the very
foundation of public relations. According to systems theory, a unit as a
whole will prosper when all its elements are in balance or experience
harmony. The idea is applied to human society and our relationships.
From an interpersonal relationship point of view, various theories suggest
that people like relationships that reward them. This reward is not monetary
benefit but an act of self-disclosure, a purposeful revelation of information
about oneself. Relationships at times go through phases. They can start,
succeed, fail and sometimes need repair. For a successful relationship in
public relations, similar interpretations of events and shared benefits are of
utmost importance in a relationship. For example, take up any television
show where there are "judges" present to evaluate performance, and you
will find reliable how easy it is for people to interpret things differently. An
organization and stakeholders must share similar interpretations of events if
the relationship runs smoothly. Stakeholders are those people who have a
vested interest in the business/organization and can be affected by its
performance. Stakeholders comprise investors, employees, suppliers,
customers, communities, the government even trade associates.
When we look at an organization from a "system" theory we can analyze
that each subsystem will have an impact on the other subsystem. For
66
example: There is an ABC corporation, it will have the following Publics, Relationships and
Social Exchange Theory
subsystems such as a production department, warehousing department, IT
department, HR department, that include further subsystems of
manufacturing and engineering and finance and many more. Meanwhile,
Public relations functions on the edge of the organization as a liaison
between organizations, external groups, and the community. They have one
foot on the organization and one outside.
1.5.1 Characteristics of a mutually beneficial relationship
1. Openness: This kind of relationship fosters two-way communication
for listening and sharing valuable information. It is in contrast with
the one way communication in which an organization only speaks but
does not listens
2. Trust: This is built over time in a relationship and cannot be created
within days. Trust between an organization and the public can be
fostered by not being manipulative and exploitative.
3. Cooperation: Deciding by considering the stakeholders' views and
keeping in mind the needs/wants of the organization.
4. Alignment: The organization and stakeholders have shared interests,
rewards and goals.
5. Commitment: Supporting the community by displaying commitment
to it.

1.5.2 Types of Relationship in Public Relations

Relationship with the community: A comprehensive relationship program
should be in place to build a respectable image of an organization in the
long run. Many organizations have programs that help benefit the life of
community members—for example, giving free education to girls or
protecting the environment, etc.
Relationship with the employee: Loyal and happy employees are vital to
the success of any organization. A PR in an organization tries to create
employee goodwill. It has been done since the day of joining a new
employee. The employer can maintain a trustworthy and cordial
relationship with the employees by sharing information and ideas. The
better the employee communications, the more successful an organization,
gets.
Relationship with the investors: It is known by its other name, financial
communications or financial public relations. The public relations
department will keep an investor updated about the work getting done in the
organization, including new initiatives and happenings. All this is done
because an investor is significant in a business, and they may hold some
part of the company or could be potential investors in the future. Keeping
them updated with the happenings and critical initiatives will help maintain
a clear picture in an investor's mind about the goal and objectives of the
company, further bolstering their case for more investments when needed.
7
PR Theory and Practice Relationship with the Media: In our day to day lives, we learn about the
happenings around us through media; hence it plays a crucial role in
maintaining a particular type of image in the public of an organization.
Media relations is seen as a beneficial relationship for both the journalist
and the PR Personnel. At times, journalists need press releases or critical
data about the company to get through the PR department. In contrast, the
PR department can use media to send urgent messages to their respective
publics in times of need.
Relationship with the customers:
The more happy the customers are, the better the business will be. Therefore
customer relations include efforts by the company to improve customer
experiences. It can be done by setting any disputes, acknowledging any
grievances and by maintaining a good conversation with the value
customers by knowing their suggestions, interesters and feedback
Marketing communications: Through marketing, it is through marketing
that can help a business/ individual or an organization get the attention and
recognition it needs. Today in the digital world, it is necessary that to spread
your business/ ideas or messages across, one has to have its presence over
social networking sites. Being on social networking sites is a new trend
adopted by various organizations to run a business nowadays. An
organization can grasp customer attention and attract newer customers
through these sites.
Crisis Communication: Business and uncertainty go hand in hand. This
uncertainty can come in various forms. Such tensions or situations of crisis
can arise from numerous places. Example: One wrong statement by a
company's head in media can lead to controversy. Or it can be a newer
initiative that the company took that led to backlash from the community.
There could be other risks that may call for an immediate response from the
company. Example: Faulty product, spilling an oil tanker, a lousy product
that can cause health problems. These situations need to be addressed as
soon as possible. In such cases, the public relations department tries setting
up interviews at media houses, release press releases, issues statements
through social media or press.

1.6 SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY

Public relations derive many theories from sociology and psychology. one
such view is social exchange theory. As the name suggests, the approach
gives a psychological perspective that explains social change and stability
as interactions between parties.
In simple terms, social exchange theory proposed that social behaviour
results from an exchange between parties to maximize benefits and
minimize cost.
According to this theory, people weigh relationships' potential benefits and
risks. When risks outweigh the rewards, people will end, terminate or
88 abandon the relationship. It tells us that majority of the connections are
made up of giving and take but are not always equal. Through this process, Publics, Relationships and
Social Exchange Theory
one decides whether or not to continue a social association with someone.
A state of equity exists in a relationship when individuals feel that the costs
they bear are proportional to their rewards. Costs include things that one
sees as negatives, such as putting in extra time, money or effort in a
relationship. For example, everyone suffers if you have a friend who always
borrows money from you or a teammate who is always late and never
completes tasks on time. Benefits are what one gets in return in a
relationship, such as help, friendship, support. For example, your friend
could be lazy and always late to wherever you go, but there is no fun and
excitement in your life without them. In such a case, when you do the cost
and benefits analysis, you may see that the benefits outweigh the costs, and
therefore, one may choose to continue such a relationship.
One may ask how this is relevant to public relations. This of it from this
perspective. We have already established that people reach out to others to
expect their communication to be reciprocated. There is an expectation of
reciprocity between employees or between higher authorities and the staff
in a workplace. When employees feel that their efforts are not reciprocated
by either their teammates or the management, their work can be severely
affected.
1.6.1 History
This theory may sound a little similar to the barter system as "exchange" is
at the heart of economic systems. Right from the barter system to today's
currency-based economies, where goods and services are exchanged for
currency tells us that mutually beneficial transactions are not just about the
economy but also about society's essential features.
George C. Homans first put forth this theory in 1958. Homans was a pioneer
in behavioural sociology. He was also the president of the American
Sociological Association and Chairman of Harvard's sociology department.

1.7 ADVANTAGES OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Credibility: People trust an organization more when communication comes

directly through the organization itself and not through a third party, usually
seen as advertised content.
Cost-effectiveness: Not every single idea can be communicated through
advertisements. Having a PR team is a cost-effective technique to reach a
larger audience in such cases.
Better Communication: At times when an individual communicates an idea,
it may happen so that he thinks about a piece of information only through a
single perspective, and at times, the community can misread or misjudge
such a piece of information. In such a situation, public relations can help
the company communicate more details in a much-polished manner by
sending out messages or issuing statements that can address a problem
holistically.
9
PR Theory and Practice Reach: One of the parameters to measure the effectiveness of any PR team
is Reach. An excellent public relations strategy can help expose content to
a larger audience/public.
1.7 Disadvantages of Public Relations
Hard to measure success: Once the message is released or communicated
through any medium, one can only estimate how many people were exposed
to that message. Since public relations is not like advertising, it is tough to
measure and evaluate the effectiveness of a PR Campaign.
Little control: A PR department does not own a media agency. PR personnel
can have media relations, making them utterly dependent on media houses
to public their content. It means that a PR professional has less direct
influence over the success of PR campaigns.
No guaranteed results: The problem with any marketing campaign is that its
success cannot be guaranteed. It is possible that the whole plan could be a
miss and cannot strike the right chord with the correct public. Only in the
long run can the benefits of public relations be discovered. The efforts can
become more visible over time.

1.8 LET'S SUM IT UP

The unit in totality gives us a fair idea of the field of public relations. It
serves as an eye-opener that this field is too broad. It also cements the fact
that much of the communication in public relations is purposive and
persuasive.
Public sentiment is everything; if it is not in favour of any organization,
person, or government, then the chances of success of such entities is
meagre. Only he who can mould public sentiment is an effective public
relations practitioner. As a civilization, we are growing more complex by
the day with an increase in groups and subgroups. At the same time we are
dependent on each other. Such groups come into conflict from time to time,
there is a need for a mediator in every field so that a better understanding
can be developed between groups. PR acts as a bridge among these diverse
groups.
PR has numerous definitions, but to sum it all up one can say the very basic
function of PR is to create mutual understanding, create goodwill, win belief
and attract public attention. All these can be achieved only with a two-way
communication process, i.e not just by simply talking but by also listening
and considering the feedback in the decision-making process.

1.9 QUESTIONS

Objectives
1. It is not just seen as a professional practice but is also an academic
field with its own theories and foundation. True or false ?
10
10
2. Public relation is_______ done for a mutually beneficial relationship. Publics, Relationships and
Social Exchange Theory
1. strategic communication
2. Non-strategic communication
3. One to one communication
4. Grapevine communication
3. The difference between publics and the masses is that the latter is a
1. Homogenous group
2. Heterogeneous group
3. Outgroup
4. Subgroup

Answer in two lines

1. What is the definition of PR given by Cutlip, Center and Broom, for
Effective Public Relations?

2. Why is PR a misunderstood field?

Answer in three-four lines

1. Enunciate the importance of PR?

2. Write down two advantages and disadvantages of having public

relations?

Activity
1. Describe social exchange theory in your own words and your own
experiences?

2. Select a company or an industry, try visiting it or look it up on the

internet and try to know how its PR functions and write your
experience below?

1.10 REFERENCES

1. Cutlip, S., Center, A. and Broom, G., 1985. Effective public relations.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
2. Grunig, J. and Hunt, T., 1984. Managing public relations. New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
2. Stephen W. Littlejohn, Karen A. Foss, editors. Encyclopedia of
Communication Theory. Thousand Oaks, Calif. :Sage, 2009.



11
PR Theory and Practice
2
GROUP DYNAMICS DEFINITION
AND THEORY
Unit Structure
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction: What is a group
2.1.1 Group and its characteristics
2.2 Group dynamics: Good and bad dynamics and its impact
2.3 Theories on Group formation
2.3.1 Bruce Tuckman’s view on group formation
2.4 Types of groups and their purpose
2.4.1 Formal groups and characteristics
2.4.2 Informal group and characteristics
2.5 Intergroup dynamics
2.5.1 Problems with intergroup dynamics
2.5.2 solution to intergroup conflicts: Contact hypothesis,
superordinate identities, Interdependence
2.6 Group dynamics experiments: The Robbers cave study- Muzafer
Sherif, The Jigsaw Classroom: Elliot Aronson.
2.7 Intragroup dynamics
2.7.1 The blacksheet effects
2.8 Let’s sum it up
2.9 Questions
2.10 References

2.0 OBJECTIVES

This unit deals with group and group dynamics their definition and
description. The unit describes how groups are formed and how they
function. It explains why it is important to understand groups in Public
relations. Overall the unit provides basic ideas concerning gourps and their
formation. After studying this unit you will be able to
1. Define the meaning of a group
2. Summarise the characteristics of a group
3. Examine group dynamics both positive and negative
4. Explain group formation with the help of theories
5. Analyse types of groups, and evaluate their functioning
12
12
2.1 INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS GROUP MEANING Group Dynamics Definition
and Theory

Human beings are constantly interacting with others, groups, and within
groups. It is why social sciences have always emphasized the importance of
group dynamics. In reality, individuals may join many groups, ranging from
formal or informal groups. It can be a workgroup, school group, sports
group or a group where you share your hobbies.
A fundamental definition of a group can be "two or more individuals who
share common meaning and experiences and have a common goal. From a
public relations perspective knowing the attitude, habits or behavioral
patterns of a group can help make them feel valued, informed and listened
to. The primary purpose of these groups is to guide us, restrict us and sustain
us. Being a part of a group satisfies our need for belonging, to gain
information and form our sense of self and social identity. Whether by
choice or default, one always falls in some of the other group types.
2.2.1 Group Characteristics
Size: Single people cannot be considered a group. Therefore, this is one of
the essential characteristics of a group: there have to be two or more people.
Structure: Everyone has a specific part to play in a group, and these
roles/parts form the very structure of the group.
Goals: Every group has a specific aim to be achieved. Without this goal, a
group cannot exist. For example, even among friends, the primary purpose
of friendship is to help people change and grow in life.
Norms: Norms govern the action and behaviour of people. Whether formal
or informal, every group has specific ground rules of how a member is
expected to behave. Usually, it is punishable by law when one violates rules,
but a norm violation has no punishment. Still, at times person committing
such an offence is looked down on in society. Example: Norm can be
something as simple as dinner table manners, a certain kind of behaviour in
public places, how you greet someone when you meet them. These are all
examples of norms.
Roles: Roles in a group is an excellent way to encourage individual
accountability. When one is aware of its role in a group, it is easier to hold
people accountable for not completing a task assigned.
Interaction: A group cannot be called a group without interaction.
Interaction facilitates smooth functioning better coordination among group
members in times of stress. For example, suppose you are on a basketball
team or any sports team that is not a solo sport. Group interactions are the
key to knowing about your peer to better coordinate.
Collective identity: This refers to a sense of belonging to a group. Here the
collective identity also becomes a part of individual identity. One may call
himself an environmentalist, which is nothing but a collective self
consisting of aspects based on membership of a group.
13
PR Theory and Practice 2.2 GROUP DYNAMICS

Group dynamics deals with the behavioural patterns and attitudes of a

group. Kurt Lewin, a social psychologist, coined the term "group dynamics"
in the early 1940s. He pointed out that people take on distinct roles and
behaviours when working in a group. According to Lewin, Group dynamics
affects these roles and behaviours in other teammates in the group. Recent
studies have shown that a team with a positive dynamic is twice as likely to
be creative as an average group. While poor dynamics can disrupt people's
work, which may cause the team to never get to any decision or worse, it
may make a wrong decision. The study of group dynamics is helpful when
studying decision-making behaviour.
For example, you may contact the brightest individuals and put them in a
group to solve a problem; in this case, it is a formal group. You may have
high hopes for the group, but you may get easily frustrated when there is no
satisfactory outcome. There could be many factors that could be causing
hindrance and effecting decisions making. These problems can range from
a very critical colleague who is finding only faults and lowering the morale
of other teammates, or tt could be because some didn't contribute when
asked for their opinion, or someone making humorous comments to bring
down stress at the wrong time.
The key reason to study group dynamics is that public relations involve
understanding people, what motivates them, drives them, and how one can
work along with them. Also, as a PR, one will get a second-hand perspective
on how people react to different campaigns, brands, situations. Still, one
will also get first-hand perspective by interacting within groups working in
teams and colleagues. For this, one needs to have an understanding of group
dynamics. Also, all organizations need to have different groups for
coordinated effection action while for individual employees, groups are
necessary for constructing identity and making sense of workplace.

2.3 THEORIES OF GROUP FORMATION

The view on group formation differs. The social cohesion approach

suggests that group formation results from 'interpersonal attraction'. Which
in social psychology leads to platonic or romantic relationships. In contrast,
the social identity approach views that a group starts when a collection of
individuals share some social category (students, football players). The
latter considers any interpersonal attraction only a secondary trait that helps
the connection.
Meanwhile, looking from a third perspective, i.e. the Social exchange
theory suggests, people will remain in a group that can provide them with
maximum rewards while ensuring the minimum cost. Another perspective,
named Optimal distinctiveness theory posits that individuals desire to be
similar to others; at the same time, they want to differentiate themselves and
seek some balance between these two desires.

14
14
One may question why people become a part of a group, especially when it Group Dynamics Definition
and Theory
is intentional. Every individual has two identities: a personal identity and a
social identity. Personal identity is all about individual qualities and
attributes, whereas group membership defines a social identity. One may
ask what people derive from social identity. By being a member of a group
or multiple groups, we compare the group/groups we subscribe to (i.e. the
in-group) against the other group (out-group). These comparisons are
mostly non-objective and can be called more as an evaluation. We see our
group positively, which gives us a distinct and valued social identity and
boosts our self-esteem. For example: Think about football fan clubs; every
football club fan thinks the team they support is better than the others;
similar is the case for cricket clubs.
2.3.1 Tuckman's Group Formation
Bruce Tuckman developed a framework in the 1960s to understand group
formation. One can agree that groups do not usually perform at maximum
effectiveness when first formed. It means it has to go through various stages
to eventually become productive or effective. There are a few critical stages
through which all groups pass. According to Tuckman, there are five stages
of group development.
Forming: This is considered an orientation period. At this stage, people get
to know each other. There are no leaders or tasks formed in the group yet.
Members know one another and have some shared expectations about the
group. At this stage, virtues like trust and openness should be allowed to
grow. These feelings will help the relationship grow in the latter stages.
Individuals are usually confused at this stage due to a lack of assigned roles.
Storming: There will be maximum conflict at this stage due to
disagreements. Many members will try and challenge the group's goal and
struggle for power or a leadership position at this stage. The group may stop
existing if members cannot develop a solution for the conflict. If the
disagreements worsen and there is no resolution, there is a possibility that
the group may exist, but it would be a non-functional one and will never
advance to further stages.
Norming: Under this stage, the responsibilities of different members is
decided. Members are now aware of their differences and shared goals. At
this stage, members develop a feeling of oneness and identity. Any group
efforts will also yield good results.
Performing: At this stage, any conflict is resolved through discussion.
Members accept one another and attain a feeling of cohesiveness. Here
members are more focused, and decisions are based on reaching relevant
goals.
Adjourning: This means disbandment of the group. Depending upon the
kind of group and its purpose, a group may go through this stage early or
never. Disbandment differs because the task is completed or the members
have decided to go their ways. The timing may vary, or the group may never
go through this stage.
15
PR Theory and Practice 2.4 DIFFERENT TYPES OF GROUP

In an organization, there are different types of groups. One can categorize a

group into two major classes, depending on the purpose it serves. These
purposes can range from fulfilling an organizational objective or simply for
self-interest. Broadly let's look at Informal and formal group and their
subcategories.
2.4.1 Formal Groups
When people come together to achieve an organizational goal or objectives,
then can be termed a formal group. Some specific rules and regulations
guide the formation of the group. One cannot simply leave and join the
group without permission. The size of such groups is large as they have a
goal to achieve. All members in the group have some skills and
competencies to help an organization with its purpose or turn ideas into
reality.
a. Command Group: Some people are placed at a top hierarchy while
others are at the bottom due to the hierarchical arrangement. Here the
flow of information is top-down, i.e. it flows from top to bottom.
b. Task Group: This group is formed to carry out a task. Once an
assignment is over, the group may cease to exist. Such groups may
include individuals with skills and knowledge.
c. Committees: For a particular project, a committee is established by
appointing specialists. Once the project responsibilities are
completed, the members can disassociate from the group.
2.4.2 Informal groups
Such groups are usually not by a particular choice. The core purpose of this
group is common interest or self-satisfaction. As in the formal group,
communication flows from top to bottom; the conversation usually moves
sideways without a defined path in the informal group. An informal group
is voluntarily formed by members coming together. One can join and leave
the group whenever one decides. In such groups, people know each other at
a personal level hence the size of a group is comparatively smaller than the
formal one.
Interest groups: As the name suggests, such groups are formed for a
common purpose, but it also plays a huge part in one's self-interest.
Friendship Group: We are all familiar with such a group. This is the result
of one's own choice. Such individuals are comfortable and friendly with one
another.
Reference Groups: Such a group is used for evaluation purposes. They are
used for social comparison and validation. Such groups have a strong
influence on members' behaviour. The best examples of these groups are
family, friends and religious affiliations. Social validation often allows

16
16
individuals to justify their values, while comparison helps members to Group Dynamics Definition
and Theory
evaluate their actions.

2.5 INTERGROUP DYNAMICS

This is a behavioural and psychological relationship between groups, two

or more. These dynamics include attitude, opinions, perceptions and
behaviours towards another group and own group. Studying such dynamics
is essential to understand why certain groups are more successful when they
come together than others. For example: sometimes intergroups dynamics
are positive and beneficial to achieve the required work efficiently. But at
times, intergroup dynamics can create conflict.
2.5.1 Problems in intergroup dynamics
The conflict in an intergroup usually starts with a process of comparison.
This comparison is biased and non-objective and can be deemed a simple
mechanism for enhancing one's self-esteem. This may cause problems such
as purposely favouring one group over another, remembering only positive
details about one group and negative information about others. At times,
even without interaction, individuals begin to show liking towards their own
groups and negatively react towards others. For example, look at the various
religious groups; intergroup conflict is evident in every country. At times
such conflicts can also be seen in between different cultures. Such
intergroup conflicts can result in prejudice, stereotypes, and ill-behaviour.
Intergroup conflicts fuel the fire in the case of social groups that have a long
history of conflict.
But not all intergroup conflicts can be harmful—for example, competition
between universities or companies.
2.5.2 Solution for Intergroup conflicts
Contact Hypothesis (Intergroup Contact theory): The approach suggests
that the problems can be reduced by promoting contact between two groups.
This idea was first proposed by Gordon Allport (1954) where it put forth
four critical conditions for contact:
a) equal status: Members of two groups should not have unequal
hierarchical relationships.
b) Cooperation: Members should work in a non-competitive
environment.
c) Common goals: Members should be working towards a shared goal.
d) support by social and institutional authorities: Social authorities
should not sanction the contact but rather should be there for support
purposes.
Intergroup cooperation, shared goals and support by social and institutional
authorities. However, one should see Allport's conditions simply as
facilitating rather than essential. A wide-scale meta-analysis showed that
although structured contact help in reducing prejudices, even the un- 17
PR Theory and Practice structured one worked equally well. Because there have been wide-scale
meta-analyses performed that show. The idea was proposed during the
racial segregation in the U.S.A. Gordon Allport's view helped improve
social relations between races in the U.S.A. and is enshrined in policy-
making all over the globe.
Superordinate Identities
Another solution for intergroup conflict can be superordinate identities.
This means grouping subgroups into an umbrella group/identity. For
example, there is a conflict between students from different cultural
backgrounds in a high school. One might highlight the "high school"
group/identity to reduce a conflict arising out of differences. One can also
call this approach a shared group identity model. Try to think of such
examples and discuss them in the class.
Social psychologist Muzafer Sherif put forth the idea of the superordinate
group in his experiments on intergroup relations. The idea was to encourage
two groups to think of themselves by acknowledging what they have in
common. The approach can be used in many contexts, such as classrooms
and business organizations.
Interdependence:
Some techniques suggest that interdependence between groups to achieve a
goal can also reduce inter-group conflict. Two famous experiments proved
that interdependence is equally beneficial for resolving group conflict.
Muzafer Sherif's Robbers Cave experiment and Elliot Aronson's Jigsaw
classroom experiment had the idea of "interdependence" at its very crux to
determine a group conflict. These methods bring out individual
accountability and achievement of the team goals

2.6 STUDIES UNDERTAKEN ON GROUP DYNAMICS

The Robbers Cave Study

In the 1950s, Muzafer Sherif and others conducted the Robbers cave field
experiment to study intergroup conflict and cooperation as part of the
research program. The experiment involved
Twenty-two boys who were 11-year old, were sent to a summer camp in
Oklahoma at the Robbers Cave State Park. Over the first week, the boys
developed an attachment to their groups by doing various activities
together. The boys also chose their groups' names, "The Eagles" and "The
Rattlers". Prejudice became visible during a four-day series of competitions
between the groups (verbal). After two days, the boys were asked to list
down the features of the group. As expected, the boys characterized their
group better and in favourable terms and characterized the other group in
unfavourable terms. Sherief tried reducing the prejudice by simply
increasing the contact between the two groups, but the situation worsened.
Alternatively, when the groups had to work together to reach common
goals, the tension between the two parties came down. This study also
18
18
confirmed Sherif's Realistic Conflict theory, which states that group conflict Group Dynamics Definition
and Theory
can result from competition over resources.
The Jigsaw classroom
The strategy was developed in 1971 in Austin, Texas, by Elliot Aronson.
Out of a necessity to help resolve the conflict that arose due to the
Desegregation of schools. Autin was a place where schools were racially
segregated. This means White youngsters, African- American youngsters
and Hispanic youngsters had a different set-up for education. But after
Desegregation, they all found themselves in the same classrooms for the
first time. Within weeks, there was an atmosphere of turmoil and hostility
in the school. Fights constantly erupted in schoolyards.
The overall idea of this strategy was to make students dependent on each
other to succeed. Over the years, it was used in schools/various groups to
increase cooperation.
Under this technique, the class is split into mixed groups, each having four
to six members. Now each student from the group takes on the responsibility
of one piece of the full content. For example, if you have 5 group members
in each group, you can divide the content into five parts so that each student
can learn one part of it. Once everyone from each group has known their
part. Students who have studied the same part from each group can be
assembled. So from each group who have studied the introduction can be in
one group; all those who have read the conclusion can be in one group. Such
groups can be called expert groups. Students can compare their ideas within
each expert group and work together to prepare a presentation to give to
their jigsaw groups. In this particular step, gaps in students' knowledge can
be filled up, misconceptions can be cleared up, and essential concepts can
be understood clearly. Now, these students can return to their original
group, where each takes a turn to present its information while others listen
carefully and take notes. Everyone in the group takes turns explaining their
concept while others ask questions for clarity. When everyone is done, all
students can take a quiz in which all pieces of information that everyone
took is included in the quiz. Hence, to score more, team members will
depend on others and listen patiently to everyone's piece since their own
score depends on it. The jigsaw experiment has many variations.

2.7 INTRAGROUP DYNAMICS

It is also referred to as an "in-group" "within the group". These dynamics

are the ones that give rise to a set of roles, norms, goals and characterize a
social group. In intragroup dynamics, there is an interdependence between
people through which the other group members influence each member's
behaviours, attitudes, experiences, and opinions. Intragroup dynamics is an
area of interest in many fields, and there is an interest in understanding how
these dynamics influence behaviour attitudes and beliefs. The presence of
others usually influences individual behaviour. Many studies have shown
that individuals work more efficiently in the company of others. At times
these performances may slow down in a case of conflict or distraction. A
19
PR Theory and Practice group plays a significant role in individual decision-making processes. This
decision can be good or bad; it includes biases, persuasion, manipulation,
obedience. Influences can be positive or negative. For example- if you
become a part of a team known for completing their work way ahead of
time. Then you will always be on your toes to get work done early. Such
dynamics are helpful in the context of work settings and team sports.
However, there can be negative influences, such as Nazi Germany.
2.7.1 The Black sheep Effect
One problem with the intra-group dynamics is the black sheep effect. Often
individuals tend to like certain members of the group more than others. They
are making the latter a separate out-group in itself. An out-group member is
an individual or an organization who does not identify itself as a part of the
larger group or are not interested in pursuing the same goal.
It may cause a person's beliefs to change depending upon whether they are
part of the in-group or the out-group. Any new member who wants to join
such a group will have to prove themselves to the entire group to get
accepted. Any member who has lost membership because they couldn't
match the group's expectations can rejoin a group through re-socialization.

