HISTORY OF PRESS:

HISTORY OF PRINTING PRESS:

EARLY YEARS OF THE PRINTING MEDIA:-
Acta Diuna (Journal of the day) was the earliest known journal. It is a handwritten news bulletin distributed in the Forum Romanum. This was in the 1st century B.C during the time of Julius Caesar.
The first printed newspaper appeared in Peiking (Beijing) in the 8th century A.D. The Chinese did the printing using separate wooden block for type, which could be used over &over again. The Koreans also followed the Chinese. Printing ink & paper were developed in china & Egypt. But the whole process of printing had a stunted growth in Asia
Europeans, on the other hand, used the new process on large scale. They benefited from the popularization of printing, which led to the advent of affordable books & popular newspaper. This also led to the democratization of communication.
Printing led to the third major revolution in communication, the first having been the development of human speech some 35,000 years ago & second the art of representing sound in written form using an alphabet. With the spread of printing, libraries & schools sprang up. Books, libraries & higher education-all these led to major political, socioeconomic & cultural changes in Europe.
The new modes of agricultural & mechanical production, migration of people from rural areas to industrial towns, rapid changes in social & cultural life and scientific and technological led to new methods of communication among people. Democratization of communication meant strengthening of democratic idea. Political democracy led to economic democracy & social reorganization.
In all this, the newsletter produced in various sizes & at different frequencies played an influential role in Germany, Holland, France & England during 16th, 17th & 18th centuries.
By the early 18th century, political leaders realized how powerful an instrument the periodicals were for spreading ideas. Many of them began to produce their own papers to propagate their ideas & influence people such as the Whigs & Tories in England. A new force was detected in society, namely, the force of public opinion. Consequently, the journalism of the period was largely political in nature & thus the impression, justifiable to a great extent, was created that journalism was an adjunct of politics.
Avisa Relation Oder zeitung was the first regular printed newspaper of Europe which commenced publication in 1615. Weekly News was the first newspaper of England that lasted from 1622 to 1641. The next paper there was a fortnight, the Daily Courant that started publication in 1702.
The first printing press in the Americas was established in South America by Juan Pablos, a Spanish printer, in 1539.
Boston, capital of the Massachusetts colony became an active centre of printing in the 17th century. The Puritans imported the first printing press to New England in 1638 to supply printed materials to Harvard College.
The very first newspaper in the US was Public Occurrences-Foreign & Domestic, published by Benjamin Harris, a bookseller in Boston, in 1690. Harris could not continue publication as he was imprisoned by the British authorities for printing without ‘prior consent’. Then came another news paper, the Boston Newsletter in 1704. James Franklin, brother of Benjamin Franklin, published the New England Courant in 1721.
Famous English essayists such as Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, Dr Samuel Johnson & others either contributed essays to their own publications or to periodicals published by other. They wrote contemporary issues besides literary topics. Across the Atlantic, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Pain, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton & other had contributed.
The Glorious Revolution in England (1688), The American Revolution (1775-76) & The French Revolution (1789) owe much to the radical & rational thoughts of people such as theme, Locke the Pitts, Robespierre, Hugo, Voltaire, Rousseau, Jefferson, Franklin, Paine and Hamilton etc.
WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN INDIA DURING THE EARLY CENTURIES?
Emperor Asoka’s pillar inscriptions & rock edicts in different parts of the Mauryan Empire during 3rd century B.C are considered examples of imperial political communication to the informed & literate section of the population. Ashoka used the Prakrit language in his communication on ethics & morals as evidence by his inscriptions.
The learning languages were confined to high casts, the aristocracy, priests, army personnel & landowners. Another feature of communication in ancient India was the emphasis placed on oral & aural systems. Writing was done on palm leaves using a style, but the written documents were considered too scared to be touched or used by the lower classes. The ruling class used certain methods for coding, transmitting & decoding messages secretly through the network of spies to information about neighboring enemies.
According to historians of journalism, news was collected in a well-organized manner under Akbar the Great. In 1574, Akbar established a recording office that helped later medieval historians to gather materials for chronicles.
FIRST PRINTING PRESS IN INDIA:-
The first printing press arrived in India on 6th September 1556 & was installed at the college of St.Paul in Goa.
THE FIRST INDIAN NEWSPAPER:-
First printed newspaper of India was in English edited & published by James Augustus Hicky, an employee of East India Company. It was named Bengal Gazette which came out on 29th January 1780.
Soon many other weeklies & monthlies such as Indian Gazette, Calcutta Journal, Bengal Harakaru, John Bull in the East came out during the 17th & 18th century.
THE INDIAN PRESS AT INDEPENDENCE AND TODAY:-
In 1947, the major English newspaper in India were the Times of India (Bombay), Statesman (Calcutta), Hindu (Madras), Hindustan Times (New Delhi), Pioneer (Lucknow), Indian Express (Bombay & Madras) Amrita Bazaar Patrika (Calcutta), National Herald (Lucknow), Mail (Madras) & Hitavada (Nagpur). Of these, the Times of India, Statesman & Pioneer were under British ownership till 1964, when it came under a group of Indian business.
During the long struggle for India’s Independence, the major English newspaper that served the national cause were the Hindu (1878), Amrita Bazaar Patrika (1868), Bombay Chronicle (1913), Free Press Journal (1930, it became Indian Express) & Hindustan Times (1924). Among the Indian language newspapers, the prominent ones were Aaj (1920), Ananda bazaar Patrika (1922), Sakal (1931), Swadeshamitran (1882), Mumbai Smachar (1822), Malayala Manorama (1890) & Mathrubhumi (1930).
Generally speaking, journalism is flourishing in India today. The Indian language newspapers have overtaken the English newspapers in number & circulation. The highest circulation till the 1990’s was enjoyed by the English newspapers despite the fact that less than 5 percent of the population of India claim English as their mother tongue. English is still the medium of instruction in colleges & many prominent schools. It is also the language of administration, although state governments have introduced legislation in favor of local government.
Hindi newspapers have the largest total circulation in India. Hindi is the main language of 10 Indian states- Bihar, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttranchal and Uttar Pradesh.
Certain trends in communication & journalism throughout the modern world prompted several sociologists & media experts to discuss the desirability of re-examining the trends in the light of basic issues. In other words, ‘back to the basics’ say the experts. This is where Gandhi becomes relevant. High technology is good, but if it does not enable us to solve basic problems confronting the succeed in catering to the greed of a few to the exclusion of the need of the many-as it has done through the recent decades and in all countries that experienced colonial subjugation in the past.

