CUET Mass Media and Communication Syllabus 2026: Important Topics, Pattern and Best Books for CUET

CUET Exam Conducting Body

National Testing Agency (NTA)

Medium of Exam

13 languages - English, Hindi, Urdu, Assamese, Bengali, Odia, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam

Number of questions

50 questions across subjects

Type of questions

Multiple Choice Questions

Marking Scheme

+5 for each correct answer

-1 for each incorrect answer

CUET Mass Media and Communication Mapping for Courses

• BA in Journalism & Mass Communication
• BA Hons in Journalism & Mass Communication
• BA in Journalism & Mass Communication (Honours / Research)
• BA in Mass Communication (International)
• Under Graduate Journalism and Mass Communication
• BA Honours in Mass Communication & Video Production
• Certificate/Diploma in Mass Media
• BA in Mass Communication and Multimedia Production

Communication

• Understanding Communication
  • Levels of Communication
  • Models of communication
• Culture and Communication
  • What is culture?
  • Relationship between culture and mass media
  • Communication in the cultural context
  • Media as a vehicle of cultural transmission
  • Representation and stereotyping in Mass Media.
• Communication and Social Change
  • Social change: meaning; media as a catalyst for social change (with examples of various social movements).
• Evolution of Media
  • History of Newspapers, Radio and Television in India and New Media

Journalism

• Understanding News

Definition, news values, components of news

• Qualities of a Good Journalist

An understanding of the following: nose for News, inquisitiveness, language skills, trustworthy and empathy.

• Reporting and Editing Techniques

Inverted Pyramid

5 W's & 1 H

Headlines

Copy Editing

• Photo Journalism

Importance of photos, captions, visual depiction, and photo essays

• Media Laws and Ethical Issues in Journalism

A brief understanding of each of the following with examples: sensationalism, fake news, paid news, plagiarism, advertorials, partisan reporting, sting operations, defamation, freedom of speech and expression, law and media

• Advertising
  
  • Advertising concepts and process
  • Functions of Advertising
  • Types of Advertising (Cross promotions, Merchandise, Convert Advertising)
  • Forms of Advertising
  • Advertising campaigns
• Public Relations
  
  • Understanding PR and media management
  • Building Brand Image
  • Tools and Steps in PR; PR Campaign
  • Crisis Management
  • Responsibility of a PRO

TV Production Process and Programmes

• Pre-production, Production, Post-production stage
• Programmes, formats and audiences

1. Advertising
(i) Advertising concepts & process

(ii)

2. Film
(i) Pre-Shooting Stage

(ii) Shooting Stage
(iii) Post-Shooting Stage

Radio

• Writing for Radio

Characteristics of a Radio Script: conversational language, active voice, simple sentences, avoidance of technical jargons and capability of creating imagery.

• Radio Recording

Brief understanding of the radio studio and transmission equipment: types of microphones, amplifier, sound mixer, speakers; audio recording.

Cinema

History of Cinema

A brief understanding of the early experiments done by the following: Lumiere Brothers, John Grierson, Robert Flaharty and Dada Saheb Phalke

Production Process and Cinema Genres

• Production process and stages in films and documentary making
• Defining genre theory; an understanding of the various types of genres (with suitable examples): action, westerns, comedy, crime, drama, fantasy/sci-fi, historical, animation, romance and musical.

Cinema and Social Change

Parallel Cinema movement in India: Issues depicted and low budget production process (with reference to examples such as Shyam Benegal’s Manthan).

Social Media

• Definition of Social Media
• Types of Social Media Platforms: Social networking, blogging, photo and video sharing
• Role of Social Media in Democracy

Role of social media in creating collective identities with reference to sharing of information; cyber activism (with suitable examples)

• Cyber Crime

An understanding of online bullying, stalking, trolling; online fraud.

• Netiquettes

Meaning and importance of netiquettes; an understanding of netiquettes such as: identification of oneself; respect for others’ privacy, use of appropriate language and imagery; do not spam.

New Media

1. Internet as the meeting point of all the mass media.

2. Broadcasting

3. Mass communication model of a few transmitting to a vast number of receivers.

4. Gigantic organization

5. Huge technical infra-structure

6. Large scale revenue

7. The changed paradigm due to the Internet

8. Empowering an individual to post data on the Internet

9. Information, message in one medium triggering off activity in the others

10. Many sources of the same information

11. Distribution of information between individuals on an unprecedented global scale

12. Rapidity of opinion generation on a local, national and global scale

13. The socio-political implications of the new information order

14. The Strengthening of democracy

15. Emerging trends in Mass Communication

16. Media convergence

CUET General Test Syllabus PDF

CBSE Official Mass Media Studies Textbook of Class 12

CBSE

Together With NTA CUET (UG) Mass Media Solved Question Bank 2023 (Entrance Exam Book)

Rachna Sagar

Popular Master Guide for Journalism and Mass Communication Entrance Exam

R Gupta

Manorama Yearbook

Philip Mathew

Mass Communication in India

Keval J

Journalism & Mass Communication Entrance Examination

Arihant Publications

Journalism and Mass Communication: Patrakarita and Jansanchar (Hindi)

R. Gupta