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Gerbner's General Model (1956)

Gerbner'sGeneralModelemphasizesthedynamicnatureofhuman
communication.Italsogivesprominencetothefactorswhichmayaffectfidelity.
Themodelshowndiagrammaticallyistobereadfromlefttoright,beginningatE
Event.

Theevent(E)isperceivedbyM(theman(sic)ormachine).
Theprocessofperceptionisnotsimplyamatterof'takingapicture'ofeventE.
Itisaprocessofactiveinterpretation.
ThewaythattheEisperceivedwillbedeterminedbyavarietyoffactors,such
astheassumptions,attitudes,pointofview,experienceofM.
Ecanbeapersontalking,sendingaletter,telephoning,orotherwise
communicatingwithM.Inotherwords,Ecouldbewhatweconventionally
calltheSourceorTransmitter.
Equally,Ecanbeaneventacarcrash,rain,wavescrashingonabeach,a
naturaldisasteretc.Inthiscase,wecouldbeapplyingthemodeltomassmedia
communication,saythereportingofnews.
Themodelisausefulstartingpointfortheanalysisofwidevarietyof
communicationacts.Notethatthemodel,besidesdrawingourattentiontothose
factorswithinEwhichwilldetermineperceptionorinterpretationofE,alsodraws
ourattentiontothreeimportantfactors:
Selection:M,theperceiveroftheeventE(orreceiverofthemessage,ifyou
prefer)selectsfromtheevent,payingmoreattentiontothisaspectandlessto
that.Thisprocessofselecting,filteringiscommonlyknownasgatekeeping,
particularlyindiscussionofthemedia'sselectionanddiscardingofeventsor
aspectsofthem.
Context:afactoroftenomittedfromcommunicationmodels,butavitally
importantfactor.Thesoundrepresentedbythespelling'hair'meansananimal
inonecontext,somethingthat'snotsupposedtobeinyoursoupinanother.
Shouting,rantingandravingmeansthisman'sveryangryinonecontext,
ravingloonyinanother.
Availability:howmanyEsaretherearound?Whatdifferencedoesavailability
make?IftherearefewerEsaround,wearelikelytopaymoreattentiontothe
onesthereare.Theyarelikelytobeperceivedbyusasmore'meaningful'.
WhatsortofEsarethereforexample,intheUK'smainlyConservativepress,
howmanynonConservativemessagesareavailabletous?
Gerbner:E1andM
E1istheeventasperceived(E)bytheman(sic)ormachineM.Intermsof
humancommunication,apersonperceivesanevent.Theperception(E1)they
haveofthateventismoreorlessclosetothe'real'event.Thedegreeof
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correspondencebetweenM'sperceptionofeventE(E1)willbeafunctionofM's
assumptions,pointofview,experiences,socialfactorsetc.
Gerbner:MeansandControls
Inthenextstageofthemodel,MbecomestheSourceofamessageaboutEto
someoneelse.Mproducesastatementabouttheevent(SE).Tosendthatmessage,
Mhastousechannels(ormedia)overwhichhehasagreaterorlesserdegreeof
control.Thequestionof'control'relatestoM'sdegreeofskillinusing
communicationchannels.Ifusingaverbalchannel,howgoodisheatusing
words?IfusingtheInternet,howgoodisheatusingnewtechnologyandwords?
Andsoon?'Control'mayalsobeamatterofaccessdoesheownthismedium?
canhegettousethismedium?Thinkofteachersinclassroomscontrollingthe
accesstocommunicationchannels,parentsathome,ownersofnewspapers,
editorsofletterspagesetc.
Gerbner:SE
SE(statementaboutevent)iswhatwewouldmorenormallycallthe'message'.S
standsforSignalinfact,soinprincipleanScanbepresentwithoutanE,butin
thatcaseitwouldbenoiseonly.Theprocesscanbeextendedadinfinitumby
addingonotherreceivers(M2,M3etc.)whohavefurtherperceptions(SE1,SE2
etc.)ofthestatementsaboutperceivedevents.
GB
November29,2016

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