Communication Models

Although adapted and updated, much of the information in this lecture is derived from C. David Mortensen, Communication: The Study of Human
Communication (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1972), Chapter 2, Communication Models.
A. What is a Model?
1. Mortensen: In the broadest sense, a model is a systematic representation of an object or event in idealized and abstract form.
Models are somewhat arbitrary by their nature. The act of abstracting eliminates certain details to focus on essential factors. . . . The
key to the usefulness of a model is the degree to which it conforms--in point-by-point correspondence--to the underlying
determinants of communicative behavior.
2. Communication models are merely pictures; theyre even distorting pictures, because they stop or freeze an essentially dynamic
interactive or transactive process into a static picture.
3. Models are metaphors. They allow us to see one thing in terms of another.
B. The Advantages of Models
1. They should allow us to ask questions.
Mortensen: A good model is useful, then, in providing both general perspective and particular vantage points from which to ask
questions and to interpret the raw stuff of observation. The more complex the subject matterthe more amorphous and elusive the
natural boundariesthe greater are the potential rewards of model building.
2. They should clarify complexity.
Models also clarify the structure of complex events. They do this, as Chapanis (1961) noted, by reducing complexity to simpler, more
familiar terms. . . Thus, the aim of a model is not to ignore complexity or to explain it away, but rather to give it order and
coherence.
3. They should lead us to new discoveries-most important, according to Mortensen.
At another level models have heuristic value; that is, they provide new ways to conceive of hypothetical ideas and relationships. This
may well be their most important function. With the aid of a good model, suddenly we are jarred from conventional modes of
thought. . . . Ideally, any model, even when studied casually, should offer new insights and culminate in what can only be described
as an Aha! experience.
C. Limitations of Models
1. Can lead to oversimplifications.
There is no denying that much of the work in designing communication models illustrates the oft-repeated charge that anything in
human affairs which can be modeled is by definition too superficial to be given serious consideration.
Some, like Duhems (1954), believe there is no value in models at all:
We can guard against the risks of oversimplification by recognizing the fundamental distinction between simplification and
oversimplification. By definition, and of necessity, models simplify. So do all comparisons. As Kaplan (1964) noted,
Science always simplifies; its aim is not to reproduce the reality in all its complexity, but only to formulate what is essential for
understanding, prediction, or control. That a model is simpler than the subject-matter being inquired into is as much a virtue as
a fault, and is, in any case, inevitable *p. 280+. So the real question is what gets simplified. Insofar as a model ignores crucial
variables and recurrent relationships, it is open to the charge of oversimplification. If the essential attributes or particulars of
the event are included, the model is to be credited with the virtue of parsimony, which insists-where everything is equal-that
the simplest of two interpretations is superior. Simplification, after all, is inherent in the act of abstracting. For example, an
ordinary orange has a vast number of potential attributes; it is necessary to consider only a few when one decides to eat an
orange, but many more must be taken into account when one wants to capture the essence of an orange in a prize-winning
photograph. abstracting. For example, an ordinary orange has a vast number of potential attributes; it is necessary to consider
only a few when one decides to eat an orange, but many more must be taken into account when one wants to capture the
essence of an orange in a prize-winning photograph.
Models can miss important points of comparison. Chapanis (1961), A model can tolerate a considerable amount of slop *p. 118+.
2. Can lead of a confusion of the model between the behavior it portrays
Mortensen: Critics also charge that models are readily confused with reality. The problem typically begins with an initial exploration
of some unknown territory. . . .Then the model begins to function as a substitute for the event: in short, the map is taken literally.
And what is worse, another form of ambiguity is substituted for the uncertainty the map was designed to minimize. What has
happened is a sophisticated version of the general semanticists admonition that the map is not the territory. Spain is not pink
because it appears that way on the map, and Minnesota is not up because it is located near the top of a United States map.
The proper antidote lies in acquiring skill in the art of map reading.
3. Premature Closure
The model designer may escape the risks of oversimplification and map reading and still fall prey to dangers inherent in abstraction.
To press for closure is to strive for a sense of completion in a system.
Kaplan (1964):
The danger is that the model limits our awareness of unexplored possibilities of conceptualization. We tinker with the model
when we might be better occupied with the subject-matter itself. In many areas of human behavior, our knowledge is on the
level of folk wisdom ... incorporating it in a model does not automatically give such knowledge scientific status. The majority of
our ideas is usually a matter of slow growth, which cannot be forced.... Closure is premature if it lays down the lines for our
thinking to follow when we do not know enough to say even whether one direction or another is the more promising. Building
a model, in short, may crystallize our thoughts at a stage when they are better left in solution, to allow new compounds to
precipitate [p. 279].
One can reduce the hazards only by recognizing that physical reality can be represented in any number of ways.


What is communication model? | Functions of communication model
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A model can be defined as a visual presentation that identifies, classifies and describes various parts of a process. In the communication process,
sender, message, media and receiver are associated. Communication process starts with the transmission of message by communicator and end
with receivers feedback. When this communication process is represented through a line or picture, it is calledcommunication model. In other
words, pictorial presentation of communication process is known as communication model.
The simple model of communication consists of a sender, message and receiver. However, this simple model ignores many other parts of
communication process. So by incorporating all parts of communication process, a comprehensive communication model is presented below:

In communication model, various parts of communication process are depicted in a sequential and rational way.
In fine, it can be summed up that communication model is a diagrammatical presentation of communication process. It is the logical settings of the
elements of communication process.
Functions of communication model
Communication model refers to the visual representation of communication process. Communication model performs certain function
in developing communication skills and efficiency. Some important functions of communications model are mentioned below:
1. Teaching the elements of communication process: Communication model represents various elements involved in sending and receiving
message. So from communication model, one can learn various aspects of communication process. For this reason, it is said that
communication model teaches communication process.
2. Conducting research: The second important function of communication model is to help inconducting research in the field of
communication. Communication model presents various aspects of communication logically that help the researchers are in understanding
the pattern of communication. So with the help of communication models, the researchers can undertake communication research
programmers and perform those efficiently.
3. Predicting the success or failure of communication process: Another function of communication model is to predict or forecast the success
or failure of a particular communication process. Through this model, one can ascertain the causes of success or failure of communication.
Importance or objectives of communication model:
Communication model has evolved to understand the communication process. It helps to understand the important aspects of communication.
Some points highlighting the importance or objectives of communication model are given below:
1. Easy understanding of communication process: Communication model helps to understand the communication process easily and logically.
2. Showing information flow: Communication model shows how information flows form one person to another in the organization.
3. Introducing the parts of communication process: Communication model is also helpful to orient the various parts of communication
process to its readers.
4. Easy presentation of communication process: Communication process is a complex issue. Through a model, this complex issue can be
presented easily.
5. Understanding the communication complexities: Complex issues of commutation process cannot be show in the communication model.
Comparing these complexities with the model, one can measure the degree of complexities in a given communication issue.

Aristotles Communication Model

Aristotle, a great philosopher initiative the earliest mass communication model called Aristotles Model of Communication. He proposed model
before 300 B.C who found the importance of audience role in communication chain in his communication model. This model is more focused on
public speaking than interpersonal communication.
Aristotle Model of Communication is formed with 5 basic elements
(i) Speaker, (ii) Speech, (iii) Occasion, (iv) Audience and (v) Effect.
Aristotle advises speakers to build speech for different audience on different time (occasion) and for different effects.

Speaker plays an important role in Public speaking. The speaker must prepare his speech and analysis audience needs before he enters into the
stage. His words should influence in audience mind and persuade their thoughts towards him.
Example:
Alexander gave brave speech to his soldiers in the war field to defeat Persian Empire.
Speaker - Alexander
Speech - about his invasion
Occasion - War field
Audience - Soldiers
Effect - To defeat Persia

Aristotles definition of rhetoric. Ehninger, Gronbeck and Monroe: One of the earliest definitions of communication came from the Greek
philosopher-teacher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.).
a. Rhetoric is the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion (Rhetoric 1335b).
b. Aristotles speaker-centered model received perhaps its fullest development in the hands of Roman educator Quintilian (ca. 35-
95 A.D.), whose Institutio Oratoria was filled with advice on the full training of a good speaker-statesman.



