Keval J. Kumar is the founder-director of the Resource Centre for Media Education and Research (RECMER), Pune. He is a former Professor and Director, Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication, and a former Reader and HOD, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Pune, where he continues to guide Ph.D. students. He has been Visiting Professor at the Institute for Media Studies, Siegen University, Siegen, and Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany. He has also taught at Ohio State University, Columbus (USA), and Bahrain Training Institute, Manama. Currently, he is Adjunct/Visiting Faculty at the International School of Business and Media (ISB&M), Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad (MICA), and Indira School of Communication. Prof. Kumar has a doctorate in Mass Communication from the University of Leicester (UK). He is the author of seven other books. He has published widely in academic journals and also in a number of edited books on the discipline of Communication. He was Chair of the Media Education Research Section, International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), from 1998 to 2006. He is an Associate Member of ORBICOM, the Association of UNESCO Chairs in Communication, and the Chief Advisor to the NCERT’s syllabus and textbook committee on ‘Media Studies’. ‘Mass Communication in India is a result of the author’s in-depth study and understanding of the media. It is a pleasure reading a book which is full of information backed up by facts and figures. The book is compact with each section and sub-section having a list of Suggested Readings, and it is heartening to note that most of the books suggested are that of Indian authors. The book has five sections. The first deals with a general introduction to communication theory. The second entitled ‘Mass Media’ is divided into journalism, radio, television, cinema, advertising, public relations, folk media and group media. The third section is devoted to the psychology and sociology of the audience. The fourth section on ‘The Effects of the Mass Media’ and the fifth on ‘Media and Development’ deal with audience behaviour and the concept of development well supported by research studies… The book meets its objective of being a textbook as well as a book that gives an overview of mass communication in India.’ — Dr. J. Bhagyalakshmi, Communicator: Quarterly Journal of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi.
