Mass Communication

MASS COMMUNICATION

Introduction

It is impossible not to communicate. Everybody communicates, everything communicates.  Communication is not a process limited to human beings only. All creatures on the earth, from worms to humans, are communicating each other for their better existence. It is a universal phenomenon.

Communication is a process which includes transmission of information, ideas, emotions,

skills, knowledge by using symbols, words, gestures, and visuals and so on. Thus, the act of

communication is referred to as ‘transmission’.

As communication being a universal phenomenon that defines all human behavior, it is

important to have a clear understanding of the concepts of communication. What is communication? Why is it important to human beings? How does it work? What are the elements involved in the process of communication? How do they relate each other? What are the different types of communication? We should answer these questions to have a better

understanding of the subject. Let us look into each of them.

Communication

The word communication was originated from the Latin word ‘communis’ which means

‘common’. Communion, community, communism, commonality, communalism etc. are some related words having the same linguistic roots. Similarly, newer and newer terms are being coined as the concept of communication assumes importance day by day. Communication technology, communication media, communication age, communication management are just a few.

As the very term indicates, the ultimate aim of the communication process is to create

commonness between communicator and receiver of the message. Through communication, both

communicator and receiver enter into a mental agreement. Thus, they achieve their goal, which may be expression of an emotion or transmission of an idea.

Transaction, interchange, interaction, dialogue, discussion, sharing, contact are some of

the concepts that come up in our minds when we refer to ‘communication’.

According to Oxford English Dictionary, communication is ‘the transfer or conveying of

meaning’ (Oxford Dictionary).

Definition for communication.

1. Communication is the exchange of meanings between individuals through a common

system of symbols. (I.A.Richards).

2. Communication is the transmission and interchange of facts, ideas, feeling or course of

action. (Leland Brown)

3. Communication is a social interaction through messages ( Grabner, 1967)

The definitions given here indicate the following facts:

 A world without communication is unthinkable

 Communication is a complex process

 Communication is essential for human relationships and progress

 Human mind, body and physical conditions are vital components of communication

 A common symbol system is essential for communication

Importance of Communication

Communication is important for all beings that lead community life and form relationship. For human beings communication is as essential as food, shelter and dignity. While

animal kingdom uses low level symbols for communication, human beings have unique capacity

to use language.

The basic foundation of human society is communication and it takes place at different levels – within oneself, between individuals, between individual and a group, between groups, between countries and so on. Similarly, we use verbal and non-verbal forms of messages for communication.

Communication is essential for development of the society. We attain cultural, social and

economic prosperity by sharing out experiences. How can we share experience without better

communication?

Personal enjoyment is communication based. Just think of a person kept in isolation

without any chance for communication with his friends and relatives. It is really a punishment, a

prison life. Communication helps us interact with our surroundings, thus create positive

relationships, share love, build up friendship and depend each other to enjoy life.

Can you imagine a world without media? Not at all. The basic mission of mass media is

to create ties in human society sharing news. In modern world, media have some more roles to

play. Media defines our political system, form public opinion, support public demands and set

agenda of our social life. In short, no social activity, be it marketing, business, education, politics, media profession…, is possible without communication.

Functions of Communication

Considering the essentiality of communication, scholars enumerated the following functions of

it.

a) Education: To transfer knowledge for the progress of the society

                 (Example: class room communication)

b) Information: To find and explain something new (Example: News media)

c) Cultural promotion : To help foster social values and pass them from generation to

                 generation (Example: Festivals, parties, celebrations)

d) Social contact: To help make enjoyable companionship (Example: Friendship, clubs,

     organizations etc.)

            e) Integration: To create harmonious relationships among various social groups                            (Example:  Political parties, conferences, meetings etc.)

f) Stimulation: To create interest and develop positive thinking /behavior(Example:

                Advertisements)

            g) Counseling: To alleviate anxiety and lead to better ways (Example: guidance,  

                consolation etc.)

h) Expression of emotions (Example: crying, smiling etc)

i) Entertainment: To help pass time and enjoy life (Example: drama, song etc.)

j) Control function: To get someone to behave in an appropriate way (Example:

   Management, censorship etc)

Elements of Communication

Let us analyse Joseph A Devito’s definition that ‘communication refers to the act by one

or more persons, of sending and receiving messages distorted by noise, within a context, with

some effect and with some opportunity for feedback’ to find out the essential elements of

communication.

According to his definition, communication has the following elements:

a) Sender

b) Message

c) Channel

d) Receiver

e) Noise

f) Feedback

g) Context

h) Effect

Discussion on each of these elements with examples will give us more insight into the

entire process of communication.

Sender

Sender is the idea generating component in communication process. In human

communication, sender may be a person or persons who create or formulate the message to be

sent to the receiver. Being the primary source of the message, sender is also termed as source.

In mass media, for example, news reporter is the sender or source as he/she constructs

the message (news story). In a musical performance, the singer is the sender as his message is

enjoyed by the audience.

Sender is a critical component in communication as his/her social background,

personality status, education etc influence the quality of the message he/she creates. The

message is created from the idea generated in the mind of the sender. The idea generation

process is called encoding.