2.8 LETS SUM IT UP

To every company, both the out-groups and the in-groups are essential. Both
of the groups are part of everyday public relations. Although the in-group
is usually easier to deal with, it is the responsibility of a PR practitioner to
understand the out-group. Usually, out-group members may disagree with
the goals of the in-group members. Trying to persuade, convince, or win the
trust of such an out-group can be challenging for a PR practitioner. Such
out-group people can bring in unique talents and perspectives necessary for
a changing business environment.

2.9 QUESTIONS

Objectives
1. _______ is a behavioural and psychological relationship between
groups, two or more.
a. Intragroup dynamics
b. Interpersonal communication
c. Inter group dynamics
d. Intrapersonal Communication
2. _______put forth the idea of the superordinate group in his
experiments on intergroup relations.
a. Muzafer Sherif
b. Gordon Allport
c. Kurt Lewin
d. Elliot Aronson
20
20
3. ________ is the problem seen in the intragroup dynamics Group Dynamics Definition
and Theory
a. Interdependence
b. Superordinate identities
c. Black sheep effect
d. Blue sheep effect

Answer the following in three to four lines

1. Explain the 4 perspectives on group formation
2. What are the stages of group formation?
3. What sets informal group apart from the formal ones?

Activity
1. Think about a group that you are part of knowingly and unknowingly.
List down the group characteristics in detail.
2. What is your view on Gordon Allport’s idea of conflict resolution? In
what all areas in a society can this be applicable
3. Try the jigsaw classroom experiment in your group.

2.10 REFERENCES

1. Engleberg, Isa N.; Wynn, Dianna R. (2007). Working in groups.

2. Berne, E. Structure and Dynamics of Organizations and Groups. J. B.

Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1963.

3. https://www.jigsaw.org



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PR Theory and Practice
3
MASS SOCIETY, MASS CULTURE
AND MASS MEDIA
Unit Structure
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Society and Social Change
3.3 Mass Society Paradigm
3.3.1 Mass Society Theory
3.3.2 War of the worlds broadcast
3.4 Mass Culture
3.4.1 High vs Low culture
3.4.2 Folk vs popular culture
3.4.3 School of cultural studies and Mass media
3.5 Mass media
3.5.1 Definition of Mass Communication
3.5.2 What is a communication model
3.5.3 Functions of Media
3.5.4 Functions of Media according to Key Theorists
3.6 Let’s sum it up
3.7 Questions
3.8 References

3.0 OBJECTIVES

In this unit, we will start with the basic understanding of what a society is
and then look through the concept of mass society. How did mass society
come into being, what exactly is the mass society paradigm and is it relevant
today or not. Further, mass culture and types of mass culture are discussed
in detail. There is detailed information on mass media and its function and
how different theorists believed in various functions of mass media. After
studying this unit, you will be able to
1. Define society and social change
2. Understand the idea of the mass society paradigm
3. Distinguish between two schools of thought, namely Frankfurt
(critical view) and Birmingham school (cultural studies).
4. Highlight functions of mass communication given by different
22
22 theorists
3.1 INTRODUCTION Mass Society, Mass Culture
and Mass Media

Mass Media is intricately woven in society, so much so that it is

impossible to imagine our lives without it. It has saturated our lives to the
extent that we hardly even notice its presence and influence on us. But
where did it all start? And what course did it follow to get here is ?. One
must understand that mass communication was never studied until World
War One. It was only after the war that a few theorists, such as Walter
Lippman and John Dewey, started examining the role of journalism and its
impact on democracy, further paving the way for a newer field of mass
communication.
As time passed, the field of mass communication gained further popularity
among other theorists after World War Two. Field of persuasion studies in
mass communication gained a lot of attention at that time, as theorists
wanted to know how media was used in spreading propaganda and ideas
that eventually led to world war two. During this time, the famous debate in
mass communication surfaced that is ongoing even today. It was about
whether the masses influence the media or the media influences the masses
and its culture.
Look at media studies, and you will find that there is no single
communication theory that studies media in isolation. This is because
communication impacts every aspect of an individual's life, ranging from
psychological to cultural to societal. No one definition can encompass all
its dimensions. To add another variable in every advancing field of
communication is technology. With changing technology, the way people
interact and society's functions change. Thus the study of mass
communication is not just about understanding communication. It is about
understanding groups, society, culture, technology, psychology, sociology
even anthropology.

3.2 SOCIETY AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Let's start with understanding society so that it will be easier to grasp the
well-known concept of mass society in media. So what is a society ?. In
simple terms, society is a group of individuals involved in social interaction,
have a large group, or have the same social territory. These people either
share the same culture, belief system, or common traditions or all three. It
is at this level that social changes take place. The changes in the way of
human interaction and their relationships or that transform cultural and
social institutions is called social change.
For example, let's look at industrialization and the social change it brought
in our society. Industrialization restructured society altogether; it created
new schools of philosophy, caused rapid urbanization and aided newer ways
of living etc.
No society has ever remained the same. Change is always happening at
various levels among people and among theorists, which change their
perspectives about culture or economics or philosophy from time to time. 23
PR Theory and Practice This is what brings us to the topic of mass society, which was once a
dominant paradigm but now has become obsolete. A paradigm is a set of
underlying assumptions and operating principles that every researcher has.
According to Kuhn these foundational beliefs are what forms or is called a
paradigm. A paradigm can have several theories within its framework, and
it acts as a reference point for the theory.

3.4 MASS SOCIETY PARADIGM

The idea of mass society was developed in the latter part of the 19th century,
right after the industrial revolution and after the second world war. It is
necessary to understand the term ‘mass’ to understand how it was used
earlier and how it is used today. Earlier, the term ‘mass’ was used
negatively. It referred to ‘common people’ or the masses, which was seen
as uneducated, ignorant, and violent. The same term can be used positively
as well. When you try viewing it from a socialist perspective (an idea that
believes in social ownership of means of production), it connotes strength,
solidarity of the working class, which can be organized into groups for a
“mass action”. However, the term mass was viewed as unflattering because
it suggested a collection of individuals without much individuality. This
pessimistic idea of “mass” was used for the media “audiences' ' because the
audiences were large in number, an undifferentiated audience for the
popular media.
This thought of a ‘mass society” started emerging in the mid 19th century
when people travelled primarily to the cities from rural areas to live in the
cities and work in industries for their livelihood. One of the most evident
changes that industrialization brought with it was a change in the occupation
and the way of living of the masses. When radio and television got popular
among the masses in the late 1940s and in 1950s, many theorists critiqued
media, suggesting it undermines the social order as it threatened the
established way of doing things. After the media’s popularity, many social
institutions such as family, church, and state that focused intensely on
individuality were lost.
Drastic changes in the social order, culture and politics brought by these
new mediums are what the theorists feared. They feared what they couldn't
understand. Such a dominant perspective about media and society that
emerged and developed in the latter 19th century was referred to as the mass
Society Theory in Mass media. This perspective is about how a good social
order of rural community life got disrupted and how a nightmarish future is
ahead of where we become servants to the machine.
Today such notions about mass media ceased to be relevant.
What is clearer today is that mass media can be a solution as much as it is a
problem. Today media is less ‘massive’, one-directional and more
responsive and participant. But at times, we may see that these media can
exert power, stereotype, stigmatize, or give misinformation to the masses.
For times like these, we should keep in mind the mass society theory at the
back of our minds.
24
24
 In the aftermath of World War Two, many questioned the fact that how Mass Society, Mass Culture
and Mass Media
can democracies like Germany and Italy embrace fascism. To such
question, the concept of mass society theory was a befitting reply. This
paradigm gave an easy answer, which helped the mass society theory gain
credibility years. But we all know that mass media was not the single culprit
for World War Two.
3.4.1 Mass Society Theory
Theories that fall under the mass society paradigm are also called media
effects theories. Most of these theories have been shaped by studies that
showed how television influenced large, heterogeneous audiences.
Television’s popularity during the 1950s-1990S was uncontested.
Therefore, theories developed after the 1950s can be seen as a response to
broadcasting on television, as TV was seen as the root cause of most social
issues. One such theory that supported the idea of the mass society paradigm
was the Magic Bullet Theory. Under this theory, the media was thought to
have enormous power on people. So much so that every message from the
media was like gun firing bullets of information toward the passive
audience. Communication was seen like a magic bullet that almost
automatically transfers the information to the people. Later on, the idea of
the magic bullet was discredited by many theorists because it assumed that
the audience interprets the message in the same way and accepts whatever
is shown via the media. The theory didn’t consider the heterogeneity of the
audience or the demographic variable such as age, gender, class, personality
etc.
3.4.2 War of the worlds Broadcast
In the 1930s, radio listeners received an alarming message: Martians were
invading Earth. The news alert interrupted radio programming to deliver the
stunning news heard by approximately 12 million people in the United
States. Mass hysteria ensued, causing confusion in the streets.
The only catch: The announcement, which came on Halloween eve, was
part of a radio version of H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds. In short, the
broadcast was fake, but it perfectly illustrated a media hypothesis
popularized by Harold Lasswell, known as the magic bullet theory.

3.5 MASS CULTURE

We have already understood how the term mass was used with a negative
connotation in society during the late 19th century. The term culture has
many definitions, but to broadly understand it, one can say culture is all the
practices or beliefs of a group. These groups are represented at a societal
level, and neither culture nor society can exist without one another.
In cultural studies, which is an interdisciplinary field to study class
structures, ethnicity, gender, ideology and many more things, mass culture
is seen as something that is mass-produced by mass audiences. This
includes entertainment films, popular books, clothing, and mechanically
reproduced art. 25
PR Theory and Practice Critics of mass culture believed that such mass culture items discouraged
active thought and encouraged passive acceptance of produced goods in the
society, thereby burdening bonds of solidarity and communal living.
In a very famous book ‘the Dialectic of Enlightenment of 1947,” Theodor
W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer coined the term ‘culture industry’ to refer
to the rise of mass media and other forms of communication. The production
of media messages was seen as industrialized too. Both of the theorists
belonged to the Frankfurt School of critical Theory.
One of the key benefits of industrialization was that one could produce
anything in mass quantity, be it physical products such as radio, TV sets or
art such as paintings, even music, or shows. Adorno and Horkheimer argued
that the demand for cultural products emerged to due to the industrialization
of radio, films, press, and music. Assuming that many people have similar
needs, the culture industry tries to fulfil that with identical goods. In such a
way, media production can be controlled by few large corporations. As
culture became business, it left very little room for imagination or reflection
from audiences. For example: Today very few people know or enjoy
classical music. Because such music cannot be mass-produced, it needs a
level of understanding to appreciate art or classical music. But, rap songs
and pop music are more appreciated and loved by the audience because it
does not require any expertise, logic, or level of understanding to enjoy the
music.
3.5.1 High culture vs low culture
Cultures can be divided based on tastes. A stratification of culture exists in
which some are seen as ‘high culture’ while others are ‘Low culture’. Both
cultures talk about taste in music, art or literature. High culture involves an
interest in classical music/dance, fine art, and gourmet foods. Low culture
tastes is completely opposite to this. Low culture can include fast foods,
Hip/hop music, and reality Tv shows. The difference between both the
cultures is arbitrary
3.5.2 Folk culture Vs Popular culture
The folk culture evokes the feeling of something traditional, which can be
dance, poetry, or music. The popular culture separates this types of culture
in a sense that the former is more localized in nature is and practiced by
small homogenous group. Whereas popular culture is practices that are
widely prevalent or are dominant in society at a given point of time. Some
pop culture examples can be the rise in Indian viewership of international
shows such as Friends, How I met your mother or k-dramas. Another
example can be the rise in pop-culture based merchandise—people these
days who love anime or any TV series like to purchase merchandise online.
One can find many similarities between mass and popular culture, but the
key difference is that mass culture is produced for the masses. Only a few
became a part of pop culture in different eras throughout history from these
productions. When mass culture undermines individuality, popular culture
gives a feeling of pseudo-identity. For example, we all may have the Spotify
26
26
app, which is for the masses but at the same time gives you a sense of Mass Society, Mass Culture
and Mass Media
personalization, through which you can curate and share your own playlists.
The same goes for fast food chains such as the subway.
3.5.3 The school of Cultural studies and Mass Media
The key site for the development of cultural studies, also known as The
Center for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) was founded in
Birmingham University in 1964. Scholars such as Richard Hoggart, Stuart
Hall, and Richard Johnson significantly promoted cultural studies and ideas.
The school of cultural studies, just like the frankfurt school, differentiate
between mass and elite culture. But the school of culture studies denies the
inferiority of the mass culture against the elite culture on aesthetic values.
The Birmingham school believes that the mass culture is bottom-up rather
than top-down. If mass culture is produced among the masses, though not
by the masses, it must be possible for the masses to consume it actively and
selectively. Culturalists do not see audiences merely the target of the magic
bullet from mass media. They believe that the masses interact with the
media to produce mass culture.

3.6 MASS MEDIA

Mass media in our daily lives is used interchangeably with mass

communication, but they are not the same. People usually have confusion
about this. Mass communication is an act of disseminating information to
the masses/public, whereas mass media involves a medium or any method
through which one can disseminate information. This medium includes
radio, TV, World Wide Web, books, internet etc.
In the early Middle Ages, the church, through its networks, had an elaborate
way of transmitting its idea, values and principles to the masses. This act
could be called mass communication, but it cannot be termed mass media
since no medium was involved. Later in the mid 14th century, when media
arrived in the form of printing, the church struggled to keep its control over
its publics.
One of the critical milestones in printing was invention of the Guttenberg’s
printing press which wa used to print Bible. Although techniques of printing
and the use of movable type were known long before that in China and
Korea. The history of modern media is known to begin with the printed
book (Bible). But in the earlier days the book was not regarded primarily as
a means of communication. Instead, it was seen as a repository of sacred
writing or wisdom. It was almost after 200 years after the invention of
printing that what we now recognize as a newspaper was printed. This
material could be different from the newsletters and pamphlets. This was
the first time all the activities that were once limited to the governmental,
diplomatic, and commercial domains were extended to the public domain.
3.6.1 Definition of Mass Communication
Bittner (1980) defines mass communication as delivering messages to a
large number of people through mass media. 27
PR Theory and Practice DeFleur and Dennis (1985) define mass communication as the process by
which communicators use the media to spread messages widely and
continuously create meanings that are expected to influence large and
diverse audiences in various ways.
Ruben (1992) defines mass communication as the process by which
information is created and disseminated by organizations for public
consumption.
Littlejohn and Foss (2011) define mass communication as the process by
which media organizations produce and transmit messages to the broad
public and the process by which messages can be seen, used, understood,
and influenced by audiences.
McQuail stated that mass communication is the only communication
process that runs at the wider community level and is easily known by its
institutional characteristics.
3.6.2 What is the communication Model
As a mass media student, one must have seen many communication models.
A basic communication model has elements such as a source, Message,
Medium, Receiver and Feedback. There are several models out there for
communication; many are a lot fancier, having components such as ‘noise’,
‘encoder’, ‘decoder’ or something in terms of social context. One such
communication model that is considered the mother of all models due to its
popularity is the Shannon and Weaver communication model.
The Shannon and Weaver model was proposed in 1948 in an article called
'mathematical theory of communication.' The model had the following
elements.
Sender (Information source): Here, the sender could be anyone who wants
to communicate his ideas, thoughts or information with others.
Transmitter: The next step in the model is the transmitter or a machine that
can convert the messages into the signal. Example: Computer that encodes
our information in binary codes.
Channel: This requires the physical infrastructure that gets information
from the sender and transmitter to the decoder.
Noise: As the name suggests, noise means any disturbance that can affect
the message.
Decoder: Decoding is the opposite function of encoding; here the message
is understood after being received.
Receiver: This is the end of the shannon and weaver model. It is here the
person finally receives and understands the message.
Feedback: This final step was never initially proposed in the Shannon and
Weaver article. But Nobert Weiner later added the 'feedback' bit in the
28
28 model.
3.6.3 Functions of Mass Media Mass Society, Mass Culture
and Mass Media
Under mass media, every message produced is with an intention. It is done
either to sell an idea, educate, inform or entertain the masses. A few key
responsibilities of mass media is highlighted below.
1. Information and Education: Information ranging from politics to
weather reports, current affairs, governmental guidelines etc., all can
be acquired through the media. The core function of any media is to
carry accurate, objective and complete information.

2. Education: people go through the formal school institution to gain

education, which for many is limited up to 25 years of age. But mass
media is a source of lifelong education. The mass media provides
society with updated educational content on various subjects. Many
newspapers have a student edition, and radio channels have
educational services. Television too has dedicated channels for
education purposes.

3. Socialization: It is only through media that we are exposed to diverse

cultures and social norms. This empowers people to understand the
norms and experiences of the group as a whole, which further aids in
communal harmony.

4. Entertainment: Every medium has a dedicated section for

entertainment, varying in degrees for different mediums. Look at
magazines or newspapers; they have a cartoon section or puzzles
section to lighten the mood. Broadcast media such as television and
radio concentrate majorly on entertainment functions.

5. Cultural Transmission: Media is one such thing that keeps our

culture flowing. Knowing unknowingly through media, we become
more aware of our culture and diverse cultures across the world. It
functions as a bridge between the past and the present.

3.6.4 Functions of media according to different theorists

Harold Dwight Lasswell: Harold Dwight Lasswell, who is known for his
linear model of communication, states that there are three communication
functions.
Surveillance of the environment: This function helps understand the real
threats and opportunities affecting the community.
Correlation function: This relates to how we see the world based on the facts
presented by the media.
Transmission of the social inheritance: social inheritance is the set of beliefs
that one learns in the culture they are brought up in. Media plays a part in
transmitting such values and norms in society.
29
PR Theory and Practice Robert K. Merton: Robert K Merton, the founding father of modern
sociology, gave vital terms such as ‘middle-range theory and
‘dysfunctions’. According to Merton, media has some social functions that
include.
1. Status conferral: Mass media bestows prestige and enhances the
authority of individuals and groups with it legitimizing their status.
For example The must have been a time when a particular media
shows more positive news about a specific political party or their
candidate, thus legitimizing their status in the eyes of the people.

2. Enforcement of social norms: There are certain social norms

necessary for the smooth functioning of society, but since they are not
part of religious practices or cultural ideas, they are often forgotten
from time to time. In such cases, media helps enforce or remind such
norms. A norm is an unwritten rule of behaviour. For example,
treating people from different communities, castes, and creed equally.
Giving up the seat for elderly or pregnant women.

3. Narcotising Dysfunction: This particular function of the media has

gone largely unnoticed. This function of media states that the more
time people devote to media and its products, the more concern they
develop over particular issues becomes superficial. This superficial
concern means that people get so used to seeing they negative that
they fail to take any action at a personal level. For example,
environmental concerns of rising temperature are given so much
exposure in mass media that a certain section of society is numb
towards this issue.

C. Wright Mills: C. Wright mills was one of the great sociologists. His
work, such as ‘Power Elite’ and ‘Sociological Imagination’ is seminal.
He was the first person to identify the entertainment function of media.

3.7 CONCLUSION

Media cannot be studied in isolation. It has to be studied in relation to

society and culture because the media has helped shape culture and vice
versa. Media changes everything in society. As a media student, one must
be aware of the famous statement ‘medium is the massage’ by Marshall
McLuhan, which means media technology determines culture. Although
McLuhan gave more importance to the technology for cultural change,
other theorists suggested that it was indeed the media content that acts as a
catalyst in social change. When we look from a cultural perspective, the
frankfurt school focuses too much on what media does to the masses. The
cultural studies perspective is too absorbed in understanding what the
masses do with media.

30
30
3.8 QUESTIONS Mass Society, Mass Culture
and Mass Media

According to Kuhn, a paradigm is ______

a. Ethics
b. Laws of nature
c. What's written in the constitution
d. underlying assumptions and operating principles
War of the world was a ________ that caused mass hysteria among people
a. news alert on the television
b. news alert on radio
c. news alert in newspapers
d. news alert on the internet
The ________ believes that the mass culture is bottom-up rather than top-
down.
a. Birmingham school
b. Frankfurt School
c. Toronto school
d. Chicago school
Answer in three-four lines
What is the mass society paradigm?
What are the functions of media according to different theorists?
How is school of cultural studies different from Frankfrut school of
thought?
Activity
Try and find out different communication models and jot down their
differences?
List down 5 items /ideas representing mass culture and elite culture each?
Explain the difference between pop culture and mass culture

3.9 REFERENCES

1. Cook, D. (1996). The culture industry revisited: Theodor W. Adorno

on mass culture. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

2. Fiske, John. Understanding Popular Culture. Routledge, 2011.

3. Jeffres, L. W. (2015). Mass Communication Theories in a Time of

Changing Technologies. Mass Communication & Society, 18(5),
523–530.



31
PR Theory and Practice
4
DEFINITION OF PR, GRUNIG’S FOUR
MODELS. EVENTS AND PSEUDO EVENTS
Unit structure
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Models of Public Relations
4.3 Press Agent/Publicity Model of public relations
4.3.1 Phineas T.Barnum
4.3.2 History of Press Agentry
4.4 The public Information model
4.4.1 History of Public Information model
4.4.2 Ivy Lee and the Rehabilitating of the Rockefellers
4.5 Two-way Asymmetric Public relations model
4.6 Two-way symmetric model of public relations
4.7 Nature of Communication in the four models
4.8 Importance of Research in public relations
4.9 Professional Ethic in Public Relations
4.9.1 Characteristics of a PR professional
4.10 Introduction to events and pseudo-events
4.10.1 Daniel Boorstin and the pseudo events
4.10.2 Edward L. Bernays and Pseudo event
4.10.3 Advertising vs Public relations
4.10.4 When advertising fails, PR works
4.11 Let’s sum it up
4.12 Questions
4.13 References

4.0 OBJECTIVES

After studying the first three units, one can have a foundational
understanding of public relations as a field, some clarity over mass society
and mass culture and an understanding of groups and their dynamics. In this
unit, you will learn that all of the previously taught parts are interconnected.
In the chapter, we will take a deep dive into the evolution of public relations
practices. One will be able to make out why public relations activity was
misunderstood or was seen negatively by the publics.
32
32
1. Learn about the history and evolution of public relations Definition of PR, Grunig’s
four models. Events and
2. Understand the models of public relations PSEUDO events

3. Judge which model is more ethical in nature today

4. Distinguish between events and pseudo-events

4.1 INTRODUCTION

In the first unit itself, we have established that the field of public relations
is all about the art of convincing people, understanding their attitudes,
beliefs, and culture and persuading them to follow a certain course of action.
Public relation also involves certain ethics and procedures through which
one can influence, convince and persuade groups. On any given day, a
public relations practitioner may help in preparing press releases, helping a
reporter with a story, organize press conferences, write a speech, or raise
funds for a cause.
These functions of a public relations Practitioner have evolved throughout
history. Even today, many names know public relations; some call it public
affairs, community relations, promotion, publicists, press agents, etc. Let us
look at Grunig and Hunt's four models of public relations, which shows how
PR evolved from an elementary method to such a sophisticated practice.

4.2 MODELS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

There are four models of public relations practice given by Grunig and
Hunt, which can more or else also be the stages of evolution of public
relations throughout history. These models describe the field of various
organizational and management practices. They guide in creating plans,
programs and other tactics. Before taking a look at the models, let us
understand what a model is?. In scientific usage, a model is a representation
of reality. The human mind cannot understand all aspects of reality at once.
Therefore, it divides them into fragments and tries to make sense of those
parts of reality to construct ideas. These ideas model reality and simplify it
by not including everything that reality encompasses.
The four models are:
The press agent/publicity model
The public-information model
The two-way asymmetric model
The two-way symmetric model
Analyzing all four models is the key to understanding the diversity we see
today in public relations practice. Many public relations practitioners or
departments practice only one or two models of public relations, whereas
few do it all. The history of PR will help us understand why only few do it
thoroughly. We know public relations is mostly persuasive communication
along with mutual understanding, but once we study the models,it will be
apparent that not all models need public relations to be persuasive. 33
PR Theory and Practice 4.3THE PRESS AGENT/PUBLICITY MODEL

Introduction
A press agent is a kind of public relations practice under which the
practitioner will try to spread the faith of the organization involved through
incomplete information, half-truth or distorted view. This is the reason why
it is also called the publicity model and is known to serve the propaganda
function. The flow of information under this model is one-way, i.e from
sender to receiver. Under this model of public relations, the sender is not
much concerned over the public's feedback, reviews, etc. The whole idea of
press agents is to keep their clients in the news or maintain an organization's
best reputation one way or the other.
4.3.1 Phineas T.Barnum
To this date, a very well-known press agent is Phineas T. Barnum; he was
a showman who formed the Barnum and Bailey circus. Barnum was famous
for coining the term "There is no such thing as bad publicity". The
newspapers in those times gave him column space and even editorial space
to share his stories with the masses. His stories in newspapers had almost
no news values and were merely there to keep any controversial buzz alive.
He was known to write letters to the editor under a false name to call out
some of his own circus attractions as hoaxes just to create publicity. Such a
kind of public relations practice that gives away incorrect information or
half-truth is unethical as it does not follow standard public relations
procedures.
Although this model's past is tainted, given the way it was used, not all press
agents today can be labelled unethical. Many will keep their clients in the
news but only through ethical practices. This model is most suitable for
times when feedback is not needed. For example, There are times when an
organization wants just to inform its public about something, it could be a
film promotion, the launch of a new store or a release of statistical
information; then, in such a case press agent model is suitable.
4.3.2 History of Press agentry
This kind of public relations practice was prevalent during 1850-1900. In
the 1830s, the first formal press agents first began to work. Press agents
have been around since the birth of the penny press in 1830s, which gave
them the much-needed support to flourish. During this time Benjamin
Henry Day, an American newspaper publisher, founded the New York Sun,
the first penny press newspaper in the U.S. The pricing of this newspaper
was very cheap compared to other newspapers of the time. The pricing
range was within the access of an ordinary man, which also invited many
press agents who created stories of fabrication with no news value.