2. Aristotles model of proof. Kinnevay also sees a model of communication in Aristotles description of proof:
a. Logos, inheres in the content or the message itself
b. Pathos, inheres in the audience
c. Ethos, inheres in the speaker

BERLOS SMCR MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
in COMMUNI CATI ON MODELS, I NTERPERSONAL COMMUNI CATI ON

The berlos model follows the smcr model this model is not specific to any particular communication.
Berlos model lives a number of factors under each of the elements :
Source: The source is were the message originates.
Communication skills It is the individuals skill to communicate (ability to read, write, speak, listen etc)
Attitudes The attitude towards the audience, subject and towards one self for e.g. for the student the attitude is to learn more and for teachers
wants to help teach.
Knowledge- The knowledge about the subject one is going to communicate for e.g. whatever the teacher communicates in the class about the
subject so having knowledge in what you are communicating.
Note: It is not talking about the general knowledge it is all about the knowledge of the subject, so it is the familiarity of what you are
communicating.
Social system The Social system includes the various aspects in society like values, beliefs, culture, religion and general understanding of society.
It is were the communication takes place.
For e.g. class room differs from country to country like behaviors, how we communicate etc.
Note: We can communicate only to the extent that the social system allows, when we communicate take social system into account.
Culture: Culture of the particular society also comes under social system.
All to this model, only if you have the above in the proper or adequate proportion v can communicate.
Encoder: The sender of the message (message originates) is referred as encoder, so the source is encoding the message here.
Message
Content The beginning to the end of a message comprises its content for e.g. From beginning to end whatever theclass teacher speaks in the
class is the content of the message.
Elements It includes various things like language, gestures, body language etc, so these are all the elements of the particular message. Content is
accompanied by some elements.
Treatment It refers to the packing of the message. The way in which the message is conveyed or the way in which the message is passed on or
deliver it.
Note: When it is too much treatment also the communication will not happen properly.
Structure- The structure of the message how it is arranged, the way you structure the message into various parts.
Note: Message is the same but if the structure is not properly arranged then the message will not get to the receiver.
Code- The code of the message means how it is sent in what form it could be e.g. language, body language, gestures, music and even culture is a
code. Through this you get/give the message or through which the communication takes place or being reached.
Note: Only when the code is proper, the message will be clear, improper use may lead to misinterpretation.
Channel- It is nothing but the five senses through this only we do. The following are the five senses which we use
Hearing
Seeing
Touching
Smelling
Tasting
Whatever communication we do it is there either of these channels.
Hearing: The use of ears to get the message for e.g. oral messages, interpersonal etc.
Seeing: Visual channels for e.g. TV can be seen and the message is delivered.
Touching: The sense of touch can be used as a channel to communicate for e.g. we touch and buy food, hugging etc.
Smelling: Smell also can be a channel to communicate for e.g. perfumes, food, charred smell communicates something is burning, we can find out
about which food is being cooked etc.
Tasting : The tongue also can be used to decipher e.g. Food can be tasted and communication can happen.
Note: Despite not mentioning a medium we need to assume that as communication is taking place channels can be any of the 5 senses or
combination.
Decoder : Who receives the message and decodes it is referred to as decoder.
Receiver: The receiver needs to have all the thinks like the source.
This model believes that for an effective communication to take place the source and the receiver needs to be in the same level, only if the source
and receiver are on the same level communication will happen or take place properly. So source and receiver should be similar
For e.g. Communication skills on source side is good then the receiver should equally have good listening skills.
We cannot say the entire message passed doesnt reaches the receiver has it is because the receiver may not good in listening, so only for the
effective communication the source and the receiver to be in the same level.
Note: Self image differs from person to person, for communicating the person should consider the receiver. Keep the receiver in mind, speak
accordingly and give them what they need.
Criticism of berlos smcr model of communication:
1. No feedback / dont know about the effect
2. Does not mention barriers to communication
3. No room for noise
4. Complex model
5. It is a linear model of communication
6. Needs people to be on same level for communication to occur but not true in real life
7. Main drawback of the model is that the model omits the usage of sixth sense as a channel which is actually a gift to the human beings
(thinking, understanding, analyzing etc).


Berlos S-M-C-R, 1960
a. Background
i. Ehninger, Gronbeck and Monroe: The simplest and most influential message-centered model of our time came from
David Berlo (Simplified from David K. Berlo, The Process of Communication(New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston,
1960)):
ii. Essentially an adaptation of the Shannon-Weaver model.


b. Significant after World War II because:
i. The idea of source was flexible enough to include oral, written, electronic, or any other kind of symbolic generator-of-
messages.
ii. Message was made the central element, stressing the transmission of ideas.
iii. The model recognized that receivers were important to communication, for they were the targets.
iv. The notions of encoding and decoding emphasized the problems we all have (psycho-linguistically) in translating our
own thoughts into words or other symbols and in deciphering the words or symbols of others into terms we ourselves can
understand.
c. Weaknesses:
i. Tends to stress the manipulation of the messagethe encoding and decoding processes
ii. it implies that human communication is like machine communication, like signal-sending in telephone, television,
computer, and radar systems.
iii. It even seems to stress that most problems in human communication can be solved by technical accuracy-by choosing the
right symbols, preventing interference, and sending efficient messages.
iv. But even with the right symbols, people misunderstand each other. Problems in meaning or meaningfulness often
arent a matter of comprehension, but of reaction, of agreement, of shared concepts, beliefs, attitudes, values. To put
the com- back into communication, we need a meaning-centered theory of communication.


Harold Dwight Lasswell (February 13, 1902 December 18, 1978)

Harold Dwight Lasswell, the American political scientist states that a convenient way to describe an act of communication is to answer the
following questions
Who
Says What
In Which Channel
To Whom
With what effect?

This model is about process of communication and its function to society, According to Lasswell there are three functions for communication:
1. Surveillance of the environment
2. Correlation of components of society
3. Cultural transmission between generation
Lasswell model suggests the message flow in a multicultural society with multiple audiences. The flow of message is through various channels. And
also this communication model is similar to Aristotles communication model.
In this model, the communication component who refers the research area called Control Analysis,
Says what is refers to Content Analysis,
In which channel is refers to Media Analysis,
To Whom is refers to Audience Analysis
With What Effect is refers to Effect Analysis
Example:
CNN NEWS A water leak from Japans tsunami-crippled nuclear power station resulted in about 100 times the permitted level of radioactive
material flowing into the sea, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said on Saturday.
Who TEPC Operator
What Radioactive material flowing into sea
Channel CNN NEWS (Television medium)
Whom Public
Effect Alert the people of japan from the radiation.
Advantage of lasswell model:
It is Easy and Simple
It suits for almost all types of communication
The concept of effect
Disadvantage of lasswell model:
Feedback not mentioned
Noise not mentioned
Linear Model


Schramms Model of Communication
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After learning the Shannon weaver model, lets find out about Schramms model of communication which has its roots from the Shannon weaver
model itself.
Wilber Schramm proposed the model of communication in 1954.
Information is of no use unless and until it is carefully put into words and conveyed to others. Encoding plays a very important role because it
initiates the process of communication by converting the thought into content. When the information reaches the recipient his prime
responsibility is to understand what the speaker intends to convey. Unless and until the second party is able to understand or decode the
information what the sender wants to communicate, the message is actually of no use. Thus encoding and decoding are two most important
factors of an effective communication without which information can never flow between two individuals. Schramms model also revolves around
the above principle. According to the Schramms model, coding and decoding are the two essential processes of an effective communication.
He also emphasizes that the communication is incomplete unless and until the sender receives a feedback from the recipient. Imagine a person
sharing his thoughts with his friend and his friend not responding to him. Is the communication complete? NO.Schramm believed that
communication is actually a two way process between the first party and the second party.
Let us understand more with the help of an example
Jennifer to Sam -Will you accompany me for a movie ?
Sam kept mum and did not respond and hence the communication between Sam and Jennifer was not complete. If Sam was not interested for the
movie, he could have responded or given the feedback to Jennifer about his unwillingness. According to Schramms model, whenever the
information reaches the recipient, it becomes his responsibility to give the feedback and let him know if he has downloaded the message in exactly
the same manner the speaker wanted. If he is not clear with anything or has any doubts, it must be cleared with the speaker. Thus when the
speaker conveys any message to the listener, the listener, decodes the message and once again passes the message to the speaker after
understanding it and completing the full circle.
Sender
M M
Receiver
M - Stands for message
Schramm believed that an individuals knowledge, experience and cultural background also play an important role in communication. Individuals
from diverse cultures, religion or background tend to interpret the message in different ways.
Billy to Servant - Please bring something hot for me to drink as I am suffering from sore throat.
The servant brought him a glass of lukewarm water but Billy actually wanted a cup of hot chocolate coffee. Hence different interpretation by the
servant. He was not on the common grounds with Billy and failed to understand his masters information. It was neither Billys nor the servants
fault but actually the differences in both their backgrounds which was to blame.
Go through another example
John to Teddy -I get late for my office, please buy me a clock
Teddy went to a local market and gifted a clock to John and John was never late to office after that. He could have also misinterpreted the
message, then how come he could understand his friends desire? A Clock is always a clock whether Teddy has to bring it or any other individual
has to bring it. A clock can never be confused with a wrist watch or for that matter something else. There are some messages which are more or
less same for everyone. They are called as messages with aDenotative meaning which are almost the same for all individuals and in such cases
chances of misinterpretation and misunderstanding gets nullified.
Please once again refer to the above situation of John and Teddy and slightly modify the situation. When John wanted a clock, Teddy brought
two clocks for him as he was two concerned for John and didnt want him to get late. In this case John actually wanted a single clock but Teddy
brought his emotional quotient and personal affection in between. Such meanings are called Connotative meaning which are affected by
emotional factors. A message can also get distorted due to wrong body movements, gestures, facial expressions and many other factors.
To conclude according to this model of communication when a sender passes on the information to the receiver, the receiver must interpret it in
the desired form the sender wants and give him the feedback or respond accordingly. Any communication where the sender does not get the
feedback, the communication is not complete and thus ineffective.

