Paper No 15 Mass Communication and Media Studies

Assignment of media

Types of media with its advantages and disadvantages

Name: Jayati Thakar

Paper no: 15- The Mass Communication and Media Studies

Roll. No. 30

Assignment Topic: Types of Media With Its Advantages and Disadvantages

Submitted to: S. B. Gardi Department of English, M. K. Bhavnagar University.

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Introduction:-

        Media is the one of the major devices of communication in 21’st century the era of digitalization. Media is major source of connectivity and communication with others. Nowadays media comes in many different forms like Print (books, newspapers and magazines), television, movies, and video games, music, cell phones, various kind of software and the Internet. Media plays its vital role in every field like Educational, industrial, business, entertainment, etc…

          It is useful for erect awareness of any subject or issue related to our surrounding. It also promotes the products to potential customers.

The various media that are commonly used are being explained here:

Newspapers

Newspapers are one of the traditional mediums used by businesses, both big and small alike, to advertise their businesses.

Advantages of Newspaper Advertising

·         Allows you to reach a huge number of people in a given geographic area

·         You have the flexibility in deciding the ad size and placement within the newspaper

·         Your ad can be as large as necessary to communicate as much of a story as you care to tell

·         Exposure to your ad is not limited; readers can go back to your message again and again if so desired.

·         Free help in creating and producing ad copy is usually available

·         Quick turn-around helps your ad reflect the changing market conditions. The ad you decide to run today can be in your customers’ hands in one to two days.

Disadvantages of Newspaper Advertising

·         Ad space can be expensive

·         Your ad has to compete against the clutter of other advertisers, including the giants ads run by supermarkets and department stores as well as the ads of your competitors

·         Poor photo reproduction limits creativity

·         Newspapers are a price-oriented medium; most ads are for sales

·         Expect your ad to have a short shelf life, as newspapers are usually read once and then discarded.

·         You may be paying to send your message to a lot of people who will probably never be in the market to buy from you.

·         Newspapers are a highly visible medium, so your competitors can quickly react to your prices

·         With the increasing popularity of the Internet, newspapers face declining readership and market penetration. A growing number of readers now skip the print version of the newspaper (and hence the print ads) and instead read the online version of the publication.

Magazines

Magazines are a more focused, albeit more expensive, alternative to newspaper advertising. This medium allows you to reach highly targeted audiences.

Advantages of Magazine Advertising

·         Allows for better targeting of audience, as you can choose magazine publications that cater to your specific audience or whose editorial content specializes in topics of interest to your audience.

·         High reader involvement means that more attention will be paid to your advertisement

·         Better quality paper permits better color reproduction and full-color ads

·         The smaller page (generally 8 ½ by 11 inches) permits even small ads to stand out

Disadvantages of Magazine Advertising

·         Long lead times mean that you have to make plans weeks or months in advance

·         The slower lead time heightens the risk of your ad getting overtaken by events

·         There is limited flexibility in terms of ad placement and format.

·         Space and ad layout costs are higher

Yellow Pages

There are several forms of Yellow Pages that you can use to promote and advertise your business. The Web versions of Yellow Pages (and its many competitors online) have been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years, with many foregoing the traditional Yellow Pages supplied by phone companies. But you can also check out specialized directories targeted to specific markets (e.g. Hispanic Yellow Pages, Blacks, etc.); interactive or consumer search databases; Audiotex or talking yellow pages; Internet directories containing national, local and regional listings; and other services classified as Yellow Pages.

Advantages of Yellow Page Advertising

·         Wide availability, as mostly everyone have Yellow Pages

·         Non-intrusive

·         Action-oriented, as the audience is actually looking for the ads

·         Ads are reasonably inexpensive

·         Responses are easily tracked and measured

·         Frequency

Disadvantages of Yellow Page Advertising

·         The Internet has led to the decline in the usage of the Yellow Pages, as users find the Web to be an easier, faster and more comprehensive

·         Pages can look cluttered, and your ad can easily get lost in the clutter

·         Your ad is placed together with all your competitors

·         Limited creativity in the ads, given the need to follow a pre-determined format

·         Ads slow to reflect market changes

Radio

Advantages of Radio Advertising

·         Radio is a universal medium enjoyed by people at one time or another during the day, at home, at work, and even in the car.

