TRENDS IN MASS COMMUNICATION I:Communication Science, Direct channels

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Theories of Communication MCM 511

LESSON 42

TRENDS IN MASS COMMUNICATION I

As we discuss the theories do you know that by the year 2008 there will be 2,200-communication

satellite circling the globe providing instantaneous worldwide telephone service, direct home and car

reception of audio and video, and incredibly fast and expanded access to the internet and World Wide

Web.

Our age is no different from the age when mass society theory, limited effects perspective or social

cognitive theory and uses and gratifications theories were produced.

The introduction of new technologies, the interest in and efforts at controlling them and a concern that

their use not conflict with democratic and pluralistic ideals gave rise to different mass communication

theories. These theories initiated and shaped emerging ideas about the role of media in the lives of

individuals and in the cultures and societies they occupy.

Contemporary mass communication theory must evolve and in involving to accommodate these

rapidly moving and powerful alterations in the audience/ mass media relationship.

As we have discussed that mass communication, research has undergone a profound transformation in

the past 40 years.

Some changes were the result of the rise of critical and cultural theories and challenge they posed to the

limited effects paradigm, but change also came from within the limited effects paradigm as researchers

moved away from a narrow focus on short-term, direct effects and developed active audience theories of

mass communication. Still more change was initiated by researchers who argued that mass

communication theory to create comprehensive theories of communication.

We will first consider communication science, a perspective that unites researchers who prefer to base

their inquiry on quantitative, empirical research methods.

Then we will discuss recent critical and cultural studies scholarship and see that these scholars also are

moving toward consensus. Recently Klaus Bruhn Jensen, a Danish scholar, has offered social semiotics

theory as a unifying framework for mass communication research.

We will also discuss the four major issues which are of special concern to the communication scholars

in building new communication theories.

1. The most obvious of the concern is the ongoing revolution in communications technology, one that

shows no signs of weakening. This revolution is producing technologies and applications that fill every

niche on the communications spectrum, ranging from the intrapersonal communication we carry on with

ourselves to powerful forms of mass communication capable of simultaneously sending messages to

every person on earth.

Each of these new media is likely to play different roles in society and in our personal lives. Some will

quickly disappear and others will succeed often for unexpected reasons.

Some older media will persist, but their role will be greatly altered or diminished. This is what happened

to radio after the rise of television in the 1960s. Others will disappear entirely. Media researchers will

struggle to keep pace with this rapidly changing media landscape.

2. The second concern/ force is closely related to the first. Since the end of the cold war, a new world

order has been emerging. One to the primary attributes of this world order is globalization. More and

more social organizations are being developed that have worldwide scope.

These include multinational government organizations such as the EU, multi-national corporations and

world wide nongovernmental organizations.

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Powerful communication technologies, such as satellites and the Internet enable these organizations to

easily span space and time. As the power of these organizations expand, the power of individual nation

states tends to contract.

3. The third force is less visible, but some futurists argue it is likely to be even more powerful than these

first two in reshaping the social world. This third force involves a transition from modern forms of

social order to postmodern forms.

French theorists have initiated many intriguing notions about significant changes in social organizations

since the thirteenth century.

4. Fourthly rapidly expanding scientific insight into the powers and the limitations of the human

organism will necessitate constant reformulation of media theories, in a variety of fields ranging from

the biological sciences to cognitive psychology, research is likely to produce powerful insights into the

way we deal with and act on information from both the physical and social environment.

5. Finally we will the discuss on media literacy , seen by many as not only necessitated by the rapid

expansion and diffusion of new communication technologies, but also as one logical outcome of all

these years of ferment in the field of mass communication.

Communication Science

By the 1980s some empirical media researchers concluded that the constant ferment of competing ideas

and research methods was impeding the development of a coherent approach to communications

research. One result of this awareness was the creation of communication science, a perspective on

research that integrates all research approaches that are rounded in quantitative, empirical behavioral

research methods.

Communication science effectively unites limited effects research with active audience and

interpersonal communication research.

Communication science was initially defined in late 1980s by researchers who wanted to eliminate

unfruitful fragmentation and provide defining core philosophy for the scientific study of all forms of

communication.

