Mass Media / Mass Communication

The paper at a glance

Mass Media / Mass Communication carries the subject code 318. The syllabus described here is the one published for 2026-27.

The document runs to three pages of content and is unusually descriptive for an NTA syllabus: many entries say what kind of understanding is expected ("a brief understanding of", "with suitable examples") and even name a film, Shyam Benegal's Manthan.

How the syllabus is organised

The document is laid out in eight numbered sections, 1 to 8. It does not call them units. The first three sections are the theory and the professions (communication, journalism, advertising and PR); the next three are media by medium (television, radio, cinema); the last two are social media and new media.

The syllabus itself is a list of topics only. It does not print question counts, marks, negative marking or timing. Read it alongside the exam pattern.

Sections 1 to 3: Communication, journalism, advertising and PR

Section 1 sets up the theory. Section 2 is the most detailed of the eight, especially on media law and ethics, where every named issue is to be understood with examples. Section 3 splits into an advertising half and a public relations half.

Section	What it covers
1. Communication	Understanding communication — levels and models of communication; culture and communication — what culture is, the relationship between culture and mass media, communication in the cultural context, media as a vehicle of cultural transmission, representation and stereotyping in mass media; communication and social change — meaning of social change, media as a catalyst for social change with examples of social movements; evolution of the media — history of newspapers, radio and television in India, and new media
2. Journalism	Understanding news — definition, news values, components of news; qualities of a good journalist — a nose for news, inquisitiveness, language skills, trustworthiness and empathy; reporting and editing techniques — inverted pyramid, 5 Ws and 1 H, headlines, copy editing; photo journalism — importance of photos, captions, visual depiction, photo essays; media laws and ethical issues in journalism, each with examples — sensationalism, fake news, paid news, plagiarism, advertorials, partisan reporting, sting operations, defamation, freedom of speech and expression, law and the media
3. Advertising and Public Relations	Advertising — concepts and process, functions of advertising, types of advertising (cross promotions, merchandise, covert advertising — printed as "Convert Advertising" in the source), forms of advertising, advertising campaigns; public relations — understanding PR and media management, building brand image, tools and steps in PR, PR campaigns, crisis management, responsibility of a PRO

Sections 4 to 6: Television, radio and cinema

Television gets two lines. Radio is about writing and studio equipment. Cinema is the fuller section, with four named pioneers, a list of genres and the Parallel Cinema movement.

Section	What it covers
4. TV Production Process and Programmes	Pre-production, production and post-production stages; programmes, formats and audiences
5. Radio	Writing for radio — characteristics of a radio script: conversational language, active voice, simple sentences, avoidance of technical jargon, capability of creating imagery; radio recording — a brief understanding of the radio studio and transmission equipment: types of microphones, amplifier, sound mixer, speakers, audio recording
6. Cinema	History of cinema — the early experiments of the Lumiere Brothers, John Grierson, Robert Flaherty (printed "Flaharty" in the source) and Dada Saheb Phalke; production process and cinema genres — stages in film and documentary making, genre theory and genres with examples (action, westerns, comedy, crime, drama, fantasy/sci-fi, historical, animation, romance, musical); cinema and social change — the Parallel Cinema movement in India, issues depicted and the low-budget production process, with reference to examples such as Shyam Benegal's Manthan

Sections 7 and 8: Social media and new media

Section 7 is structured (definition, platform types, democracy, cyber crime, netiquettes). Section 8 is different in kind: sixteen lettered phrases rather than topics, contrasting the old broadcast model with what the Internet changed.

Section	What it covers
7. Social Media	Definition of social media; types of platforms — social networking, blogging, photo and video sharing; role of social media in a democracy and in creating collective identities through sharing of information, cyber activism with examples; cyber crime — online bullying, stalking, trolling, online frauds; netiquettes — meaning and importance, identification of oneself, respect for others' privacy, appropriate language and imagery, not spamming
8. New Media	Internet as the meeting point of all the mass media; broadcasting; the mass communication model of a few transmitting to a vast number of receivers, gigantic organization, huge technical infrastructure and large-scale revenue; the changed paradigm due to the Internet — empowering an individual to post data, a message in one medium triggering activity in others, many sources of the same information, distribution between individuals on a global scale, rapidity of opinion generation at local, national and global scale; the socio-political implications of the new information order; the strengthening of democracy; emerging trends in mass communication; media convergence

What this syllabus does not tell you

The document is a topic list and nothing more. From it you cannot learn:

• how many questions come from each section, or the marks, negative marking and duration — those are on the exam pattern;
• the weightage of any section; Section 2 is longest on the page and Section 4 shortest, but the syllabus does not say either carries more or fewer questions;
• how the phrases of Section 8 will be turned into questions, since they are not framed as topics;
• which books to use; the syllabus names no textbook;
• how much weight a university gives this paper once you qualify — the programmes that accept it are listed below, but the marks or ranking rule each one applies sits in its own admission bulletin.

A few typographical slips in the source are worth knowing so you are not confused by them: the Journalism section numbers its sub-points (i), (ii), (iv), (v), (vi) with no (iii); "Convert Advertising" is almost certainly covert advertising; "Building Brand Image a" ends mid-phrase; and the film pioneer is printed "Robert Flaharty". This site transcribes the topics as the NTA prints them and flags those spellings in the fact notes.

For anything about attempt rules or numbers of questions, go to the NTA information bulletin and the exam pattern rather than to this list.