·         The vast array of radio program formats offers to efficiently target your advertising dollars to narrowly defined segments of consumers most likely to respond to your offer.

·         Gives your business personality through the creation of campaigns using sounds and voices

·         Free creative help is often available

·         Rates can generally be negotiated

·         During the past ten years, radio rates have seen less inflation than those for other media

Disadvantages of Radio Advertising

·       Because radio listeners are spread over many stations, you may have to advertise simultaneously on several stations to reach your target audience

·         Listeners cannot go back to your ads to go over important points

·         Ads are an interruption in the entertainment. Because of this, a radio ad may require multiple exposure to break through the listener’s “tune-out” factor and ensure message retention

·         Radio is a background medium. Most listeners are doing something else while listening, which means that your ad has to work hard to get their attention

Television

Advantages of Television Advertising

·         Television permits you to reach large numbers of people on a national or regional level in a short period of time

·         Independent stations and cable offer new opportunities to pinpoint local audiences

·         Television being an image-building and visual medium, it offers the ability to convey your message with sight, sound and motion

Disadvantages of Television Advertising

·         Message is temporary, and may require multiple exposure for the ad to rise above the clutter

·         Ads on network affiliates are concentrated in local news broadcasts and station breaks

·         Preferred ad times are often sold out far in advance

·         Limited length of exposure, as most ads are only thirty seconds long or less, which limits the amount of information you can communicate

·         Relatively expensive in terms of creative, production and airtime costs

Telemarketing

Telephone sales, or telemarketing, are an effective system for introducing a company to a prospect and setting up appointments.

Advantages of Telemarketing

·         Provides a venue where you can easily interact with the prospect, answering any questions or concerns they may have about your product or service.

·         It’s easy to prospect and find the right person to talk to.

·         It’s cost-effective compared to direct sales.

·         Results are highly measurable.

·         You can get a lot of information across if your script is properly structured.

·         If outsourcing, set-up cost is minimal

·         Increased efficiency since you can reach many more prospects by phone than you can with in-person sales calls.

·         Great tool to improve relationship and maintain contact with existing customers, as well as to introduce new products to them

·         Makes it easy to expand sales territory as the phone allows you to call local, national and even global prospects.

Disadvantages of Telemarketing

·         An increasing number of people have become averse to telemarketing.

·         More people are using technology to screen out unwanted callers, particularly telemarketers

·         Government is implementing tougher measures to curb unscrupulous telemarketers

·         Lots of businesses use telemarketing.

·         If hiring an outside firm to do telemarketing, there is lesser control in the process given that the people doing the calls are not your employees

·         May need to hire a professional to prepare a well-crafted and effective script

·         It can be extremely expensive, particularly if the telemarketing is outsourced to an outside firm

·         It is most appropriate for high-ticket retail items or professional services.

Specialty Advertising

This kind of advertising entails the use of imprinted, useful, or decorative products called advertising specialties, such as key chains, computer mouse, mugs, etc. These articles are distributed for free; recipients need not purchase or make a contribution to receive these items.

Advantages of Specialty Advertising

·         Flexibility of use

·         High selectivity factor as these items can be distributed only to the target market.

·         If done well, target audience may decide to keep the items, hence promoting long retention and constant exposure

·         Availability of wide range of inexpensive items that can be purchased at a low price.

·         They can create instant awareness.

·         They can generate goodwill in receiver

·         The items can be used to supplement other promotional efforts and media (e.g. distributed during trade shows).

Disadvantages of Speciality Advertising

·         Targeting your market is difficult.