34
34
4.4 THE PUBLIC INFORMATION MODEL Definition of PR, Grunig’s
four models. Events and
PSEUDO events
As the name suggests, here the intent of the public relations practitioner is
not that of spreading propaganda, but it is of dissemination of information.
This dissemination of information is also not with persuasive intent. One
can say that the public relations person is essentially like a resident
journalist here, whose work is to report objectively about his organization
to the public. Such a model is helpful for information that people need to
know. The flow of communication in this model is one-way, i.e. From the
sender to the receiver. Still, it differs from the press agent model because
the information provided here is more relevant for the public. For example,
during covid, health-related information was frequently disseminated to the
public.
4.4.1 History of Public Information model
The public information model came out at the beginning of the 19 century
and continued as the primary model of public relations until the 1920s. This
was the time after the industrial revolution when urbanization,
industrialization, and electrification had happened. However, after the
industrial revolution, wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few rich
businessmen, who also controlled the governmnet. Due to this the common
man was frequently manipulated into the hands of the politicians, who were
anyway working only for the benefit of the rich class. The business cared
more about wealth than worker's safety or public interest. Any journalist
who tried to create awareness or expose the wrongdoings of prominent
businessmen were labelled as a 'muckraker' ( a derogatory term).
During this time, Ivy Ledbetter Lee, a finance/ business journalist,
recognized the need to inform the public the truth about the organization.
His idea was simple, to tell the truth about an organization's activities, and
if the fact can cause more damage, one can change the behaviour of the
organization/individual to soften the blow and give a newer perspective to
people. Later on in his career, Ivy Lee went on to open his own PR firm
along with George Parker, who was also a publicist for the democratic party.
But Lee parted ways with his partner as he wanted to be more than just a
press agent
4.4.2 Ivy Lee and the Rehabilitating of the Rockefellers
In 1913, 9,000 coal miners went on strike in southern colorado. The
company for which these miners worked was also somewhat owned by the
Rockefellers. In 1914, an accidental shot caused a battle in which miners,
two women and eleven children were killed. This wasn't good for the
company's reputation and the Rockefellers, who were the principal
stakeholders in the company. Ivy Lee advised the Rockefellers the practice
of openness and urged him to visit the camps to observe the ground
situation. This landmark move in public relations changed how PR was
practised after this. Ivy Lee is also known as the father of PR ethics.

35
PR Theory and Practice Overall the public information model had taken over the press agent by
1920s . But a significant propaganda effort at the time of the world war was
to establish a new model that relied on scientific knowledge to help efforts
to persuade.

4.5 TWO-WAY ASYMMETRIC PUBLIC RELATIONS

MODEL

At times, you may have wondered how Hitler in Germany or fascists around
the world could gain much broader public support for their cruel ideology.
Indeed, propaganda played an essential role in World War I and two.
Under this model, the function of the public relations practitioner is that of
scientific persuasion. This model is a tad bit similar to the press
agent/publicity model. Here, the practitioner used social science theory and
research about how certain demography behaves and persuaded the public
to accept the organization's point of view. This model became famous when
people believed that mass persuasion was possible. Many believed that
publics could be persuaded in whatever direction the propagandist wished (
mass society).
If public relations was art for Ivy Lee, then it was science for Edward L
Bernays, also known as the father of public relations. He wrote on topics
such as public opinion, propaganda and public relations. He changed the
concept of PR from simply 'informing the public' to 'understanding the
needs of the public'. However, this model in today's day and age claims to
understand the publics but instead its tells the management what people will
accept, rather can asking the administration to change according to the
public. This model is best suited for marketing a product, influence
legislation because in such fields the organization tells the publics what is
best suited for them.

4.6 TWO-WAY SYMMETRIC MODEL OF PUBLIC

RELATIONS

The kind of public relations practice that we practice today, is mostly like
the two-way symmetric model. Under this model, the public relations
practitioner acts like a mediator between organizations and their publics.
Here the goal is to bring about mutual understanding through the use of
social science theory. Here theories that can enhance communication is used
to communicate better with the publics rather than the use of theories that
will simply persuade people into doing anything. Here mutual
understanding is the main characteristic of public relations.
The origin of this model is difficult to trace, but the first educator to
conceptualize the symmetric model of public relations was Scott M. Cutlip
along with Allen Center. Cutlip wrote textbooks that advocated a two-way
symmetric model. In their first edition Cutlip and Center used the term
'public relations to describe the principles and practice of communications
36
36 employed.
 This model is best suited for when a firm wants to maintain social Definition of PR, Grunig’s
four models. Events and
responsibility. PSEUDO events

4.7 NATURE OF COMMUNICATION IN FOUR MODELS

Recall the communication model that you studied in the last unit. Try
recalling all the basic elements involved. There was a sender, message,
medium and receiver and an element of feedback.
Looking at the first public relations two models, the communication is
always one-way, i.e. from organization to the publics. This is because the
practitioner of these two models emphasizes more telling than listening. For
the other two models, both two way asymmetric and two-way symmetric
models, communication flows in both directions i.e. an element of feedback
is the key here. Meanwhile, two-way symmetric communication is also
considered as dialogic rather than monologic. This is because both the
organization and the publics can influence each other and change each
other's behaviour for the better.

4.8 IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH IN PUBLIC

RELATIONS

Whenever one is passing on or giving a piece of information to someone,

that information has to come from somewhere; hence in modern public
relations, research is an essential part. If you want to know what kind of
public relations one practices, you can look at their research, and that will
give you an idea of the model of public relations they follow. Now all Public
relations practitioners give information to the public, but their intention may
differ. Research is an integral part of the two-way asymmetric and
symmetric model of public relations. This is because press agents usually
twist the truth for their own benefit. The research work is minimal under the
public information model since they follow the journalist model of
preparing information for the unknown publics. They may, at times do the
readability tests to see if the information is too difficult for an ordinary
person to grasp. But for the most part, such practitioners have little idea
about what is happening to the materials they prepare.
Meanwhile, in the two-way symmetric model, formative research is very
important to understand the needs and behaviours of the public. This
research can give an idea of what the public thinks about the organization.
The PR can then convey and explain to the management that they will
change or tweak their policies favouring public views. Meanwhile, the
effect of any change can then be studied through evaluative research in a
symmetric model. It will help measure if the efforts have improved the
public's understanding of the organization and vice versa.

4.9 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN PR

Ethics is concerned with what is morally good and evil or right or wrong. If
we look at public relations, people are especially sensitive about ethics, 37
PR Theory and Practice because many assume that the work of a public relations practitioner is
unethical. Thus a public relations professional will go out of their way to
prove they are ethical.
Ethical practitioners do not try and get away with what they want. They
always try to be trustworthy and not injure others in any way.
Any ethical act too, should not have adverse consequences upon others.
4.9.1 Characteristics of a PR professional
Values: A PR practitioner should always put the idea of serving others first,
rather than thinking about his vested interest.
Contacts: Every organization or an individual who subscribes to PR
services, whether keeping an in house publicist or through an agency, will
expect you to have contacts in different organizations of their need. For
example: if you work for any of the big four IT companies in India, you will
need to have contacts in the media so that during the quarterly results,
accurate information can be disseminated in time through the media to all
the stakeholders.
Knowledge: PRs are needed in many fields, from celebrities to politicians,
to sports stars, to a technology-intensive firms. A professional should
understand the jargon of his field and have a well-established body of
knowledge to apply it to their work. For example, one cannot become a PR
in stock exchange without understanding how the stock market works. If
you are a PR of a footballer, you should understand how that sports work or
the difficulties one faces in sports.
Technical skills: Many technical skills are needed in PR since job
opportunities are in almost every field. One has to keep updating oneself
with the different skill sets if one wants to flourish in this field.

4.10 INTRODUCTION TO EVENTS AND PSEUDO-

EVENTS

So far, studying the four units we have understood the broader functions of
a public relations practitioner. In this part, we will discuss the idea of events
and pseudo events in public relations at length. One of the frequent activities
of public relations practitioner is to create a controlling situation around the
situations and the circumstances while conducting special events in which
the organization can interact with its publics. Instead of waiting for a
particular day or a situation that will give rise to such an opportunity, PR
professionals orchestrate a situation to create and conduct an event in a way
that will be beneficial for the organization and help it interact with its public.
Such events are called as Pseudo events.
It is at times a win-win situation for everyone since the organization and its
clients are enthusiastic about special events. For the most part even the
publics who participate highly appreciate them.
38
38
4.10.1 Daniel Boorstin and the pseudo events Definition of PR, Grunig’s
four models. Events and
PSEUDO events
Daniel Boorstin's created the term 'pseudo-event'. He termed certain news
or information as synthetic. He believed that certain things in society did
not occur spontaneously but were a result of planned efforts. These pseudo-
events are part of strategic communication and public relations exercises.
According to Boorstin, the key difference between an event and a pseudo-
event is that the mass media never influence the former. For example,
crimes or ecological disasters are real events that needs media coverage.
Pseudo events are mostly staged in a very media-friendly or public-friendly
manner. It requires a lot of planning and needs to be announced in advance
to start getting coverage before its very launch. Such events usually lack
newsworthiness and therefore have to be designed in such a way that it can
be shown over the news. One can plan an event by bringing in a celebrity
or a celebrity with an ongoing controversy to attract attention to such events.
Pseudo events are not just conducted for celebrities; since it is a planned
process and it wants attention to bring in views, politicians also practice it.
One must have noticed that ahead of the elections, suddenly, there are more
political controversies. Every politician will try to arrange campaigns and
events to convey their feelings on the topic and take the moral high ground
to win support. Campaigning, speeches, and debates are all part of pseudo-
events.
In his famous book, The Image; A Guide to Pseudo-events in America,
Daniel Boorstin's raised some serious philosophical and ethical questions
about 'special events' and its impact on our perception of reality.
It is easier to get confused between propaganda and pseudo-events, but the
key difference is that propaganda often bends facts to keep it away from the
public eye. In contrast, a pseudo-event bombards one with artificial facts
that people perceive as real.
4.10.2 Edward L. Bernays and Pseudo event
A company names Lucky Strike Cigarettes was having a problem with its
sales figures that did not give the company the return that was expected.
The reason was the forest green packaging of the cigarettes, which many
women believed clashed with their outfits. Since the company had already
invested a lot in green advertising packaging, changing the packing colour
was not an option.
Young Public relations practitioner Edward L. Bernays recommended, "If
you won't change the package's colour, change the colour of fashion -- to
green."
Later Bernays planned a local charity with a 'green ball' theme. He
convinced text manufacturers to sponsor green fashions fall luncheon for
fashion editors and invited art historians and psychologists to write in detail
about the significance of the color green. This is how he very systematically
made green as the fashion color of the 1934 season.
39
PR Theory and Practice Even today, people assume that whatever news they read in a newspaper or
watch on TV is gathered by reporters who practice ethical and objective
news reporting. But for a long time, we have failed to see that the
information is commodified.
After this, the historian Daniel Boorstin coined the term pseudo-events to
describe events that seemed authentic but were staged for ulterior motives.
4.10.3 Advertising vs Public relations
Whatever we read sounded much like an advertisement so to keep our ideas
clear, let us examine the different between advertisements and public
relations. An advertiser will start with purchasing a space to showcase its
message, and this could be a newspaper space, a tv ad space etc. Whereas a
public relations practitioner will gain attention through publicity by
organizing various events, functions, shows, and interviews. Even PR
practitioners will try and get celebrities to their events to gain more
attention. Organizations that advertise will always have more control over
the message they want to convey to the masses, but this is not the case in
public relations. In PR it is the opinion-makers ( influencers, TV hosts) etc,
and how they portray or see your organization will get conveyed. Public
relations is less costly than advertisements, but PR practitioners always
have to be on their toes and highly creative. They should be able to put their
message across to the publics in a meaningful way to have the impact they
desire.
4.10.4 When advertising fails, PR works
In 1930, De Beers company had a smaller market for luxury buyers who
would buy diamonds. The company wanted every common man to buy
diamonds, but since the diamond is considered as a luxury item, few thought
of purchasing it. The company launched a PR campaign to change the
diamond's image to something more 'essential and accessible. The company
created stories about celebrity proposals and gifts between lovers, in which
the size of the diamond was considered as key to measuring the love of the
one gifting it. These stories were then circulated through a fashion
magazine, as resulted in a very successful campaign. The result of this
campaign can be seen even today, as diamonds are one of the necessary
aspects of a marriage proposal.

4.11 LET’S SUM IT UP

Public relations have not always been the same; with changing times,
different aspects of public relations communication have changed. Some
good and bad events in history shaped public relations ethics. Because of
the kind of PR that was practised earlier, the field of public relations is seen
as unethical at times. Although one may always think that the two-way
asymmetrical model is the best way to practice public relations, in reality,
there is no one best way. For different times and conditions, the best
approach should demand upon the nature of the environment and its
demands.
40
40
4.12 QUESTIONS Definition of PR, Grunig’s
four models. Events and
PSEUDO events
1. __________ model of public relations is dialogic rather than
monologic
a. Press agent/publicity model
b. Two-way asymmetrical model
c. public information model
d. Two-way symmetrical model
2. _____________ will gain attention through publicity by organizing
various events, functions, shows, and interviews.
a. Public relations
b. advertising
c. Marketing
d. Journalism
3. ______________ are mostly staged in a very media-friendly or
public-friendly manner.
a. Events
b. ecological disasters
c. crimes
d. Pseudo events
Explain in five to six sentences
1. Explain similarities and differences between events and pseudo-
events?
2. Which models of PR practice two-way communication and why?
3. What are the characteristics of public relations that make it different
from advertising?
4. What are the characteristics of a PR professional?

4.13 REFERENCES

1. Boorstin, D. J. (1961). The image, or, what happened to the American

dream. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
2. Dayan, D., & Katz, E. (1996). Media events: The live broadcasting of
history. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
3. Grunig, J. and Hunt, T., 1984. Managing public relations. New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston

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41
PR Theory and Practice
5
ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF PR IN THE
WORLD AND INDIA
Unit structure
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Public relations in early civilization
5.3 Origin of the modern PR
5.3.1 World War one shaped public relations
5.3.2 World War Two shaped public relations
5.4 International professional public relations body
5.4.1 The International Public Relations Association
5.4.2 The Public Relations Society of America
5.5 Public Relations in India
5.5.1 Development of Indian Public relations during World War One
5.5.2 Development of Indian Public relations during World War Two
5.6 Indian Companies and public relations
5.7 Public Relations in Independent India
5.8 Professional Indian PR Bodies
5.8.1 Public Relations Society of India: Boost to PR education,
Known PR Publishers, P.R. Publications by the Indian Authors
5.8.2 Public Relations Consultants Association of India
5.8.3 PSRI Vs PCRI
5.9 Professionalism in PR
5.10 Conclusion
5.11 Questions
5.12 References

5.0 OBJECTIVES

In this unit we we will how public relations is many things how it developed
so many facets to it that include creating brands, knowing public opinion,
convincing publics, managing crisis, maintains positive image. This will
explain how public relations came to be what we see and practice today.
Working through this unit, you should be able to
1. Trace the history of public relations, across the world
2. Interprets how world war changed the face of public relations
42
42
3. Examine the path through which public relations developed in India Origin and Growth of
PR in the world
4. Explain what made public relations so effective that every company, and India

organization today resort to it.

5. Measure the contribution of the Professional PR bodies to the field
and the practice of public relations in modern times.

5.1 INTRODUCTION

In this unit, we will look at the journey of public relations, right from its
origin to its present form. One should know about the origin of this field
because this knowledge helps bridge the gap between historical narrative
and theoretical developments in public relations. Understanding the origin
also helps one situate public relations well within the mass communication
bubble. Looking at the origin of public relations, one can say that this field
didn't develop in a vacuum. Until now, we have understood that since
modern public relations in its true sense developed after world war two, it
has become necessary to under public relations history in social and cultural
context.

5.2 PUBLIC RELATIONS IN EARLY CIVILIZATION

People practised public relations even before the term was invented and
long before there was any medium to communicate with the masses. Certain
archaeological evidence describes how public relations were practised in
the early civilization. A farm bulletin discovered in Iraq dated back to 1800
B.C had instructions on agriculture practice and procedure. Some aspects of
public relations are also seen in the description of the king's spies in ancient
India. Occasionally, the spies would go in disguise to know the common
man's opinion about the ruling king. The spies were also used to spread
favourable rumours for the king. On the other hand, in ancient Greeks, much
importance was given to 'public will', while the Romans too believed that
the will of the people represents the will of the god. This shows that there
was always a need for a mediator or a bridge between an organization (
political, economic or social) and its publics.
In England, too, the king had a public relations officer under the designation
of 'Lord’s Chancellor', which was known as the 'keepers of the king's
conscience'. They always provided the kings/queens with a different
perspective. This facilitated easy communication between the government
and the people. Wealthy traders also used this idea, including artisans and
other society members whose professional involved direct public dealing.

5.3 ORIGIN OF THE MODERN PR

Public relations was used for the spread of religious ideas. Paul Apostle,
who is often considered to be the most important person in the history of
Christianity, spread his religious views and belief in society. Once Johannes
Guttenberg invented the printing press, Apostle's ideas could be spread with
much more speed and accuracy. The invention of the printing press was not 43
PR Theory and Practice only a key milestone in mass communication, but it aided the growth of
many of its subfields—some trace the origin of modern public relations to
the Americans. In America, there was a time when circuses travelled from
city to city to put up their show, every time they got to a new town; they
needed someone to promote their show. This gave birth to the role of
publicists who'd specialize in promoting circus and theatrical performances.
But if one has to go by official records, it is widely known that the term
public relations first appears in the 1897 Yearbook of the Railway
Literature.
5.3.1 World war one shaped Public Relations
Many countries that had more active roles in world war 1 saw faster growth
of public relations activities in the run-up to the war. In Germany, Guster
Mevissen partly led the public relations crusade in Western Germany. He
proposed that public criticism of business companies should be countered
by the greatest possible publicity. Another industrialist, Alfred Krupp, was
also known to take public relations very seriously when he wrote to his
representatives to "conduct your business enterprise in the public".
Meanwhile, in the U.S., the government set up a committee on public
information during the war to gain public consent. The committee was set
up to convince the need to have the war and for the Americans to be
involved in it. This gave birth to the idea of propaganda, which is a part of
public relations.
In the last unit, we saw that the work of a press agent is to convince people
through the use of propaganda. Propaganda is broadly an effort to change
the minds and hearts of the people and make them think in a particular way
or believe in a specific cause. With propaganda, America participated in
both the wars and still maintained a good image among its publics.
America continued using public relations throughout the war. With
America's participation in the war it did not just need acceptance from the
people towards the war, but it also required a workforce. The U.S. needed
Americans to come forward and fight for their cause. During this time,
advertising and movies were already gaining popularity among the masses.
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson saw an opportunity to harness these new
technologies to support America's late-coming into the war. Wilson then set
up a committee on 'Public information' that, through propaganda, could
raise funds, motivate people to join the war and collect material resources.
The committee was headed by investigative journalist George Creel and
included Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays. Lee and Barneys published a book
titled "Crystallizing Public Opinion" in 1928. The message crafted by this
committee implied that participating or supporting the war is the fight for
justice and the peace of humanity. The committee effectively portrayed the
other side as evil and exploited people's feelings of patriotism towards their
country through use of public relations. They promoted their messages
through movies, posters, and even speeches.

44
44
However, the committee was disbanded after the war since people realized Origin and Growth of
PR in the world
the propaganda techniques of the government and the working of the and India
committee started showing dwindling responses from the public.
5.3.2 World war two shaped Public relations
During the second world war, the American government directly did not
sanction any propaganda machine. In fact, it established an office of war
information, headed by Elmer Davis, a former radio newscaster, to mould
public opinion in line with what the government wanted them to think. One
of these groups, The Writers' War Board, honed their techniques to such a
degree and operated at such a high level of output that they are frequently
cited as one of the most excellent propaganda machines in history. The
government used more subtle ways to drive propaganda and utilized every
means this time to promote their messages. They sought to increase
patriotism and support for the war and keep morale up. In doing so, they
perfected various techniques used in the past.

5.4 INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL PUBLIC

RELATIONS BODIES

5.4.1 The International Public Relations Association:

This was established in the year 1955, with the intention to organize public
relations into the transnational society. Its main objective is to improve the
standards of P.R. practitioners worldwide.
The main goal here is to advance trusted communication and promote
ethical practice in public relations. This is a global organization and its
represents individuals professionals. IPRA is recognized as an international
non-governmental organization by the United Nations and enjoys a
consultative status by the Economic and Social Council.
5.4.2 Public Relations Society of America:
It is one of the leading professional organizations in America that works
under the communications field. The Committee advocates for industry
excellence and ethical conduct. It also provides its members with many
learning opportunities that can, later on, help them in their careers. It has a
total of 30,000 members. It is represented by 110 Chapters and 14
Professional Interest Sections and on nearly 375 college and university
campuses through its student organization, the Public Relations Student
Society of America (PRSSA)

5.5 PUBLIC RELATIONS IN INDIA

In India, Public relations, as mentioned above, was practised even during

the times when the monarchy was prevalent. However, it truly developed
once newspapers came to India. The credit of bringing the first newspaper
in India in 1780 goes to William Augustus Hickey. The intention then was
to cater to the interests of the European settlers in Calcutta. However, as the
45
PR Theory and Practice newspaper circulation increased slowly, it also became a means to educate
and enlighten people. Newspapers highlighted various issues that were
socially important to be addressed. It acted as a mediator for the growth of
public opinion. Being a famous medium at that time, it was highly
influential in swaying public opinion.
5.5.1 Development of Indian Public relations during World War One
One such Indian who mastered the art of public relations in its true sense
was Gandhi. During 1919-1947, which is also called the Gandhian era in
Indian history, played a massive role in Indian history. Mahatma Gandhi,
one after the other, launched movements ( non-cooperation, civil
disobedience, and Quit India), to mobilize public opinion and support. He
communicated with the masses through newspapers in India and brought
India closer to freedom with every effort.
The British government in India too used the art of public relations to
maintain its foothold in the country. It set up several publicity boards were
set up throughout the country, with the first Central Publicity Board at the
headquarters. This was done to keep the people of India informed about the
progress of War one since India actively participated in the war. This was
the first ever organized public relations set-up for the Indian government.
Later on, it was renamed as Central Bureau of information, and was further
changed to the Bureau of Public Information and acted as a link between
the government and the press
5.5.2 Public Relations During World war two in India
The second World War, 1939-1945, gave much impetus to the government's
publicity machinery in India. The Bureau of Public Information and All
India Radio were placed under a new organization called the Directorate of
Information and Broadcasting, boosting war publicity. A systematic and
organized public relations practice was first seen in the Indian Railways.
The Great Indian Peninsular (GIP) Railways carried out a campaign in
England in the 20s to attract tourists to India. This Bureau held open-air
shows at fairs and festivals and advertised in newspapers and journals. It
also participated in exhibitions abroad to popularize the Indian Railways to
attract tourists.
After the war, in India, J. Natarajan was the first Indian in 1941, to be
appointed as a Principal Information Officer. The organization first saw
changes in its name, to Press Information Bureau in 1946 and later, the way
it functioned changed too, upon attainment of Independence. The key
function of the Bureau was giving factual information on the policies,
programmes and activities of the government along with interpreting the
facts and government policies.
India's freedom struggle in itself is proof that without persuasive
communication from the right forces and right people, freedom from
oppressive forces wouldn't have been possible. The communication used by
freedom fighters cannot wholly be termed as public relations but did have
persuasive communication, which has its roots in the P.R. field.
46
46
 Origin and Growth of
PR in the world
and India
5.6 PUBLIC RELATIONS IN INDIAN COMPANIES

Soon the idea of keeping the public informed, and gaining their trust and
support, which was once used during the world war, was later on seen to be
adopted by many companies. One such example is Tata Iron and Steel
Company (TISCO) which went into production in 1912. From the very
beginning, the company was involved in community relations. They built
the town of Jamshedpur and provided this town with all the necessary
facilities. They also promoted the cultural and economic development of the
community. TATA has always been the forerunner in introducing employee
welfare schemes.
The practise of public relations was started by railways. Railways was built
with the intention to carry raw materials to various locations from the Indian
ports. But this was a costly affair since India has vast coastlines. They soon
realized that to recover the cost, railways will have to open its door for
passengers who wish to travel long distance. This led to promoting Indian
railways' message and inviting people to choose railways as a mode of
transport for long distances.

5.7 PUBLIC RELATIONS IN INDEPENDENT INDIA

After the Independence, there was a completely new political and economic
environment. It was the first time that India went into elections, and
members of Parliament and the State Legislatures were elected for the first
time based on adult franchise. The Industries, too had to adopt an Industrial
Policy resolution and Industrial development and regulation act. These
factors aided conscious and deliberate public relations. One can trace the
practice of new age public relations to this era. In the fifties and the early
sixties, companies like Burmah-Shell, Esso, Caltex, Dunlop, Philips,
Hindustan Levers and Indian Oxygen set up departments to start public
relations programs to meet the new situation.

5.8 PROFESSIONAL BODIES IN P.R.

There are two major professional P.R. associations In India.

The Public Relations Society of India (PRSI)
Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PCRAI).
5.8.1 PRSI
Public Relations Society of India (PRSI), was established with an objective
of promoting the recognition of public relations as a profession and in the
year 1958. Its key goal was to promote public relations as a strategic
management function. This society worked as an informal body up to 1966,
with its headquarters in Mumbai. It was established by, father figure of
professional P.R. in India, Kali H. Mody.
47
PR Theory and Practice There was another professional body in Kolkata that was doing a great job
in eastern India. However, during the first All India PR Conference in 1968,
people of the Public relations circle decided to disband the regional
organization and strength one single body thus, PRSI was formed in 1969.
The members of the PRSI are public relations practitioners from
Multinational companies, Government departments, the Public and Private
sector, Academics and P.R. consultants. The society adopted a code of
Ethics in its first All India Public Relations Conference in Delhi in the year
1968. Since this Code was earlier adopted in 1965 by the International
Public Relations Association, Thus it is known as the" Code of Athens" in
Athens, Greece among the World Community of
Public Relations. The Code is hugely based on the United Nations' chapter
on Human Relations.
Boost to P.R. Education.
Once the importance of public relations was understood, it became
necessary to develop this art as a field in education so that the art and science
of public relations can be taught to students. Right after the public relations
conference of 1968, the founding members of PRSI invited American
Professor Dr. Scott Cutlip to conduct a Management Development Program
in collaboration with the (IIMC) Indian Institute of Mass Communication.
In the beginning, public relations was taught through workshops and
seminars. In 1973 a fresher course of two months was organized by the
PRSI Delhi. Later on, refresher courses were also organized in Calcutta,
Bombay and Madras. The Delhi Chapter organized four P.R. courses
between 1973 and 1976. Meanwhile, a post-graduate programme was
organized at the IIMC, New Delhi, by the PSRI. During this time, the PRSI
introduced Public Relations as a component of the management
development programme at two colleges. First being the Administrative
Staff College of India, Hyderabad and the Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad. Later on, in 1990, PRSI set up the India Foundation for P.R.
Education and Research to provide an academic and professional base for
education and training. This was a planned effort that began taking shape
after almost ten years of planning and in consultation with the International
Public Relations Association and similar foundations in the United
Kingdom and the United States.
P.R. Publications by the Indian Authors
Although public relations in India was practiced widely, it was not until the
mid 1970s that publication based on Indian experience was available. The
main source was American and British authors for the Indian professional.
PRSI, understood this gap and published conference volumes that contained
contributions from Indian public relations Practitioner. In India, the first
Indian public relations publication was by JM Kaul. There were many
authors later on. A few key famous public relations authors include Baldeo
Sahai, his book 'Public Relations: a scientific approach was published by
SCOPE publications. Another known book is by Anil Basu' Public
48
48
Relations: Problems and Prospects. 'How to be a good PRO' another well Origin and Growth of
PR in the world
known book was published by PRSI president C.V. Narasimha Reddi. and India

A Public Relations Manual was published by Sushi Bahl, the Chairperson

of the PRSI Bombay Chapter. All of the above authors were closely
associated with the PRSI and contributed highly to adding to the profession
with a body of knowledge from an Indian perspective.
5.8.2 PCRAI
Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PCRAI) is a trade
organization representing public relations consultancy firms in India.
PCRAI was formed in the year 2001, to establish a benchmark standards of
knowledge, ethics, and expertise. One of its objectives is to encourage and
promote the progression of public relations in Indutrsy India., Society
endorses and supports professional and ethical services. The firm is
affiliated with the International Consultancy Communication Organization
(ICCO), headquartered in the U.K., and is also an international association
for all national communication consultancy organizations
PSRI vs PCRI
PRSI includes active members who are public relations practitioners from
public undertakings in India, government departments and other small
agencies who are often approached for advertising by various public sector
undertakings. The PCRAI on the other hand has members who are working
for private organizations as public relations practitioners and P.R. firms.
Both of the professional bodies work closely with experts in the field of
academics and industry to promote and extend the body of knowledge.
Which is done through case studies, research projects in collaboration with
academia and set benchmarks for bettering the state of the profession.