Schramms Interactive Model, 1954
a. Background
Wilbur Schramm (1954) was one of the first to alter the mathematical model of Shannon and Weaver. He conceived of
decoding and encoding as activities maintained simultaneously by sender and receiver; he also made provisions for a two-way
interchange of messages. Notice also the inclusion of an interpreter as an abstract representation of the problem of meaning.
(From Wilbur Schramm, How Communication Works, in The Process and Effects of Communication, ed. Wilbur Schramm
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1954), pp. 3-26):

b. Strengths
i. Schramm provided the additional notion of a field of experience, or the psychological frame of reference; this refers to
the type of orientation or attitudes which interactants maintain toward each other.
ii. Included Feedback
1.) Communication is reciprocal, two-way, even though the feedback may be delayed.
a.) Some of these methods of communication are very direct, as when you talk in direct response to someone.
b.) Others are only moderately direct; you might squirm when a speaker drones on and on, wrinkle your nose and
scratch your head when a message is too abstract, or shift your body position when you think its your turn to
talk.
c.) Still other kinds of feedback are completely indirect.
2.) For example,
a.) politicians discover if theyre getting their message across by the number of votes cast on the first Tuesday in
November;
b.) commercial sponsors examine sales figures to gauge their communicative effectiveness in ads;
c.) teachers measure their abilities to get the material across in a particular course by seeing how many students sign
up for it the next term.
iii. Included Context
1.) A message may have different meanings, depending upon the specific context or setting.
2.) Shouting Fire! on a rifle range produces one set of reactions-reactions quite different from those produced in a
crowded theater.
iv. Included Culture
1.) A message may have different meanings associated with it depending upon the culture or society. Communication
systems, thus, operate within the confines of cultural rules and expectations to which we all have been educated.
v. Other model designers abstracted the dualistic aspects of communication as a series of loops, (Mysak, 1970), speech
cycles (Johnson, 1953), co-orientation (Newcomb, 1953), and overlapping psychological fields (Fearing, 1953).
c. Weaknesses
i. Schramms model, while less linear, still accounts for only bilateral communication between two parties. The complex,
multiple levels of communication between several sources is beyond this model.
F. Non-linear Models


It is a Circular Model, so that communication is something circular in nature
Encoder Who does encoding or Sends the message (message originates)
Decoder Who receives the message
Interpreter Person trying to understand (analyses, perceive) or interpret
Note: From the message starting to ending, there is an interpretation goes on. Based on this interpretation only the message is received.
This model breaks the sender and receiver model it seems communication in a practical way. It is not a traditional model.
It can happen within our self or two people; each person acts as both sender and receiver and hence use interpretation. It is simultaneously take
place e.g. encoding, interpret and decoding.
Semantic noise is a concept introduced here it occurs when sender and receiver apply different meaning to the same message. It happens mostly
because of words and phrases for e.g. Technical Language, So certain words and phrases will cause you to deviate from the actual meaning of the
communication.
Note: When semantic noise takes place decoding and interpretation becomes difficult and people get deviated from the actual message.
Advantage of Osgood- Schramm model of communication
1. Dynamic model- Shows how a situation can change
2. It shows why redundancy is an essential part
3. There is no separate sender and receiver, sender and receiver is the same person
4. Assume communication to be circular in nature
5. Feedback central feature.
Disadvantage of Osgood- Schramm model of communication
This model does not talk about semantic noise and it assume the moment of encoding and decoding.

The Shannon-Weaver Mathematical Model, 1949
a. Background
i. Claude Shannon, an engineer for the Bell Telephone Company, designed the most influential of all early communication
models. His goal was to formulate a theory to guide the efforts of engineers in finding the most efficient way of
transmitting electrical signals from one location to another (Shannon and Weaver, 1949). Later Shannon introduced a
mechanism in the receiver which corrected for differences between the transmitted and received signal; this monitoring or
correcting mechanism was the forerunner of the now widely used concept of feedback (information which a
communicator gains from others in response to his own verbal behavior).

