Communication and Mass Communication in India

Synopsis from Bagchee.com
Communication is not the same as mass communication. Eminent scholars such as Denis McQuail and George Gerbner have in their writings made it amply clear that the distinction has to be recognized. Every beginner, especially in countries such as India where mass communication is comparatively new, must be aware of this distinction.

This book tries to make all students of mass communication aware of the basic differences between the two. No student of modern India can afford to miss the methods of communication employed by the greatest communicator of India, namely, Mahatma Gandhi, who could reach his messages to the millions in the Indian villages at a time when the scientific and technological intrastructure for mass communication was not available in India.

The book tries to draw the attention of students and senior scholars, decision makers and media experts to the need for examining the basic concepts of Gandhian communication in India where more than three fourths of the media of mass communication and media users are concentrated in the four metropolises, a couple of dozen state capitals and half a dozen industrial towns.

Both Indian and Western perspectives are evident throughout the book. Chapter titles bear testimony to this: From Communication to mass communication; Overview of the early attempts at communication through oral and print media; Perspectives on Gandhian Communication; Audiovisual communication (photography, film, radio and television; The little media (audiovisual aids); Advertising to the ancient and modern world; and Corporate communication / public relations.