Models:
·
Aim to present communication as a process.
·
It is like a map, representing features of
a territory. But it cannot be comprehensive.
·
We need therefore to be selective, knowing
why we are using it and what we hope to gain from it.
Transmission models - criticism
The Shannon and Weaver and Lasswell model are typical of
so-called transmission models of communication. These two models also typically
underlie many others in the American tradition of research, showing Source-Message/Channel-Receiver
as the basic process of communication. In such models, communication is reduced
to a question of transmitting information.
Although transmission models have been highly
influential in the study of human communication, it can be argued that,
although Shannon's and Weaver's work was very fertile in fields such as
information theory and cybernetics, it may actually be misleading in the study
of human communication.
Some criticisms which could be made of such models
are:
The conduit metaphor
Their model presents us with what has been called
the 'conduit metaphor' of communication (Reddy (1979) The source puts ideas
into words and sends the words to the receiver, who therefore receives the
ideas. The whole notion of 'sending' and 'receiving' may be misleading, since,
after all, once I've 'sent' a message, I still have it. The underlying metaphor
is of putting objects into a container and sending them through some sort of
conduit to the receiver who receives the containers and takes the objects out.
The important question which is overlooked is: How do the 'objects' get into
the 'containers'? In other words, how do we succeed in putting meanings 'into'
words and how does somebody else succeed in taking the meanings 'out of' words?
Transmission models don't deal with meaning.
It's probably worth saying that that's not really
a criticism of them, since they weren't intended to deal with meaning, but
rather a criticism of their (mis)application to human-to-human communication.
One might question how useful the application of information theory is. It may
be helpful to academics in that it supplies them with an arcane vocabulary
which gives them some kind of kudos. It also appears to offer a 'scientific'
methodology, but it's worth bearing in mind Cherry's warning (speaking of the
relationship between entropy and information):
...when such an
important relationship ... has been exhibited, there are two ways in which it
may become exploited; precisely and mathematically, taking due care about the
validity of applying the methods; or vaguely and descriptively. Since this
relationship has been pointed out, we have heard of 'entropies' of languages,
of social systems, and economic systems and of its use in various
method-starved studies. It is the kind of sweeping generality which people will
clutch like a straw.
Cherry (1977)
1950s: Early models
Mass communication research was always traditionally
concerned with political influence over the mass press, and then over the
influences of films and radio. The 1950s was fertile for model-building,
accompanying the rise in sociology and psychology. It was in the USA that a science of
communication was first discussed.
The
earliest model was a simple sender-channel-message-receiver model.
â
Modifications
added the concept of feedback, leading to a loop.
â
The
next development was that receivers normally selectively perceive,
interpret and retain messages.
Gerbner is important because he recognises the
TRANSACTIONAL nature of much communication – ie the “intersubjectivity of
communication”. The result is that communication is always a matter of
negotiation and cannot be predicted in advance.
Communication to mass communication
Early on, a sub-set of models began to refer
specifically to mass communication. Westley and Maclean were important in this.
Their model emphasises the significance of audience demand rather than just the
communicator’s purpose.
1960s and 1970s
The attention now moved away from the effects of
the mass media on opinions, behaviour and attitudes, and began to focus on the
longer-term and socialising effects of the mass media. The audience were less victims
of the media, and more active in adopting or rejecting the guidelines offered
by the mass media. This an emphasis on “an active audience”.
Nevertheless a healthy suspicion of the mass media
has continued through the 1970s and 1980s, especially in terms of news selection
and presentation.
A more recent development is an interest in the
‘information society’ when the ‘boundary separating mass communication from
other communication processes is becoming much less clear”. There has also been
an accelerating “internationalisation” of mass communication.
Basic models include:
Model
|
Comment
|
Lasswell formula (1948)
|
·
Useful but too simple.
·
It assumes the communicator wishes to
influence the receiver and therefore sees communication as a persuasive
process.
·
It assumes that messages always have
effects.
·
It exaggerates the effects of mass
communication.
·
It omits feedback.
·
On the other hand, it was devised in an
era of political propaganda
·
It remains a useful INTRODUCTORY model
·
Braddock (1958) modified it to include
circumstances, purpose and effect
|
Shannon and Weaver (1949)
|
·
Highly influential and sometimes
described as “the most important” model (Johnson and Klare)
·
Communication is presented as a linear,
one-way process
·
Osgood and Schramm developed it into a
more circular model
·
Shannon and Weaver make a distinction
between source and transmitter, and receiver and destination – ie there are
two functions at the transmitting end and two at the receiving end
·
Criticised for suggesting a definite
start and finish to the communication process, which in fact is often endless
|
Gerbner (1956)
|
·
Special feature of this model is that is
can be given different shapes depending on the situation it describes
·
There is a verbal as well as visual
formula (like Lasswell):
1 someone
2 perceives an event
3 and reacts
4 in a situation
5 through some means
6 to make available
materials
7 in some form
8 and context
9 conveying content
10 with some
consequence
·
The flexible nature of the model makes it
useful.
·
It also allows an emphasis on perception
·
It could explain, for example, the
perceptual problems of a witness in court and, in the media, a model which
helps us to explore the connection between reality and the stories given on
the news
|
Westley & MacLean (1957)
|
·
Another influential model
·
The authors were keen to create a model
which showed the complexities of mass communication - hence the emphasis on
having to interpret a mass of Xs (events which are communicated in the media)
·
It oversimplifies the relationships
between participants by not showing power relations between participants
·
It makes the media process seem more
integrated than it may actually be
·
It doesn’t show the way different media
may have different interests of the state (eg difference between a state
broadcaster and private one)
|
Ritual models of communication
Early models were based on a transmissive or
transportation approach (ie assuming that communication was one-way). James Carey in 1975 was the first to challenge this. He
suggested an alternative view of communication as ritual in which communication is “linked to sharing, participation,
association, fellowship … the maintenance of society in time; not the act of imparting
information but the representation of shared beliefs”.
As a result there
is more emphasis on signs and symbols. Medium and message are harder to
separate. Communication is seen as timeless and unchanging. The Christmas tree
represents the model – it symbolises ideas and values of friendship and
celebration but has no instrumental purpose. The tree is both medium and
message.
Communication as display and attention
As well as transmissive
and ritual models, there is a third. This aims to catch and hold our attention. The main goal is economic =
consumption. This makes sense in terms of a mass media audience who use the
media for entertainment and escapism. The media here works like a magnet, attracting
the audience temporarily and sometimes repulsing. The theory is associated with
Altheide & Snow (1979) and McQuail (1987).
1 Apply
Shannon and Weaver’s model to an analysis of these examples of communication:
A job interview
A new photograph
A pop song
How applicable are they?
How helpful is this kind
of analysis?
2 Think of other examples which
illustrate the RITUAL model. Explain the shared values they seem to represent.
3 What
strengths and weaknesses can you see with the ‘attention’ model?
4(a) Draw
a picture of a model trainset
4(b) Apply to become a supermodel. Earn lots of
money and then send it to Mr Barton.
.