·         This can be an inappropriate medium for some businesses.

·         It is difficult to find items that are appropriate for certain businesses

·         Longer lead time in developing the message and promotional product

·         Possibility of saturation in some items and audiences

·         Wrong choice of product or poor creative may cheapen the image of advertiser

    

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WORK SITED:-    https://www.powerhomebiz.com/marketing-         tips/advertising/advantages-and-disadvantages-advertising-mediums.htm

Paper No 14 The African Literature

Name: Jayati Thakar

Paper no: 14- The African Literature

Roll. No. 30

Assignment Topic: Discuss the poems: ‘New York’, ‘Mystic Drum’, and ‘Telephone Conversation’.

Submitted to: S. B. Gardi Department of English, M. K. Bhavnagar University.

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‘New York’ Leopord  Senghor

New York is the commercial capital of America. Therefore it stands an emblem of financial stability and exponential growth. The poet Leopold Sedar Senghor exclaims that at first the beauty of New York held him spell-bound as it was superficial. It was limited to physicality of the “great long-legged golden girls.” The poet appears to be timid at the first sight of the City of Skyscrapers. Firstly, owing to his inferiority complex as the city held him in awe. Secondly, he could not confront the “blue metallic eyes”.
The adjective “metallic” has various connotations here. The term may refer to the lifelessness of the eyes. It may also allude to the nerve of steel. Furthermore, it points to the frigidity of the eyes. The phrase”frosty smile” appears to be a simile from a consumer society. The poet refers to the depth of the skyscrapers, when he should be talking about the height of the same. The line “lifting up owl eyes in the sun’s eclipse” reveals how the warmth of life is denied to them. The adjective “sulphurous” indicates pollution.
The skyscrapers seem to defy ‘cyclones’ as if challenging the very notion of God. The stone of the skyscrapers has weathered well against the climatic conditions. The sidewalks of Manhattan seem bald as compared to the grassy areas of nature. There are wells and pastures. All the birds seem to limit themselves to terraces. Nothing is deemed innocent here in this pretentious sophistication, pseudo-modern existence. No child’s laughter is to be heard, no mother suckling her baby. Only “legs in nylon” and “breasts with no sweat and smell.” In a consumer society, mouths are lipless due to lack of genuine expression and communication; what ultimately matters is profit and gain. Hard cash buys even love as people confine themselves to mercantilism.
No books are to be found that impart wisdom, as people are reluctant to part with wisdom too. The poet goes out to criticize European art asserting that the painter’s palette is filled with crystals of coral. The nights in Manhattan are characterized by insomnia. People give in to their impulsive needs. The term ‘hygienic loves’ refer to contraceptives, as they floated in the dark waters. The sanctity of love is treated as sewage.
The poet warns the superficial world to pay attention to the heeding of God-“signs and reckonings.” In Apoc., ii, 17, manna symbolizes the happiness of heaven. It is with hyssop that the blood of a bird offered in sacrifice is to be sprinkled for the cleansing of a man or a house affected with leprosy (Lev. 14: 4-7, 49-51).Senghor states that it was high time for manna and hyssop, the time for heavenly purity to descend on earth. The poet entreats with them to listen to the heart beating to the rhythm of one’s own blood, thereby making a distinction between the self and the conscious. The poet sees Harlem humming with sounds, solemn color and flamboyant smells. The three sensory perceptions are subject to artificial stimulations. This is the only interval to the man delivering pharmaceutical products. The pseudo-artificial products come into focus. The night holds more truth as compared to the day. The true colour of all things come to the fore .It is the purest form that sets life germinating before memory. All the amphibious elements-those pertaining to water and land are shining the suns.
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural, and business center. The term “Harlem” refers to the Amalgamation of African-American life as it was expressed, and as it stood for. Therefore the “corn springing from the pavements” represent the marriage of Africa and America, of nature and sophistication It stands for the assimilation of the ‘white rum” and “black milk.”The masks adorned are “fabulous masks” as one cannot tell apart the African from the American.”
I have seen the sky at evening snowing cotton flowers and
wings of seraphin and wizards plumes
Listen, New York listen to your brazen male voice your
vibrate oboe voice, the muted anguish of your tears
falling in great clots of blood
Listen to the far beating of your nocturnal heart,, rhythm
And blood of the drum, drum and blood and drum.
This drum stands for the spiritual pulse of African traditional life as echoed in Gabriel Okara’s “Mystic Drum.” The alternation of the words “drum” and “blood” reflect a pulse-like rhythm that emphasizes the same.
Senghor claims that unity is to be discovered in the reconciliation of the Lion, the Bull and the Tree; the wild, the domestic and the vegetative world. Eventually he comes to comprehend that there is no significant meaning to this sort of life. The end becomes the means. The meaning of the journey no longer holds significance in a fast-forward life. In fact, they do not have possess a heritage at all; therefore, there is no need “to invent the mermaids”. America is always questioned regarding a history of its own, its roots and tradition. Senghor asserts that there is no need to indulge in a culture of myth that they do not possess in the first place. The life prevalent there is based on the formula of success, in an era of competition. Life has lost its true purpose and rusted in the ‘steel articulations”. The steel articulations refer to the Industrial Revolution. Besides, it may also allude to the steel nerve of the colonizers. It connotes their rigid stanc