This is an effort to be inclusive rather than exclusive, to reject many of the outdated assumptions of the

limited effects paradigm while retaining its strong empirical focus- to unify under a single banner

empirical researchers working in area of communication.

Initially the two scholars Charles Berger and Steven Chaffee understood communication science.

These scholars offered a restructure of the scientific study of communication based not on the usual

narrow interest in specific aspects of the communication process as applied in individual circumstances

or settings but, rather, based on the four levels at which communication phenomena occur:

1. Intrapersonal communication, the analysis of communication that occurs within the individual.

2. Interpersonal, the analysis of communication relationships between two of small groups of people.

3. Network or organizational: the analysis of large groups of people and the contexts of their continuing

relationships

4. Macroscopic societal: the analysis of the communication characteristics and activities of large social

systems.

Intrapersonal Communication

Is within yourself:

Feelings, attitudes hope for the future, internal problem solving, self esteem, evaluation of self or

others... basically it is talking to yourself.

Intrapersonal communication is language use or thought internal to the communicator. Intrapersonal

communication is the active internal involvement of the individual in symbolic processing of messages

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The individual becomes his or her own sender and receiver, providing feedback to him or herself in an

ongoing internal process. It can be useful to envision intrapersonal communication occurring in the

mind of the individual in a model which contains a sender, receiver, and feedback loop.

Although successful communication is generally defined as being between two or more individuals,

issues concerning the useful nature of communicating with oneself and problems concerning

communication with non-sentient entities such as computers have made some argue that this definition

is too narrow.

In Communication: The Social Matrix of Psychiatry, Jurgen Ruesch and Gregory Bateson argue that

intrapersonal communication is indeed a special case of interpersonal communication, as "dialogue is

the foundation for all discourse."

Intrapersonal communication can encompass:

1. Day-dreaming

2. Nocturnal dreaming, including and especially lucid dreaming

3. Speaking aloud (talking to oneself)

4. Reading aloud, repeating what one hears; the additional activities of speaking and hearing (in the

third case of hearing again) what one thinks, reads or hears may increase concentration and retention.

This is considered normal, and the extent to which it occurs varies from person to person. The time

when there should be concern is when talking to oneself occurs outside of socially acceptable situations.

5. Writing (by hand, or with a wordprocessor, etc.) one's thoughts or observations: the additional

activities, on top of thinking, of writing and reading back may again increase self-understanding ("How

do I know what I mean until I see what I say?") and concentration.

It aids ordering one's thoughts; in addition it produces a record that can be used later again. Copying text

to aid memorizing also falls in this category.

6. Making gestures while thinking: the additional activity, on top of thinking, of body motions, may

again increase concentration, assist in problem solving, and assist memory.

7. Sense-making) e.g. interpreting maps, texts, signs, and symbols. Interpreting non-verbal

communication e.g. gestures, eye contact.

8. Communication between body parts; e.g. "My stomach is telling me it's time for lunch."

Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication is a process of using language and nonverbal cues to send and receive

messages between individuals that intended to arouse particular kinds of meanings.

Basic elements in Interpersonal Communication

The process involves four basic elements.

· Sender; person who sends information

· Receiver; person who receives the information sent.

· Message; content of information sent by sender

· Feedback; response from receiver

Communication Channels

Communication channels are the medium chosen to convey the message from sender to receiver.

Communication channels can be categorized into two main categories:

· Direct channels

· Indirect channels

Direct channels

Direct channels are those that are obvious, and can be easily recognized by the receiver.

They are also under direct control of the sender. In this category are the verbal and non-verbal channels

of communication.

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Verbal communication channels are those that use words in some manner, such as written

communication or spoken communication.

Non-verbal communication channels are those that do not require words, such as certain overt facial

expressions, controllable body movements (such as that made by a traffic police to control traffic at an

intersection), color (red for danger, green means go etc), sound (sirens, alarms etc.).

Indirect channels

Indirect channels are those channels that are usually recognized subliminally or subconsciously by the

receiver, and not under direct control of the sender...

This includes kinesics or body language that reflects the inner emotions and motivations rather than the

actual delivered message.

It also includes such vague terms as "gut feeling", "hunches" or "premonitions".

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