Radio as medium of mass communication

Radio is widely used mass communication medium and has a great potentiality in dissemination of information as radio signals cover almost entire world. More than 177 radio stations are there across the country. Almost 97 percent of the population is reached by the radio. Radio being a convenient form of entertainment caters to a large audience. With the invention of transistors this medium has reached the common man in urban and rural areas of India but the utilization of radio is more among rural elites.It has advantages over the other mass media like television and newspapers in terms of being handy, portable, easily accessible and cheap. Radio is the most portable of the broadcast media, being easily accessible at home, at office, in car, on the street or beach, virtually anywhere and everywhere at any time. Radio is effective medium not only in informing the people but also in creating awareness regarding many social issues and need for social reformation, developing interest and initiating action.For example, in creating awareness regarding new policies, news about evelopmental projects and programs, new ideas etc. It will help in creating a positive climate for growth and development. It widens the horizons of the people and enlightens them, and gradually changing their outlook towards life. Research about this has shown that radio is an effective medium for education when it is followed up with group discussion and question- answer session. In India, radio with its penetration to the rural areas is becoming a powerful medium for advertisers.It gains 3 percent of the national advertising budget. Radio is still the heapest alternative to television, but it is no longer the poor medium in advertising terms. Because radio listening are so widespread, it is prospered as an advertising medium for reaching local audiences. Moreover, the radio serves small and highly targeted audiences, which makes radio an excellent advertising medium for many kinds of speciali zed products and services. As far as commercials are concerned, no one will able to tune out commercials easily as is possible with remote control devices and VCRs.It is said that radio's ability to ttract local advertisers hurts mainly newspapers, as television is less attractive to the small and local advertiser. As tar as audience is concerned radio does not hamper persons mobility. Radio as a vehicle of information for masses it is still the fastest medium of communication. For instance, it would take less time for a news reporter for radio to arrive on the spot with a microphone and recorder than the same for TV along with a shooting team and equipment.Another important feature of radio as mass medium is that it caters to a large rural opulation which has no access to TV and where there is no power supply. In such places, AIR-AII India Radio's programmes continue to be the only source of information and entertainment. AIR broadcasts programmes in 24 languages and 140 dialects. â€Å"Radio should be treated as a kin to newspapers in view of the fact that it is local, inexpensive, linked to communities, has limited band width and operates through simple technology'. The economics of radio does allow tailoring programme content to the needs of small audiences.Thus it is economically viable to recast a programme for broadcast to audiences in different sub regional, cultural and linguistic language. This enhances the value of radio as a medium in networking developmental programmes. It offers many possibilities in networking, from local or regional co- ordinated broadcasts and interactive exchange of queries and data. It will serve as a standalone medium of information dissemination or a support medium for curricular learning, Jointly with print material or with fieldwork.