e and policies. The poet wants the black blood to act as a lubricant and life-force in such a situation.

New York! I say New York, let the
black blood flow into your blood Cleaning the rust from your steel articulations, like an oil of life.
It is also said to be the “oil of life”. Blood is red in colour, and is therefore universal. Here the poet renders this blood unique by attributing it with the adjective “black”. But again, it acts as the “oil of life”;or sustains life that is a universal phenomenon. (htt22)

Analysis of "THE MYSTIC DRUM’ by Gabriel Okara

About the poet 

Gabriel Okara, in full Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara (born April 21, 1921, Bumodi, Nigeria), is a Nigerian poet and novelist. His verse had been translated into several languages by the early 1960s.A largely self-educated man, Okara became a bookbinder after leaving school and soon began writing plays and features for radio. In 1953 his poem “The Call of the River Nun” won an award at the Nigerian Festival of Arts. Some of his poems were published in the influential periodical Black Orpheus, and by 1960 he was recognized as an accomplished literary craftsman. Okara’s poetry is based on a series of contrasts in which symbols are neatly balanced against each other. The need to reconcile the extremes of experience (life and death are common themes) preoccupies his verse, and a typical poem has a circular movement from everyday reality to a moment of joy and back to reality again. Okara incorporated African thought, religion, folklore, and imagery into both his verse and prose. His first novel, The Voice (1964), is a remarkable linguistic experiment in which Okara translated directly from the Ijo (Ijaw) language, imposing Ijo syntax onto English in order to give literal expression to African ideas and imagery. The novel creates a symbolic landscape in which the forces of traditional African culture and Western materialism contend. Its tragic hero, Okolo, is both an individual and a universal figure, and the ephemeral “it” that he is searching for could represent any number of transcendent moral values. Okara’s skilled portrayal of the inner tensions of his hero distinguished him from many other Nigerian novelists. During much of the 1960s Okara worked in civil service. From 1972 to 1980 he was director of the Rivers State Publishing House in Port Harcourt. His later work includes a collection of poems, The Fisherman’s Invocation (1978), and two books for children, Little Snake and Little Frog (1981) and An Adventure to Juju Island (1992). 

