Mass Media: In common parlance, mass media means the media such as radio, television, print media and films which are used to communicate to a large number of people. The term ‘mass’ is defined here in the sense of a large number of people of a community or a group or a country as against a particular class or category of the people. It is also called mass media because information is disseminated through several channels simultaneously to the masses.

Mass Communication: It includes the transfer of messages and information from a sender to a mass audience. The transfer is done through the technologies of the mass media such as newspapers, magazines, television programmes, films, computer networks and so on. The sender in this case may be a person attached to some large media organisations or government agencies, the messages are public and audience is large.

While mass communication is the process in which information is disseminated to a large number of people, the mass media are the means of carrying this material to the people.

The first modern mass-media institution began with the development of the printing press.