California State University, Northridge the DEVELOPMENT and USE OF
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California State University, Northridge THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF !·iASS r1EDIA IN INDIA FOR INSTRUCTION, DEMONSTRATION, AND EDUCATION: PRODUCTION OF A VIDEO PROGRAM ON THE ART OF VEGETARIAN COOKING A graduate project submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Radio-TV-Film by Mrs. Chandra Mundhra May, 1 986 The Graduate Project of Chandra Mundhra is approved: Dr. Don Wood Dr. ~ps, COffillttee Chairperson California State University, Northridge ii DEDICATION To my dear husband and my beautiful daughter Smriti for all their patience and help. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION iii ABSTRACT • . vi INTRODUCTION • 1 SECTION I. 3 India The Country and its People • 4 Existing Variety of Mass Media in India • 6 Print Media. • • • • • • • • 6 Audio-Visual Media • • • • • • • • • 7 The Structure of Broadcasting in India. • 8 Radio Broadcasting in India • • 1 0 History. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 11 State of Broadcasting Following Independence • • • • • • • • • • • 11 All India Radio (A.I.R.) ••• • • • • • 1 2 Television Broadcasting in India •••• • • • 1 5 History. • • • • • • • • • • • • 1 5 The Television Audience. • • • • • • 1 5 Satellite Television. • • • • • • • • •• 17 History. • • • • • • • • • ••• 17 Education via Satellite TV ••••••• 18 The Satellite Instructional Television Experiment • • • • • • • • •• 18 International Satellite 1A and 1B ( INSAT 1 A and 1 B) • • • • • • • 21 The Second Channel ••••• . 24 The Television Explosion in India •• 26 Television vs. Print Media • • • • • 27 TV vs. Cinema •••••••• • • • • 28 Programming for Television • • • 3 2 Video Boom in India • • • • • • • • • 34 iv SECTION II 37 Instructional Design. 38 Elements of Demonstrating a Recipe 39 Pre-Production. 42 Budgeting. 44 Production. 46 Post-Production 49 Final Cost of the Project. 50 Distribution Channels: The Target Markets. 52 Primary Market 52 Sponsorship of a Television Serial 52 Secondary Markets. 55 Ancillary Markets. 56 Other Markets. 56 CONCLUSION 58 Critique. 58 Future Potential in the u.s .• 62 Program Formats 64 Station Program Cooperative 65 Public Television Library (PTL) 66 Market Survey 67 Remarks 69 ENDNOTES 72 BIBLIOGRAPHY 75 EXHIBITS: A 80 B 81 c 82 D 83 E 84 F 85 APPENDICES: 1 87 2 91 3 • 111 4 • 1 21 5 • 1 31 6 • 1 3 3 v ABSTRACT THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF MASS MEDIA IN INDIA FOR INSTRUCTION, DEMONSTRATION, AND EDUCATION: PRODUCTION OF A VIDEO PROGRAM ON THE ART OF VEGETARIAN COOKING by Mrs. Chandra Mundhra Master of Arts in Radio-TV-Film The aim of this graduate study_project is to under stand and evaluate the potential of using video technology for instruction through demonstration and its modes of distribution including the use of broadcast media to reach a geographically large and densely populated developing country of the Third World. More specifically, the project implements the actual production of a video program on vegetarian cooking and its distribution through a variety of channels to its primary target audience in India. The information is divided into two main sections. The first section deals with external uncontrollable variables which form the environmental parameters of the vi study. These include a demographic background of the country and its people; an examination of the impact and reach of the mass communication industry in general and television broadcasting in particular; the advent of video technology and the development of satellite communication and the policy regarding software for transmitting educa tional and entertainment programs to the public. These topics form the broad issues of the environmental context in which the production of this video project material ized. vii INTRODUCTION The objective of this graduate study project is to understand and evaluate the potential of using video tech nology for instruction through demonstration and its modes of distribution including the use of broadcast media to reach a geographically large, densely populated, culturally diverse, developing country of the Third World. More specifically, the project implements the actual production of a video program on vegetarian cooking and its distribution through a variety of channels to its primary target audience in India. The country chosen for this study is India because this writer has access to primary and secondary source material for research in that country. Being the largest nation in the Third World, the government of India has assigned top priority to the communication industry resulting in rapid advancement in technology adoption. The development and use of mass media in India needs to be analyzed in a historical context because studying a subject without an appreciation of its antecedents is looking at a picture in two dimensions. The historical context adds the third dimension of 'depth,' providing an appreciation of 'why things are as they are.' 1 2 The format of presentation of material in this paper will be as follows. The information is divided in two main sections. The first section deals with external uncontrollable variables which form the environmental parameters of the study. These include a demographic background of the country and its people; an examination of the impact and reach of the mass communication industry in general and television broadcasting in particular; the advent of video technology and the development of satel lite communication and the policy regarding software for transmitting educational and entertainment programs to the public. These topics form the broad issues of the environmental context in which the production of this video project materialized. The second section deals with the internal control lable variab~es of program production discussing such specifics as budgeting, scheduling, production, post pro duction, and distribution of this cooking demonstration. The tasks accomplished and the problems encountered are discussed and analyzed in the concluding segment with a look at the future potential of utilizing video techno logy for instruction through demonstration. SECTION I The parameters of the external environment in which this study was undertaken will be discussed in this section of the paper to better understand the background which has indirect relevance as well as direct impact on the actual production and marketing of the video program created for this graduate project. 3 4 India -- The Country and its People India is the largest federal republic in the world with a population of over 800 million people. Geographi cally it dominates the South Asian subcontinent with an area of 1,21~,000 square miles. Although India occupies only 2.4 percent of the world's land area, it supports 14 percent of the world's population. India has 14 different official languages and almost 200 different dialects. 1 There are many religions, many customs and many languages yet, in spite of such differ- ences, India has managed to survive as a viable sovereign nationo Eighty-four percent of the population is Hindu, 10 percent is Muslim, and the rest are Christians, Sikhs, Jain, Buddhists, and Parsis. The literacy rate in India is only 29 percent. It is primarily a traditional agrarian economy with a vast majority of its population living in the villages. According to the constitution, India is a ''sovereign demo cratic republic." Since 1947, after India's independence, the country has made considerable economic progress. India's five-year economic plans seek the balanced development of power facilities, industry, mining, trans portation, agriculture and communications. The variety of 5 languages and dialects, coupled with massive illiteracy, causes unique problems in the development of mass media. In spite of these overwhelming difficulties, India has been able to develop and sustain a fairly effective, if not efficient, system of communication through a variety of mass media administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. 6 Existing Variety of Mass Media in India Even though the media in India are not completely free from censorship and governmental control, substantial private sector ownership of print media exists. The motion picture industry is also primarily in private sector with private ownership of production, distribution and exhibition outlets. The broadcast media, however, is completely owned and operated by the government. Radio and television transmission is not allowed in private hands. Print Media As mentioned in the earlier section, the existence of a variety of different languages which change from region to region have resulted in most print media vehicles to be regional in nature and scope. Only those publications which are printed in Hindi (national language) and English enjoy widespread circulation because their readership cuts across regional lines. However, print media is the media for the literate. Major cities are cosmopolitan in nature and their people are more educated with relatively more purchasing power. So they are accessible through a variety of media and commercial messages can be communi- 7 cated to them effectively. With a very low literacy rate, the problem arises when messages are to be communicated to the villagers who don't know how to read or write. Audio-Visual Media For the illiterate masses who can only understand the spoken word and follow the visuals, the film and the broadcast media has become the logical choice for communi cation. Until the early seventies, radio broadcasting and motion pictures were the only effective mass-media vehicles in the