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NCERT Solutions for class 7 Civics chapter 6 – Understanding Media

Back Exercise


1. In what ways does the media play an important role in a democracy?

 Answer

Role of media played in democracy:
(i) It is the backbone or the fourth pillar of a democracy which makes us aware of social, political and economical activities.
(ii) Provides news and discussing events taking place in the country and the world.
(iii) It gives people information about how government works.
(iv) It also give information about the election related news and results.
(v)  It raises the issues or problems related to the common people in front of politicians.
(vi)  It also acts as a reminder for the politicians or ministers about their promises.

2. Can you give this diagram a title? What do you understand about the link between media and big business from this diagram?
Answer

The title given to this diagram is "Media and Business house money cycle".
From this diagram, we understood that there is a cyclic flow of money between media and big business.
(i) Media shows news of interest to the people on radio, TV and newspaper.
(ii) Big business houses advertise their products through media to attract people.
(iii) Media show these advertisements by taking some charges and makes profit. (iv) People buy these products of the big business and thus the cost and advertisements along with some profit returns to them.

3. You have read about the ways in which the media ‘sets the agenda’. What kind of effect does this have in a democracy? Provide two examples to support your point of view.

Answer

Effect of this agenda in a democracy:
(i) It influences the thoughts, feelings and actions of the people.
(ii) It brings attention of the people to the various issues of the people.
(iii) Somehow, it has influence in our lives and in shaping our thoughts and thus sets the agenda.

Two examples in support:
(i) The media drew our attention to alarming levels of pesticides in cola drinks. They published reports that indicated the high level of pesticides and thus made us aware of the need to regularly monitor these colas according to international quality and safety standards.
(ii) It published the news of the mass numbers of suicide committed by the farmers which leads to large scale movement and people support and thus forced the government to look further on this issues.

4. As a class project, decide to focus on a particular news topic and cut out stories from different newspapers on this. Also watch the coverage of this topic on TV news. Compare two newspapers and write down the similarity and differences in their reports. It might help to ask the following questions–
a. What information is this article providing?
b. What information is it leaving out?
c. From whose point of view is the article being written?
d. Whose point of view is being left out and why?

Answer

The answer should be vary from students to students and must be done by themselves.

In-text Questions

Question 1.
Look at the college and list six various kinds of media that you see. (NCERT Page 71)
Answer.

Question 2.
Ask older members of your family about what they used to listen to on the radio when there was no TV around. Find out from them when the first TV came to your area. When was cable TV introduced? (NCERT Page 71)
Answer.

  1. They used to listen to following programmes on the radio when there was no television around.
    • Radio Ceylon
      • Ap Hi Ke Geet  (आप ही के गीत )
      • Binaca Geet Mala ( बिनाका गीत माला )
    • Vividh Bharati
      • Hawa Mahal ( हवा महल )
      • Man Chahe Geet ( मन चाहे गीत )
  2. The first TV came in 1984 in our area.
  3. Cable TV was introduced in 1990 in our area.

Question 3.
How many people in your neighbourhood use the internet? (NCERT Page 71)
Answer.
Most of them.

Question 4.
List three things that you know about some other part of the world from watching television. (NCERT Page 71)
Answer.

  1. Earthquake in Nepal.
  2. Tornado in Oklahoma, May 2013, the disappearance of aeroplane MH370.
  3. Cannes film festival, 2013.

Question 5.
Can you list three different products that are advertised on your favourite TV programme? (NCERT Page 72)
Answer.
Yes, Tea, clothes, Snacks, Cold drinks.

Question 6.
Take a newspaper and count the number of advertisements in it. Some people say that newspapers have too many advertisements. Do you think this is true and why? (NCERT Page 72)
Answer.

  1. Hindustan Times.
  2. Number of advertisements: 70
  3. Some people say correctly but it is necessary otherwise the cost of the newspaper will be so much that most people would not be able to buy newspapers.

Question 7.
Are the above stories in the two newspapers similar? And if not, why not? What, in your view, are the similarities and differences? (NCERT Page 74)
Answer.
No, they are not similar. A news report in the News of India report, the story is about the crackdown on polluting factories while in the Indian Daily Report, the story is about the closure of factories which led to unrest.
Differences

  1. A report in the News India Report says that closure will result in a clean and green city.
  2. The closure will lead to unemployment in Indian Daily Report.
  3. Relocation must be done.
  4. The places of relocation have no facilities.

Similarities

  1. Both the reports/stories are related to factories.
  2. Both reports indicate protests by owners and workers of the factories.
  3. Relocation has been dealt with in both reports.

Question 8.
If you read the story in the News of India, what would you think about the issue? ‘ (NCERT Page 74)
Answer.
The issue is the pollution caused by polluting factories.

  1. Factory owners and workers protested violently against the crackdown on polluting industries.
  2. The government had already declared these industries illegal.
  3. But it acted hastily to close them down.
  4. In view of the clean and green city, it is necessary to close them down.

Question 9.
Do you think it is important to know both sides of the story? Why? (NCERT Page 75)
Answer.
Yes, because only then we can form a balanced opinion about an issue.

Question 10.
Pretend that you are a journalist for a newspaper and write a balanced story from the two news reports. (NCERT Page 75)
Answer.
Balanced Story

  1. The government orders closure of polluting factories in the city. The pollution had already assumed alarming proportions.
  2. Factory owners and workers protested violently against the closure. The city life came to a standstill.
  3. For a clean and green city, the closure of factories was essential.
  4. The government should have relocated the factories to suitable locations with a proper time frame.

Question 11.
What does TV do to us and what can we do with TV? (NCERT Page 75)
Answer.

  1. In many of our houses, TV is always on.
  2. We form an impression about the world around us by seeing the TV7.
  3. It is like a ‘window to the world’.
  4. TV has different types of programs like movies, soap operas, game shows, reality TV shows like News, sports, and cartoons.
  5. Before, in between, and after each programme there are advertisements.
  6. TV shapes our views of the world, our beliefs, attitudes, and values.
  7. It gives us a partial view of the world.
  8. While we enjoy our favourite programmes, we should always be aware of the large exciting world beyond our TV screens. There are so many happenings beyond the TV.
  9. There is a world beyond film stars, celebrities, and rich lifestyle, a world that all of us need to reach out to and respond to in various ways.
  10. We need to be active viewers, who question whatever we see and hear, while we may enjoy it too.

Question 12.
What is the consequence of the media ‘setting the agenda’ by reporting on the Fashion Week rather than the slum demolitions? (NCERT Page 77)
Answer.
They earn huge amounts of money from the fashion week.

Question 13.
Can you think of an issue that does not seem important to you because it is never featured in the media? (NCERT Page 77)
Answer.

  1. Rising prices of essential commodities, and
  2. Rising crime graph in metropolitan cities.