b. Strengths
i. This model, or a variation on it, is the most common communication model used in low-level communication texts.
ii. Significant development. Within a decade a host of other disciplinesmany in the behavioral sciencesadapted it to
countless interpersonal situations, often distorting it or making exaggerated claims for its use.
iii. Taken as an approximation of the process of human communication.
iv. Significant heuristic value.
1.) With only slight changes in terminology, a number of nonmathematical schemas have elaborated on the major
theme. For example, Harold Lasswell (1948) conceived of analyzing the mass media in five stages: Who? Says
what? In which channel? To whom? With what effect? In apparent elaboration on Lasswell and/or Shannon
and Weaver, George Gerbner (1956) extended the components to include the notions of perception, reactions to a
situation, and message context.
v. The concepts of this model became staples in communication research
1.) Entropy-the measure of uncertainty in a system. Uncertainty or entropy increases in exact proportion to the
number of messages from which the source has to choose. In the simple matter of flipping a coin, entropy is low
because the destination knows the probability of a coins turning up either heads or tails. In the case of a two-
headed coin, there can be neither any freedom of choice nor any reduction in uncertainty so long as the destination
knows exactly what the outcome must be. In other words, the value of a specific bit of information depends on the
probability that it will occur. In general, the informative value of an item in a message decreases in exact
proportion to the likelihood of its occurrence.
2.) Redundancy-the degree to which information is not unique in the system. Those items in a message that add no
new information are redundant. Perfect redundancy is equal to total repetition and is found in pure form only in
machines. In human beings, the very act of repetition changes, in some minute way, the meaning or the message
and the larger social significance of the event. Zero redundancy creates sheer unpredictability, for there is no way
of knowing what items in a sequence will come next. As a rule, no message can reach maximum efficiency unless it
contains a balance between the unexpected and the predictable, between what the receiver must have
underscored to acquire understanding and what can be deleted as extraneous.
3.) Noise-the measure of information not related to the message. Any additional signal that interferes with the
reception of information is noise. In electrical apparatus noise comes only from within the system, whereas in
human activity it may occur quite apart from the act of transmission and reception. Interference may result, for
example, from background noise in the immediate surroundings, from noisy channels (a crackling microphone),
from the organization and semantic aspects of the message (syntactical and semantical noise), or from
psychological interference with encoding and decoding. Noise need not be considered a detriment unless it
produces a significant interference with the reception of the message. Even when the disturbance is substantial, the
strength of the signal or the rate of redundancy may be increased to restore efficiency.
4.) Channel Capacity-the measure of the maximum amount of information a channel can carry. The battle against
uncertainty depends upon the number of alternative possibilities the message eliminates. Suppose you wanted to
know where a given checker was located on a checkerboard. If you start by asking if it is located in the first black
square at the extreme left of the second row from the top and find the answer to be no, sixty-three possibilities
remain-a high level of uncertainty. On the other hand, if you first ask whether it falls on any square at the top half
of the board, the alternative will be reduced by half regardless of the answer. By following the first strategy it could
be necessary to ask up to sixty-three questions (inefficient indeed!); but by consistently halving the remaining
possibilities, you will obtain the right answer in no more than six tries.
vi. Provided an influential yet counter-intuitive definition of communication.
From Littlejohn, Stephen W. Theories of Human Communication. Second Ed. Belmont, California: Wadsworth, 1983, p
116.
Information is a measure of uncertainty, or entropy, in a situation. The greater the uncertainty, the more the
information. When a situation is completely predictable, no information is present. Most people associate
information with certainty or knowledge; consequently, this definition from information theory can be con-
fusing. As used by the information theorist, the concept does not refer to a message, facts, or meaning. It is a
concept bound only to the quantification of stimuli or signals in a situation.
On closer examination, this idea of information is not as distant from common sense as it first appears. We have said
that information is the amount of uncertainty in the situation. Another way of thinking of it is to consider infor-
mation as the number of messages required to completely reduce the uncertainty in the situation. For example,
your friend is about to flip a coin. Will it land heads up or tails up? You are uncertain, you cannot predict. This
uncertainty, which results from the entropy in the situation, will be eliminated by seeing the result of the flip. Now
lets suppose that you have received a tip that your friends coin is two headed. The flip is fixed. There is no
uncertainty and therefore no information. In other words, you could not receive any message that would make you
predict any better than you already have. In short, a situation with which you are completely familiar has no
information for you [emphasis added].
vii. See Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver, The Mathematical Theory of Communication (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1949). For a number of excellent brief secondary sources, see the bibliography. Two sources were particularly helpful in
the preparation of this chapter: Allan R. Broadhurst and Donald K. Darnell, An Introduction to Cybernetics and
Information Theory, Quarterly Journal of Speech 51 (1965): 442-53; Klaus Krippendorf, Information Theory,
in Communication and Behavior, ed. G. Hanneman and W. McEwen (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1975), 351-89.
c. Weaknesses
i. Not analogous to much of human communication.
1.) Only a fraction of the information conveyed in interpersonal encounters can be taken as remotely corresponding to
the teletype action of statistically rare or redundant signals.
2.) Though Shannons technical concept of information is fascinating in many respects, it ranks among the least
important ways of conceiving of what we recognize as information.
ii. Only formaldoes not account for content
1.) Mortensen: Shannon and Weaver were concerned only with technical problems associated with the selection and
arrangement of discrete units of informationin short, with purely formal matters, not content. Hence, their model
does not apply to semantic or pragmatic dimensions of language.
2.) Theodore Roszak provides a thoughtful critique of Shannons model in The Cult of Information. Roszak notes the
unique way in which Shannon defined information:
Once, when he was explaining his work to a group of prominent scientists who challenged his eccentric definition, he
replied, I think perhaps the word information is causing more trouble . . . than it is worth, except that it is difficult to
find another word that is anywhere near right. It should be kept solidly in mind that [information] is only a measure of
the difficulty in transmitting the sequences produced by some information source [emphasis added]
3.) As Roszak points out, Shannons model has no mechanism for distinguishing important ideas from pure non-sense:
In much the same way, in its new technical sense, information has come to denote whatever can be coded for
transmission through a channel that connects a source with a receiver, regardless of semantic content. For Shannons
purposes, all the following are information:
E = mc2
Jesus saves.
Thou shalt not kill.
I think, therefore I am.
Phillies 8, Dodgers 5
Twas brillig and the slithy roves did gyre and gimble in the wabe.
And indeed, these are no more or less meaningful than any string of haphazard bits (x!9#44jGH?566MRK) I might be
willing to pay to have telexed across the continent.
As the mathematician Warren Weaver once put it, explaining the strange way in which, in this theory, the word
information is used .... It is surprising but true that, from the present viewpoint, two messages, one heavily loaded
with meaning and the other pure nonsense, can be equivalent as regards information [emphasis added].
iii. Static and Linear
1.) Mortensen: Finally, the most serious shortcoming of the Shannon-Weaver communication system is that it is
relatively static and linear. It conceives of a linear and literal transmission of information from one location to
another. The notion of linearity leads to misleading ideas when transferred to human conduct; some of the
problems can best be underscored by studying several alternative models of communication.
hannon and Weaver Model of Communication
in COMMUNI CATI ON MODELS, I NTERPERSONAL COMMUNI CATI ON
In 1948, Shannon was an American mathematician, Electronic engineer and Weaver was an American scientist both of them join together to write
an article in Bell System Technical Journal called A Mathematical Theory of Communication and also called as Shannon-Weaver model of
communication.
This model is specially designed to develop the effective communication between sender and receiver. Also they find factors which affecting the
communication process called Noise. At first the model was developed to improve theTechnical communication. Later its widely applied in the
field of Communication.
The model deals with various concepts like Information source, transmitter, Noise, channel, message, receiver, channel, information destination,
encode and decode.

Sender : The originator of message or the information source selects desire message
Encoder : The transmitter which converts the message into signals
Note: The senders messages converted into signals like waves or Binary data which is compactable to transmit the messages through cables or
satellites. For example: In telephone the voice is converted into wave signals and it transmits through cables
Decoder : The reception place of the signal which converts signals into message. A reverse process of encode
Note : The receiver converts those binary data or waves into message which is comfortable and understandable for receiver. Otherwise receiver
cant receive the exact message and it will affect the effective communication between sender and receiver
Receiver : The destination of the message from sender
Note : Based on the decoded message the receiver gives their feed back to sender. If the message distracted by noise it will affect the
communication flow between sender and receiver
Noise: The messages are transferred from encoder to decoder through channel. During this process the messages may distracted or affected by
physical noise like horn sounds, thunder and crowd noise or encoded signals may distract in the channel during the transmission process which
affect the communication flow or the receiver may not receive the correct message
Note : The model is clearly deals with external noises only which affect the messages or signals from external sources. For example: If there is any
problems occur in network which directly affect the mobile phone communication or distract the messages
Practical Example of Shannon-Weaver model of communication :
Thomson made call to his assistant come here I want to see you. During his call, noise appeared (transmission error) and his assistant received I
want only. Again Assistant asked Thomson (feedback) what do you want Thomson.
Sender : Thomson
Encoder : Telephone (Thomson)
Channel : Cable
Noise : Distraction in voice
Reception : Telephone (Assistant)
Receiver : Assistant.
Due to transmission error or noise, Assistant cant able to understand Thomsons messages.
*The noise which affect the communication flow between them.
Criticism of Shannon-Weaver model of communication :
1. One of the simplest model and its general applied in various communication theories
2. The model which attracts both academics of Human communication and Information theorist to leads their further research in
communication
3. Its more effective in person-to-person communication than group or mass audience
4. The model based on Sender and Receiver. Here sender plays the primary role and receiver plays the secondary role (receive the
information or passive)
5. Communication is not a one way process. If its behaved like that, it will lose its strength. For example: Audience or receiver who listening a
radio, reading the books or watching television is a one way communication because absence of feedback
6. Understanding Noise will helps to solve the various problems in communication


Helical Model of Communication
in COMMUNI CATI ON MODELS
Introduction
In 1967, Frank Dance proposed the communication model called Dances Helix Model for a better communication process. The name helical
comes from Helix which means an object having a three-dimensional shape like that of awire wound uniformly around a cylinder or cone. He
shows communication as a dynamic and non-linear process.
Theory
Dances model emphasized the difficulties of communication. Frank Dance uses the form of a Helix to describe communication process. He
developed this theory based on a simple helix which gets bigger and bigger as it moves or grows. The main characterstic of helical model of
communication is that it is evolutionary.

Frank Dance explains the communication process based on this Helix structure and compares it with communication. In the Helix structure, the
bottom or starting is very small then its gradually moves upward in a back and forthcircular motion which form the bigger circle in the top and its
still moves further. The whole process takes some time to reach. As like helix, the communication process starts very slowly and defined small
circle. Communicators share information only with small portion of themselves to their relationships. Its gradually develops into next level but
which will take some time to reach and expanding its boundaries to the next level. Later the communicators commit moreand share more portions
themselves.
Example
When a child is born the only means of communication is crying, he/she cries for everything like hunger, pain, cold etc.. As the child grows the
means of communication become wider and broader. He learns to makes noises then he learns language to obtain attention and to fulfil his needs.
As a Helix the process of communication in this case started from crying and later it developed into a complex and compound means.
The Helical model of communication is largely dependent on its past. A child learns to pronounce a word in his elementary classes and throughout
his life he uses that word in the same way he learnt. Just like that we used to react to certain things in a certain way in our childhood and such
reactions and habits lasts with us forever. The communication evolves in the beginning in some simple forms then the same process of
communication develops based on the past activities. It develops further with modifications.
Conclusion
Frank Dance included the concept of time in his theory. Something happens over the other will always be based on the first event according to him.
This theory of communication was a subject to a number of experimental researches. Even though this model of communication clarifies
everything there is a problem of over simplification. According to this theory a communication process is the product of what we learnt.