About the poem 

The Mystic Drum,” evinces a tripartite ritual pattern of initiation from innocence through intimacy to experience. The drum, in African poems, generally stands for the spiritual pulse of traditional African life. The poet asserts that first, as the drum beat inside him fishes danced in the rivers and men and women danced on the land to the rhythm of the drum. But standing behind the tree, there stood an outsider who smiled with an air of indifference at the richness of their culture. However, the drum still continued to beat rippling the air with quickened tempo compelling the dead to dance and sing with their shadows. The ancestral glory overpowers other considerations. So powerful is the mystic drum, that it brings back even the dead alive. The rhythm of the drum is the aching for an ideal Nigerian State of harmony. The outsider still continued to smile at the culture from the distance. The outsider stands for Western Imperialism that has looked down upon anything Eastern, non-Western, alien and therefore, 'incomprehensible for their own good' as 'The Other'. The African culture is so much in tune with nature that the mystic drum invokes the sun, the moon; the river gods and the trees began to dance. The gap finally gets bridged between humanity and nature, the animal world and human world, the hydrosphere and lithosphere that fishes turned men, and men became fishes. But later as the mystic drum stopped beating, men became men, and fishes became fishes. Life now became dry, logical and mechanical thanks to Western Scientific Imperialism and everything found its place. Leaves started sprouting on the woman; she started to flourish on the land. Gradually her roots struck the ground. Spreading a kind of parched rationalism smoke issued from her lips and her lips parted in smile. The term 'smoke' is also suggestive of the pollution caused by industrialization, and also the clouding of morals. Ultimately, the speaker was left in 'belching darkness', completely cut off from the heart of his culture, and he packed the mystic drum not to beat loudly anymore. The 'belching darkness" alludes to the futility and hollowness of the imposed existence. The outsider, at first only, has an objective role standing behind a tree. Eventually, she intrudes and tries to weave their spiritual life. The 'leaves around her waist' are very much suggestive of Eve who adorned the same after losing her innocence. Leaves stop growing on the trees but only sprout on her head implying 'deforestation." The refrain reminds us again and again, that this Eve turns out to be the eve of Nigerian damnation. Okara mentions in one of his interviews that "The Mystic Drum" is essentially a love poem: "This was a lady I loved”. And she coyly was not responding directly, but I adored her. Her demeanor seemed to mask her true feelings; at a distance, she seemed adoring, however, on coming closer, she was, after all, not what she seemed." This lady may stand as an emblem that represents the lure of Western life; how it seemed appealing at first but later seemed distasteful to the poet. 

STRUCTURE 

The poem has three different parts-an initial phase of conventional knowledge when men are men and fishes are fishes;(line 1-15) a middle phase of more intimate knowledge when men are no longer fishes (lines 16-26) and a final phase of ‘substantial knowledge’ when men are once again men and fishes are once again fishes, with the difference that at this phase, the beloved lady of the lyric is depicted as ‘standing behind a trace’ with “her lips parted in her smile”. It is more decidedly a philosophical poem in which the dynamics directions and management of ‘the mystic drum’ of passion that beats in the poet’s inside are dramatically re-enacted. At the initial level of conventional knowledge (lines 1-7), the speaker sees people as people and fishes as fishes. At this level, the love relationship between the lover and his beloved is still at a primary phenomenal and mundane level of innocent physical and sexual attraction. As at the end of the first and second phases, the beloved is no longer simply ‘standing behind a tree/with leaves around her waist’, only smiling “with a shake of her head”. She is no longer silent but active, combustive, mysterious and even ominous. At this climax of his emotional and epistemological initiation, the lover finally decides to ‘pack’ his ‘mystic drum’ turning away from an over-excited involvement in love relationships, determined ‘never to beat so loud anymore’. The mystic drum and the transformations are projected to the personality of the beloved who acquires extra-ordinary powers that effectively transform her into a supernatural being, indeed a goddess, invested with the powers “of the things of the ground” (earth) of the “the eye of the sky/the sun and moon”(heaven) and of the ‘river gods’(water).  (htt23)