cradited to blog.crjayaprakash.com

Mahatma Gandhi as a Journalist

Apart from being a national leader and social reformer, Gandhi was a great communicator. More than any one else, he recognized that communication is the most effective tool to shape opinion and mobilize popular support. He was successful because he had a latent skill in communication that surfaced in South Africa where he had gone initially to set up practice as a lawyer. This gave him the clue to rally millions of his countrymen when he returned to India. Gandhi’s journalism belonged to an era when there was neither radio nor television. Such was the power of his 'soul communication' that whatever he said and wrote reached the farthest corners of this country within days and to the entire world thereon.

Gandhi, in a journalistic career spanning nearly four decades, edited six journals. None, including Harijan and Navjivan, at first, could boast a circulation of more than a few thousand copies. But such was Gandhi's grasp of the basics of mass communication that he ensured that his daily "outpourings of heart and soul" reached all.

If one were to ask the question as to who came first- ‘Gandhi – The Freedom Fighter’ or ‘Gandhi – The Media Crusader’, the truth would be that latter pre-dated the former by at least 20 years. In less than a few months' stay in South Africa, Gandhi realized the need to become a journalist to fight for the rights of the Indian community. And he brought the highest qualities the profession could boast of-courage in the face of adversity, unswerving adherence to truth, pursuit of public causes, and objectivity in presentation.