Dances Helical Spiral, 1967
a. Background
i. Depicts communication as a dynamic process. Mortensen: The helix represents the way communication evolves in an
individual from his birth to the existing moment.
ii. Dance: At any and all times, the helix gives geometrical testimony to the concept that communication while moving
forward is at the same moment coming back upon itself and being affected by its past behavior, for the coming curve of
the helix is fundamentally affected by the curve from which it emerges. Yet, even though slowly, the helix can gradually
free itself from its lower-level distortions. The communication process, like the helix, is constantly moving forward and yet
is always to some degree dependent upon the past, which informs the present and the future. The helical communication
model offers a flexible communication process *p. 296+.


b. Strengths
i. Mortensen: As a heuristic device, the helix is interesting not so much for what it says as for what it permits to be said.
Hence, it exemplifies a point made earlier: It is important to approach models in a spirit of speculation and intellectual
play.
ii. Chapanis (1961) called sophisticated play:
The helix implies that communication is continuous, unrepeatable, additive, and accumulative; that is, each phase of
activity depends upon present forces at work as they are defined by all that has occurred before. All experience
contributes to the shape of the unfolding moment; there is no break in the action, no fixed beginning, no pure
redundancy, no closure. All communicative experience is the product of learned, nonrepeatable events which are
defined in ways the organism develops to be self-consistent and socially meaningful. In short, the helix underscores the
integrated aspects of all human communication as an evolving process that is always turned inward in ways that permit
learning, growth, and discovery.
c. Weaknesses
i. May not be a model at all: too few variables.
Mortensen: If judged against conventional scientific standards, the helix does not fare well as a model. Indeed, some
would claim that it does not meet the requirements of a model at all. More specifically, it is not a systematic or
formalized mode of representation. Neither does it formalize relationships or isolate key variables. It describes in the
abstract but does not explicitly explain or make particular hypotheses testable.
ii. Generates Questions, but leaves much unaswered.
Mortensen: For example, does not the helix imply a false degree of continuity from one communicative situation to
another? Do we necessarily perceive all encounters as actually occurring in an undifferentiated, unbroken sequence of
events? Does an unbroken line not conflict with the human experience of discontinuity, intermittent periods, false starts,
and so forth? Is all communication a matter of growth, upward and onward, in an ever-broadening range of
encounters? If the helix represents continuous learning and growth, how can the same form also account for
deterioration and decay? What about the forces of entropy, inertia, decay, and pathology? And does not the unbroken
line of a helix tacitly ignore the qualitative distinctions that inevitably characterize different communicative events?
Also, what about movements which we define as utterly wasted, forced, or contrived? Along similar lines, how can the
idea of continuous, unbroken growth include events we consider meaningless, artificial, or unproductive? Countless
other questions could be raised. And that is the point. The model brings problems of abstraction into the open. rtificial,
or unproductive? Countless other questions could be raised. And that is the point. The model brings problems of
abstraction into the open.

Gerbners General Model
in COMMUNI CATI ON MODELS, MASS COMMUNI CATI ON
Introduction:
Mr. George Gerbner is one of the pioneers in the field of communication research. His works are descriptive as well as very easy to understand any
other before. He is working as a professor and head of the Annenberg School of Communications in the University of Pennsylvania. In 1956,
Gerbner attempted the general purpose of communication models. He stressed the dynamic nature of communication in his work and also the
factor which affecting the reliability of communication.

(Note: This model can be best understood when read along with the diagram beginning at E Event.)
(i) Perceptual Dimension:
An E is an event happens in the real life and the event content or message is perceived by M (Man or a Machine). After Perceives the message
from E by M is known as E1. E1 is not same as like E. Because any man or machine cant perceives the whole event and they perceives only
the part of the event (E1). This is known as Perceptual Dimension.
These 3 factors are involves between E and M
Selection
Context
Availability
M (man or machine) cannot perceive the entire content of the event E. So M selects the interesting or needed content from the entire event and
filtering the others. The context occurs in the event and Availability is based on Ms attitude, mood, culture and personality. (For eg. How a
journalist perceives the messages from the event and also cant focus the whole event so they filter the unwanted or unrelated content from the
event. This filtered content is not same as like the actual event content because the journalist edits the content based on his attitude, mood and
cultural background or press policies).
(ii) Means and Controls dimension:
E2 is the event content which is drawn or artified by M. Here M becomes the source of a message about E to send someone else. M creates a
statement or signals about the message and Gerbner termed its Form and content as SE2. S (Signal or Form) it takes and E2 (Mans content).
Here Content (E2) is structured or formed (S) by M and it can communicate in a different ways or based on the structured ways.
M has to use channels (or media) over to send the message which he has a greater or lesser degree of control. The question of control relates to
Ms degree of skill in using communication channels. If using a verbal channel, how good is he using words? If using the Internet, how good is he at
using new technology and words?
This process can be extended to infinitum by adding on other receivers (M2, M3etc.) who have further perceptions (SE3, SE4 etc.) of the
statements about perceived events.
Important Note:
Message at every level is altered or changed.
Example:
In case of news reporting, E can be any event that has happened and the reporter (M) selects a particular part of event (E1) that may be provide his
channel higher TRP ratings or the news may boost the particular party which his channel supports. This SE2 is sent through a medium to the mass
audience. Then the audience distributed the message (SE2) and he (M1) sends to his friends with his interpretation and the process continues.

Westley and MacLeans Model of Communication
in COMMUNI CATI ON MODELS, I NTERPERSONAL COMMUNI CATI ON, MASS COMMUNI CATI ON
Introduction:
In 1957 Westley and MacLeans model of communication is proposed by Bruce Westley (1915-1990) and Malcolm S. MacLean Jr (1913-2001).
Being one of the creators of journalism studies, Westley served as a teacher at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, between 1946 and 1968.
Malcolm was director of University of Journalism School (1967-74) and co founder of the University College at University of Minnesota.
This model can be seen two contexts, interpersonal and mass communication. And the point of difference between interpersonal and mass
communication is the feedback. In interpersonal, the feedback is direct and fast. In the mass, the feedback is indirect and slow.

Model:
Westely and Maclean realized that communication does not begin when one person starts to talk, but rather when a person responds selectively to
his/her physical surroundings. This model considers a strong relation between responds from surroundings and the process of communication.
Communication begins only when a person receives message from surroundings. Each receiver responds to the message they received based on
their object of orientation.


X1, X2, X3 and X4.are news articles or information, Feedback (f), Clients (A), Reader or Audience (B) and Gate Keeper (c)
Example:
A Daily News Papers will receive many Press releases from Many Public Relations Agencies on behalf of their clients. In this case, News paper will
publish the selected Press release due to the space constraints. Then, Readers can directly respond to the client or they can respond to the News
daily which published in the Newspaper. If Readers responded to daily News paper, it will communicate the feedback to concern PR Agency.
X1, X2 and X3are Press Release, Feedback (f), Clients (A), Reader (B) and Daily News Paper (Gate Keeper) (c)
1. Feedback Loop between Reader (B) and News Paper (C) fBC
2. Feedback Loop between News Paper(C ) and Client (A)- fCA
3. Feedback loop between Reader (B) and Client (A)- fBA.
Merits and Demerits:
This model accounts for Feedback.
It can account for different modes of communication, i.e., for both interpersonal communication and Mass communication.
It is a predictive model of communication and very descriptive also.
It also account for non binary interactions, this means that it will remain good even for communications involvingmore than two sources.
Westley and Maclean communication model is Two Dimensional.
It cannot account for multi dimensions; this means this model will not be applicable for typical communication events that involve broader
context and wide range of communication messages.


Westley and MacLean realized that communication does not begin when one person starts to talk, but rather when a person
responds selectively to his immediate physical surroundings.
ii. Each interactant responds to his sensory experience (X1 . . . ) by abstracting out certain objects of orientation (X1 . .
. 3m). Some items are selected for further interpretation or coding (X) and then are transmitted to another person, who
may or may not be responding to the same objects of orientation (X,b),


A conceptual model of communication. (Reprinted with permission from Westley and MacLean, Jr.,
1957.)
(a) Objects of orientation (X
1
... X) in the sensory field of the receiver (B) are transmitted directly to him
in abstracted form (XZ ... X
3
)

after a process of selection from among all Xs, such selection being based
at least in part on the needs and problems of B. Some or all messages are transmitted in more than one
sense(X3m, for example).

(b) The same Xs are selected and abstracted by communicator A and transmitted as a message (x') to B,
who may or may not have part or all of the Xs in his own sensory field (X1b). Whether on purpose or not,
B transmits feedback (fBA) to A.

(c) The Xs that B receives may result from selected abstractions which are transmitted without purpose
by encoder C, who acts for B and thus extends B's environment. C's selections are necessarily based in
part on feedback (fBC) from B.