“Telephone Conversation”- Wole Soyinka

Wole Soyinka’s “Telephone Conversation” is an eloquent exchange of dialogue between a dark West African man and his British landlady that inexorably verges on the question of apartheid. The poet makes use of the most articulate means to air his views, through that of a telephone conversation, where there is instant and natural give-and-take. It exhibits a one-to-one correspondence between the two. The interaction between a coloured and a white individual at once assumes universal overtones.
At the outset, the poet says that the price seemed reasonable and the location ‘indifferent’. Note that as a word, even though the word “indifferent” denotes being ‘unbiased’, it is a word with negative connotations. However, as we come across the Landlady’s biased nature; the word ‘indifferent’ gains positive overtones, as it is better than being impartial. The lady swears that she lived ‘off premises’. Nevertheless, the very aspect of his colour poses a problem to her, far from her promise to remain aloof. Nothing remains for the poet, he says, but confession. It gives a picture of him sitting in a confessional, when he hasn’t committed any crime….his crime is his colour, his remorse is solutionless. He tells the lady that he hates a wasted journey. Perhaps his words connote more than he literally signifies. The poet seems to be tired of his life conditioned by racist prejudices. As he mentions that he is a West African, the lady is crammed with silence, but a silence that speaks volumes. A telephone is an instrument that primarily transmits voices, here it becomes a medium for silence also. The so-called civilized world, has these silent powerful issues that need to be voiced. Here, the silence echoes. It is a silence that is the consequence of her sophisticated upbringing. However, her prejudices transcend her to primitivism, living in the superstitious narrow-mindedness of caste and colour.
When the voice finally came, it was ‘lip-stick coated’,well made-up and diplomatic to suit an affected atmosphere. The inevitable question finally comes cross:” ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?”The poet views it as button B or Button A. The question places two alternatives before him: dark or light; The truth or lies. The first option would obviously shut off all doors to him. The term Button B also is the button in the public telephone box to get the money back. Button A is the one to connect the call. The poet first ponders on Button B to get out of his predicament. He then realizes that escapism is not the solution, and decides to face the situation. The words: “Stench /Of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak” signify the claustrophobic nature of the questions rather than the atmosphere.
The colour ‘red’ in “Red booth. Red pillar box. Red double-tiered” forebode caution. The questions were too naked to be true. The speaker at last brings himself to believe them. His response is very witty: “You mean–like plain or milk chocolate?” This is the most apt response as dark chocolate is certainly more tempting than plain chocolate. Her disinterested approval of the question was like that of a clinical doctor made immune to human emotions through experience. Human pain and misery its own saturation point; after a certain point people tend to joke at their own agony. As the saying goes: Be a God, and laugh at Yourself. The speaker therefore begins enjoying the situation and confuses the lady on the other side. He asserts: “West African sepia”, to further confuse her.
Silence for spectroscopic
Flight of fancy, till truthfulness clanged her accent
Hard on the mouthpiece. “WHAT’S THAT?” conceding
“DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT IS.” “Like brunette.”
“THAT’S DARK, ISN’T IT?” “Not altogether.
Facially, I am brunette, but, madam, you should see
The rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet
Are a peroxide blond. Friction, caused–
Foolishly, madam–by sitting down, has turned

My bottom raven black–One moment, madam!”–sensing
Her receiver rearing on the thunderclap
About my ears–“Madam,” I pleaded, “wouldn’t you rather
See for yourself?”

The last lines verge on vulgarity, but simply out of outrage. The mixed feelings, the random and broken sentences, the lack of coherence of speech, the question-answer mode are all typical of a telephone conversation that reverberates more than it sounds. (htt24)

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Works Cited

<http://rukhaya.com/poetry-analysis-leopold-sedar-senghors-new-york/>.

<http://liveloveliterature10.blogspot.in/2015/04/analysis-of-mystic-drum-by-gabriel-okara.html >.

<https://litxpert.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/analysis-telephone-conversation-by-wole-soyinka/ >.