Read the passage carefully and answer the following questions from
Mass Media And Communication
It is obvious that there has been a phenomenal expansion of mass communication of all kinds in recent years. As students of sociology, there are many aspects to this growth which is of great interest to us. First, while we recognise the specificity of the current communication revolution, it is important to go back a little and sketch out the growth of modern mass media in the world and in India. This helps us realise that like any other social institution the structure and content of mass media is shaped by changes in the economic, political and socio-cultural contexts. For instance, we see how central the state and its vision of development influenced the media in the first decades after independence. And how in the post 1990 period of globalisation, the market has a key role to play. Second, this help us better appreciate how the relationship between mass media and communication with society is dialectical. Both influence each other. The nature and role of mass media is influenced by the society in which it is located. At the same time the far reaching influence of mass media on society cannot be over-emphasised. We shall see this dialectical relationship —(a) the role of media in colonial India, (b) in the first decades after independence and (c) and finally in the context of globalisation. Third, mass communication is different from other means of communication as it requires a formal structural organisation to meet large-scale capital, production and management demands. You will find, therefore, that the state and/or the market have a major role in the structure and functioning of mass media. Mass media functions through very large organisations with major investments and large body of employees. Fourth, there are sharp differences between how easily different sections of people can use mass media.
The Digital Divide can be understood as
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → The feasibility of different groups’ use of technology.
Option (1) The feasibility of different groups’ use of technology. — Correct. The digital divide is the sharp difference in how easily different sections of people can use computers, the internet and mass media. Few households have a computer, and rural areas with erratic power and poor infrastructure still remain largely unconnected.
Option (2) The connection between local and global technology. — Incorrect. The divide is between groups of people, not technologies.
Option (3) The ability to divide the use of different technology. — Incorrect. It is a gap between groups, not a skill.
Option (4) The ability to use different languages in technology. — Incorrect. Language is not the point.
NCERT (2025-26): “…Third, mass communication is different from other means of communication as it requires a formal structural organisation to meet large-scale capital, production and management demands. You will find, therefore, that the state and/or the market have a major role in the structure and functioning of mass media. Mass media functions through very large organisations with major investments and large body of employees. Fourth, there are sharp differences between how easily different sections of people can use mass media. You will recall the concept of digital divide from the last chapter.… Social Change and Development in India — Chapter 6, Globalisation and Social Change: … According to a study in 2017–18, one in ten households have a computer at home. About a quarter of all homes have internet connectivity via mobile phone or other devices. The figures themselves indicate the digital divide that continues to prevail in the country inspite of the rapid spread of computers. Cyber connectivity had largely remained an urban phenomenon but widely accessible through the cyber cafés. But the rural areas with their erratic power supply, widespread illiteracy and lack of infrastructure, like telephone connections, still remain largely unconnected.…” |