(d) The messages which C transmits to B (x") represent C's selections both from the messages he gets
from A (x') and from the abstractions in his own sensory field (X3c, X
4
), which may or may not be in A's
field. Feedback moves not only from B to A (fBA) and from B to C (f
B
C) but also from C to A (fCA).
Clearly, in mass communication, a large number of Cs receive from a very large number of As and
transmit to a vastly larger number of Bs, who simultaneously receive messages from other Cs.

b. Strengths
i. Accounts for Feedback
ii. Accounts for a sensory field or, in Newcombs (1953) words, objects of co-orientation.
iii. Accounts for non-binary interactionsmore than just two people communicating directly.
iv. Accounts for different modes. E.g. interpersonal vs. mass mediated communication.
c. Weaknesses
i. Westley and MacLeans model accounts for many more variables in the typical communication interaction. It is, however,
still two-dimensional. It cannot account for the multiple dimensions of the typical communication event involving a broad
context and multiple message.

Riley & Riley Model of Communication
in COMMUNI CATI ON MODELS, GROUP COMMUNI CATI ON, MASS COMMUNI CATI ON
Introduction:
John W. and Matilda White Riley, the husband and wife team of sociologists from Brunswick published many articles together on communication.
The Riley developed a model to illustrate the sociological implications in communication. They discuss their ideas about communication theory in
an article entitled Mass Communication and the Social System (Sociology Today, 1959). The basis for their ideas lies in the work of Aristotle and
Lasswell, and point out the importance of the sociological view in communication in another way.
Riley & Riley Model:
The Riley and Riley Communication Model

Larger Social Structure 1 contains Communicator, Primary Group a1 and a2. Communicator (c) is representing the larger social group 1.
Larger Social Structure 2 contains Receiver, Primary Group b1 and b2. Receiver (R) is representing the larger social group 2.
Larger Social group 1 and larger social group 2 is comes under the Over All Social System.
Who is this Primary Group ?
Primary groups are distinguished by their degree of intimacy say may be friends, relatives. There is also secondary group otherwise known as the
reference group (though not mentioned in the figure) who doesnt share a very intimate relationship with C or R but do influence in the
communication process. e.g.: any organization C or R belong to (fan club).
The model indicates that the Communicator (C) sends a message with agreement to the expectations of the groups and other people in the larger
social system. The communicator is a part of a larger social structure and the group is called as a Primary Groups. In simple words, a
communicator is influenced by the primary group.
The Receiver is also works as like as Communicator which is also influenced by the other groups in the larger social system. The receiver (R)
receives the feedback based on the communicators message from its primary social groups. Then send that feedback to communicator (C) to
rectify any issues or problems.
The important point is the both Communicator and Receiver are a part of an over-all social system.
Importance of the Model:
The model clearly illustrates that communication is a two-way proposition.
Communicator and recipient are interdependent and interrelated by feedback mechanisms.
Communicator and receiver are part of a larger social context (be it family, community, or work place); and are not acting in isolation.
Example:

Lets say there has been a new library website unveiled, it is determined that the library terms, or jargon, used for navigating the website is
confusing the students as they browse the site. The communicator (C) would be the library Dean and staff who have created the website and have
included terminology and relate to (influence by the primary group). The college librarians would be the larger social structure in which
Communicator (C) is a part of librarians staff community as well as students community.
The receiver (R) is the college student who does not understand the jargon and becomes frustrated in his/her search for information. The receiver,
who is a member of sociological groups containing all students, has their own expectations which is relate to the library web site and how they
navigate it.
The Receiver (R) informs about the issues directly to Communicator (c). Based on the receivers compliant, the communicator solves these issues by
his primary group members (staffs).
This communication model helps to solve the dispute between the two groups in the large social structure as well as it evolves the better
understanding between those two groups.



Maletzke: the Communicator
Maletzke: the Communicator's self-image

As Maletzke is dealing with the mass media here, he is most probably concerned with, say, a reporter, though he could also be concerned with a
recording artist, a film director and so on. If we stick with the example of the news reporter, then does she see herself as a fearless investigative
reporter a la Bernstein and Woodward? Does she see herself as a mirror of events, trying merely to reflect what's going on in the world? Does she
see herself as committed to a particular political line? Does she interpret events for her readers? Can she frame her report within her own value
system? Is she just doing a job to pay the mortgage? Does she see herself as a perfectionist? Quoting from Wiebe's 1955 article on mass
communication, Maletzke asks if the communicator sees himself as
leader, snooper, unmasker, crusader or as conscientiously mirroring dominant facts and opinions? As authorized spokesperson for a sub-group, as
average citizen carrying out the tasks his employer has given him? As explainer or as husband earning his daily bread? As symbol in which the ideals
and dreams of the public are embodied, as an undiscovered talent surrounded by enemies, or as cleverly pulling the strings of public gullibility? The
picture he forms of himself works as a filter which to a greater or lesser extent allows his values to show through and his values as well as this self-
image must necessarily influence his communication.
Maletzke (1963 : 45)
All of those factors must have an influence on the events she chooses to pay attention to in the first place, how she perceives them and how she
reports them.
The level of self-esteem she has will also have an influence on her self-confidence. Will she, for example, be able to resist editorial pressure to
change her article in some way?
Though not a 'mass media' model, Dimbleby and Burton's model of the self in interpersonal communication may help you to pinpoint some of the
factors which affect self-image, as well as the way that our self-image affects and is affected by our interpersonal communication.
If you have not studied self-image, then the various sections on the subject may be useful to you.
Practical work
How does your self-image affect what you intend your practical work to do? From some of the examples above, you should see how your self-
image as the originator of your practical work can affect the final outcome. For example, suppose that your artefact is to publicise certain college
courses. You will certainly have some negative information about those courses. What do you do with it? Do you suppress it? Do you warn the
punters? Do you contact college management to try to get them to improve the product? You have an advert from the local Wimpy for inclusion in
your magazine. Your mag's restaurant reviewer has awarded them only one star. What do you do? Do you omit the restaurant review? Do you
change the number of stars? Do you 'publish and be damned'? Do you give them their ten quid back? Much will depend on how you see yourself,
and, as a result of your self-image, how you see your rle as the originator of your practical work.
Consider also: How does your self-image affect the developmental stages of your practical work?
I can recall a student of mine who had one of the most negative views of herself of anyone I have ever known. Although she thought of herself as
intelligent, which she certainly was, she was virtually paralysed throughout her practical work by her inability to summon up the courage to
approach other people. As a result, her audience research was carried out very late in the day and was very sketchy. She naturally chose to conduct
a questionnaire survey, rather than attempting in-depth interviews, which would have brought her into too close contact with the people she felt
were bound to make fun of her.
I can think of another student who saw herself as an intelligent, efficient, no-nonsense go-ahead type. Unfortunately, she had to deal with people
who did not share those qualities and became extremely impatient with them. Her whole practical project was starting to fall apart until she sat
down and took a good, long look at how she dealt with other people.

Maletzke: the Communicator's personality

There are various ways of looking at this, because there are various ways of looking at the whole question of personality. If you are not familiar
with the various theories of personality structure, it would be worthchecking through them.
For example, Kelly's personality theory suggests that we each use our own set of personal constructs to make sense of the world. Would it be
possible for a reporter to move, say, from one newspaper where her personal constructs seem to fit to one where they don't? Does the reporter
have liberal, conservative or middle-of-the-road attitudes? How will they affect her reporting of issues such as crime, abortion, capital punishment,
taxation etc?
Eysenck sees one major dimension of personality as introversion<---->extroversion, another as neurotic<---->normal. How well would a reporter
who tends towards the neurotic-extrovert end of the spectrum be able to deal with reporting on the human interest aspects of a major tragedy?
How well would a reporter tending toward the introvert end be able to deal with the more outrageous rock stars?
Practical work
It's well worth looking through some of the theories of personality, if you haven't already done so. See if you recognise yourself in any of the
descriptions and then consider whether the descriptions fit any of your target audience or any of the people you have to deal with in developing
your project. How well do you and they match up? If you don't get along too well, can that be explained in terms of personality.
Are you shy and retiring or outspoken and outgoing? Do you do your college work fast and superficially or are you scrupulously painstaking?
Variables like these are obviously related to the gatekeeping process in your practical work and they may also have an effect on the amount of
information you have in the first place. The shy, retiring person is not gong to gather much information if it involves going out and pestering
people; she may not carry out much qualitative research if it involves going out and interviewing people face-to-face. The slack, superficial person
may not gain much information if the project involves poring over heavy books and statistics. That person, as well as perhaps the more diligent
student who is, however, obedient to authority, may well incorporate bias into their project; the one because she can't be bothered to check out
other sources, the other because she takes what she's told by people in authority and doesn't question it.
You may find it helpful as well to take a look at McCann's idea of 'preferred working styles'. He looks at how people's personalities affect their
preferred working styles and therefore how well they work together.Albrecht's comments on the results of the interactions between different
types of people might also be helpful.