5.9 PROFESSIONALISM IN P.R.

Public relations didn't just get a boost from India's Independence but also
from the 1991 policy of liberalization, privatization and globalization. Ever
since 1991, the establishment of various multinational companies, rising
competition, the open market gave rise to public relations and developed
the art of dealing with the publics further. The market, which was once
under the full government control, witnessed sudden increase in market
players and consumers. This created a need for the organizations and
companies to build a reputation in order to gain more access to the newer
market and beat the competition. This gave rise to many public relations
and advertising agencies in the country. MNCs that were from the other
countries and knew less about the Indian market, took help of such agencies
to gain a foothold in the country. These companies were in need of
professional guidance to create a friendly environment for themselves. Soon
one saw some of the global agencies like the Ogilvy & Mather opening their
P.R. arm in the country. Hindustan Thompson' IPAN and Taj Hotel's Good
Relations also began their offices around that time. 49
PR Theory and Practice P.R. increasingly was also seen as a launchpad branding and to manage the
situation of crisis communication. The PR agencies engaged by global
corporates, tried smoothing out the process for their clients by giving them
a hang of the situation in times of crisis. The PR firms came up with
strategies for sailing through difficult times. In fact they also developed the
art of advocacy for influencing the legislation. The public relations agencies
that represented these international clients went through some criticism
from adversary groups during our freedom struggle, since these groups were
against globalisation of India. The journey of global corporations like Pepsi,
Coke, MacDonald, KFC, is a good example of how they managed to hold
their position in India despite backlashes from people and groups from time
to time.

5.10 LET’S SUM UP

The history of public relations can be traced back to the Egyptians, Romans
and the greeks. In the last unit, we saw about the famous American scholars
that contributed to the field of public relations. In this unit, we studied its
origin. We noticed that public relations were used throughout history at
different points of time for different purposes, ranging from promoting
religion to fighting a war. Today it has evolved into a strategic image
building for corporate and persuasion for politicians. In India, its origin goes
back to the mythological stories, while during the British rule public
relations was used to gain Independence. All the methods once used by our
freedom fighters and Mahatma Gandhi are part of certain public relations
activities that have become part of modern public relations practices.
Certain milestones in Indian history changed the way we practised public
relations. The kind of public relations practised after Independence changed
once we opened our economy to the world in 1991. In around 1958, public
relations activities got a further boost after the establishment of the public
relations society of India in Bombay.

5.11 QUESTIONS

1. The communication used by freedom fighters cannot wholly be

termed as public relations but did have ________, which has its roots
in the P.R. field.
a. Emotion
b. Conviction
c. Persuasive communication
d. Lying
2. __________is a trade organization representing public relations
consultancy firms in India.
a. PCRAI
b. PIB
c. PSRI
d. SEBI
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50
3. Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays published a book titled _______in 1928. Origin and Growth of
PR in the world
a. Game theory and India

b. World war and its effects

c. People’s choice
d. Crystallizing Public Opinion
4. How did Indian public relations practice evolve during World War
One and two? Answer in three-four sentences?
5. Distinguish between PSRI and PCRI?
6. How did the invention of the printing press boost public relations?

5.12 REFERENCES

1. Cutlip and Center's effective public relations

2. J.M Kaul public relations in India

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51
PR Theory and Practice
6
PROPAGANDA PUBLIC OPINION
AND PUBLICITY
Unit structure
6.0 Objective of the study
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Advertising, Public Opinion and Publicity
6.3 Public Opinion – impact and relevance in society
6.4 Public Relations, Advertising, Publicity, and Public Opinion
Concepts
6.5 Forming an Opinion
6.6 What Factors Influence Public Opinion?
6.7 Public Opinion, Propaganda, and Public Relations
6.8 Public Opinion Characteristics
6.9 Impact and Relevance
6.10 Propaganda: methods and implications
6.11 Methods of Propaganda
6.12 Implications
6.13 Publicity
6.14 Public Relations
6.15 Questions

6.0 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

• To define "public opinion";

• To explain how propaganda is different from public relations;
• To define and explain the role of social marketing in Public Relations;
and
• To list the techniques used to gauge public opinion

6.1 INTRODUCTION

Communication is a multi-dimensional or multi-faceted discipline. With

society's increasing complexities and rivalry, communication professionals
must face the challenges of making their communications more clearly
focused and appealing to their target audiences in order to elicit the intended
response.

52
52
You were exposed to the meanings of Public Relations and the use of Propaganda public
opinion and
phrases like "publicity," "public affairs," and "business communications" in publicity
the previous Unit. You should be familiar with the fundamentals of public
relations, as well as the numerous 'publics' and public relations values, by
now. We'll look at terminology like advertising, publicity, and propaganda,
as well as their functions in public relations, in this unit. We'll start by
defining each of these concepts, then explain how they relate to one another.
A quick overview of the specific roles that advertising, publicity, and public
relations play in specific scenarios can help you appreciate the similarities
and contrasts between them. You'll also learn about the media's role in
advertising and publicity, as well as the concept of corporate advertising.
Another topic we'll cover is public opinion and its significance in public
relations. This will assist you in gauging public opinion by utilising several
public opinion research tools. You will also be introduced to the concept of
social marketing in public relations.

6.2 ADVERTISING, PUBLIC OPINION AND PUBLICITY

Three essential parts of communication are Propaganda, publicity, and

public relations.
They are comparable and interconnected in terms of their core goal, despite
their conceptual differences. Persuasive communication is inherent in both
of them. They want to use mass media to deliver information to a certain
audience in a coordinated manner. Academics and practitioners define
advertising, publicity, and public relations differently. The emphasis in the
definitions distinguishes them in form, but in fact, they all revolve around
the well-known communication theory, which is depicted in the picture
below:

Propaganda, publicity, and public relations inputs provide value to a

product, service, idea, concept, or issue in the minds and hearts of the target
group. They offer relevant and appropriate information and benefits in order
to influence their attitudes and behaviours. It is a transformation that is both
desirable and beneficial.
Nonetheless, they are often misconstrued and lumped together as Public
Relations, which isn't accurate because Public Relations isn't the same as
publicity, propaganda, or advertising. Each of these is a component of
public relations, but each has its own set of restrictions.
53
PR Theory and Practice The broadcast of information about an organisation in order to attract
attention or to publicise products or activities is known as publicity. The
goal of publicity is to gain notoriety, build a positive image, and get
approval from the target audience. Advertising is the purchase of space in
print, on television, or on billboards in order to encourage product sales, ID
card acceptance, or goodwill.
Public relations, on the other hand, has a far broader scope and impact, and
is more nuanced and persuasive in nature. As we will see later, it employs
both publicity and advertising strategies. We'll look at each of these in turn.
" Propaganda is talking with and persuading someone to do something -
usually buying a product or service - and frequently giving them something
to think about."

6.3 PUBLIC OPINION – IMPACT AND RELEVANCE IN

SOCIETY

In the context of public opinion, a 'public' is a collection of people with

similar interests who have a shared viewpoint on a contentious issue. "A
spontaneous gathering of people in response to a certain kind of event," says
Kuppuswamy. To further explain the concept, issue/controversy is what
binds the public together. It is important to highlight, however, that the
members of the 'public' are diverse and not a homogeneous group. The term
'public' is not constrained by size or geographical borders.
Let's take a look at the term "public opinion" and its varied hues.
Opinion.
"A opinion, judgement, or evaluation formed in the mind concerning a
particular issue," according to Webster's Seventh New Collegiate
Dictionary. An opinion is more powerful than an impression, but it is less
powerful than positive knowledge. It signifies a well-considered judgement
that is subject to debate. A 'sentiment' is a more or less fixed opinion, and if
held strongly, a 'conviction'.
The term 'view' refers to an opinion that is influenced by prejudice in some
way.
All expressions of a belief held in common by members of a group of people
on a problematic issue or general topics are referred to as public opinion.
The process of forming public opinion is based on individual viewpoints
voiced by members of a group. Whose opinions are swayed by the group's
influence?
Public opinion, according to the Dictionary of Mass Communications, is the
expression of all members of a group who are paying attention to a certain
issue. The process begins with a clash of individual mindsets and views
about a problem.

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54
6.4 PUBLIC RELATIONS, ADVERTISING, PUBLICITY, Propaganda public
opinion and
publicity
AND PUBLIC OPINION CONCEPTS

Public opinion is frequently voiced following a quarrel, dispute, or debate

about a contentious issue involving a group's welfare, ideology, or value
system. When a current problem or matter of some relevance develops
about which members of the group are likely to dispute, public opinion
emerges. An issue is an event or incident that threatens to disrupt a group's
dominant values, beliefs, and attitudes, causing more or less of a crisis and
provoking public debate and expression.
One such topic that has begun to confront the Indian public is reservations
for the backward classes and the question of merit. Nuclear material testing
that pollutes the environment is an international issue that has prompted
individuals all over the world to take sides in favour of or against it.
Similarly, the issue of nuclear non-proliferation and India's position on it,
as well as the GATT agreement, have sparked a lot of debate.
The majority of a group's view is not the same as public opinion. On any
issue, the interested public will split into two or more opposing viewpoints,
which may not necessarily be mutually exclusive or contradictory. The
cause of public opinion is determined by the attitudes and previous
experiences of the people who make up the public, as well as the intricacy
of the subject.
The viewpoint must be indicative of the entire group. As a result, public
opinion is the collection of beliefs voiced by a large number of people on a
topic of public concern. For a public relations professional, public opinion
is a powerful force to be reckoned with.

6.5 FORMING AN OPINION

The primary goal of public relations is to gauge, analyse, and influence

public opinion, which is formed by the attitudes of the people who make up
the public. As a result, it's critical to comprehend the significance of
attitudes, why people have the attitudes they do, and their function in the
formation of opinions.
Attitudes are a person's feelings or moods about someone, an organisation,
a topic, or an object. They show a person's proclivity to judge problematic
issues favourably or negatively. Simply put, an attitude is a style of thinking
about things. An opinion is an expressed attitude.
A shift in attitude can occur under a variety of circumstances, such as when
our current attitude no longer fulfils us or when our desires rise. Changes in
attitude can be affected through communication by instilling new beliefs or
appealing to emotions to elicit favourable or unpleasant feelings. People's
physical, social, and economic demands are thought to be effective in
changing their attitudes, as seen by the widespread acceptance and response
to advertisements for life, property, and other insurance products.
55
PR Theory and Practice 6.6 WHAT FACTORS INFLUENCE PUBLIC OPINION?
Individuals' attitudes and their expression in the shape of opinions are
psychological phenomena. It is impossible for a group to create an opinion.
How is public opinion formed when a group cannot form an opinion?
Individuals that make up a group form public opinion by expressing their
own viewpoint on a contentious issue. The interplay of the individual
opinions of the members of a group produces public opinion, which is a
composite opinion. A distinguishing feature of the public opinion process
is the transition of individual opinion into public opinion via collective
stimuli. The 'collective mind,' which is the sum of individual views in a
group, is frequently referred to as this metamorphosis. This is referred to as
public opinion.
The impact of group members on a person's opinion results in the
transformation of individual opinion into group opinion, which is known as
public opinion. Those in a group's opinions are impacted by what they hear
from opinion leaders, other members of the group, and people outside the
group; what they read in newspapers, magazines, and books; and what they
see in real life or on television about them. I
Individual opinions are influenced by their needs, emotions, experience,
heredity, culture, economic standing, and education, in addition to group
influences. Public opinion comes from the interaction of individual
attitudes, opinions, and group opinions.

6.7 PUBLIC OPINION, PROPAGANDA, AND PUBLIC

RELATIONS
You've just learned how public opinion is generated and how public
relations activities can aid in the shaping of it. There is, however, another
side to propaganda-based public opinion manipulation. It is critical for
public relations students to understand the difference between public
relations and propaganda, as the two function at different levels and serve
different purposes. Public relations isn't the same as propaganda. So, in
order to gain a better understanding of this art, let us take a quick look at it
Propaganda is defined as an expression of opinion by individuals and
groups that is intentionally aimed to influence the opinion or action of other
persons or groups in accordance with public relations concepts, with a
specific goal in mind. Although propaganda, in its broadest definition, aims
to advance a cause Advertising, Publicity, and e.g. a religious faith, and thus
can be regarded legitimate persuasion, it has developed a negative
reputation as a result of its use to incite hatred and terror during conflicts.
Facts are still suppressed using this method. As a result, propaganda has
earned a reputation for brainwashing and barbarism. It has one or more of
the following characteristics:

• use of words that have two meanings

• appeals to people's preconceptions and the arousal of unpleasant
56
56 emotions such as fear, hatred, and so on.
• truth obfuscation, fact suppression, and misrepresentation Propaganda public
opinion and
• provocation, trivialization publicity

• only one-sided arguments are presented

• repetition

Public relations are sometimes referred to be propaganda by critics,

implying that it also manipulates public opinion. Despite the fact that public
relations aim to influence public opinion, it is not the same as propaganda.
Public relations are a sincere, straightforward, long-term attempt to project
a positive image based on facts and results. It has no malicious, short-term
self-interest in withholding facts in order to deceive others. It is based on
open two-way communication, unlike propaganda.
The common view of the people in a society is referred to as public opinion.
Individuals come to a common point of agreement while having differing
viewpoints on things and concerns that affect them or society. Through an
interchange of ideas, interactions, projections, and critique, they form a
shared perspective. This entire process culminates in public opinion.
The opinions held by the general public at a given period are referred to as
public opinion.
The mass thoughts and judgments that operate in a community make up
public opinion. They have a long shelf life and are well-formulated.
The term "public opinion" simply refers to the collective expression of
people's opinions on a certain topic. The opinions of people in a small or
large community on a certain subject at a given period are referred to as
public opinion. It is not required for public opinion to reflect the views of
all members of society; rather, it should reflect the views of a majority of
the population. It is taken seriously by members of the organisation or
community. Public opinion is fluid and varies with the circumstances and
the passage of time.

6.8 PUBLIC OPINION CHARACTERISTICS

Instead of an individual's or group's interest, public opinion always connects

to a shared subject matter or societal issues.
ii) Public opinion is a widely held belief held by the majority of a
society's citizens.
iii) No single person has the ability to shape public opinion. It arises from
the collective opinion of a society's citizens.
iv) Public opinion is the result of a social process that evolves through
people's interpersonal interactions in society.
v) Public opinion does not have to be logical. It could be both rational
and illogical.
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PR Theory and Practice vi) Because it is the opinion of the majority of people, public opinion has
an impact on even those members of society who do not agree with it.
vii) Public opinion is frequently used as a barometer of social culture.
Public opinion develops, extends, and is shaped by society's beliefs,
ideals, assumptions, values, sentiments, and prior experiences.
viii) Public opinion may be swayed by a prominent, honoured, wealthy,
and powerful member of society. A person with such a personality
has an impact on the society's goals, interests, and way of life.
ix) Public opinion frequently appears to be linked to a certain problem or
issue at a specific period.
x) Public opinion on any topic does not remain constant throughout time,
and as a result, it is not stable in nature. It shifts with the passage of
time and the circumstances. It evolves in response to societal
demands.
xi) After a thorough examination of the issue or situation, public opinion
frequently emerges.
xii) Public perceptions of community conventions, stereotypes, and
traditions tend to be more consistent. It is dynamic because of
propaganda, projection, and extension.

6.9 IMPACT AND RELEVANCE

Since ancient times, public opinion has played an important role in society.
It occupies a significant position in contemporary society. In a broad
society, public opinion is considerably more significant and vital than in a
small group or community.
The current era is one of democracy, and public opinion plays an important
role in today's social order. In the absence of popular opinion, democracy
cannot function properly.
Only when the public opinion is acceptable is democracy meaningful. The
acceptance of popular opinion gives it strength and influence. Any law that
is to be enacted in society must have the people's consent in order to be
effective. Although public opinion does not always aid the government or
the people, it does exert control over both. The power to sway public
opinion is inherent in its importance. Even powerful individuals' feelings,
emotions, and actions are influenced by public opinion.
Because the public is a vast live fact, public opinion is important to the
government. Ignorance of such a current reality could spell calamity. On
certain topics, a government should operate with the consent of its citizens.
It can be difficult for a government to maintain a significant number of
individuals uninterested with its actions.
In any civilization, the type of governance is determined by public opinion.
The importance of public opinion in evaluating and appraising the
government's performance cannot be overstated. Only the people, not the
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58
government, can determine the faults of the rules and regulations enacted Propaganda public
by the government. In this regard, public opinion becomes extremely opinion and
publicity
important to society. Public opinion has a significant impact on society
because it determines how people and government’s function and make
decisions.
Public opinion teaches both the people and the government, allowing them
to develop a shared understanding of how to solve societal problems.
Individuals' socialisation, thinking, and behaviour are influenced by public
opinion, which establishes commonly accepted behavioural norms.
Individuals and institutions can use public opinion to frame, develop, and
govern their behaviour in conformity with society. Any individual or
institution in society, whether religious, educational, social, cultural,
economic, or political, cannot function smoothly if public opinion is
ignored. Ignorance of public opinion may prevent them from attaining their
objectives, which could be disastrous in the worst-case scenario. Because
public opinion shapes the thinking and actions of individuals, groups, and
institutions, it is extremely important to society.
In a monarchical or dictatorial regime, public opinion is more significant.
People have ample freedom in a democracy, but they are obligated to accept
the dictates of rulers in a monarchy or dictatorship, with minimal
intervention in their functioning.

6.10 PROPAGANDA: METHODS AND IMPLICATIONS

Propaganda's role in the modern world is steadily growing. It has become a
part of our everyday lives. Propaganda is a weapon used by politicians,
businesses, governments, educators, spiritual leaders, social reformers, and
professionals of various professions to reach out to a huge number of
people.
They acquire people's favour through propaganda. Propaganda is a tactic
and a process for persuading individuals and organisations to change their
minds, beliefs, and attitudes. Propaganda is, for the most part, pre-planned.
It employs symbols, primarily through suggestion and similar psychological
tactics, to influence and control people's beliefs and ideas, as well as to
change pre-determined behaviours.
It is a person's or a group's organised and systematic attempt to sway public
opinion and attitudes toward certain lifestyles. It manipulates a group's
mentality and, as a result, their actions through the use of suggestion. It
merely tries to sway people's attitudes and opinions, and thus their
behaviours, in a particular direction.
Facts and rationality are not used in propaganda.
i) Conversionary propaganda
ii) Consolidatory propaganda
iii) Divisionary propaganda

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PR Theory and Practice Conversionary propaganda aims to educate individuals and then influence
them to alter their values, thoughts, attitudes, and behaviours. In the world
of advertising, this form of propaganda is frequently used. During times of
war, political groups or nations deploy divisionary propaganda based on the
'divide and rule' policy. Attempts are undertaken in consolidatory
propaganda to provoke and cement popular views, values, and attitudes,
among other things. During a time of war, 11 is being used to bring peace
and harmony to mankind.
Propaganda is always driven by a goal, and that goal is tied to the
individuals who are the target of the propaganda. A propagandist employs
a variety of symbols to achieve his or her goals. Symbolic words are used
by advertisers and traders to popularise their items. To attract voters,
political parties have their own insignia. In propaganda, direction is very
crucial. It has been noted that if propaganda is utilised often, it might lose
its effectiveness.

6.11 METHODS OF PROPAGANDA

Propaganda is used in a variety of ways. Through projection, demonstration,

oration, and storytelling, a propagandist can construct a persuasive
argument in his favour. These strategies and media are used to implement
these methods.
The following are some of the most prevalent techniques:

• Name-calling device,
• Testimony device,
• Glittering generality device,
• Card staking device,
• Plain Folk device,
• Chamber of Horrors device,
• Transfer device, and
• Bandwagon device

The propagandist utilises renowned names for his supporters and followers
and notorious or non-famous names for his opponents in the name calling
device. The names of prominent great persons are associated with
propagandist content in the testimonial device. The propagandist employs
justice, unity, and friendliness in a sparkling generic method to elicit a
favourable emotion in the masses. The truth is hidden in the card staking
device truth, which propagates or presents incorrect facts to the public. This
device's most prevalent methods are evasion and deception. During
elections, political parties frequently employ this tactic. The propagandist
uses a simple folk trick to demonstrate that he, too, is a member of society.
He has a charismatic personality, and many regard him as a well-wisher.
The propagandist uses the chamber of horrors device to elicit dread and
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60
ensure people's safety. In the transfer device, the propagandist associates his Propaganda public
opinion and
propaganda material with supernatural force in order to elicit public support publicity
for his programmes, but in the bandwagon device, the propagandist appeals
by emphasising that everyone is saying the same thing he is.
The following are some examples of popular media or technologies for
implementing these techniques:
i) Press and publications - This is a widely used propaganda medium.
The propagandist develops favourable attitudes for himself or his
views in the public by using printed materials such as newspapers,
magazines, pamphlets, bulletins, and brochures. People frequently
read a newspaper of their choice and form opinions based on the
viewpoints expressed in that publication. People trust written
information more than spoken information. People's fears are eased
or removed by the print media.
ii) Meeting and speech – The propagandist conveys his thoughts to the
public in a meeting. If the speaker's personality is beautiful and
impressive, this strategy will be more effective. The audience arrives
at the meeting with preconceived notions about the speaker. The art
and skill of presentation has an impact on the audience's psyche.
iii) Cultural programmes, drama, and theatre - People are swayed in
favour of specific items or viewpoints through cultural programmes,
drama, and theatre.
iv) Radio - In today's society, radio is a frequently used and strong means
of publicity. It disseminates information around the world in a matter
of seconds.
v) Television - Television is a modern audio-visual propaganda
medium. It is fairly expensive for individuals in developing countries,
and so does not cover the same range as the radio.
vi) Cinema is also an audio-visual public-relations medium. It is a cost-
effective and effective propaganda medium. It is primarily enjoyed by
persons from low-income groups.
vii) Loud speaker - Loud speakers are used to broadcast information
directly to people who are at home, at work, or on the road. viii)
Demonstration and procession - Political parties frequently arrange
demonstrations and processions to publicise their positions; ix)
Rumor - People can be easily swayed by rumours for a short period
of time. In a critical circumstance, it results in a shift in public opinion.
x) other forms of propaganda in society include dance and music groups,
concerts, puppet shows, wall writings, hoardings, posters, folklore,
slogans, magic shows, circuses, and so on.

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PR Theory and Practice 6.12 IMPLICATIONS

Propaganda is a strategy for persuading people to support a particular

political, social, religious, cultural, or economic institution, viewpoint, or
product. People may be made aware of a particular viewpoint of a person or
a product of a manufacturing institution through propaganda. People are
sometimes influenced by propaganda to accept dangerous ideas. People's
brains are diverted from logical observation and decision-making by
powerful propaganda. People can fall prey to its allure and embrace
unfavourable viewpoints.

6.13 PUBLICITY

Publicity, on the other hand, is a free write-up of an organization's product

or service, as well as a problem, in the news or editorial columns of a
newspaper or magazine, or during non-commercial time on television and
radio. It is information that is generated and disseminated by journalists
(media) on their own initiative or in response to a specific request from the
company/spokesman. organization's Unlike advertising, public service
announcements are not paid for. It occurs as a result of substantial "news"
about the product or service, or an incident involving the product or
organisation.
In the reporter's or editor's opinion, it must be substantially fascinating,
novel, informative, and necessary for the readers or viewers of the media.
In an organization's communication aims and process, publicity is just as
important as advertising. It's a tactical instrument with a high level of
believability and the ability to be dramatized naturally. As a result, the
communicator or organisation behind it makes use of it and takes full
advantage of it in order to achieve specified and timely communication
goals.
It is a useful technique in today's high-cost media environment, and it is
frequently employed by Public Relations professionals with positive results.
Because the media is regarded as a source of news, public relations is
regarded as more reliable than advertising. As a result, the message is more
acceptable.
Publicity management necessitates a unique set of talents. If used correctly,
it can provide enormous benefits, but if used incorrectly, it can cause more
harm than good. It must be true and I must be truthful, in addition to just
reading good. It should not be viewed as an 'advertisement,' but rather as a
natural projection of the desired message and information for the target
audience.

