KSLU Solved Question Papers
Media and Law (Hons)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 3
2021 Mar Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 3 Media and Law (Hons) 2021 Mar Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 2 November 2026.
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Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2021 Mar examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2021 Mar examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2021 Mar examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 2½ hours · Total marks 70 · 14 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1Explain the essential characteristics of mass media and describe different kinds of mass media.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: what media and mass media are; the essential characteristics of mass media; the functions they serve; the different kinds of mass media (press, radio, television, films, the internet and social media), with how each grew in India and the law that governs it; why each kind is regulated differently; and a conclusion.
Meaning
Media are channels of communication. Mass media are the channels that reach a large, scattered and varied audience at the same time. A newspaper, a radio station, a television channel, a film and a social media platform are all mass media.
Mass media are best seen as an institution, not merely a technology. They are organisations of people, money and rules that produce and spread news, views and entertainment.
Essential characteristics of mass media
- Wide reach. They speak to millions of people at once.
- A dispersed and unknown audience. The audience is spread out and is not personally known to the sender.
- Simultaneity. The same message reaches everyone at about the same time.
- Speed. News of an event can reach the whole country within minutes.
- Impersonal communication. There is no face to face contact between sender and receiver.
- One-way flow, in the classical model. The reader or viewer could not easily answer back. The internet has changed this.
- Organised production. Running a newspaper or a channel needs capital, staff and machines.
- Public character. Because they reach so many people, they affect public opinion. That is why the law regulates them.
- Commercial nature. Most media depend on advertising and sales.
Functions of mass media
The scholar Harold Lasswell described three functions. Others later added more.
- Surveillance: informing people about events.
- Correlation: explaining events and helping society respond to them.
- Transmission of the social heritage: passing on culture and values.
- Entertainment, added by Wright.
- Agenda setting: media decide what people think about.
- Mobilisation and the public sphere: media give citizens a place to debate public issues. This is why the press is called the fourth estate.
- Status conferral: a person, cause or grievance that appears in the media becomes important by appearing.
- Servicing the economy: advertising links producers with buyers.
The kinds of mass media
1. The press (print media). Newspapers and magazines are the oldest mass medium. Hicky's Bengal Gazette appeared in Calcutta on 29 January 1780. The first Hindi paper, Udant Martand, began on 30 May 1826. The press is now governed by the Press and Registration of Periodicals Act, 2023, which replaced the Act of 1867. It is also governed by the Press Council Act, 1978.
2. Radio. Radio clubs began in 1923. The Indian Broadcasting Company started in 1927. All India Radio got its name on 8 June 1936. Radio reaches people who cannot read. All India Radio is now a part of Prasar Bharati.
3. Television. Television began in Delhi on 15 September 1959. Doordarshan became a separate organisation on 1 April 1976. Colour came on 15 August 1982. Private satellite and cable channels grew after 1991, and the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 now governs cable.
4. Films (cinema). Raja Harishchandra by Dadasaheb Phalke was released on 3 May 1913. Alam Ara, the first Indian film with dialogue, came on 14 March 1931. Films are certified before exhibition under the Cinematograph Act, 1952.
5. The internet and social media. Public internet came to India on 15 August 1995 through VSNL. Social media platforms grew in the 2000s. They are governed by the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the IT Rules, 2021.
Why each kind is regulated differently
Indian media law is medium-specific:
- the press is the freest, with no licence;
- broadcasting uses the airwaves, which are public property, so it is licensed;
- films are certified before exhibition;
- platforms carry due diligence duties.
This difference was explained in K.A. Abbas v. Union of India, AIR 1971 SC 481. Facts. A documentary that showed the red light district of Bombay was refused a certificate for unrestricted exhibition. Held: the Supreme Court upheld the pre-censorship of films, because a motion picture stirs emotions more deeply than other forms of expression. So films may be treated differently from the press.
Digital change
The internet has blurred these lines. Anyone can now publish. Messages flow from many to many. Algorithms decide what people see. As a result, the old gatekeepers, such as editors, have less control.
Conclusion. Mass media are institutions that reach a large, dispersed and unknown audience quickly and at the same time. Their characteristics are reach, speed, simultaneity, impersonality, organised production, public character and commercial nature. The main kinds are the press, radio, television, films and the internet. India regulates each kind differently, as K.A. Abbas explains for films, though digital change is now merging them.
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