Maletzke: the working team

Maletzke was looking at the mass media so it was natural for him to pay attention to the working team, as it is extremely rare for anyone in the
media to work alone. Because they work in a team and because group cohesion needs to remain high, particularly if work is to be brought in by the
deadline and on budget, then the choices the communicator makes will be strongly influenced by the norms and values of the working team. (see,
for example, Conformity).
The fact of belonging to a working team has important consequences for the communicator: he has to fit into the group; for the benefit of the
team he has to give up a large part of his freedom to act and decide. So he is not 'free' in his production in the sense that, for example, and
'independent' artist is. Thus it can sometimes happen that the communicator has to work on material which is diametrically opposed to his own
views.
(1963 : 48)
Practical work
If you are following an examinable course, you may well find that you are required to produce your practical work alone - entirely unrealistic, of
course, but it does simplify assessment. Nevertheless, there is in a sense a 'working team' to the extent that the examining body has laid down a
marking scheme and has stated a number of expectations of candidates. Your teacher will then interpret them and pass them on to you. They will
be discussed with you individually and with the class as a whole. Although you don't work in a team as such, you do become aware of a set of
norms - even 'traditions' if you have the opportunity to look at other practical work from previous years - which apply to your class group as
originators of communication projects.

Maletzke: the organization

How big is the organization? Who owns it? What are its policies? Is the leadership style autocratic, democratic etc? Where does it place its
priorities? How is the newspaper etc. laid out? What are the limitations imposed by the house style? How much space is there for this kind of
story? These are all matters which must have an effect on the gatekeeping process, i.e. on the choices which the Communicator makes. Maletzke
himself places the emphasis on the three main types of media organization which are discussed in the section on types of broadcasting
organization. They may be organized along
authoritarian lines, as would be the case in, for example, the media of a totalitarian state, such as Nazi Germany or the fomer USSR;
though Maletzke points out that this kind of organization is not restricted to that kind of state - for example, the press of a particular
political party, union etc. would be expected to keep to the 'party line' and there is also plenty of evidence that journalists in the national
newspapers in the UK are 'encouraged' to produce articles which consistently support a political party (see the section on media
ownership in the UK)
capitalist lines, in which case most communicators will see themselves as business people. Maletzke quotes from Asch's Social
Psychology in which he quotes a producer who says:
We're not concerned with the intelligence of the people or with their emotions. The question is what they like to have, what they want to
see, what they are willing to pay money for. We will give them slapstick and circuses if they would rather have these than serious plays
and music
Asch (1952)
public service lines, the typical organization of TV and radio in most of western Europe until recently, with relatively little direct influence
from above on the content and construction of the media messages, though these are required to conform to the standards set out in
some kind of charter, or similar framework.
It's worth bearing in mind that news media are capitalist undertakings and therefore are to an extent constrained by the market. Readers and
viewers have certain expectations of the news media and the news media will be constrained by those expectations, so-called 'news values', the
criteria that news organisations and their employees use to determine whether a news item is newsworthy or not. To a greater or lesser extent,
those news values will apply, independently of the particular organization, nowadays also to 'public service' broadcasting as media markets are
increasingly deregulated.
There is also the question of where the media organization tends to find its sources. How closely is the organization connected with the centres of
power? In order to effect cost savings, media organisations will tend to be centred near political and economic power centres, because that's
where newsworthy events are likely to break, where there will be interesting rumours and leaks and so on.
Knowing that, the major corporations and government departments will be only too happy to feed the media a constant flow of press releases,
leaks and news conferences, normally structured so that it meets the media's scheduling needs. Journalists are only too happy to take it, because,
especially if it's on the record, it appears authoritative, thus lending credibility to their organization, and it will at least protect them from libel suits.
Checking it is expensive, so official news is likely to make it into the media much as it was issued. When President Reagan claimed (falsely) that the
Nicaraguan government was involved in drug smuggling, that went straight into the news without any checking. When a stream of reports from
imprisoned drug smugglers claimed (truly) that the Nicaraguan Contras (backed by the US government) were smuggling drugs into the USA with
official approval, these claims were subject to intense checking and received little media attention. Noam Chomsky refers to this uncritical
parroting of official views as the propaganda model of the American mass media and has amply documented its functioning.
It happens in the British media as well - for example, during the supposedly 'impartial' coverage of the 1992 General Election, every 'independent'
commentator on Labour's economic and tax policies that I saw on the TV news was a 'City analyst' of some kind. Hardly likely to give an unbiased
view, but authoritative, especially when framed against all those computers in the Stock Exchange) and readily accessible.
Practical work
This may not appear to be particularly relevant to your practical work. Certainly, it is less important than it is to mass media professionals, as you
are probably much more of a free agent. However, suppose you were developing advertising materials on behalf of your college. it's quite likely
that the college management would insist that you should not refer to 'free' periods, but something like, say, 'self-study' periods. Even if the
majority of your target audience are Sun readers, there is little chance that the managers will allow you to feature topless models in your publicity.
There will be other practical limitations on what you may do in your practical work - for example, you are relying on the college's reprographics
section to produce your publicity materials in time for validation, but someone in senior management gives them a 'rush job' to complete, insisting
that it take priority over your project. There will also be different facilities available to each project. One college will fully cover the costs of your
practical work, another will charge for it. One college will have a fully equipped video edit suite, another will have a couple of VHS recorders.

Maletzke: the social environment

This includes the society as a whole, the Communicator's immediate community, the groups she belongs to and the individuals she interacts with.
Membership of a group strengthens an individual's beliefs, attitudes and values. The more an individual accepts membership of a group, the more
the messages she chooses to communicate will be influenced by the norms of that group. Thus, there is standard criticism of the major news media
in Britain that they present a picture of our society principally from the viewpoint of the white, male, middle-class people who dominate the media
industries. Thus, for example, ethnic minorities will relatively rarely be reported on and then normally only when something happens in their
community which challenges the white middle-class consensus - a riot, for example.
Maletzke quotes the following sets of attitudes from Wiebe's 1955 article on mass communication:
the communicators' views and basic principles as regards: government, religion, unions and professional associations, social, charitable,
civil and state organizations, schools, family
the communicators' assumptions and attitudes as regards the audience: its intelligence, curiosity, morality, inclinations and opinions
the communicators' assumptions and attitudes as regards mass communciations: their influence, the relative importane accorde to their
commercial and public functions
the communicators' views and opinions as regards themselves in relation to society: to work colleagues, employers, friends, advertisers,
society's institutions, powerful pressure groups
Maletzke (1963 : 46)
Practical work
It seems to be quite common for members of friendship groups in Communication classes to choose broadly similar subjects for their practical
work. For example, in the last year, in one class a group of young women who were close friends covered:
Diet and fitness
The danger to health presented by pressure to achieve the 'ideal figure'
Safe sex
Sexual relationships
Vegetarianism
- all, in one way or another, concerned with health issues. So, as you can see, your social environment can affect the choice of subject matter in the
first place.
It will also probably have some effect on the presentation of your practical work. You may have noticed, for example, that throughout most of
these materials, I use 'she', 'her' etc. for the third person singular, rather than the more conventional 'he', 'him'. This is in part the result of my
belonging to certain organisations: the examiners of Communication Studies criticise students' use of sexist language; over many years I have been
a more or less active member of the lecturers' union, NATFHE, and have certainly been influenced by the pressure there for greater representation
of women; in my college, I have had some input into the development of equal opportunities policies. In part, this is also due to the values shared
by those with whom I mix socially most closely.

Maletzke: public character

As a 'publicist', the communicator produces and disseminates public messages and must therefore bear in mind the currently prevailing views and
opinions, norms and values. His work is also partially determined by the reactions to his message which may be expected from the public. ... 'Public'
is certainly not always identical to the audience of a message. Broad and important circles of people react - often with extreme sensitivity - to
messages which they have only become aware of second-hand.
Maletzke (1963 : 40-41)
Maletzke (p.51) suggests the foolowing significant sources of influence caused by the public character of the media content
The state attempts to influence media content in order to broaden its power, influence which varies according to the particular state and
will include such factors as censorship etc.
The political parties
Pressure groups
Public opinion
Mass communication itself in that the comunicator is constantly exposed to public criticism
all of which, he suggests may well lead to conformity and conservatism to the extent that the communicators may be influenced by these factors to
avoid contentious issues.
There are a number of legal constraints on the media. The media worker must avoid running foul of these. So, for example, the programme planner
will have to try to ensure that a movie with the dreaded 'f-word' in the opening five minutes is not screened straight after nine o'clock; a
newspaper's solicitors will subject any article which might be construed as libellous to very close scrutiny.
In addition, there is the question of just how much the media worker may be prepared to reveal about him/herself in public. At the time I am
writing, there is considerable fuss in the theatre because a number of actors are being required to appear naked on stage, though that was not
stated in their contracts. Of course, it's not only a question of physical revelations - how much does the news reporter want to give away about her
opinions, beliefs, past experiences etc?
Practical work
You will also be subject to these rules/laws. For example, my student who prepared an information pack on sexual relationships aimed at
schoolchildren may have been sailing close to the wind when she included information on homosexuality. Her presentation of homosexuality was
so positive that t may have come close to infringing against clause 28 of the Local Government Act which forbids the promotion of homosexuality
as a normal lifestyle by schools and libraries.
There is also the question of how much of yourself you are prepared to reveal in public. That will vary from one project to another, of course, but,
in the project referred to, such self-revelation had the potential to be embarrassing and took some courage.