His first paper, Indian Opinion was started in South Africa. In order to ventilate the grievances of Indians and mobilize public opinion in their favour, Gandhi started writing and giving interviews to newspapers, He focused on open letters and Letters to Editor, but soon realized that occasional writings and the hospitality of newspapers were inadequate for the political campaign he had launched. His letters to the editors of South African dailies are a lesson to all journalists on how to fight injustice in a country where the laws are loaded against one section of the people, without giving offence to the rulers themselves. He needed a mouthpiece to reach out to the people and so he launched Indian Opinion. It served the purpose of a weekly newsletter which disseminated the news of the week among the Indian community. It became an important instrument of education. Through the columns of the newspaper Gandhi tried to educate the readers about sanitation, self-discipline and good citizenship. Gandhi learnt in South Africa how important the press and public opinion could be in politics and had learnt to use the written word most effectively.

Indian Opinion lasted for 11 years. It more or less forced the South African provincial regimes to modify their repressive laws against Indians. One day Gandhi got a call from Bihar where the Indigo farmers of Champaran were subjected to the same kind of indignity and exploitation as the indentured labourers in South Africa.

He promptly went there and investigated the issues, and produced a report that would be the envy of the greatest investigative journalist anywhere in the world. After Champaran it was only a matter of time before the Mahatma took to journalism as his most potent weapon of satyagraha.

As coincidence would have it, Gandhi was persuaded to take over the editorship of Young India. Simultaneously, he started to edit and write in Navjivan, then a Gujarati monthly. The two journals Young India and Navjivan were used by him to ventilate his views and to educate the public on Satyagraha.

Gandhi's writings in it were translated and published in all the Indian language newspapers. Later Navjivan was published in Hindi, as Gandhi was convinced that Hindi would be the national language of free India. The Mahatma's crusade for the repeal of the Press Act of 1910 was a unique piece of journalism. He was telling the rulers that it was in the best interests of the government to repeal the law. Issue after issue of Young India and Navjivan carried samples of Gandhi's journalistic genius which blended seemingly earnest appeals to the government to do what was "just and righteous". Young India and Navjivan folded up in January 1932 when Gandhi was imprisoned for a long spell.

In 1933 Gandhi started Harijan, Harijanbandhu, Harijansevak in English, Gujarati and Hindi, respectively. These newspapers were the vehicles of his crusade against untouchability and poverty in rural areas. These papers published no advertisements even then they enjoyed wide circulation. His note of defiance and sacrifice gave a new stimulus to the evolution of press as a weapon of Satyagraha.

Gandhi's approach to journalism was totally devoid of ambitions. To him it was not a vocation to earn his livelihood. It was a means to serve the public. Gandhi believed that it was wrong to use a newspaper as a means of earning a living. He felt that running a newspaper was a task having such a bearing on public welfare that to undertake them for earning one's livelihood would defeat the primary aim behind them. When, further a newspaper is treated as a means of making profits, the result is likely to be serious malpractices. He also said that Newspapers were meant primarily to educate the people and familiarize them with contemporary history.

Brief History of the Print Media in India

For about 600 years printing has been the basic tool of mass

communication, storing and dissemination of information and knowledge.

From about the second half of the last century electronic media has

somewhat taken over the mass media world by a storm but the print media

has not lost its sheen and its social relevance.

*The modern printing in India originated in Goa in 1550 by Spanish

Coadjutor, Brother John de Bustamante, also known as Indian Gutenburg.

The first language printing press with vernacular types was established in

1557 at Vaipicotta.

In India the concept of the freedom of the press can be referred back

to the Mughal Era. An emperor like Aurangjeb allowed great freedom in

news reporting, but the reports sent by the news-writers were often

unreliable. The East India Company’s news-writers were under greater

control than under the Moghal Emperors.

The first attempt to start a newspaper in India was made in Kolkata in

1766 by William Bolts, the well known author of consideration on Indian

Affairs.