6.14 PUBLIC RELATIONS

Advertising, publicity, and other communication strategies that require

knowledge of psychology for effective persuasion are all included in the
field of public relations.
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"The planned effort to establish and improve the degree of mutual Propaganda public
opinion and
understanding between an organisation, or individual, and any group of publicity
persons or organisations, with the primary object of assisting that
organisation or individual to deserve, acquire, and maintain a good
reputation,"
according to the British Institute of Public Relations (IPR). Typically, the
advertisement, or PR man, seeks to reach out to and persuade the biggest
number of possible customers. He accomplishes this by "sending
communications," which he does in a one-way fashion (in the form of
newspaper ads, television commercials, etc.).
Public relations, on the other hand, takes a far more selective strategy,
relying on information moving to and from the public in both directions,
i.e., conveying messages and receiving comments. The importance of
feedback in public relations is critical to its success.
The Indian public has grown into a formidable power. Even in a country
where the majority of the population has yet to learn the basics of literacy,
citizens, customers, shareholders, and workers are aware of their rights as
citizens, consumers, shareholders, and employees. Furthermore, they are no
longer like dumb driven cattle, but have the ability to speak up. The
common man can make his presence felt through mass media institutions.
He can submit a letter to the editor of a widely circulated daily or weekly
newspaper if he has a complaint. No organisation can dare to ignore this
warning since he can go up to his MLA or MP or local Councillor and air
his problems through him in a State Legislature, Parliament, or Municipal
Corporation. The government will take notice if the name of the group is
frequently mentioned in the Parliament or State Legislature, and may even
take action against it.
The "consumers concerns" column of most of our major newspapers, such
as Hindustan Times, Indian Express, Hindu, and The Deccan Chronicle,
contains good examples of feedback.
Even a negative editorial statement in a newspaper will almost certainly
prompt the government to seek an explanation from the offending
department or to take action.
Customers, distributors, and retailers are just a few of the target groups for
advertising and publicity. They are largely in the business of selling. They
are a component of the marketing mix. However, because a corporation isn't
only about selling, the goals of public relations are far broader. This is where
things start to get a little confusing.
Obviously, a company's principal goal is to sell its goods and services and
generate a profit. But none of this can happen in a cost-effective and
efficient manner unless every other aspect of the organisation contributes.
The weakest link in a chain determines its overall strength. Every link in the
chain can be strengthened through public relations.

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PR Theory and Practice 6.15 QUESTIONS

1. Discuss ‘Public Opinion – impact and relevance in society’.

2. Explain the forming of an Opinion.

3. State the factors which influence Public Opinion.

4. What is Propaganda? Discuss its methods and implications.

5. Write short notes on:

i) Public Relations (ii) Publicity



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 7
PUBLIC RELATIONS : CATALYST ,
PERSUASION AND MOTIVATION
Unit structure
7.1 Objective of the study
7.2 Public Relations as a catalyst for change
7.3 Assessment of the Environment
7.4 Public relations in planning and development
7.5 Planning for the future
7.6 Plans for the next five years
7.7 Participation of the Public
7.8 Plan publicity
7.9 Publicity for the Integrated Plan
7.10 Emergence of development public relations
7.11 Public relations in persuasion
7.12 Public relations and motivation
7.13 Motivation in a group
7.14 How Can You Boost Your Motivation?
7.15 Question
7.16 References

7.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

• explain the role of PR as a catalyst for change;

• describe the significance of environment assessment in PR;
• describe the concept of development planning;
• state the importance of people's participation in development
programmes and how it can be brought about;
• list the channels that may be used for disseminating publicity for
development plans;
• explain the role of PR in development context; understand the
interplay of various factors involved in effective persuasion;
• and describe the concept of motivation and how PR can help to
motivate individuals and groups for achieving developmental goals

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PR Theory and Practice 7.2 PUBLIC RELATIONS AS A CATALYST FOR
CHANGE

It is recommended that you have a thorough understanding of the notion of

public relations in order to grasp the role of public relations as a catalyst for
change. In the previous units, you studied several definitions of public
relations. However, you should look into several definitions that define the
role of public relations as a change catalyst.
Edward L. Bernyas, a doyen of American public relations, describes it as
"the - endeavour to engineer public support for an action, cause, movement,
or institution by information, persuasion, and modification." "Management
of relations and understanding between an organisation and internal and
external publics to promote company goals, ideas, activities, services, or
goods," we'd like to say.

• Public relations are a broad phrase that refers to a variety of

organisations' communication needs. It comes in a variety of flavours,
including:
• Public relations assist an organisation and its constituents in adapting
to one another.
• Public relations are an organization's attempt to gain client
cooperation.
• Public relations assist organisations in interacting and communicating
with their target audiences.
• Public relations assist organisations in anticipating indicators of
change and implementing constructive remedial actions.
• Public relations analyse the public's reaction and keeps organisations
up to date with feedback and information.

According to these definitions, public relations is a two-way link between

an organisation and the public, serving not only to inform the public about
the organization's policies and programmes, but also to keep the
organisation informed about the public's pulse. This, without a doubt,
produces the ideal environment and amicable relationships between the
organisations and their various audiences. Because no institution can grow
and survive in a hostile environment, this is a must for an organisation to
develop and thrive in society.
As a result, we would be justified in claiming that public relations plays a
critical part in development by fostering the appropriate atmosphere.
Even in the context of national development, public relations plays an
important role in bridging the gap between the development machinery and
the people who benefit from the schemes.
Its role is to not only raise awareness about development programmes, but
66
66 also to engage recipients as partners in the program's implementation.
Let us now look at how public relations can act as a change catalyst. Before Public relations :
you can reorient someone toward a desired aim or target, you must provide catalyst , persuasion
and motivation
them with complete facts and a clear understanding of the problem. Public
relations play this role in a variety of ways. The chain is made up of five
steps:
1) Knowledge
2) Education
3) Motivation
4) Involvement
5) Change
All of these functions are fulfilled by public relations in influencing
Catalyst, Persuasion, and people's attitudes toward growth. In India, the
concept of public relations as a catalyst for change in the motivational
development environment has gone through many stages such as Five-Year
Plan Publicity, Integrated Plan Publicity, Development Communication,
Development Broadcasting, Development Journalism, and so on. The
concept of development public relations has now evolved as a driver for
socioeconomic development in Third World countries.

7.3 ASSESSMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Any organisation, whether government, public sector, or private sector,
must operate in accordance with the country's socioeconomic context.
Environmental assessment, a public relations procedure, is used to keep
track of shifting trends. This comprises two primary components: (a)
environmental scanning and (b) monitoring. Scanning entails assessing the
social, economic, and political conditions of the society in which the
organisation operates. This is done to detect occurrences that could indicate
the start of significant trends that could have an impact on the organisation.
Monitoring entails communicating the deterioration of such patterns that are
important for strategic planning.
According to the author of Public Relations: Programming and Production,
E.W. Brody "Environmental evaluation serves a variety of purposes in
public relations. It provides practitioners with ongoing insights into
individuals, organisations, and the environments in which they operate as a
continuous process. Such data is crucial to the strategic planning process
that underpins the public relations campaign." "
The purpose of the environmental assessment process is to identify and
track emerging issues or trends that may result in problems or opportunities
for the company. Scanning is used to identify these problems, and
monitoring is used to keep track of them. In public relations practise,
environmental assessment techniques include:
a) interaction with the public and opinion leaders,
b) media monitoring,
c) organisational monitoring, and
d) continuing education. 67
PR Theory and Practice As a result, public relations as an art of dealing with the public must be
environmentally conscious. This is especially important in the
developmental context, because our planning method is largely based on
top-down communication. Instead, one should concentrate on factors that
can make development programmes more relevant to the interests of those
who will benefit from them. In other words, it should be a bottom-up, two-
way communication method, with environmental assessments providing a
clear image of the grassroots condition, which would aid in the development
of appropriate plans that meet the demands of the public.
Bringing the Public Together for Mutual Interaction is a project that aims
to bring the public together for mutual interaction.
Public relations are primarily responsible for bringing people together for
mutual gain and engagement. Any organization's success is largely
determined by the interests of the top four sorts of public: senior
management, employees, customers, and the general public, including
opinion leaders.
In fact, these four groups make up the four strong pillars that support an
organisation. A successful organisation is one that provides a venue for
these publics to engage and profit from each other on a regular basis. Such
a forum will allow different groups of people to understand each other's
problems, which will aid the organization's smooth operation. Management,
on the other hand, tends to implement communication programmes for each
group.
f these publics independently through internal customer communication In
India, an integrated approach to bringing all four groups together on a single
forum for mutual exchange of views is rare. This has significant benefits
since it helps to lessen or eliminate hostility and suspicion between different
groups as a result of their competing interests. Mutual understanding is
facilitated through a common venue and open communication. Similarly,
bringing together beneficiaries, policymakers, planners, administrative
machinery, and communicators in development activities aids in the
effective conception and smooth implementation of the programme.

7.4 PUBLIC RELATIONS IN PLANNING AND

DEVELOPMENT

Drawing up an action plan to complete a task is referred to as planning. Any

undertaking involving development must begin with planning. Planning is
a continual process of forming, reformulating, and implementing a set of
connected goals, plans, programmes, activities, and tasks in order to achieve
the desired outcomes within a specified time frame. Planning is at the heart
of all significant initiatives and economic growth schemes in our country.

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7.5 PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE Public relations :
catalyst , persuasion
and motivation
Although the core of these definitions are the same, different authors have
defined "growth" in different ways. Let's start with a definition of
"development."
It is now widely accepted that development is a multi-dimensional process
with non-economic as well as economic components. As a result, achieving
a variety of goals at the same time, such as growth and equity, is referred to
as "development."
Previously passive social groupings increasingly demand active
engagement in the development process and equitable distribution of the
benefits of productivity. Privileged groups, on the other hand, are wary of
sharing authority with their fellow citizens.
As a result, development is a process aimed at realising human potential in
its entirety. The achievement of these objectives will determine its success.
'A widely participative process of purposeful social change in a society,
aiming to bring about both social and material improvement for the majority
of people by giving them more control over their surroundings,' Rogers
defines it.
Development is a systematic, integrated process that was initially
implemented in the Soviet Union in the 1920s. For large corporations in the
United States, planning has become commonplace. However, it chooses to
use the term policy to describe what is essentially the same as public
relations in the context of planning.
'Development Planning' is a scientific discipline that studies the
mechanisms of resource mobilisation and re-allocation in developing
countries with the goal of achieving optimal results and participating in a
global change process that leads to self-reliant, self-centred, and long-term
development.
As it stands, the majority of developing countries have set up planning
machinery and devised economic development plans. In terms of character
and quality, the proposals could be very different. Some are based on facts,
while others are made up of random numbers. Some plans set modest goals;
others set aggressive but achievable goals; and still others set goals that are
just out of reach.
Some planners have embraced efficiency criteria to regulate the allocation
of development resources, and have used them to evolve project
applications and determine priorities. Others haven't established any
guiding principles, while yet others haven't undertaken much project
evaluation.
Development plan provisions have been methodically included in
government budgets in certain circumstances, but have been neglected by
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PR Theory and Practice budgeting authorities in others. Some proposals have been implemented in
some form or another, with varying degrees of success.
Development plans are often created over three different time periods.
A long-term strategy has been devised. spanning two decades or more This
document discusses the strategy for achieving the desired direction, pattern,
and rate of development.
The medium-term plan, which our policymakers adopted, covers around
five years. It describes the development effort in a way that follows the
long-term plan's concept.
Finally, there are short-term annual plans, which detail the work to be done
each fiscal year.

7.6 PLANS FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS

Some aspects of the Indian Five-Year Plans may be unfamiliar to you. The
current Eight Five Year Plan was launched with the goal of "consolidating
past achievements, addressing traditional concerns with renewed vigour,
propelling the country to new heights of economic achievement, and
bringing the benefits of development to all people, particularly the poor."
the weak and the disadvantaged the plan calls for a total investment of Rs.
3.98,000 crores, with the government contributing Rs. 4,38,100 crores.
The public sector's investment accounts for about 45 percent of the entire
plan budget. The plan has an interesting feature in that for the first time in
India's planning history, the private sector has been given a large part of
Rs.450.000 crores more than the public sector outlay. The Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) is expected to expand at a rate of 5-6 percent every year.

7.7 PARTICIPATION OF THE PUBLIC

In developing countries, newer approaches to development are

progressively straying from traditional top-down communication tactics.
People are now being encouraged to participate in the development process.
This is accomplished through the use of interpersonal and group
communication in the mass media, as well as the use of folk indigenous
media.
Only when the beneficiaries are aware of such schemes and use them for
their economic benefit will the Five-Year Plans and development initiatives,
which are aimed at the total development of the people, be successful. As a
result, people's cooperation and participation are critical at both the
formulation and execution stages of planned development programmes.
Every Five-Year Plan has underlined the importance of people participating
as partners in the development process. Only when people are involved in
the process can such participation be guaranteed.
Farmers should be made participants in agricultural development so that
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70 they can adopt improved techniques and have a better understanding of the
subject. Here's where information comes in. The required knowledge about Public relations :
catalyst , persuasion
such schemes cannot be established unless information about the planned and motivation
scheme is extensively distributed. In the developmental process, the amount
of information made available and how widely it is distributed are critical
aspects.
It has been suggested that ending "information poverty" is a precondition
for ending "economic poverty." This suggests that eradicating information
poverty is essential for economic development. Information and progress
should, in reality, go hand in hand. Naturally, the question arises: who will
do it? There should be an organisation to handle and disseminate
information, just as there is for economic development.
The Information and Public Relations Agency is in charge of this task.
Information and public relations agencies are primarily concerned with
alleviating information poverty through various forms of communication.
As a result, the role of information and public relations organisations in
delivering feedback from the ground up to planners for successful decision
making emerges.
Each Five-Year Plan clearly underlines two crucial components in its
objectives, namely, delivering plan information and requesting people's
cooperation. "A widespread knowledge of the plan is a key stage in its
fulfilment," the First Five Year Plan document stated. The strategy
document indicated that people's engagement was important. "The plan
must be taken into every home in the people's own language and symbols,
and explained in terms of their shared needs and difficulties." "Sincere
efforts should be made to incorporate people in the process of
development," the Third Five-Year Plan stated. It's also worth mentioning
the Seventh Five-Year Plan, which emphasised the importance of
information services. "The plan's main thrust in terms of mass media will
be to improve people's awareness and enrich their cultural and social lives
in order to make them better informed citizens.”. Accelerating development
programmes and raising public awareness of important national and
international events The media will serve as a tool for education and
extension, bridging information gaps that people from all walks of life
encounter."
One of the objectives of the Eighth Five-Year Plan is to "make people's
participation in the formulation and implementation of plans, through
Panchayats in rural areas and popularly elected municipal bodies in urban
areas," which is stated as follows: "To make people's participation in the
formulation and implementation of plans, through Panchayats in rural areas
and popularly elected municipal bodies in urban areas."
The goal is to involve people and democratic bodies from the ground up in
the development and execution of plan plans." True participation should
promote conscientiousness, which is only achievable in receiver-centered
communication education. The disadvantaged can use the information
above to understand their requirements, set priorities, discover limiting
constraints, and seek solutions.
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PR Theory and Practice 7.8 PLAN PUBLICITY

During the First Five Year Plan, the concept of "Plan Publicity" was
developed as a means of not only disseminating plan information but also
generating people's cooperation and participation. The phrase 'Plan
Publicity' refers to a lot more than just publicising development initiatives
and Five Year Plans.
It has to appeal to people's emotions. Because the plan encompasses the
entire community's life through its proper implementation, it necessitates a
unified national viewpoint, which necessitates a great deal of discipline and
sacrifice on the part of the people. Plan publicity's goal is to create an
emotional desire for progress in the minds of the people, as well as mass
enlightenment.
It should instil a comprehensive concept of good citizenship and increase
people's desire for a sense of self-help. The mood should be upbeat and
receptive, so that public cooperation becomes a self-sustaining force that
propels national constructive action forward.

7.9 PUBLICITY FOR THE INTEGRATED PLAN

An integrated plan publicity programme was included in the Five Year

Plans, incorporating the publicity schemes of the Five Year Plans for
various media units of the Government of India, and it was implemented.
The All-India Radio, Directorate of Advertising and =sual Publicity,
Fbblications Division, Press Information Bureau, Photo Division, Song and
Drama Division, and Films Division have all designed special plan publicity
schemes to raise public awareness about the Five Year Plans since the
scheme began in 1953.
Similarly, the state Information and Public Relations Department has
established plan publicity units within their various departments to promote
plan schemes. Yojna, the Publication Division's fortnightly publication in
English, Hindi, and other regional languages, is dedicated to planning and
development. Kurukshetra is a comparable monthly magazine that is
published in both English and Hindi. In addition, the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting's Directorate of Field Publicity brings the
message of planning to the doorsteps of people in rural India.
The Song and Drama Division has done a fantastic job of raising awareness
among rural people with vital information such as how to secure a bank
loan, how to use contraceptives, and so on, using traditional folk media.
As a result, all of these coordinated efforts by various media units and state
governments strive to raise plan knowledge and turn people into "partners
in progress." That is the primary goal of the multi-media Integrated Plan for
Publicity.

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7.10 EMERGENCE OF DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC Public relations :
catalyst , persuasion
and motivation
RELATIONS

As it became clear that one-way communication and transmission of

information alone could not bring about progress, the term "publicity" was
modified to "public relations." The plan PR schemes were included into the
media units' and the State Information and Public Relations Departments'
usual operations. The information and public aspects of planning and
development schemes are now handled by the following entities: respective
media units in the Central Government, the State Information and Public
Relations Department in the State Government, and the Public Relations
Cells of the respective public sector enterprises.
You must be familiar with the term "development communication," which
refers to the use of communication to aid development, either in a broad
fashion through workers or through the use of the media for better exposure
of development projects like population control. 'Development Support
Communication' is another name for this.
Whether it is referred to as plan publicity or development communication,
it is simply a public relations support for development programmes handled
by information workers and public relations organisations in India with the
goal of raising public knowledge about planning and development
programmes. As a two-way communication process, public relations plays
an important part in the planning and growth of our country.
The task, however, does not end with informing. The most essential
problem that these organisations must address is changing people's attitudes
through raising awareness about the prospect of a higher quality of life. It
is the complete transition of conventional civilization into a fully developed,
sophisticated society with high living standards for all people and a life
devoid of poverty, unemployment, and ignorance. Public relations must
take on the monumental duty of disseminating necessary information
throughout society. In this case, public relations serve as a catalyst for
change.
Development The process of socioeconomic growth is aided by public
relations. It encompasses a variety of functions in developing countries as
they progress toward modernization and industrialization. In truth,
development Public Relations is the comfort of information and Public
Relations agency to raise public knowledge about planning and
development schemes through a two-way communication process to
encourage people to participate in the economic development process.

7.11 PUBLIC RELATIONS IN PERSUASION

Persuasion is defined by Winston Bremback and William Howell, two

communication professionals, as "communication to influence choices."
"Any message, intended or not, that creates a change in a receiver's attitude,
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PR Theory and Practice belief, or conduct," according to another definition. It is defined as "a
process that alters people's attitudes, beliefs, opinions, or behaviours."
Persuasion as a PR tool is typically defined as a communicative process
with the goal of "influencing." A persuasive message promotes a point of
view or a desired behaviour that the recipient can choose to adopt. Victoria
O' Nuing is a character in the novel Victoria O' Nuing by Victoria The
interactive process involves a sender and a receiver who are linked by
symbols, both verbal and nonverbal, in which the persuader tries to persuade
the persuadee to modify a specific attitude or behaviour because the
persuadee's views have been enlarged or changed.
Effective persuasion requires transactional communication. This is a two-
way persuasion method in which the target group and the development
worker communicate to resolve disagreements and reach an agreement.
Persuasion that promises to help them in some way by meeting a want or
need is more effective. As a result, the persuader must consider the needs
of the persuadee. Persuasion is a two-way street in which both parties are
reliant on each other.
The following is how renowned British author Frank Jefkins discusses the
job of public relations through an information transfer process mode:
HOSPITALITY SYMPATHY
PREJUDICE ACCEPTANCE
APATHY INTEREST
IGNORANCE KNOWLEDGE
As a result, public relations aims to improve people's attitudes by gaining a
better grasp of the current human climate and fostering mutual
understanding between an organisation and its constituents. Negative
thoughts and criticism of the organisation are transformed into positive
feelings during this process. This form of public relations strategy can also
be used to change people's views toward progress during the development
process.
As a result, public relations uses the persuasive approach in both internal
and external communications because their goals are to inform, educate,
motivate, and influence people's opinions. Persuasion is used to change or
neutralise antagonistic attitudes, solidify latent beliefs and good attitudes,
and foster favourable public perceptions.
Turning antagonistic ideas into sympathetic ones is the most difficult
persuasion effort. People in India are tradition-bound and conservative
when it comes to development. It is tough for a PR professional working on
development projects to change folks who are firmly anchored in traditional
thinking. As a result, development messages should be created in a way that
is compatible with people's overall attitudes toward a topic.
Communication, which is reinforced through services and acts, is the
simplest type of persuasion.
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The source loses credibility if promised action is not taken, for example, a Public relations :
catalyst , persuasion
movement to encourage female education should be coordinated with the and motivation
establishment of a school educational facility. Otherwise, it's a waste of
time. Persuasive communication involves a lot of aspects, all of which the
PR practitioner should be aware of. Audience analysis is one of them.

• Credibility of the source.

• Make a self-interested argument.
• The message's clarity.
• Context and timing.
• Participation of the audience is encouraged.
• Message content and structure.
• Speaking in a persuasive manner.

Audience Analysis: Any development message is aimed at people, and it

should be tailored to their needs. The audience's profile will be examined,
taking into account their age, education, socioeconomic status, and other
factors.
Source Credibility: In the viewpoint of the receiver, the source should be
trustworthy or an expert. If the source is regarded as reputable by the
intended audience, the message will be more credible.
This explains why any extended source, particularly for the dissemination
of innovation, seeks the help and participation of local opinion leaders. The
success of a reputable source is explained by the involvement of village dais
for family, welfare programmes, or progressive farmers for adoption of
modern farming practises.
When it comes to the development phase, the messages should be
accompanied with actions or the scheme's implementation. The mere
announcement of a development strategy by a source does not establish trust
unless it is implemented and people benefit.
Appeal to Self-Interest: When we appeal to people's economic demands,
they become more invested in issues and pay attention to communications.
When creating an angle for a message, the public relations professional
must consider the audience's nature and what it wants to know first. The
programme cannot be successful if policymakers do not grasp the priorities
and environment of the beneficiaries.
Clarity of Message: Many messages fail because the audience finds the
substance or words to be unnecessarily difficult. The most persuasive
messages are short and to-the-point, with only one main point. Always ask
two questions when working in public relations. What do I want the
audience to take away from this message? Will the message be understood
by the audience? The user-ability receivers to comprehend development
messages is required for proper decision-making on the receiver's part. To
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PR Theory and Practice increase message fidelity among the intended beneficiaries, more attention
to message production is required.
Timing and Context: When external variables assist a message, it becomes
more convincing. A message on the introduction of high-yielding paddy
varieties should be delivered and timed to coincide with the agricultural
season and farmers' requirements. Priorities should be evaluated in context.
In a neighbourhood where people's bellies are empty and famine is
pervasive, a literacy campaign cannot hope to succeed.
Audience Involvement and Participation: Audience involvement and
participation can help people alter their minds or reaffirm their convictions.
Instead than treating beneficiaries as passive users, the modern strategy is
to mobilise, organise, and train them to collaborate successfully with
experts and authorities so that knowledge is shared rather than passed down
one-way. In the end, it's important to notice that the audience is engaged in
socioeconomic programmes.
Communication Content and Structure: A variety of strategies can be
used to make a message more purposeful. Expert communicators employ a
variety of strategies, including
(1) drama
(2) data
(3) examples
(4) testimonials
(5) media endorsement
(6) emotional appeals
A well-balanced mix of necessary parts that are appropriate for the
communication channel, a logical order in the presentation of argument
targets, as well as skill, expertise, and experience, all contribute to the
creation of effective messages.
Persuasive Speaking: Persuasive speeches provide a thorough knowledge
of the problem for all parties involved. Reasoning and empathy should be
used when speaking. Instead of top-down flow and highly prescriptive
education, communication experts today advocate for interactive
communication that emphasises knowledge sharing between equals.

7.12 PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MOTIVATION

If one of the goals of public relations is to build friendly relationships

between an organisation and its constituents, motivation is a critical factor
in influencing the attitudes of either individual or institutional constituents.
There is a motivation behind every individual's action. As a result,
motivation is crucial in the field of public relations. The theory of
motivation is centred on the words "want," "wish," or "want," and how
humans act to achieve certain goals in order to fulfil their needs or desires.
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The 'drive' that causes people to react or act in a certain way is called Public relations :
catalyst , persuasion
motivation. The primary goal of a public relations professional is to ensure and motivation
that a message is received, understood, and acted upon. This can be stated
to be the primary motivation for communicating a message, whether it is
about progress or not. The message must have the appropriate 'drive' or
appeal. The recipient of such a message will respond based on the aspect
that motivates them, which will usually be in the context of the
communication and the sender's best experience. A lot is also dependent on
the source's reliability.
If a goodwill relationship has been developed between the organisation and
the general public, the motive of the receiver, which influences the reaction,
will be different than if no such relationship has been established. Why do
people react to the same stimulus in various ways, whether it's pressure or
persuasion? What drives a farmer to experiment with novel ways of
cultivation rather than the old; an illiterate rural girl to enrol in a literacy
class; an urban lady to get a cancer check-up; or an employee to enhance
job output? The source of motivation, which stems from an individual's
underlying social and cultural values, must be considered by the PR
practitioner.
Dr. Abraham Maslow developed a notion known as Maslton's Hierarchy of
Needs after conducting extensive research on motivation. According to him,
the source of these demands is more powerful than the others and must be
met first. As a result, in order to motivate someone, they must be assisted in
moving up the Hierarchy of Needs.
These degrees of need, however, overlap, and greater needs emerge before
lower wants are fully met. It is thought that in order to motivate a person, it
is important to look at variables that will excite him (incentives) and factors
that would prevent action (inhibitors) (disincentives).
According to research, non-financial incentives, such as status, recognition,
a sense of accomplishment, and the working environment, are just as
important as monetary rewards. That can be powerful motivators that
management considers when dealing with issues such as absenteeism,
declining productivity, and so on. Employee motivation can be secured in a
variety of ways, including sharing productivity gains, sharing information,
establishing a sense of belonging, and assisting employees with personal
issues.
In the context of development, the information worker or change agent
working to promote innovation adoption must examine options that will
encourage beneficiaries to change their minds. This necessitates extensive
investigation into the backgrounds of the beneficiaries in order to assess
their needs.

7.13 MOTIVATION IN A GROUP

The group's opinion regarding any policy, programme, or product is

mirrored not by each individual member, but by the group leaders, who have
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PR Theory and Practice strong personalities and are generally persuasive. Reference groups and
organisational membership are two significant characteristics that influence
human behaviour.
As a result, communicators must consider the groups to which people
belong. People behave differently when they are part of a group.
Sociologists claim that extremely productive work groups with high
performance goals can be formed. While group cohesiveness leads to the
group operating as a unit, the group's leader can focus the group's energies
toward the organization's goals. Motivating individuals, even raising a task
force of volunteers for growth activities, necessitates exceptional abilities.
Individual motivation is sunk, and collective motivation is produced by
excellent oratory and effective persuasion by group leaders. Public relations
try to use both individual and collective motivation concepts to influence
public perceptions of an organization's corporate aims. Enlightened
management encourages teamwork and makes an effort to foster a positive
organisational climate by avoiding inter-departmental conflicts.
For a public relations professional, understanding group dynamics is
crucial. In terms of development, India's best example is the Kheda Project,
which was decentralised and participatory and attempted to promote rural
development and social transformation after doing extensive audience
research to determine their requirements. Because the entire group was
highly motivated, audience participation at all levels in programme
production dealing with issues like as alcoholism, exploitation,
cooperatives, and so on was crucial to the campaign's success.