Maletzke: selection & structuring of content

This requires fairly little comment if you are familiar with the notion of gatekeeping, which is what the whole of the left-hand end of Maletzke's
Model is about.
You may perhaps find it useful to take a look at news values, if you are not already familiar with that idea. Maletzke's model looks at a variety of
factors which influence the gatekeeping process. The news values to which the originators of news (reporters, editors and so on) work would come
particularly under the headings of 'social environment', 'working team' and 'organization'.
Practical work
The notion of gatekeeping is fundamental to Communication Studies and therefore also to your practical work. Maletzke lists on the left of his
model the socio-psychological factors which affect the choices you as gatekeeper make in putting together your project artefact. As you go through
your project, you should constantly bear those factors in mind and, if required to log your progress, you should record why you included some
information and excluded other, as well as why you chose to formulate/design the information in the way you did.

Maletzke: pressure from the medium

The 60s Media 'guru' Marshall McLuhan produced a number of memorable aphorisms. One which probably encapsulates what Maletzke is getting
at here is 'The medium is the message'. As Maletzke puts it, the medium 'owing to its technical characteristics, suggests, or indeed prescribes,
certain subjects and forms and, on the other hand, excludes others' (1963 : 40)
Different media have different characteristics. To a greater or lesser extent, these characteristics determine what can be communicated and how it
is communicated. Video, for example, is a very linear medium (though no doubt that will change in a very few years with the advent of digital
video). That makes it difficult to present a complex argument because the viewer can't readily refer back to something you said before to see
whether what you are saying now is consistent with what you said before. It could be as well that we have become used to a 'three minute culture'
and become impatient with anything that lasts longer than that. Think, for example, of the differences between broadsheet news coverage of a
political issue and TV news coverage, with it constant use of the telling 'soundbite'.
Neil Postman reformulated McLuhan's the medium is the message to be understood as:
embedded in every tool is an ideological bias, a predisposition to construct the world as one thing rather than another, to value one thing over
another, to amplify one sense or skill or attitude more loudly than another
Postman (1993) in Chandler (1995)
Daniel Chandler's website
As Chandler points out, 'any medium facilitates, emphasizes, intensifies, amplifies, enhances or extends certain kinds of use or experience whilst
inhibiting, restricting or reducing other kinds'. For example, one fairly obvious constraint of the mass media is that most of us don't have access to
them. TV programmes, newspaper articles are produced by 'other people'. It might be reasonable to expect, then, that the picture of the world in
those programmes and articles could well be 'theirs' rather than 'ours'.
You'll no doubt have experienced at first hand the differences which the choice of medium makes. It is not uncommon for me to come across a
student who is better informed than the average and who expresses that knowledge articulately in classroom discussion and yet has considerable
difficulty expressing him/herself in writing, where everything suddenly becomes awkward. I greatly enjoy using a fountain pen and do so when
writing letters, especially personal ones. However, for my work I normally use a word processor. This allows me to present my students with more
legible and better presented work than if it was in my handwriting. On the other hand, though, I seem somehow to be more detached when using a
word processor and occasionally end up writing utter nonsense. I'm sure too that, if I did use a fountain pen for producing handouts, then they
would be a good deal shorter and more to the point than the long-winded handouts I produce with a word processor. When working with video, I
tend to find that, no matter how carefully I plan, whatever I end up with is something different from what I intended, not so much in terms of the
structure, but in terms of the emphasis.
As an example of the pressure from the medium, Maletzke quotes the following points from Asheim's research into 24 novels and the film versions
of them:
the emphasis in the films is on the plot
the films are structured more strictly chronologically than the novels
although the plot is emphasized in the film adaptations, the relative proportion of violence, brutality and sadism is less than in the books
Practical work
If you were producing advertising for your college, video would probably be a very attractive medium for the audience, but would make it
impossible to produce anything like a 'prospectus' which the audience could use to find details of specific courses. You would almost certainly have
to produce something which would be 'impressionistic', rather than something which gives detailed information. You would probably find also that
your audience would actually expect it to be impressionistic and become impatient with attempts to give detailed information (see 'the receiver's
image of the medium')
Such factors are specific to video and impose quite different constraints from those imposed by print media. Some students choose to produce
their project in the form of an exhibition on display boards. That gives them the opportunity to provide fairly detailed information in print for those
receivers who want it and strong graphic images for those who want them. It's also possible to provide leaflets to take away, giving even more
detailed information.
Those are the obvious advantages, but the disadvantage is almost the direct opposite of video: video starts here, goes on to this and ends on that;
an exhibition, on the other hand, has no clearly identifiable starting place. If someone's already looking at the top left, another person who comes
along will start reading at top right. If another person arrives, she may even crouch down and start reading at bottom middle.
Those are all examples of 'constraints' from the medium.

Maletzke: image of each other

These two factors in a sense form the broad framework within which all the other factors have an effect. In any communication, the Communicator
will have an image of the Receiver and vice-versa, which will in large part determine the form that the communication takes and how it is received.
In terms of Berlo's S-M-C-R Model, these images are equivalent to the Source's and the Receiver's attitudes towards each other.
In mass communication, the Communicator's image of the Receiver will be based on a mixture of detailed audience research and a variety of
assumptions about what audience members are like. How messages are actually formulated as a result of that knowledge will vary, depending on
the various factors which Maletzke enumerates as influencing the Communicator. For example, TV audiences in Europe and the USA are
presumably broadly similar in their tastes. However, the broadcasting systems have developed in quite different directions: the US system is
primarily market-oriented, i.e. concerned to 'give the audience what they want'; the European model has until recently been mainly one in which
there has been heavy state regulation of broadcasting. In Britain, for example, there has long been the 'Reithian' tradition of'public service
broadcasting' whose aim has been to 'inform, educate and entertain' the public. (De Fleur's model of the 'taste-differentiated audience' provides a
graphical representation of this difference)
The Receiver's image of the Communicator will set the framework for reception of the message, within which the other factors all play a rle. For
example, the Receiver's image of the medium may be that TV is pretty trivial, but that the BBC is particularly trustworthy and that Jeremy Paxman
is especially good at his job. Prestige and credibility of the communicator are of importance here (see under Hovland's research into persuasion).
Practical work
In developing your practical work, you should take some time out to reflect on the image you have of the Receivers before you begin your audience
research. What influence do your assumptions have on the way that you formulate your audience research? Are there any assumptions you have
made which you have not double-checked via your research? Is it possible that your pre-existing image of the receivers has in any way led to bias in
your audience research by for example leading you to omit research into certain aspects of the audience because you've assumed you already
know it?
During the interim testing of your artefact, are there any instances where the receivers' image of you has led to communication breakdown? Do
they, for example, not co-operate seriously because they see your work as just another crummy student project? Do they not give you the time you
think you warrant because you are just another teenager? What do you do to try to correct that image?

Maletzke: pressure from the message

The reporter is constrained by the message. Certain information must be included. A vote of the European Parliament against proposals by the
European Commission is just that. The Sun reporter may choose to present it as yet another example of 'Euro-lunacy', but there is no getting
around mentioning the European Parliament and the European Commission, whether the readership know what they are or not. Well, at least in
principle, there's no way around it. In practice, of course, a newspaper which can invent an interview with the widow of a soldier who died in the
Falklands campaign is probably not constrained by any message at all.
Practical work
As Communicator you will be constrained by the message itself. It may, for example, be a message which you cannot communicate without gong
into considerable detail. Even if your audience are Sun readers and don't like lots of printed text, it could be difficult for you to find a way round the
problem, you'll just have to use the lengthy explanations.
A Haynes manual for car maintenance can't do without those step-by-step detailed explanations, whether the readers like it or not. At the same
time, though, knowing that your audience are not particularly literate, you may try to replace verbal explanations by photographs as much as
possible, which might not be necessary or desirable if you were dealing with a highly literate readership.