On January 29, 1780 the first Indian newspaper, the Bengal Gazette,

two pages, twelve inches by eight, popularly known as the Hicky’s Gazette

was published. During the later half of the 19th century Anglo- Indian press

established firm foundation in India. In 1861 there were 11 Urdu newspapers

and 8 Hindi newspapers. *By 1870 the press in Indian languages was

growing rapidly. There were about sixty-two Indian languages newspapers

in Bombay, about sixty in North-West Provinces, Oudh and the Central

Provinces, some twenty-eight in Bengal, about nineteen in Madras (Tamil,

Telgu, Malyalam and Hindustani). There were about 100,000 readers and the

highest circulation of any one newspaper was about 3000

BARRIERS IN COMMUNICATION

BARRIERS OF COMMUNICATION-
Barriers are difficulties or hurdles or obstacles that hamper the success of communication process. Barrier can be at sender’s end, within the channel or can be at receiver’s end. What may be the case, these obstacles tends to fail the communication process and prevent the achievement of desired goals. There are many barriers because of which communications may fail.  In many communications, the message may not be received exactly the way the sender intended.
In technical language of communication barriers are also called ‘NOISE’.Barriers can be classified into following categories-
These barriers can be physical, psychological, mechanical, and cultural and language.
Physical Barrier-

a)      Unwanted sounds or noises- any kind of unwanted sound or noise can become a barrier in communication process. For example- when a teacher is teaching in the class, the sound of vehicles passing nearby can distract the students. Thus the lecture or the part of lecture goes in waste.

b)      Absence of right environment- Physical environment plays important role in the success of communication. Right and comfortable environment strengthen the receiver’s capacity.

c)      Physical disabilities such as hearing problems or speech difficulties

d)     Physical illness - if the receiver is physically not well. he will not be able to grasp message fully. Such problems on the part of receiver can also come out as a barrier in communication.

Psychological barrier

·         Receiver’s Psychology plays an important role in the reception and interpretation of the message. Each individual has a different mindset and if the message contradicts his frame of mind.he is likely to reject the message. Every  person has some pre conceived ideas and thoughts. Many a times these ideas are strong enough to reject the contradictory statements.the receiver is not ready to receive anything which he thinks is wrong or unethical.

·         In some cases, the receiver is not ready to change his thoughts and ideas due to the fear of unknown. Many people can not accept change easily as there is a fear of failure of new ideas. This fear also becomes a barrier in communication. 

·         One possible psychological block is bias. People often hear what they expect to hear rather than what is actually said and jump to incorrect conclusions.

·         Another psychological barrier is Selective perception.  Selective perception is the personal filtering of what we see and hear so as to suit our own needs. Much of this process is unconscious. . If the  receiver is emotionally attached to something. He will never accept anything against it. In other words the success and failure of the communication depends upon the emotions of  the receiver. People  take what they want to take and disregard the rest.

·         Lack of attention also becomes a barrier in communication process.

·         Lack of interest in the message on the part of receiver also hampers the effect of communication. If the message does not interest the receiver, he will likely to reject it.

Cultural barriers

The norms of social interaction vary greatly in different cultures, as do the way in which emotions are expressed. For example, the concept of personal space varies between cultures and between different social settings, colour denotes different meaning in different cultures for example white is a colour of mourning in Indian culture whereas western brides wear on their wedding day. Cultural differences between the sender and receiver give birth to cultural barrier.

Language barriers

·         language sometimes refers to as semantic barriers. But semantic barriers strictly related to connotative and denotative meanings of words. If the encoder and decoder do not share the some connotative meaning for a word, miscommunication occurs. For example word cheap is used in two ways. Its one meaning is realted to low cost and another is low standard.

·         Differences and the difficulty in understanding unfamiliar accents sometime the difference between the accent can also miscommunicate a message.

The use of jargon, over-complicated or unfamiliar terms. Many a times people from a different profession or background are not familiar with a particular technical terminology. Thus it can arise a hinderence in the process of communication.

A good communicator must be aware of these barriers and try to reduce their impact by getting continuous feedback.

