he mass media are pervasive part of our life. In present time mass communication and public opinion have great relevance. The scenario of whole world has been changed into global village because of the channel of mass communication. In old time print media was the main medium for the flow and feed back of information, which was very slow. In the present time the new channels, mainly electronic media made it rapid and 'right to know' supported it strongly. Media have brought the revolutionary change in human life and have become very important in decision making in our daily life. Through this, people come nearer and distances become lesser. Communication is providing a readymade macro analysis and micro analysis of every incidence and information. In this way communication is shaping the public opinion, which plays key role in democracy. The social effects of mass media, these mediating factors operate a person's behavior attitude and values. In this way the processes of socialization have become wider and rapid. The channels of mass communication are the chief makers and movers of the information revolution. They have moulded the patterns of traditional society towards the pattern of modern industrial society. Communication is the basic necessity people is essential in a democratic system. Public opinion is important for the political authority, because it is believed that in democracies there must be greater interaction between the ruler and the ruled, and for this Author : Researcher, CM J University, Shillong, Meghalaya. E-mail : [email protected] purpose, there is a great need of a large scale media exposure.

The origin of communication might be traced in the probable interaction of early human beings and this interaction has now become an essential behavioral pattern of the human life. Communication is the basic means for the maintenance of the social systems and the process of socialization. Now, media are in a very much communication started with gestures and after that it turned into complex systems of symbols. This confined to face to face conversation. The main problem in this oral period was that the transmission was totally dependent on the memory of the individual. As the society progressed, the communication system also became more complex. Now human being is searching to make the things better for easier life and several inventions are being made by the man. Invention of writing was the first application of technology to the process of communication. Inscriptions, the Vedas, the Upanishads and the puranas are the gifts of writing. These have become the proof of social and political picture of those times. In eleventh century a revolutionary event happened when papyrus was replaced by paper. Present form of book came into existence in fifteenth century. The earlier book printing was done through wood-cut. Technological inventions made the rapid printing possible in the third decade of nineteenth century. Actual idea of mass communication came into existence with the idea of newspaper, and thus press has since been most important channel of mass communication. After that invention of radio, television, computer, internet, mobile gave pace to the mass communication.

1. To study whether mass media communication affect public opinion 2. To study whether public opinion affect mass communication

The study deals with the theoretical aspect of the topic Mass-media Communication and Public Opinion. It is based upon the secondary sources. We have tried touching all the aspects in present scenario with historical, philosophical and analytical approach.

This chapter gives an overview sketch of research work and explains the direction of literature studied. Let us review some literature concerned with the topic of our research. A number of books deal as a text book for mass communication Wilbur Schramm's book is a collection of selected readings which covers different aspects related to mass communication. Berlo 2 , in his book, describes the way people communicate with each other. Especially it concerns itself with the scope and purpose of communication, the factors, involved in the process and the role of language in human behavior. It defines and describes factors affecting communication and its result. It is a book with an approach that makes the process. It derives the multidimensional approach in studying the mass communication process.

The process of communication has largely been described through some models by different social scientists. We try to present some of the significant models for general understanding of the phenomenon. Public opinion is referred as the collection of the opinion of people and sometimes it is called mass opinion also. Its nature cannot be reflected by public opinion, because 'public' and 'opinion' both have a varying nature, and their combined nature expresses the nature of public opinion. So this discussion starts with the 'public'. The terms public and opinion are not identical terms. Generally in public, we refer to those people have special contribution in opinion, so according to the need, public and opinion are inter related. This inter-related necessity gives meaning to public opinion. The second thing is opinion. Psychological analysis says that there is a great contribution of our personal development. We always respond in a specific way. We have some straight formatted habits, trends, tendencies beliefs, values etc. Whatever we see or hear we observe it, we analyze it according to our aforesaid fixed tendencies. There become some specific responding patterns in the society and these specific responses become the nature of human being. When anybody knows a person, he knows his specific responding ways. It is easy to predict his reaction on a particular mater. We call these attitudes, opinions.

The essence of public lies in mass. That is why in order to understand public we will have to know, what is mass how it is formed and how it seems as an organic whole. What factors are associated with a dense group of people? Actually mass represents the people who participate in its behaviour, mass is also formed by whole social state. It is an anonymous group. They are physically separated and have a little interaction. They are loosely organized but they have a common interest from which they are associated with. Public are not a calculated number of individuals. It means a collectivity, which exists because individuals share experiences, certain memories and traditions, certain conditions of life with other and this binds them to the public. Individuals in mass stimulate with other and are stimulated by the other from a common factor or interest. These individuals are not in direct contact of each other, yet they assimilate. Their assimilation is held by their interests, which intensifies their point of view and guides and motivates other individuals also, who are the part and parcel of mass. According to Young "In contrast, members of a public need not and often are not, in direct physical relationship with each other, such an association is held together by the fact of a stimulus and interest assumed to be common with other IV.

In the present study two objectives were made. To analyze the objectives, it is based upon the secondary sources. We have tried to touch all the aspects in present scenario with historical, philosophical and analytical approach. The hypothesis was then finally interpreted and the results were obtained. Result of the study of the field of public opinion is earmarked by some negative trends like yellow journalism, molding facts, sensational coverage. The tendency of the leaders to encase mass/mob culture for their personal benefits and propaganda is a big obstacle in the formation of public opinion. Most of the governments employ a

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Year variety of devices to influence communication channels and there may be some non-governmental interest groups who apply these types of pressures. These channels are influenced by journalistic standards, governmental regulations, advertisers and pressures of any types on one hand and by economic forces on the other giving advantage either to the sponsored or to the audience in case of bargaining. Then, channels in control mean that the mass media are limited and the range of ideas prohibited and, uncontrolled channels have the opportunity of providing complete information. Awards like Pulitzer Prize come up, Sigma, Delta Chi award, Cigar Institute's annual prize etc, influence the coverage of journalists. In developing countries mass media have to face some problems as traditions and quasi-mass communication networks are also very strong. In these countries media is under constant vigil. Even international channels are used for the purpose of national government to get attention for foreign trade tourists to keep in touch with immigrants as well as to bring interest in World affairs and bringing world opinion to its favor. Thus with the modern advance technological mass communication has taken a new form along with immense opportunities and possibilities. The speed is still very slow waiting to be explored further. The present work has its own limitations. This is the study of theoretical aspect of the topic that is why it does not explore some areas. It could have been an empirical study. A lot of work can be proposed in each and every aspect of public opinion and communication like propaganda, mass gathering etc.