7.14 HOW CAN YOU BOOST YOUR MOTIVATION?

Public relations practitioners may face animosity, prejudice, apathy, and

ignorance of the public during the motivation process, all of which impair
mutual understanding. Here are some suggestions to help you improve your
situation:

• Before sending out PR messages, it's a good idea to look into the
recipient's educational and social background.
• This will allow you to create an inspiring environment for them.
• Empathize with them and make them feel valuable. Pay close
attention to them and encourage them to participate.
• Use language, words, and phrases that are understandable to the
general population.
• Avoid concealment at all costs. Have two-way communication that is
open and honest.
• Form groups and foster a sense of belonging.

If you're aware that there's animosity, prejudice, or a negative motivation in

the public's thinking. Try to build your communications in such a way that
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they have the fewest chances of being disrupted by these conditions. Set an Public relations :
catalyst , persuasion
example with your own behaviour. and motivation

Avoid creating a credibility chasm. Promises must be kept with swift action
and performance.
Make an effort to get feedback from your audience to see if the messaging
had the desired effect.
If public relations use the motivational strategies listed above, it will surely
help to develop a corporate personality and a positive image for a firm while
also promoting corporate relations. For development communication, the
same rules apply.
All individuals and organisations use the phrase "public relations" to
describe how they build and maintain harmonious relationships with their
respective publics in order to promote ideas, services, or products. While
acting as a catalyst, public relations use persuasion and incentive strategies
to influence public opinion and guide it toward mutual understanding.
Individuals' behaviour, attitudes, and perceptions of an organization's
services or aims are influenced in its favour as a result of this process.
The analysis of the environment in which an organisation operates is a
crucial phase in the public relations process. This type of study also
identifies current trends and signals that are critical to the institutions'
success. Public Relations uses an environment assessment method to keep
track of the current condition and evolving socioeconomic trends.
According to E.W. Brody, the knowledge collected from environmental
analysis "is fundamental to the strategic planning process of public
relations." The environment is assessed by gathering feedback from the
media, opinion leaders, and other members of the public.
As a catalyst, public relations is responsible for bringing the publics of an
organisation together for mutual engagement and proper understanding so
that they can grasp each other's difficulties. Top-down, one-way
communication is deemed less desirable and successful than an integrated
approach with two-way communication.
In the context of development, public relations take on a higher significance
in order to communicate the message of planning and development to the
general public. Public relations professionals spread information via various
forms of mass media or through extension workers. Only until people are
aware of the Five Year Plans and the different programmes proposed under
the massive Eight Five Year Plan can they be successful.
As a two-way communication process, public relations aims to eliminate
information poverty as a precondition for eradicating economic poverty.
'Development public relations' refers to the endeavour of the country's
information and public relations agencies to raise public knowledge of
planning and development plans in order to elicit public participation.
Public relations for development aid the socioeconomic development

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PR Theory and Practice process. In reality, if total development is to be realised, development
administration and information administration should work hand in hand.
Individual and group motivation is critical for PR in the development
setting. This necessitates extensive research on the beneficiaries'
backgrounds in order to identify their requirements, priorities, and so on.
The development messages should include the appropriate appeals, a well-
structured design, be delivered on time, and be understandable to the user
receiver. Only then can persuasive messages be accepted as effective in
achieving the necessary change and development goals.

7.15 QUESTION

1. Explain the role of PR as a catalyst for change

2. Briefly explain: Public relations in planning and development
3. Discuss Emergence of development public relations
4. Discuss Public relations in persuasion
5. Explain in detail public relations and motivation

7.16 REFERENCES

Harindranath, Ramaswamy (2009). Audience-Citizens: The Media, Public

Knowledge, and Interpretive Practice. New Delhi. Sage Publications.
Banaji, Shakuntala (2011). South Asian Media Cultures: Audiences,
Representations, Contexts. New Delhi; Anthem Press.
Mytton, Graham et a1 (2016). Media Audience Research: A Guide for
Professionals. New Delhi; SAGE Publications.
Nightingale, Virginia (2011a. The Handbook of Media Audiences. New
Jersey; John Wiley & Sons.
Ruddock, Andy (2001). Understanding Audiences: Theory and Method.
New Delhi; Sage Publications.
Sullivan, John L(2012). Media Audiences. Effects, Users, Institutions, and
Power.
New Delhi; Sage Publications.

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 8
COMMUNICATION THEORIES WITH
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO PERSUASION
THEORY, CULTIVATION THEORY AND
USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY
Unit structure
8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Communication Theories
8.2.1 Birth of Communication Theories
8.2.2 Media and Audience: Cause-Effect Relationship
8.3 Persuasion Theory
8.4 Cultivation Theory
8.5 Uses and Gratification Theory
8.6 Summary
8.7 Questions
8.8 References

8.0 OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit you will be able to understand:

● Definition of Communication Theories
● Theories of the cause-effect relationship between media and audience
● Importance of communication theories in Public Relations

8.1 INTRODUCTION

The scholars of philosophy and psychology have always demonstrated the

importance of communication in the daily lives of humans. The term simply
means the dissemination of information between individuals, groups, or
masses. The transformation of the term to mass communication has
identified the development of various tools of communication, known as
mass media. These mass mediums provide an opportunity to receive a large
amount of information from a large audience at the same time. This
procedure further leads to the emergence of public communication.
Public communication certainly plays a pivotal role in the practice of public
relations. The massive consumption of the media by the audience does
affect them in several ways. The media acts as a mediator between the
audience and PR professionals. The utilization of media by public relations
practitioners helps them to reach the masses. Similarly, it also helps them
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PR Theory and Practice to maintain media relations. Thus, public relations practitioners need to
understand the different aspects of media and the heavy influence media has
on the audience.
This chapter focuses on the impact media can have on the receivers of the
content. It will help to understand the theoretical perspective of
communication and mass media. It describes the nature and scope of
communication theories. The chapter will also explain the cause-and-effect
relationship between media and the audience. It will describe the
importance of communication theories in PR with special reference to
persuasion theory, cultivation theory, and uses and gratification theory.

8.2 COMMUNICATION THEORIES

Communication is an interchanging term based on human behaviour and

societal norms. Social and Communication scholars studied the
development of communication and its relation to human behaviour and
societal norms, known as communication theories.
Theory, as explained by Kenneth Bailey, is, "explanations and predictions
of social phenomena by relating the subject of interest to some other
phenomena" (1982, p.41). Bailey here tries to explain the interconnection
of the media and its relation with the sociological and psychological
behaviour of the audience who consumes it.
Based upon the conclusions drawn by Anaeto et al., (2002), to understand
the communication theory, the following assumptions need to be
considered:
1. The communication system and its procedure can not be explained
and established within one theory. There are multiple theories
developed by scholars to explain the system and the process of mass
communication.

2. Mass communication theories are interrelated with other social

sciences’ theories like sociology, psychology, linguistics, etc.

3. Mass Communication theories are human constructions, they are

completely constructed on the ideology of the theorists. Similarly,
theories are dynamic in nature and apply to contemporary society.

8.2.1 Birth of Communication Theories:

The foundation of communication theories dates back to the emergence of
the industrial revolution which modified the ways society lives, converses,
and communicates. The adaptation of the innovations developed in the
revolution led to the conversion of traditional society into urban and modern
societies. The modernized population not only raised the lifestyle goods
consumption but also media consumption at large. Urban societies then
were being recognised as media-dependent societies.

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Based on the increasing consumption of media, communication scholars Communication Theories
with Special Reference
divided communication theories into four categories. These categories to Persuasion Theory,
differ from each other in Baran & Davis (2012, p. 12) Cultivation Theory and
Uses and Gratifications
Theory
1. Their goals
2. The nature of the theory
3. Their perception of the expansion of knowledge
4. Their perception of the roles of theory in research and theory building.

Postpositivist Theory:
Post positivism talks about the dynamic nature of human behaviour. Post
positivism theory in mass communication explains human behaviour is
predictable to conduct a systematic observation of media and its audience.
The phenomena help scholars to understand the theoretical aspects of the
reaction of the audience to the content they consume. The postpositivist
aims to understand the connection between an explanation of the content,
predicting the impact of the content, and understanding the control that
impact is having on the audience. For instance, when a researcher is
approaching to explain digital marketing and buying behaviour of the
audience, s/he tries to predict the growth in e-commerce due to digital
marketing and the platforms of digital marketing are causing the growth and
how it is controlling buying behaviour of the audience.
Hermeneutic Theory:
The theory is known as the interpretative theory. It focuses on the
understanding of the interpretation of the messages sent by the various
media channels. The theory helps the research scholars to understand the
reaction given by the receiver to a certain message. It also aims to describe
the subjectiveness of the reaction to the message. It explains, “how
knowledge is advanced and relies on the subjective interaction between the
observer and his/her community” (Baran & Davis, 2012, p.13). The idea
defines that the subjective reaction of the audience is dependent upon the
various experiences, preferences, and communication with each other in the
social world. For instance, the preferences of the audience about news
consumption platforms will be dependent upon their social understanding
and opinions about the platforms.
Critical Theory:
Critical theory as the name suggests focuses on the critical aspect of the
social world. Critical theorists try to identify the changes required in society.
They believe that the present structure of society has some flaws and with
the help of political and economic power, society can be transformed into a
better world. In the mid 19th century, Marx and Engles explained, those
who have the power and control the material production (the economic
control) also control the mental production (the mindset of the people).
Following Marx, Gramsci described how news media along with the other
hegemonic social organizations contributed to controlling the ideology of
the audience. 83
PR Theory and Practice It is the goal of the critical theorists to understand how various forms of
media as mass mediums can be used as a weapon to bring changes in society
by cultivating the media messages in the minds of the people. The critical
theory explains the ownership of media by elites and how corporates
employ media as a tool to deliver framed messages.
Normative Theories:
Normative theories describe the set of systems and structures based on
which media organisations can function in various political and social
environments. The theories also explain the role media plays in the
development of society.
These various communication theories have experienced transformation,
which further divides the journey of media theories into four eras or trends.
These eras are dependent upon the social and cultural ideologies of the two
different classes in society. Each theory from each of these eras serves
certain important purposes and has faced some modification or alteration in
the future.
1. The trend of Mass Society and Mass Culture

Mass society is defined as a society that comprises individuals with

intellectual clones of each other. In mass society, people are
homogeneous and have similar thinking process. The mass society
believes that the industrialization and dehumanizing effect of the
industrial revolution is responsible for all the disruptions happening
in society and for all wrongs happening in the 19th century. Major
social scholars think that mass media symbolizes the disturbance and
disorders in society.
Early media theories explained the relationship between media and
society. The major perspective that emerged is known as mass society
theory. Baran & Davis, (2012), explained mass society theory as,
“collections of conflicting notions developed to make sense of what
was happening as industrialization allowed big cities to spring up and
expand”. The theory believed that mass media is all-powerful and
works as an influencer. Masses are vulnerable to the messages shared
by the media. In the era of mass culture, society heavily criticized
media, and importance was given to the message senders, that is the
elites, owners of the industries, wanting to control the society and
minds of the audience.
2. The trend of Scientific Perspective: Emergence of Limited-Effects
Theory:

Several sociological transformations and world events resulted in the

development of mass media at large. The media was used as a weapon
by many elites and political leaders to propagate their agenda and
ideologies. Along with newspapers, broadcast and audio-visual
mediums were utilized to control the masses, with the hope of the
well-being of the society. Paul Lazarsfeld, an American sociologist
84
84
 observed such exercises of media and conducted a scientific research Communication Theories
with Special Reference
study which concluded that media is not as powerful as it was stated to Persuasion Theory,
by the elites. The audience is more influenced by the participatory Cultivation Theory and
Uses and Gratifications
elements like peers, family, and other elites in society. Instead of Theory
being a disruptive factor in society, the media supports the societal
trends and strengths of the current political agenda. This process was
the beginning of the era - of limited effects research, stating that media
indirectly shape the mindset, it is the opinion leaders, who convey the
message as per their ideologies.
Joseph Klapper, communication consultant and chief spokesperson
for limited effects perspective, published a book stating that media’s
effects can extend from small to negligible. In the program on mass
media organised by the Child Study Association of America in 1960,
Klapper stated:
“ I think it has been very well demonstrated that the mass media do
not serve as the primary determinant or even as a very important
determinant of any of the basic attitudes or the basic behaviour
patterns of either children or adults. This is not to say that they do not
influence at all, but only that then influence seems to be incidental to
other forces or it is not incidental, to pertain to rather superficial
aspects of attitude or behaviour rather than to basic attitudes and
behaviour” (Sparks, 2013).
3. The trend of Cultural Perspective:

Theories with a quantitative approach were developed during this era.

Theorists and social science researchers emerged with the approach
of reductionists - who reduced the complicated communication
systems and transformed them into narrower proposals for media. As
the society was observing the incorporation of limited effects theory
in society, left-wing European socialists believed that the media
enabled the elites and upper class of the society to dominate the
audience.
Elites utilized mass media to promote cultural hegemony. Values,
beliefs, and ideologies of the elites are framed and broadcasted within
the narratives of different media shows. This observation about mass
media is referred to as neo- 85arxism.
4. The trend of contemporary meaning-making:

The era recognises that the audience or receiver of the message is

active and consumes media for meaningful experiences. Mass media
is indeed powerful, but the power media can employ is dependent
upon the receiver of the message. The influence of media is dependent
upon the meaning derived by the users. The era focuses on the media
selection phenomenon - a phenomenon that explains that audiences
are the king, they select and decide what to consume or not. The era
observed how the audience uses media content according to their
needs. 85
PR Theory and Practice 8.2.2 Media and Audience: Cause-Effect Relationship:
To understand the relationship between media and audience, it is first
important to study the media effects research conducted by scholars over
the years. Since the inception of media, scholars did try to find out the effect
of media on public opinion. From major case studies like the congress-Spain
war in 1898, wartime propaganda during the world war, the emergence of
broadcast media, the strength of photographs and the Vietnam war, to
studies conducted by McCombs and Shaw, many scholars tried to
understand whether media can mould public opinion. In this chapter, the
cause-effect relationship between media and audience is explained with the
help of the emergence of various theories and mediums.
In the 1950s, during the Vietnam war, It is generally believed that the US
might have won the war had it not been for the interference of the media.
From the late 1960s onwards, public opinion in the United States began to
sharply oppose the war, and this is blamed on US media. Vietnam was the
first war that issued full freedom to the press, allowing the media to cover
the war as they saw it. Due to the absence of censorship, gruesome images
were often depicted for the public’s viewing. Many believe the freedom
given to the press to be a mistake, as it is believed to have drawn public
opinion against the war.
One of the major studies that were conducted to observe the impact of films
on the audience is Payne Funds. The Payne Fund organised agreed to fund
a series of studies to investigate the impact of movies on children and
adolescents. Shearon Lowery and Melvin DeFleur while explaining the
conclusions of the Payne Fund studies in their book, Milestones in Mass
Communication Research, stated, “the Payne Fund Studies undoubtedly
presented a reasonably valid picture of the influences of the movies of the
1920s on the youth of that period. The films were an influence on attitudes;
they provided models for behaviour; they shaped interpretations of life.
They probably had as many prosocial influences (or at least harmless
influences) as those that disturbed adults of the time”.
With the conclusions of the Payne fund studies and wartime propaganda, it
was believed that mass mediums are powerful identities and are capable of
influence. Based on the observations, the need to state the theory was
realised in this era. As a result, magic bullet theory/hypodermic needle
theory was introduced. According to the theory, the messages delivered by
the media are compared to the shotgun bullet or needle, stating that, in the
communication process, messages are shot at the audience, with the help of
a medium. The message will have a powerful and forceful effect on those
who possess it.
The dawn of Television in the 1950s and 1970s in foreign countries and
India respectively was the origin of the new media effects. The craze of
Television all over the world, the introduction of the daily soaps and live
coverage of the gulf war I, initiated the studies of the heavy impact of TV
on the viewers. It includes theories like agenda-setting theory, priming,
framing, etc. According to the scholars of agenda-setting theory, the media
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sets an agenda while delivering the information. McCombs and Shaw Communication Theories
with Special Reference
believed that TV channels frame the content in such a way, that it tells the to Persuasion Theory,
viewers the ‘important’ events and ‘important’ perspectives of the event. Cultivation Theory and
Uses and Gratifications
Theory
Types of Media Effects:
Today, understanding media effects are more complex and varies based on
the type of media and audience. Depending on the message, the medium,
and the audience, the media effect differs from micro level to macro level.
McLeod and Reeves practically conceptualized the media effects by using
some category schemes (Sparks, 2013). Following are some of the
categories of media effects :
1. Micro-Level or Macro-Level effects:

McLeod and Reeves believed that micro-level effects on individual

media consumers. Micro-level effects observe the impact any form of
media is having on single individuals, on their behaviour, and their
preferences. For instance, the research study aims to understand the
preferences of the medium of an audience to watch films, and will
consider the micro-level effect, as the preferences are subjective and
they differ from individual to individual. Whereas, the macro-level
effect observes the impact of the media messages on the large
community. For example, controversies and hashtag campaigns on
social media. For instance, in October 2020, the jewellery brand
Tanishq released an advertisement featuring an interfaith baby
shower. The ad caused huge controversy on social media and led to
various hashtag campaigns run by certain communities. Media
messages causing such an impact are examples of macro-level effects.
2. Content-Specific or Diffuse-General Effects:

According to McLeod and Reeves, some media effects are purely

based on the content a consumer consumes. For example, kids who
watch Shinchan cartoon might adopt different behavioural patterns
than kids who don’t watch. For instance, research study on the impact
of PUBG games on the audience. This research may study how
specific content (PUBG) is affecting those who play the game. On the
other hand, general effects are those that are observed generally and
might not relate to the content. For instance, due to the emergence of
OTT platforms, consumption of TV amongst youths is decreased or
youth and social media addiction. Such studies will conclude the
overall general results.
3. Attitudinal VS Behavioral VS Cognitive Changes:

In the 1980s, while explaining the media effects research, McLeod

and Reeves stated, “Media effects research is very nearly the history
of attitude change research”. They explained that media does not only
effects the attitudes of the audience but also causes changes and
transformations in the behaviour and the thinking process of the
audience. The messages delivered by the media have the power to
87
PR Theory and Practice shape the opinion of the audience. Media impacts differently on the
attitude, behaviour, and minds of the consumers.
4. Alteration VS Stabilization:

Along with the media’s capacity to change or mould the opinion of

the audience, McLeod and Reeves also believed that instead of
transforming the opinion, the media is also capable to make the
audience alter their decisions. For example, an advertisement has the
persuasive power which will make the consumer switch their brand.
On the contrary, some of the advertisements help the consumers to
stabilize their decisions about their brand. Researchers from
Columbia University, Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel
Gaudet conducted a research study to understand ‘how and why
people decide to vote as they did. The study is recognized as The
People’s Choice Study. The study investigated that radio commercials
strengthened the prior voting decisions of the voters. People are more
likely to consume an advertisement for their preferred candidates and
became more committed to them. This indicates that instead of
altering and adopting new opinions, media can also help the audience
to stabilize and be firm on their own opinions.
Check Your Progress
1. Explain the four categories of media theories.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

2. What are the various trends of media theories?

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

3. Explain in brief various types of media effects.

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

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8.3 PERSUASION THEORY Communication Theories
with Special Reference
to Persuasion Theory,
Cultivation Theory and
The term persuasion, derived from the word to persuade, means to induce Uses and Gratifications
one to believe or to perform an action. Simons (1976) explains persuasion Theory
as, “s human communication designed to influence the autonomous
judgments and actions of others”. He believes that persuasion is an attempt
to influence the beliefs, values, or attitudes of others. But, it is not torture
or any other form of coercion, nor the pressure to follow any group or
authority. Whereas, O’Keefe (1990) defines persuasion with the help of a
communication system. He argues that the process of persuasion has some
prerequisite conditions. The message or the content sent by the sender
involves intent and the goal is to achieve that intent. The receiver of the
message should consider receiving the persuasive content. This entire
procedure is communicational.
The persuasion theory in media comprises various theories which define
persuasion from the perspective of attitudes, beliefs, values, knowledge, and
predispositions of the audience.
8.3.1 Theory of Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values:
The theory was developed by psychologist Milton Rokeach in 1968 who
argued that the behaviour of an individual is dependent upon the attitude of
the individual. The attitude of the audience helps the sender to predict their
behaviour. This attitude is shaped by an individual’s school of beliefs and
values. Rokeach defines beliefs as, “any simple proposition, conscious or
unconscious, inferred from what a person says or does”. He also explained
values as, “beliefs which are central to an individual’s sense of sense and
difficult to change”. (Travis & Lordan, 2020). The theory helps PR
professionals to understand that attitude leads to the behaviour of the
audience.
8.3.2 Theory of Reasoned Action:
The theory suggests that every behaviour of an individual has an intention
behind it. Individuals are likely to justify their actions with the help of
reason to perform the same. They are more likely to engage, invest an
amount of effort, and perform the action actively if it is intended. O’Keefe
(2015) says, “the theory of reasoned action is considered unquestionably the
most influential general framework for understanding the determinants of
voluntary action”. According to Ajzen & Fishbein (1975), the intentions or
the reasons are dependent upon the personal attitude of an individual. Along
with personal attitude, several other subjective norms like peer perception,
and societal judgements are also taken into account. Figure 8.1 explains
Ajzen & Fishbein’s perception of the theory of reasoned action.

89
PR Theory and Practice

Fig. 8.1 Ajzen and Fishbein’s perception of Theory of Reasoned Action

8.3.3 Social Judgement Theory:

The theory proposes that the persuasive nature of the message is based on
the individual’s opinion and attitude towards the topic. Sherif & Hovland
(1961), and Sherif et al. (1965) described three categories of an individual’s
attitudes and judgement. First is, the latitude of acceptance, the concepts
which individual judges and finds acceptable. Second is the latitude of
rejection, the concepts which individual judges and finds unacceptable. The
third is the latitude of non-commitment, the concept for which an
individual does not carry any opinion, and has a neutral stand.
The social judgement
theory explains that the
map of an individual’s
behaviour is dependent
upon the amount of ego
involved (interest
involved) of an
individual in that topic.
If an individual is highly
interested or highly ego
involved in the topic, the
individual believes that
the topic is crucial and
will pay more attention
to it (Dainton, 2004).
Fig. 8.2 Social Judgement Figure 8.2 explains the
Theory procedure of social
Fig. 8.2 Social Judgement Theory judgement theory,
arguing the level of ego
involved while receiving
the message and its impact on the latitude of acceptance, non-commitment,
or rejection.

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8.3.4 Elaboration Likelihood Model: Communication Theories
with Special Reference
to Persuasion Theory,
The model argues that persuasive message processes through the cognitive Cultivation Theory and
behaviour of a receiver. The model proposes that there are two routes of Uses and Gratifications
Theory
human persuasion. The human decision process occurs in two ways, the
peripheral route and the central route, stating that attitude changes appear
to be temporary and long-lasting respectively. The model tries to articulate
that the persuasion of the message is dependent on the thinking ability of a
human. It explains whether the thoughts of a receiver can be changed
immediately by employing a peripheral route or the receiver consumes a
certain amount of time to decide by deploying a central route.
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
4. What is persuasion theory?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

5. in brief the theory of reasoned action.

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

8.4 CULTIVATION THEORY

The theory proposes that constant consumption of the media messages

influences the mindset of the audience, resulting in the audience changing
their perception. The communication scholar George Gerbner observed two
types of media consumers with special reference to television viewers. He
divided the viewers into two categories, heavy viewers (the one who views
TV for more than four hours) and light viewers (those who view TV for less
than four hours). Gerbner hypothesized that those who watch television for
a long time are more likely to be influenced as they are been more
bombarded by the content than those who watch it for a lesser time.
The media can build a perception. It states that, with the help of
advertisements, brands can reform or develop the perception of an audience
about a product, phenomenon, or social activity by continuously
bombarding and cultivating the same perception. For example, fairness
cream brands over the years have cultivated the perception of the good
91
PR Theory and Practice looking concept. This paradox of cultivating a thought can be employed to
build the positive aspects of society. For instance, sanitary napkin
advertisements cultivate that with their brand, menstruation is a simple and
easily bearable process.
In today’s digitized world, social media is one of the platforms which is
used to influence the audience. Public relations practitioners incorporate
various social media strategies to engage the audience. An easier example
of this can be movie PR. Public relations practice for a movie begins almost
a year ago from the date of the movie, which generates curiosity in the
minds of an audience, resulting in them being aware of every update of a
movie.

8.5 USES AND GRATIFICATION THEORY

The uses and gratification theory explains the connection between the
media-audience relationship and media consumption by the audience. Katz,
Blumler, and Gurevitch (1973) in their paper ‘Uses and Gratification
Research’ says that, “there are certain social and psychological origins of
needs which generate expectations of the mass media or other sources,
which lead to a differential pattern of media exposure (or engagement in
other activities), resulting in need gratifications and other consequences”.
Certain needs of humans are based on social and psychological systems
which encourage the needs and expectations from mass media. These are
gratified after consuming or exposure to the particular media.
The application of this is built upon basic assumptions. One of the important
assumptions is, that an audience who is consuming the media must be an
active participant. Katz, Gurevitch, and Hass, (1973) listed down thirty-five
needs based on the literature on the social and psychological functions of
the mass media, which they classified into five meaningful groups.
1. Cognitive Need: The need to enhance information, knowledge, and
understanding. For example, audiences use social media platform
telegram for educational purposes, to get study notes, and practice
papers to satisfy their cognitive need for knowledge.

2. Affective Need: It relates to emotional satisfaction and pleasurable

experience. For example, the audience watching a movie of their
favourite actor or actress.

3. Integrative Need: It is related to the need of boosting confidence,

stability, status, etc. It is the combination of cognitive and affective
needs. For example, readers read self-help books to gain motivation.

4. Social Integrative Need: To increase the bond between friends and

family. For instance, watching a series because your peer is acting in
the same.