Hypodermic needle or magic bullet theory

This theory was propounded  after  world war 1. This theory states sees media as a powerful entity whereas audience are week and passive . They  easily accept whatever  is shot at them by media.
This theory states that mass media has a powerful influence on the mass audience and it can easily control and change the behavior of its audience. It suggests that mass media can influence  a large number of people directly and uniformly. Media just shot and inject a  message into receiver ’s head and get  a desired response.
Thus the theory clearly states that the intended message  is directly recived and   accepted by the receiver.In mid 1930’s media scholars found the first theory on Media Effects and the Media Behaviors. During second world wars media plays a vital role in both United States and Germany to made influence in the people’s mind. This theory was propounded  after  world war 1. This theory states sees media as a powerful entity whereas audience are week and passive . They  easily accept whatever  is shot at them by media.This theory states that mass media has a powerful influence on the mass audience and it can easily control and change the behavior of its audience. It suggests that mass media can influence  a large number of people directly and uniformly. Media just shot and inject a  message into receiver ’s head and get  a desired response.
Examples:The Germany Hitler’s Nazi used film industry for Propaganda and they produced lots of movies about their achievements which made a great impact in Germans mind. Later the United States also used its own Hollywood and produced films like “Its Happened one night”, “It’s a wonderful life” and Mr. Smith goes to Washington” to portrait Germany as Evil force which also made impact in Americans Mind. Here media audience accepts the messages directly without any rejection.Thus the theory clearly states that the intended message  is directly recived and   accepted by the receiver.In late 1920's and early 1930's  The Payne Fund Studies were conducted.  Pyne fund studies reserched  the effect of movies on behavior of children. This research was an inspiration for more  studies related to the effects of movies, television and other media content on children. .

SEVEN C’s of communication-

Seven C’s of communication means seven elements starting with English alphabet C and are essential for the success of communication process. These seven C’s are as follows-

1.     Credibility- Credibility of the sender is very important for the success of communication process. If the source or the sender is credible and receivers have full trust in him, the message will easily be accepted.

2.     Context- context means the environment in which the communicator is sending his message. If the message contradicts with the context, it is likely to be failed. In short context is the setting in which communication takes place.

3.     Content- it is a very important element. It is the subject matter of the communication. Content of the message needs to have some meaning for the receiver. If it is not so, receiver will not receive the message with full zeal.

4.     Clarity- this element indicates that the message should be simple and clear. It should be easy to understand. It should be free from ambiguity.

5.     Consistency- There should be continuity in the message. If the sender will repeatedly send the message at the receiver, the later will be deeply affected.

6.     Channel- Channel means the medium or media through which people communicate. The choice of suitable channel for the receiver is always a benefit for the Sender. The Selection of the Channel that receiver is more likely to use will ensure the success of communication.

7.     Capacity (of the audience) - Capacity means the ability to receive and absorb. Whenever the sender crafts a message, he needs to keep in mind the capacity of the receiver. Communicator should craft a message which the receiver can easily understand. He should keep in mind the abilities and habits of the receiver.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION-

The types of communication depend upon the number of people involved in the process of communication. Generally communication can be classified in four basic types:-

(i)                Interpersonal communication

(ii)             Intrapersonal communication

(iii)           Group communication

(iv)           Mass communication

(i)                Intrapersonal communication- intrapersonal communication means communication that occurs within an individual. In simpler words taking to ownself is intrapersonal communication. Meditation, prayer and dreaming comes under intrapersonal communication.

(ii)             Interpersonal communication- interpersonal communication is communication between two individual. They can be two friends, two family members or even two strangers. Our relations largely depends upon one to one  or face to face communication.

(iii)           Group communication- group communication includes more than two people. Group communication is mostly formal in nature except for a group of friends and family. In most of the cases group communication is done to achieve some goal. As the size of group increases, the degree of interaction and feedback decreases. Group can be classified into three types:

·         Casual or social group: casual group are people gathered for a family function or a party.

·         Work group: people of same profession gathered for a meeting or seminar.

·         Educational group: Students in a class constitute educational group.

Communication amongst these small groups further develops the society and culture.

(iv)           Mass communication-mass communication as the name suggests is communication with the masses or large number of people. The people involved in this kind of communication can be from different backgrounds, age groups, social environments and cultures. People involved in mass communication never have a direct relationship with each other. The basic element that bounds both of them is a common idea, theme or goal.

Mass communication always needs a big scale mechanism for it to occur. It is done through a particular medium or media collectively. The medium for such communication can be-

Print- newspapers, books, magazines etc., audio- Radio, C.d’s, Audio