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5. Tension-Release Need: To gain some relaxation and entertainment. Communication Theories
with Special Reference
For example, watching comedy genre films for entertainment to Persuasion Theory,
purposes. Cultivation Theory and
Uses and Gratifications
Theory
Public relations practitioners using media as a mediator between them and
the audience needs to understand the audience’s demand for the
content and the appropriate platform for the same. PR practitioners
can incorporate the theory to determine how to engage an audience by
recognizing their needs.
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
6. What is cultivation theory?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

7. What are the various needs mentioned in the uses and gratification
theory?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

8.6 SUMMARY

Public relations is one of the subfields of mass communication, focusing on

public communication, and playing a pivotal role in the process of public
communication. Since the evolution of mass media, communication
scholars have observed the trends of effects of these developed and
upcoming mass mediums, transforming the mindset and attitudes of the
content receiver, and developed several theories indicating the positive and
negative sides of the media.
These communication theories were divided into four categories, each
category having its characteristics. These categories differ from one another
by distinguishing between the perception of media, the content it delivers,
and its impact on the audience. These categories of communication theories
were observed and defined in different eras of mass communication namely,
the era of mass society and mass culture, the era of scientific perspective,
the trend of cultural perspective, and the trend of contemporary meaning-
making. Theories developed in these different era causes different types of
media effects, known as, micro-macro level of media effects, content-
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PR Theory and Practice specific and diffuse general effect, the effect of attitudinal vs behavioural
vs cognitive change, and the effect of alteration vs stabilization.
In the field of public relations, it is important to understand how media
being the mediator of sender and receiver can or can not persuade the
audience with different persuasion theories like the theory of beliefs,
attitudes, theory of reasoned action, social judgement theory, and an
elaboration likelihood model. It is also important for public relations
practitioners to understand how media can cultivate new perceptions
amongst the audience, and how audiences use media to gratify their certain
needs.

8.7 QUESTIONS

1. Explain the history of mass communication theories?

2. Explain the cause-effect relationship between media and audience?
3. What is social judgement theory? explain its application with
reference to public relations.
4. Explain the application of cultivation theory in public relations?
5. Why it is important for public relations practitioners to understand the
uses and gratification theory?

8.8 REFERENCES

Al-Suqri, M.N., & Al-Kharusi, R.M. (2015). Ajzen and Fishbein's Theory
of Reasoned Action (TRA) (1980).
Bailey, K. D. (1994). Methods of Social Research. Simon and Schuster.
https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Methods_of_Social_Research.html
?id=PVDQHrCezMoC&redir_esc=y
Baran, S. J., & Davis, D. K. (2012). Mass Communication Theory:
Foundations, Ferment, and Future. Cengage Learning.
Daiton. (2004, September 16). Explaining Theories of Persuasion. Sage
Publication. https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-
binaries/4985_Dainton_Chapter_5.pdf
Introductory guide to persuasion in communication studies. (n.d.). In
Communication research guides. Masters in communications.
https://www.mastersincommunications.com/research/persuasion/
Lordan, E. J., & Travis, E. S. (2020). Public Relations Theory. SAGE
Publications.
O’Keefe, D. J. (2015). Persuasion: Theory and Research. SAGE
Publications.
Simons, H. W., Gronbeck, B. E., & Morreale, J. (2001). Persuasion in
Society (H. W. Simons, Ed.). SAGE Publications.

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Sherif, M., & Hovland, C. I. (1961). Social judgment: Assimilation and Communication Theories
with Special Reference
contrast effects in communication and attitude change. New Haven, CT: to Persuasion Theory,
Yale University Press. Cultivation Theory and
Uses and Gratifications
Sherif, C.W., Sherif, M., & Nebergall, R. E. (1965). Attitudes and attitude Theory
change: The social judgment-involvement approach. Philadelphia, PA: W.
B. Saunders.
Sparks, G. G. (2012). Media Effects Research: A Basic Overview. Cengage
Learning.



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PR Theory and Practice
9
UNDERSTANDING EVOLUTION OF MASS
MEDIA AND MASS COMMUNICATION
WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO INDIA
Unit structure
9.0 Objectives
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Methods of early communication: Cave paintings, oral
communication
9.3 Introduction to written communication
9.3.1 Phases in written text
9.4 Invention and evolution of the Mass mediums
9.4.1 Printing press
9.4.2 Telegraph
9.4.3 Radio
9.4.4 Television
9.4.5 Cinema
9.5 Mass Media and mass communication in India
9.5.1 Printing press and the freedom struggle
9.5.2 History of Radio in India: Introduction, community
development
9.5.3 Television in India
9.5.4 Cinema in India
9.6 Mass media and Development Communication in India
9.6.1 Key Initiative of Mass Communication in India
9.6.2 Radio: Radio Rural forums, Sangam Radio, Gyaan Vaani, Print
media: Village Chhatera
9.7 Let's sum it up
9.8 Questions
9.9 References

9.0 OBJECTIVES
Societies throughout the history of civilization have felt the need to
communicate. The need for communication arose from the facts of sharing
an opinion and passing knowledge of heritage and even culture to new
members of the society. Human beings are creative by nature, which gives
birth to various ideas; these ideas are what one wants to share with others.
Being a social animal, communication is also a need, just like food, clothing
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and shelter. In this unit, we will learn how communication evolved Understanding evolution
throughout human civilization. We will also dig deeper into how it evolved, of mass media and mass
communication with
particularly in India and how it shaped people's culture and language and specific reference
ideas. By the end of this unit, you will be able to. to India

Describe the methods of early communication

Understand the importance of written communication
Categorize different inventions of different mass mediums and the changes
they bought to the Indian society.
Analyze the use of mass media for developmental communication
Jot down key mass communication Initiatives in India

9.1 INTRODUCTION
Human communication didn't simply start with letters or words themselves.
The first step toward mass communication was through drawings on the
walls of the caves. This happened around 25,000 years ago, and to date,
cave paintings are the oldest known records of human communication. The
story of communication and its evolution continues even today; just because
we see several languages does not mean that communication has stopped
evolving. Today we are not looking at communication just in terms of
language. We are trying to understand how communication is used in
advertising in public relations in developmental communication. It has
come a long way from cave paintings today; we are trying to see how
scientific communication has evolved and how it impacts society. The word
"communication" is descended from the Latin noun communication, which
means sharing or imparting.

9.2 METHODS OF EARLY COMMUNICATIONS

Cave paintings: Long before any language was invented, ancient cave
paintings were the most primitive form of communication. Our ancestors
used pigments created from fruits or minerals to depict the daily life on
walls of these caves. Paintings depicted hunting, social life (handprints of
every clan member on the walls), drawing of tools etc. Scholars concluded
that the sole reason for these paintings was to communicate with the next
generation and pass on the instructions as to what was safe to hunt/eat and
the tools to use.
Oral communication: Oral communication plays a major role in Asian
cultures through oral communication cultures that pass on various cultural
standards, traditions and knowledge to the next generation. The best
example of verbal communication in India is the Vedas. The Vedic oral
tradition" is a broad rubric for traditions of recitation and ritual connected
to India's oldest Sanskrit texts, the Vedas, which were orally composed,
compiled, and codified during the late 2nd millennium and early 1st
millennium BCE. From that time into the early 21st century, the Vedas have
been orally transmitted with great fidelity within certain orthodox
communities of Brahmins, members of India's priestly caste, whose social
status is founded on their role as transmitters and interpreters of this sacred
"knowledge" (veda). 97
PR Theory and Practice 9.3 INTRODUCTION TO WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

Although alphabets developed around the world over 5000 years ago,
alphabets like hieroglyphics changed the way cultures communicated, still
written communication remained ambiguous. The Greeks and the Romans
resolved the issue by assigning a syllable with alphabets sounds, thus
making it easier to pen down and read. But still, since there was no material
to pen this down and circulate among the masses, written language was still
inefficient. Eventually, China perfected the paper-making process and
shared it with other regions via the trade-routes. The seeds of mass
communication's future were sown. This particular milestone changed the
way cultures transmitted knowledge, traditions and values. This paved the
way for written communication to be possible. Individuals who couldn't
access the paper used vellum to write on, which was made from calfskin.
Written languages started with the development of alphabets worldwide
over 5000 years ago. This developed into ideogrammatic alphabets, (picture
based) that are like hieroglyphics changed the way culture communicated.
But written communication was still confusing and could not reach the
masses until Greeks and Romans solved this. They established a syllable
alphabet representing sounds. However, it was still inefficient because
written language was inefficient without something to write on.
9.3.1 Phases in written texts
Once languages were established, the majority of the texts around the 7th-
13th century were religious in nature written by scholars. During this time
writing and reading was prevalent among the wealthy people. Post 13th
century, books promoting secular thoughts and knowledge became famous.
This was because of the rise of universities in various parts of the world.
The majority of the books were handwritten or printed with woodblocks,
made from mulberry wood.

9.4 INVENTION AND EVOLUTION OF THE MASS

MEDIUMS

9.4.1 The printing press

Johannes Gutenberg, born in Germany invented the first printing system, he
revolutionized the ways books were written/printed. He developed the metal
movable types that had screws, presses and other existing technologies of
that time to create a printing press. This method used ink and paper, allowed
for books to be mass produced, and lowered the cost. Slowing the printing
press spread from Germany to other parts of the countries. This stressed
many rulers of that time as they feared that the masses could rise against the
authorities—this insecurity brought with itself lots of regulations and rules
on the printing press. The printing press made written communication
available to the masses, it also gave voice to the people. It was one of the
most significant inventions in human history.

98
98
9.4.2 Telegraph Understanding evolution
of mass media and mass
communication with
Although written communication was seen as a much-advanced way of specific reference
communicating during early times soon, there was a need to communicate to India
much quicker and across geographical boundaries. This need gave birth to
the invention of the Telegraph. William Watson invented the Telegraph it
was used to send messages in 1747. This invention allowed for quicker
communication across long distances, something not available previously.
This piece of the medium was invented particularly for war as it helps
transmit important information through long distances. Since Telegraph
transmitted information via wires, telegraph stations had to be set up along
the railroads, Where poles had to be erected. However, this technology was
not available to the lower classes of society due to the cost involved. This
invention further gave birth to the idea of the telephone but the telephone
didn't become that famous due to the higher cost needed for the instruments.
Also, since this technology was not much different from the Telegraph, it
also required wires to transmit messages.
9.4.3 Radio
The invention of Radio was the first step toward wireless communication.
It all started with discovering radio waves and their capacity to transmit
speeches, music and other data invisibly through the air. The Radio played
a massive role in India's community development and education. The
invention of the Radio is credited to Guglielmo Marconi. As a young man
Marconi read the biography or Heinrich Hertz, who had written on wireless
transmission. Marconi duplicated the experiment and was successful in
sending transmissions from one side of the attic to the other. The invention
was first used by naval ships to communicate with other ships. But soon, its
potential as a mass medium was later realized.
9.4.4 Television
During the Second World War, the Radio's popularity skyrocketed as
televisions were not equipped to provide accurate and timely news, but that
began to change in the 40s. Television became commercially available for
the masses in late 30s, and it started becoming a standard household
communication device in homes institutions and also a source of
entertainment and news. In 1926, Scottish television pioneer John Logie
Baird (1888-1946) demonstrated the first television system.
9.4.5 Cinema
The word cinema has its roots in the lasting spelling of the Greek work
Kinema, meaning motion. The related words for cinema are celluloid, film,
movie house, and movie theatre. The invention of cinema is not credited to
a single person. In 1891, the Edison company successfully demonstrated a
prototype of the Kinetoscope that enabled a person to view moving pictures.
This was an immediate success. The first to present projected moving
pictures were the Lumière brothers in 1895 in Paris, France. They had used
their device called as Cinematographe. These films lasted for a few minutes
or less and didn't have synchronized dialogues.
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PR Theory and Practice 9.5 MASS MEDIA AND MASS COMMUNICATION IN
INDIA

9.5.1 Printing press: The first-ever Printing press was established in

Bombay; the second happened to be in Madras and the third in Kolkata. The
Britishers were responsible for bringing the printing press to India. In India,
the first newspaper was introduced by James Augustus Hicky. It was a
commercial paper that was open to everyone to subscribe to, and it did not
favour any particular sect of the society. The newspaper included mostly
gossip and rumours and exposed people's private lives at high places. James
Augustus Hicky's Bengal gazette didn't do much in terms of education or
awareness, but it started the trend of using newspapers to inform the masses
in India. This medium proved to be most helpful in India's freedom struggle
as several papers that were fighting for India's freedom struggle
communicated their ideas via newspapers. Newspapers that actively
participated in India's freedom struggle were Vande Mataram, Kesari,
Maratha, Amrita Bazaar Patrika, and National Herald. These newspapers
had a tough time during the British era in India as they faced many ruthless
laws and regulations. But it didn't suppress the growth and development of
the press in the country.
9.5.2 Radio in India
Introduction
The radio spectrum that we know today is a part of the electromagnetic
spectrum. It has frequencies from 30 Hz to 300 GHz, and electromagnetic
waves in this range are called as radio waves. It is widely used in modern
technology, particularly telecommunication, to prevent interference and
disturbance between users. The generation and transmission of radio waves
are regulated by laws, which is coordinated by an international body.
The set-up of a private radio station in Chennai in 1924 marks the beginning
of the history of radio broadcasting in india. It was followed by setting up
broadcasting services in India that started in June 1927 on an experimental
basis in Bombay and Calcutta at the same time. However, the responsible
company (Indian Broadcasting company limited) for setting up these radio
stations in India faced liquidation three years later. Since the company went
bankrupt, this called for the Indian government to take charge of the
broadcasting in India. The state began its broadcasting operations under the
new name of the Indian State Broadcasting Corporation. For convenience
purposes and because Indian could not pronounce such a difficult name,
Lionel Fielden radio's first controller changed its name to All India Radio
in 1936. Later on, in 1957, it came to be known as Akashvani, and was
managed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Community development
Radio in India was an essential means of mass communication due to certain
key characteristics of Radio as a medium. The state provided radio
transmitters in the start to various communities to keep them updated with
100
100 the different government policies and changes. The government started with
the community radio programs to connect with the people living cut off Understanding evolution
of mass media and mass
from the city life and in remote areas: community stations or graphic communication with
communities and communities of interest. The community radio content is specific reference
relevant to local audiences and is overlooked by mass-media broadcasters. to India

Search radio stations are operated on and influenced by communities

themselves; it provides an opportunity to represent people from different
ethnic, social and religious backgrounds and gender.
9.5.3 Television in India
Television came to India on 15th September 1959 as an experiment. It
started with offering a two-hour programme for a week. Initially, the
programmes were for school children and farmers. Several community
television sets were distributed as a part of the Satellite Instructional
Television Experiment (SITE). Under this programme, the Indian
government used the American satellite to broadcast educational
programmes to the Indian villages. Later in 1982, Doordarshan telecasted
the 9th Asian Games using INSAT 1 Satellite.
The introduction of communication channels was a huge step in bringing
in the private channels in our country. Private channels started in India in
the 1990s post CNNs broadcasting of the gulf war. Hong Kong based STAR
TV entered India while Zee Tv was born.
9.5.4 Cinema in India
In India, cinema started with short films production. Director Hiralal Sen
directed the first short film in India named The Flower of Persia in the year
1898. The very well known Dadasaheb Phalke produced the first full-length
motion picture in India. Phalke's stories was derived from the Sanskrit epic.
The name of the motion picture was Raja Harish Chandra; produced in the
year 1913 and was a silent film. Soon after sound could be synced with the
actors' actions, the film companies had to invest in newer equipment to
allow the functioning of this new technology. The first Indian talking film
was Alam Ara, by Adeshir Irani, released in the year 1931. With further
development in sound technology, movies soon started incorporating
musicals in the cinema. India got its first colour film Kissan Kanya in 1937,
and it was the first Hindi feature film directed by Moti B. Gidwani.

9.6 MASS MEDIA AND DEVELOPMENT

COMMUNICATION IN INDIA
Mass media is not just a medium for entertainment, but it is also a medium
for information and education. Ever since the introduction of mass media
into our country, India has given utmost importance to the idea of education
and information dissemination. Since the Britishers were thrown out of this
country it was left up to the Indians to build our society. It was left up to
our leaders to propel the economy and the society forward. But this could
not be done just with the help of a few leaders; the community needed to
participate in the growth process as well. This required for the masses to be
educated to be literate and if not literate be able to understand government
policies. This need gives rise to the idea of development communication.
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PR Theory and Practice Development communication goes beyond providing just the information.
It helps people understand the values and beliefs of social and cultural
norms. The government started using media on two levels; the first level,
mass media often used television radio and print media in campaigns to
induce adoption of innovation or other changes in behaviour. The second
was community media. Through the use of Radio and other folk
expressions, it gave the communities a platform to voice their opinions and
discuss issues.
The development of communication in India started with the Radio. There
were radios with different languages that would discuss agriculture, farming
and other related subjects for different regions. Even with the advent of
television in India, through Doiordarshan India was concentrating only on
programmes on agriculture; many of you might have seen the Khrshi
Darshan programme on Doordarshan. Print media played a great part in
developmental communication after independence when India adopted the
five-year plan strategy. Through print media, various themes of these plans
were constantly discussed in everyday newspaper.
9.6.1 Key features of developmental communication
It is aimed at the socio-economic development of the community
It is more than just entertainment, it focuses on education and information
It emphasizes participatory communication
It believes in two-way communication
9.6.2 Few key Initiatives of Development Communication in India
Radio Rural Forums
In 1956, UNESCO selected India for the Radio Rural Forums Project
experiment. Pune was the first site for this experiment. Under this
experiment village, radio forums were created and made to listen to radio
programs broadcasted by the AIR and then discuss the content of the
program; the theme of the experiment was to 'listen, discuss and act'. The
outcome of this experiment was that the forums helped unify the villages
around common decisions and acts.
Sangam Radio
Pastapur village in the Sangareddy district, Telangana, runs a community
radio. The speciality of this community radio is that it is run by women and
discusses issues related to women and society. This village is at a distance
of 110 km from Hyderabad. The Deccan development society took up this
initiative.
Gyan Vani Radio
Gyanvani is an FM band radio station broadcasting educational
programmes in several cities of India. It contains content pertaining to
primary and secondary education, adult education and technical and
vocational education. The Gyan Vani FM radio was started in 2001 as a
network of educational FM radio channels.
102
102
Print Media - Project Village Chhatera Understanding evolution
of mass media and mass
communication with
The initiative was taken by Hindustan Times. The newspaper regularly specific reference
wrote fortnightly columns describing the people's lives and their to India
expectations from the Panchayat; they also attached photographs as fruits.
They helped people voice their demands of electricity and water supply
deficit rainfall. Since the problem was getting printed in a newspaper and
was getting circulated it attracted attention of the authorities and many of
the problems that this villagers were facing with water were solved. The
coverage given by the media brought machine bridges, roads and banks into
the.

9.7 LET'S SUM IT UP

This unit gives a holistic view of the history of mass communication
throughout the world and in India. We have come a long way from writing
on Cave walls for communication to the digital form of media in terms of
communication. So much so that today we think of communication in terms
of community development, education and information. Whenever every
kind of mass medium was introduced in the country from time to time was
widely accepted and put to better use. As a country, we had a lot to learn
about nutrition, farming, policies and other cultures. India made the best use
of the mediums by providing people with this information. Shows like
Krishi Darshan and initiatives like rural radio forums changed how people
viewed their daily lives. The mass media's journey in India has been majorly
that of developmental communication.

9.8 QUESTIONS
1. _____ invented the telegraph, it was used to send messages in 1747.
A. William Watson
B. Marconi
C. Marshall Mc luhan
D. Edison
2. The first to present projected moving pictures were the _____in 1895,
in Paris, France.
A. Dadasaheb Phalke
B. Lumière brothers
C. Adeshir Irani
D. Satyajit Ray
3. Describe the methods of early communication? Answer in four-five
sentences
4. What is the history of Radio in India? Explain its evolution?
5. Elaborate upon India and development communication?

9.9 REFERENCES
Mass Communication in India Keval J Kumar

 103
PR Theory and Practice
10
PRINT MEDIA IN INDIA
Unit structure
10.0 Objectives
10.1 Introduction
10.2 The history of the Press
10.2.1 Evolution of printing
10.3 History of the press in India
10.3.1 The issue of censorship
10.3.2 Acts and laws to silence the press
10.4 Pioneers of the press in India
10.5 Press after Independence
10.5.1 First Press Commission
10.5.2 Second Press Commission
10.6 Press Council of India- History
10.6.1 Functions of the PCI
10.7 Constitution and Freedom of Press
10.8 Press in India Today
10.9 Let's sum it up
10.10 Questions
10.11 References

10.0 OBJECTIVES

This unit seeks to explain the history of printing and its various types. We
shall discuss what is the meaning of the word press and how it developed in
India. By the time you have read this unit, you will be able to
1. Describe how and when did the print media evolve around the world
2. Understand the evolution of printing
3. Articulate the struggle of the press in India during its inception
4. Examine the status of the media in India after Independence
5. Analyze the ideas and recommendations made by two Press
Commissions in India
6. Evaluate the present status of the Press in India

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10.1 INTRODUCTION Print Media in India

The history of printing in India is a story of a struggle to freely communicate

with each other, to express opinions, thoughts and ideas. As a media student,
one must be aware of the efforts to understand the value and freedom to
communicate that we enjoy today. In Indian print history, few individuals
like James Augusts Hicky, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, and few key freedom
fighters were the pioneers of newspapers in India. Their ideas will be
discussed at length in this unit.

10.2 THE HISTORY OF THE PRESS

In the last units, we studied that before printing was possible, information
usually would be either inscribed on the walls of temples or on copper
plates. In different parts of the world, announcements related to monarchy's
decision on any issue would be carried out by beating drums across the
village and announcing the same. But things change with the invention of
paper and the printing press. In an apparent chronology, the paper was
invented first by the Chinese, and it reached Europe in the 16th century. The
paper was made from the bark of a mulberry tree. The straws of the tree
were pressed into flat sheets and dried. After the invention of the moveable
cast metal type printing machines by Johannes Gutenberg, the whole
printing scene changed from thereon. The first attempt at the modern type
of newspaper was made in the year 1621; it was a primitive-looking news
sheet called Coranto in London. Although it was not regular in frequency,
it did set the need for more information on a daily basis. This gave birth to
'Diurnals', which were developed for daily reports of local news.
10.2.1 Evolution of printing
Woodblock Printing- 200 AD: As the name suggests, it involves carving
the writing material or design in the wood. Once carved the raised part is
inked and placed on top of the fabric/paper. The ink is transferred by
applying pressure to the paper. The remaining woodcuts can be used for
other decorative design purposes.
Movable type: This is similar to woodcut. Before woodcut, the whole
carving had to be done once on a single piece of wood. However, the
moveable type allowed individual letters to be placed differently wherever
needed to form a word. The moveable type was first made from clay; later,
wood and metal were introduced.
The first printing press: Gutenberg is responsible for the invention of the
media. This method was innovative but was built on the movable type
technique. The very first book mass-produced by this technique was the
'The Gutenberg Bible' in 1455; around 180 copies were printed.
Etching: This involved making prints from a metal plate, either copper or
zinc.

105
PR Theory and Practice Lithography: Lithography printing involves oil and water, which repel
each other. This technique uses flat stone or metal plate, and areas are
worked using a greasy substance so that the ink will stick to them, while the
non-image areas are made ink-repellent.
Offset Printing: This is the most famous type of printing, despite being
developed almost 150 years ago. This technique transfers ink from a plate
to a rubber blanket and then to the printing space.
Inkjet printing: With inkjet printing, direct contact with the paper is no
longer required.

10.3 HISTORY OF PRESS IN INDIA

On a technical basis, the press means the machinery in which we print a

paper that becomes a journal, magazine, periodical, pamphlets, leaflets or a
book. But sometimes, this term is also used for people that are journalists-
part of news agencies, news syndicates and feature agencies form a part of
the term press. In India, newsletters are the earlier form of newspapers.
During the times of the Mughal period. These manuscripts were the sole
source of information about the changes and developments happening in the
kingdom. This practice continued until James Augustus hickey started his
newspaper 'Bengal Gazette' in 1780. When press was introduced in India, it
catered only to the interests of the ruling class during the British rule. The
East India company was always suspicious of the functioning of the
journalist and was intolerant to any criticism. Bengal Gazette or Calcutta
General Advertiser success gave birth to more newspapers across India. In
1780, Bernard Messink and Peter Reed started a newspaper called as Indian
Gazette, which was to some extent a voice of the East India Company in
India. Further, the country saw the birth of the Calcutta Gazette in 1784,
Bengal Journal by William Duane and Thomas Jones in 1785, Madras
Courier in 1785, Madras Gazette in 1795 and India Herald in 1796.
10.3.1 The issue of censorship
Many local newspapers started coming up in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras,
but most of them had a short life. The newspaper that once was seen as a
source of gossip and rumour and was not taken seriously gradually started
creating inconveniences for the East India Company in India. It happened
because people around started taking the content of the newspaper
seriously, many writers began voicing their opinion against the East India
company. This called for the imposition of censorship on the press. The first
censorship was introduced in Madras in 1795 on the newspaper The Madras
Gazette, and they were required to submit all the materials meant for
publications.
10.3.2 Acts and Laws To Silence the Press
The start of the 19th century was a real struggle for the press to keep
functioning; they would frequently face confiscation of machinery, thrown
into prison, seizing of the deposit money for the media and constant
106
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harassment from the EIC. Lord Wellesley and Warren Hastings started the Print Media in India
rigid control of the press.
First Press regulations of 1799: This regulation made it mandatory for the
newspapers to print the name and addresses of printers, editors and
publishers. However, these regulations were later abolished during the term
of Warren Hastings in 1813. This is the earliest law for the press. Despite
the start of stricter control, many new newspapers were introduced. In 1823,
the first government lithographic press set up at Calcutta (In Bombay in
1824) and the first Hindi paper 'Udunt Martund' was brought out in Calcutta.
Adams Regulations 1818: This gave some breather to the editors, but still
contents of the newspapers were closely scrutinized. Around 1821, despite
strict rules, Raja Ram Mohan roy started weekly publications of Sambad
Kaumudi In Bengali and Murat-up-Akhtar in Persian.
Gagging Act 1857: The act brought in mandatory licences from the
government for owning, running a printing press. It gave more power to the
government to prohibit the publication or circulation of newspapers that
seem not to follow certain rules. It empowered the government to ban
publications or disseminate statements of news stories that could incite
hatered or cause Contempt for the government, stirring unlawful resistance
to weaken the authority. This act was later abolished in June 1858. In 1860,
the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was passed. Even though it was for all sorts of
offences, the offences specific to press like defamation and obscenity were
also included in the IPC.
Vernacular Press Act: After the 1857 revolution, the war for freedom had
received a substantial setback; press censorship after the war became more
blatant. During this time the responsibility of governance of India was
shifted from the East India Company to the Crown of England. In the
revolution of 1857 number of newspapers such as The Hindu, Indian Mirror,
Bangalore, Patriot influenced public opinion at length. The famous
newspaper Amrita Bazar Patrika which was printed in Bengali until now
changed over to the English language and changed the course of journalism
drastically. This period witnessed a big boom in the Indian language press.
Newspapers were now available in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Punjabi etc. These
newspapers advocated for free speech and propagated liberal ideas, which
worried the colonial rulers. Due to this reason, the Vernacular Press act was
passed on March 1, 1878, to control the newspapers.
Indian Press Act 1910: This had strict censorship on all publications. This
act empowered the government to demand security deposits, which could
be forfeited if found printing any objectionable matter. In addition, police
were granted the power to perform searches and size the publication content
if they felt so. This law was harsh, but its vigorous enforcement made life
difficult for editors and journalists. There were no fewer than 355 cases
between 1910-and 1914.
The laws and acts to suppress the freedom of speech didn't end with this.
India had to endure further restrictions. There were restrictions imposed on
newsgathering through Kaleidoscope and the display of pictures in 107
PR Theory and Practice newspapers. Other laws such as official secrets act, Incitement of offences
act was added in the Indian Penal code. There were more rules, such as the
Defence of India act and others. During the Second World War the situation
for the Indian press worsened as the government-controlled the flow of
every single International news that was coming in.

10.4 PIONEERS OF PRESS IN INDIA

Raja Ram Mohan Roy: He was considered the father of the Indian Press by
Jawaharlal Nehru. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a scholar, thinker and a social
reformer. He used print media to put forth his liberal thoughts. He published
Brahmanical Magazine in English. He published Sambad Kaumudi in
Bengali, a news weekly dealing with political,social and religious subjects.
He also published a newspaper in the Persian language named - Murat-ul-
Akhbar.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak: He was widely seen as the first leader of the
Independence movement. His two publications Kesari in Marathi and
Mahratta in english regularly critiqued the britishers on several occasions.
The publication initially was started along with Gopal Agarkar and
Vishnushastri Chiplunklar, both noted figures of the Indian freedom
struggle. However, he was later on imprisoned on charges of sedition after
he wrote an article voicing his support to the revolutionaries who tried
assassinating the Chief Presidency Magistrate.
G. Subramania Iyer: He established two prominent newspapers: The
Hindu (published till date) and Swadesamitran (Tamil newspaper). He
started Hindu to write about the Indian freedom movement to incite feelings
of patriotism among the people. Due to his clear expression in support of
the freedom fighters, he would constantly be caught up in defamation cases.
Madan Mohan Malaviya: He is popularly known as the founder of the
Banaras Hindu University. He sated the English daily title 'The Leader' in
1909 along with Motilala Nehru. His publications were politically oriented,
and his published several of Mahatma Gandhi's works. Malaviya once saved
Hindustan Times' publication from coming to a standstill by raising rupees
50,000 to acquire the news agency. Later he chaired the news agency from
1924 to 1946.
Syed Fazl-ul-Hasan: He was an Indian activist, freedom fighter and a note
Urdu poet, also known by his pen name Hasrat Mohani. He coined the
famous term Inquilab Zindabad(meaning Long live the revolution!) . Along
with Swami Kumaranand, he is considered the first Indian to demand
complete Independence for India in 1921, during the Ahmedabad Session
of the Indian National Congress. He also published Urdu-e-Moalla, which
was a magazine

10.5 PRESS AFTER INDEPENDENCE

The press enquiry committee was right after our Independence in 1947, to
examine the press laws and whether they were in line with the fundamental
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rights formulated by the constituent assembly. Later on A press commission Print Media in India
was set up under Justice Rajadhyaksha in 1954.
10.5.1 First Press Commission - 1954
The commission submitted the annual report in 1954, making several vital
recommendations. It helped in constituting several institutions and
systematically organizing the profession of journalism.It recommended
establishing a Press Council, whose objectives would be to ensure and
safeguard freedom of the press, censor objectionable journalistic conduct,
and encourage responsibility and the thought of public service.vIt also
recommended the appointment of a wage board for the working journalists.
Recommendations for the appointment of the Registrar of Newspapers of
India were also made. The office of the RNI was created on July1, 1956
10.5.2 Second Press Commission 1978
The government of India established the second press commission on May
29, 1978. The recommendations made by the committee clearly states that
it did not want the press to become a mindless adversary nor be an
unquestioning ally. It wanted the press to play a responsible role in the
development process of the Indian society and economy. It wants the press's
powers to reach the very grassroots level in the community to give people
the opportunity to voice their opinion. Second press commission suggested
the press should be widely accessible to the people if it is to reflect their
aspirations and problems.
Other key recommendations were the establishment of a newspaper
development commission, a body to promote the press's development in
directions that will facilitate the growth in particular of Indian language
newspapers of whatever circulation category and of local interest and other
publications small and medium size in terms of circulation.
It also recommended the removal of section 5 from the official secrets act.
That deals with the disclosure of the sources by the journalist. Presently in
India the journalists are generally not asked to reveal their sources. While
at the same time, if circumstances demand, the Court can ask for it. There
is no law prohibiting the Court from asking the press to divulge the sources.
Public interest demands that truth should be revealed in some cases but at
the same it is also in the public interest that individual privacy and
confidence should be protected in society.

10.6 PRESS COUNCIL OF INDIA - HISTORY

The key reason for constituting a Press Council for the Indian press was to
maintain and improve the standards of the media. The Press Council is
governed under the Press Council of India Axr 1978. PCI is an a statutory,
autonomous, and quasi-judicial body that acts as the press's watchdog. It
handles the matter of violations of the freedom of the press and also deals
with press for violations of any ethics. The revenue for the working of the
press council of India comes from the fee levied on the registered
newspapers. No fees are levied on newspaper with a circulation of less than 109
PR Theory and Practice 5000 copies. The act provides for the selection of the chairman by a
committee consisting of the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the speaker of
Lok Sabha and a person elected by the council members from among
themselves. The term for the chairman and the member council is for three
years.
10.6.1 Functions of the Press Council of India
1. It safeguards the Independence of the newspapers
2. It constructs a code of conduct having high professional standards
3. It emphasizes the promotion of technical and other research-related
areas related to the news.
4. It helps in providing training to new journalists.
5. It ensures the spread of news all over India
6. It ensures supply of newspaper from one place to another
7. It helps promote the proper functioning of and processing of the
newspaper.
8. It keeps review of all the production, functioning of the newspaper
9. It ensures that both entertainment and information are balanced in a
newspaper, which will help people understand their rights and
responsibilities.

10.7 CONSTITUTION AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH

The fundamental rights are found in part 3 of the Indian constitution in

articles 12-36, as there are 24 articles. These rights are not absolute and are
subject to reasonable restrictions. All citizen’s fundamental rights can be
suspended except the one guaranteed in Articles 20 and 21. The
fundamental rights get suspended only during article 352, which states that
the President can proclaim an emergency if he believes that a situation
whereby the security of the country is threatened. Following are the
fundamental rights of an Indian citizen.
Right to equality (14-18)
Right to liberty (19-22)
Right against exploitation (23-24)
Right to freedom of religion (25-28)
Cultural and educational rights (29-30)
Right to constitutional remedies (art 32)
The Indian constitution does not have separate laws on freedom of speech
for media. But there is an indirect way in which there is a provision for
media freedom. This freedom comes from article 19(1)(a). The article
guarantees freedom of speech and expression, which the country’s mass
media enjoys too. However, this is not an absolute right. Our constitution
also has some restrictions in the form of Article 19 (2). This article lays
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down certain reasonable restrictions; for example, Contempt of Court is one Print Media in India
of the reasonable restrictions under this article of the Indian constitution.

10.8 PRESS IN INDIA TODAY

Today India has newspapers in several languages with more than over 1
lakh different publications. These registrations are done with the Registrar
of newspapers for India. The prominent Hindi newspapers are Dainik
Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujwala, Navbharat Times. Dainik Jagran is
the most read Hindi daily, with Dainik Bhaskar being the second most
popular. The prominent newspapers in English are The Times of India, set
up in 1838 and The Bombay Times, both owned by The Times group. In
recent times the press in India has witnessed a paradigm shift. Everything
today has gone digital. Newspapers and magazines are available online.
With the explosion in the number of internet users globally, media
consumption has genuinely gone digital. Content providers, including
media are tweaking a variety of content to suit the demand of new users.
With free content available on the majority of websites, including free news.
It has become crucial for the media companies to survive at a stage where
information is given for free and at the same time look to monetize it.
Despite the new headwinds, digital media companies have created a space
and have a decent online presence. With the explosion in internet use and
better connectivity, news reading habits of individuals are shifting too.
Today, many newspapers online have a section that simply summarises the
news for its audience. It goes under different names on different websites,
such as Hindustan Times has a ‘quick reads’ section, while the well-known
app on google play ‘Inshorts’ provides news articles in simply 60 words.

10.9 LET’S SUM IT UP

We traced the development of the press since the inception of the printing
technique and right to the very present situation of the print media in our
country today. After the advent of the Bengal Gazette, many newspapers
came into existence but lived a short life due to severe restrictions from the
East India Company in India. Many legal rules and restrictions were
imposed on the press. The war of Independence in 1857 further stringent
the rules imposed on the printing press. This gave birth to many new leaders,
thinkers and journalists. From 1914 to 1947, the freedom struggle gained
momentum. The picture of the Indian press completely changed after 1947.
Our first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was a strong supporter of the
freedom of the press; the Indian press, in his leadership, once again gained
momentum.

10.10 QUESTIONS
1. _____ were developed for daily reports of local news.
A. Diurnal said
B. Books
C. Coranto
D. Files
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PR Theory and Practice 2. _______printing involves oil and water, which repel each other. This
technique uses flat stone or metal plate, and areas are worked using a
greasy substance
A. Inkjet printing
B. Etching
C. Lithography
D. Woodblock printing

3. The ____ act brought in mandatory licences from the government for
owning, running a printing press.
A. Gagging Act
B. Adam’s Regulations
C. Vernacular Press Act
D. Indian Press Act

4. ______ Press Commission did not want the press to become a

mindless adversary nor be an unquestioning ally.
A. First
B. Second
C. Third
D. Fourth

5. Explain in three to five to six sentences, the evolution of the printing

press?
6. Describe the inception of the printing press in India, and what
followed after that? Answer in brief.
7. Explain the functions of the press council of India?
8. How would you describe the press in India today in your own words?

10.11 REFERENCES

1. Press in India G.S.C Raghavan

2. Handbook of Journalism and Mass Communication by V. S. Gupta
and Vir Bala Aggarwal

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 11
ELECTRONIC MEDIA AND DIGITAL
MEDIA IN INDIA
Unit structure
11.0 Objectives
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Electronic Media in India
11.2.1 Radio and its key developments
11.2.2 Television and its key developments
11.3 Types of Media ownership
11.4 Regulation in Television
11.4.1 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
11.4.2 Broadcast Audience Research Council
11.4.3 Indian Broadcasting Foundation
11.5 Digital Media- Introduction
11.6 What all digital media includes
11.7 Features of Digital media
11.8 Developments in the Digital media
11.8.1 Digitization of Print media
11.8.2 Digitisation of Television
11.8.3 Digitisation of Radio
11.9 Paradigm shift in the content of digital media
11.10 Theories of digital media
11.11 Let's sum it up
11.12 Questions
11.13 References

11.0 OBJECTIVES
Ever since the electronic way of communication was introduced, it has been
a boon for society at large as it facilitates speedy information gathering and
dissemination. This speedy movement of messages across the globe has
turned the world today into a 'global village' (term used by Marshall Mc
Luhan). Both electronic and digital media have changed our ability to store
and exchange information. In the last unit, we studied the situation of print
media in India. In this unit, we will look at the evolution and status of
electronic media in India. By the end of this unit, the learner will be able to
Describe the growth of electronic media in India
Summarise the self-regulation bodies of the Television industry.
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PR Theory and Practice Differentiation between types of media ownership
Articulate the changes brought by digitization in the old media
Evaluate a paradigm shift in the content of digital media.

11.1 INTRODUCTION
As the name suggests, electronic media is the one where information is
shared through an electronic medium. This electronic medium is an
advanced way of sharing information. The main types of electronic media
include television, mobile phones etc. An electronic medium is an upgrade
from the print medium in the sense that, in electronic media, Live show, live
reporting is possible as one can immediately update and broadcast the
information. Meanwhile, digital media is transmitted through digital data.
The message moves through digital cables or satellites, sending binary
signals 0s and 1s to devices that then decode it into text, pictures, videos
graphics and more. Anytime a person opens a web0-based system, they are
consuming digital media. Digital media today has many forms such as
videos, advertisements, music, podcasts, virtual reality or even digital art.

11.2 ELECTRONIC MEDIA IN INDIA

Broadcasting is one the most popular and famous mediums of
communicating with the masses. Although majority even today, prefer print
media for their daily news update. This has not changed the popularity of
broadcasting in India; in fact it is only spreading more rapidly today.
11.2.1 Radio and its key Developments
Radio broadcasting in India was first taken up by a group of young
enthusiasts who started operating radio clubs in India. It was during this
time that radio clubs were a huge success in Europe and the United States.
However, once the radio came into the hands of the colonial government, it
was renamed as Indian state broadcasting services. The name was later on
changed to All India Radio. The growth of AIR which was later known as
Akashvani, over the years has been phenomenal. Today AIR has a reach of
92% of the country's area and 99.91% of the total population. Until 1995,
the public broadcaster enjoyed the radio monopoly. Things changed after
the Supreme Court ruling in 1995 that declared India's airwaves as 'public
property. In 1999, the government of India allowed private players to enter
the FM Broadcasting sector. It had plans to offer 10-year licenses to private
players in across 40 cities. The private broadcasters were allowed to
broadcast music and entertainment-based programs. The private
broadcasters were not allowed to broadcast news or current affairs.
After this decision, few private broadcasters were interested in buying slots
for their radio channel. In 2001, the first private radio station Radio City
began functioning, and by the end of 2001 more 16 companies were issued
licenses to function as private FM radio. Some of the famous radio networks
are Sun TV, India FM radio, Hitz FM Radio India and others. However,
radio broadcasting in India is not a very popular industry and the advertising
revenues have been low for a long time.
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11.2.2Television and its key developments Electronic Media and
Digital Media in India
Up until 1990s, Doordarshan enjoyed the monopoly in broadcasting in
India. But the entry of private players such as CNN, Star Plus and Zee TV
in 1990s, changed the broadcasting business completely. Doordarshan
broadcasting was already very popular in the 1980s due to popular serials
such as Hum Log. This had triggered a breather demand for TV sets and
more such programs. The private television started in Maharashtra and
Gujarat through the private entrepreneurs. These private players wired the
apartment buildings and charged a money fee to transmit films and serials—
television broadcasting with the accessibility of foreign satellite channels.
During the gulf war, a private Hong Kong-based TV network, STAR-TV
became quite famous. By the year 2000, India had more than 40 private
television networks, including SONY, CNN, BBC and many more. Slowing
the Indian televisions became more entertainment-driven with a gradual
change in time. Today private networks dominate the market, and
advertisers are gaining a majority of the attention from prime time slots. The
leading private channels in India include MTV, Zee Tv, Sony and many
more.

11.3 TYPES OF MEDIA OWNERSHIP

There are four major types of media ownership
Chain Ownership: In chain ownership, a single media company owns
numerous outlets but in a single medium. For example, a company into the
newspaper publishing business will own newspapers in different languages
that can have different names as well as different styles of writing. Chain
ownership is most commonly seen in newspapers. The best example for the
same is the Times of India, Ananda Bazar Patrika, Hindustan Times etc.
Cross- Media Ownership: When a company operates in more than one
medium. For example, a company can have their own television channel
and can be an owner of a newspaper or a magazine. Cross-media ownerships
functions across various carriers. The best example for cross-media
ownership is Times Group, Network 18 Group, ABP Group, etc.
Conglomerate ownership: A conglomerate ownership owns several
businesses other than in the media business. For example, a publishing
company can be into other businesses such as manufacturing of paper,
rubber industry or chemical industry. Under such kind of ownership, the
main business of a company could be something that gives them a higher
profit, and they would be into media business only for prestige and power
and to be exercise political and social influence in the society. In India there
are six such media groups that are large conglomerates. They own
companies ranging from media distribution to network business. They own
newspapers, radio and TV channels.
Horizontal and Vertical Integration: Horizontal integration means a
media company having a presence across different mediums such as TV and
FM radio, magazine, books. This is beneficial for a company and generates
more revenue for the readers. Meanwhile, vertical integration means a
media company may own the newspaper business that is used later on for 115
PR Theory and Practice printing purpose, or may be an owner too of the ink that is used in the
printing. For example, a film company may not only make movies but also
distribute them in their own cinema chains.
Such type of media ownership can prove to be a hindrance for a developing
nation because it minimizes the chances of different opinions. To some
extent, the freedom of media is compromised too. Take a look at the
country's print media outlets, it is highly concentrated in the hands of four
key players. These include Dainik Jagran, Hindustan, Dainik Bhaskar and
Amar Ujwala. The key reason for media concentration in the hands of
certain few big players is that India does not have any law that prevents
media concentration. Certain self-regulatory bodies like the Broadcast
Audience Research Council, that measure television audiences and cater to
the interests of the industry they represent. There are other self-regulatory
bodies too, such as News Broadcasters Association (NBA) and Indian
Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) set the rules and practice self-regulation.
But these bodies do not control market concentration.

11.4 REGULATION IN TELEVISION

11.4.1 TRAI : Since 2004, the broadcasting sector in India has been
regulated by TRAI. This body has the power to regulate tariffs, including
the MRPs of the channel, it oversees the terms of interconnection between
broadcasters and distributors and sets the standards for quality of the service
at the consumer end. The parliament in India tried to establish a specialized
regulator for the broadcasting sector but failed to set-up one. Due to the
absence of an independent broadcasting regulator, it was TRAI that was
entrusted with the responsibilities. At the same time, the TRAI laws were
not amended to accommodate the expertise and resources required to
regulate the broadcast sector. Till date, TRAI is India's telecom and
television regulator.
11.4.2 Broadcast Audience Research Council: This is India's television
measurement industry body. It measures the TRP of TV serials, movies and
shows. They collect data from households and analyze them so that different
ratings can be given to different channels—they record the viewing by
installing a Bar-o meter in the household to record the viewing details. Once
the data collected through these meters is analyzed, the shows are then rated.
BARC is a joint industry body. It represents broadcasters, advertisers and
other media agencies. This body shares its findings on its website. Also it
has certain specific insights generated for its clients (advertisers, media
agencies). The body is founded by organizations that represent broadcasters
in India, such as the Indian Broadcasters Foundation (IBF), Indian Society
of Advertisers (ISA), Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI)
11.4.3 Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF): This body was established
in 1999, It promotes the Interest fo the Indian television industry. IBF
consists of. Major broadcasters with more than 250 channels. It is a
protector and promoter of the interests of its members and freedom of
electronic media in the world's largest democracy.

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11.5 DIGITAL MEDIA Electronic Media and
Digital Media in India

The term digital media is interchangeably used with new media, online
media, multimedia, interactive media etc. The definition of all of these
terms to some extent, overlap, but they mean different things in different
contexts. Let's understand the meaning of digital media. The digital media
process involves breaking down the information into binaries (1s and 0s),
transmitting them through wires, or broadcast frequency to a destination and
then it is assembled back again into its original form, giving us the visuals
or texts that humans understand easily. Digital media refers to content that
has been encoded in a digital form, such as music can be an audio file. Once
it is encoded, it can be edited and distributed over computer networks. A
few examples of digital media file types are MP3, AVI, JPEG etc. Our
Media industry went through a drastic change with the advent of the internet
20 years ago. This changed the way we consume content, communicate with
others and look for information.

11.6 WHAT ALL DIGITAL MEDIA INCLUDES

Audio: Audio form of digital media includes radio stations, podcasts, and
audiobooks. There are thousands of options to pick from in apps such as
Spotify, Apple Music, and amazon prime music.
Video: Digital media outlets are the majority of visuals. This can range from
online streaming platforms such as Netflix, prime, Sony Liv such apps, to
simulators used in many fields for training purposes.
Social Media: Social media includes sites such as Twitter, Facebook,
Instagram, LinkedIn and Snapchat, which provides a platform to the users
to communicate through texts, photographs, and videos.
Advertising: Advertising online is available on almost every web page. The
advertising strategy online today has changed from the earlier one where
there pop-ups on every website along with intrusive auto-play ads. Today
advertisers use other methods of gaining consumer attention.
News, literature and more: The Internet is full of information in all and
every form. The popularity of websites like Wikipedia and other e-reading
websites is proof of the importance of details in today's and age.

11.7 FEATURES OF A DIGITAL MEDIA

Interactivity: Digital media goes a step beyond the traditional media in
interactivity. It allows people tp rate, share, and like on a text. This is a huge
shift from limited interactivity with the traditional medium to immediate
reaction and feedback. Many media outlets today are offering space in their
column online for publishing user-generated content. Other than writing
producing content, an individual can share his/her opinions on Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram as well.
Digital: All the data in the digital media process can be converted into
numbers. This gives an option to program, alter any content or subject it to
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PR Theory and Practice algorithmic manipulation. The file can be compressed or decompressed
using algorithms.
Convergence: All mediums are available today on a single platform. One
can listen to audio, while typing a text, at the same time, immediately switch
to watching a video. Today print has changed to e-paper, and television
serials and films can be viewed on OTT platforms, all on mobile or a single
device itself.
Immediacy: If any media story has to be updated, then the story can be
immediately updated on the respective website. One will not have to wait
for the next day's newspaper to get printed with fresh details. The same goes
for new releases on the OTT platform. The viewership data is immediately
available to the application owners, which helps them determine if the
release is a hit or a miss.

11.8 DIGITAL MEDIA DEVELOPMENTS IN THE

INDIAN CONTEXT
11.8.1 Digitization of the Print Media
The first paper to start its website in India was The Hindu, in the year 1995.
The first regional paper to do the same was Malayala Manorama in 2007,
as it launched a mobile app. In the year 2009-2010 other newspaper joined
the suit too, by launching their mobile app. Fast forwards 2022, one app that
has emerged as a popular news app is Inshorts. The majority of the
youngsters in urban cities consume news through online platforms. To make
content easily accessible by the audiences. Many media companies explored
the field of search engine optimization and digital marketing. Today we see
lots of experiments in the way the news is getting delivered to the audience
on the online platform. One such experiment was the immersive
storytelling, which gives the viewer the feeling of being a part of the story.
This is done by making use of virtual and augmented reality technologies.
Malayala Manorama started offering 360-degree videos.
11.8.2 Digitisation of Television
Creating one's own channel and producing content for mass viewing was
once a far fetched reality for a common man. With the availability of cheap
smartphones and internet access today YouTube is full of channels by
bloggers and the common man who are the major content creators. Today
people have an alternative to viewing their favourite programs on online
platforms. Earlier, if one had to choose from the limited content shown on
the television for viewing. With the availability of OTT platforms and
various streaming websites, the pace and the choice of content for viewing
are now in the hands of an individual. The explosion in the popularity of the
OTT platforms is a prof that the television was failing to satisfy the demand
for the diverse interests of the audiences. OTT today provides flexibility in
content consumption in the sense that it allows individuals to decide their
own pace of viewing. One can watch a complete series in a day or can spread
out its viewing through the month or a year without any pressure.

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11.8.3 Digitisation of Radio Electronic Media and
Digital Media in India
Today there are companies that have internet-based radio. This shift
occurred because the internet has taken over everything. It only made sense
that in order to keep the radio industry alive, one has to change with the
times. Internet radio is free from the excess noise that is once encountered
in the traditional radio, when they are shifting through frequencies. Radio
stations today have their own websites and apps where audiences can stream
content of their choice. One best example of the internet radio is Bloomberg
radio, which is the only global 24 hours business radio station.

11.9 PARADIGM SHIFT IN THE CONTENT OF DIGITAL

MEDIA
Rise of Database Journalism: With almost every company having its
website online and every ministry in the country publishing monthly,
quarterly and yearly data, database journalism is on the rise. This makes its
easier for not only a journalist but also a citizen, in general, to access the
information without any hassle and delay. Any changes in the trend can
immediately be reported by the journalist or conveyed by a public relations
professional to its publics.
Digital Story-telling: Also known as digital documentaries, digital essays
or interactive storytelling uses a variety of multimedia, including graphics,
audio-video and web publishing.
Mapping in Journalism: You all must have seen how weather reporting is
done on television. All this is done with the help of digital tools. Today we
are digital savvy, and if any news of an earthquake or war field is to be
shown in detail, it can easily be generated via digital tools. It makes the
whole experience a reality for the viewer.

11.10 THEORIES OF DIGITAL MEDIA

Marshall mcLuhan: Marshall McLuhan, a communication theorist,
believed that technology is an 'extension of the body'. This idea was
introduced during the mechanical age. For example, one may say that bows
and spears are an extension of hands and nails and teeth for a human being,
clothing is an extension of skin, and the wheel is an extension of the human
foot in rotation. In the same way Mc Luhan believed media is an extension
of human senses, that is of, sight and sound. Radio and telephone function
as long-distance ears, while visual media is an extension of visual function.
This idea of Mcluhan is even applicable in the electric age. Today electronic
media has taken over functions of information management, storage
retrieval, and information processing, which is a function of the central
nervous system.
Jean Baudrillard: With the invention of the new technology alongside
globalization and commodification in societies across the world the clear
distinction between the object and the reality has disappeared. Today, the
new state of reality is simulation. In Ecstacy of Communication, Baudrillard
states that today we are in an era of hyper-reality.
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PR Theory and Practice 11.11 LET'S SUM IT UP
In this unit, we discussed the status of electronic media in the country. We
look at the developments today in the field of electronic media and briefly
touch upon the various self-regulating bodies of the television industry.
Media after globalization has become an industry. Electronic media made
it easier for people to communicate with the masses. The introduction of
digital media has further acted as a catalyst in growing media reach across
the country. The Indian media industry has embraced digital platforms,
including print, TV and radio. One downside of digital media today is the
lack of any regulatory body to oversee the negativity that comes with this
platform. Otherwise, if put to 100% good use, digital media has the potential
to transform society in leaps and bounds.

11.12 QUESTIONS

1. _______ believed that technology is an 'extension of the body

a. Marshall Mc Luhan
b. Raymond Williams
c. Jean Baudrillard
d. Jacques Lacan
2. Since 2004, the broadcasting sector in India has been regulated by
_______
a. Telecom regulatory Authority of India
b. Broadcast Audience Research Council
c. Indian Broadcasting Foundation
d. Advertising Agencies Association of India
3. Write down examples of changes in media ownership and
conglomerate ownership in India? Answer in six-seven sentences
4. Describe in detail the digitization of print media? Answer in three-
four lines?
5. What changes have you noticed in the old media after digitisation?
Explain in five-six lines?

11.13 REFERENCES
The Digital Media Handbook- Andrew Dewdney and Peter Ride

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