The source/sender has three functions:

a) To decide what is to be communicated

b) Encoding (Put the idea in such a way that the receiver understands it)

c) Transmitting the message to the receiver

Message

The message is any verbal or non-verbal method that produces meaning in the mind of

the receiver. Simply, it is the meaning transferred from sender’s mind to receiver’s mind. This

happens mainly in two ways: verbal and non-verbal methods.

Verbal message means written or oral messages. They are composed of words. Example:

A newspaper report or a lecture by a teacher.

Non-verbal messages are those communicated through our behaviour, movements, actions, clothes, style of conversation, pitch of the sound etc.

What is fundamental in message construction is the agreement between sender and

receiver in the code used for it. If the receiver cannot identify the language or meaning of the

message, the communication will be defective.

Channel

The channel means medium by which sender transmits the message to the receiver. Our

five senses such hearing, touching, smelling , tasting , seeing are basic natural channels of human

communication. Communication can be classified on the basis of five basic natural channels.

They are:

Tactile communication: Communication by touch or taste

Olfactory communication: communication by smell

Audio communication: Communication through sound waves

Visual communication: Communication through visual elements or properties.

We use any technically developed medium (like television, newspaper, books etc) with the help of one or more of these five senses. Similarly, sender uses one or more channels to maximize the communication effect. For example – multi-media class room where teacher uses projector, blackboard, lecture, gestures etc. simultaneously.

Receiver

Idea receiving end in communication process is called receiver. A person or thing may be at the receiving end. The receiver’s role is as important as a sender’s role. As in the case of a

sender, receiver has also three roles to play:

a) To receive the message

b) To decode the message

Decoding is the process of extracting a message from a code and interprets it. For this, sender and receiver should have knowledge about the code (for example: language) used in

communication.

c) To respond to the message through feedback

Receivers may be audience watching movies, persons listening to music, students hearing

a lecture or a computer getting e-mail from a remote server.

Communication fails or remains faulty when message is rejected or misinterpreted by the

receiver.

Feedback

Information or message that is fed back to the source is called feedback. If you get

clapping for your singing, clapping is the feedback. Questions raised by students in a class room

for more information is another example for feedback.

Feedback originated either from the sources’ own message is called self feedback.

Example: When you talk to somebody, you hear yourself and evaluate your tone, pitch etc.

Sometimes you may think that you could have sharpened or softened your tone or pitch or text,

because of your own feedback. Another type of feedback is that originated from the receiver. It may be in the form of questions, applauses, puzzled look etc. Feedback may be negative or positive, immediate or delayed.

Receiver’s indication to the sender that the message was not received well is called

negative feedback. Eg. Looks of indifference, rejection or boredom may be considered as

negative feedback. Receiver’s favourable responses like acceptance, applauses etc. are positive feedback. Feedback at the time of the communication itself or just after it is immediate feedback.

Eg. Applauses a singer gets during the performance.

Receiver’s response relatively much after the communication is delayed feedback. Eg.

Letters to the Editor.

Noise

Noise or communication barrier is anything that distorts message. Noise may originate

in any of the components of communication like source, message, channel, context, receiver etc.

Noise is present when there is difference between the message sent and received.

Communication is not possible without noise, but its effects may be reduced through various methods such as using good grammar, clear voice, simple language, quality signal etc.

Noise is of different types depending on the nature and reasons of the distortion.

They are:

Psychological noise: Any communication error due to the psychological reasons. Eg. A

fearful audience can’t enjoy the musical programme.

Semantic noise: Language related problems in communication. Eg. Poor grammar, complex sentence structure, rare vocabulary etc.

Contextual noise: If communication takes place in inappropriate time or place, message is not conveyed well. Eg. Wishing compliments during a funeral function. Or An outdoor

meeting at noon in a hot summer.

Channel noise : Medium related communication barrier. Eg. Poor signal affecting picture clarity of television.

Context

Communication takes place in a context. At times it is noticeable and at other times not.

In other words, time, place, culture, physical and social condition and psychology of the

participants are important in determining communication effect. If we try to interpret a message

out of its context, we may get an entirely different meaning which may result in communication

error.

Rules and roles are two important factors related to communication context.

Rules are the norms we have to follow while communicating in different situations. For

example, our communication behaviour is different when we are in class room, market or prayer

hall, depending on the rules the situation demands.

Roles are the character or part each participant in communication has to play. For example, in family communication situation, father plays a leader’s role. In class room, students play the receiver’s role.

Effect

Why do we communicate? It is a fundamental question. To make some effect on the receiver is the answer. Effect is consequence or result of communication. Every communication act makes some effect on the person/s. Effect may be positive or negative. Communication is said to be success when we achieve the indented effect.

Communication effects are of three types:

Cognitive effects: The consequences take place in the receiver’s intelligence due to

communication. Example : Knowledge acquisition

Affective effects: The consequences occurred in the emotions of the person/s due to

communication.

Eg. Compassion, love etc.

Behavioral effects: The change in the receiver’s bahaviour or actions due to communication.

Eg. Political campaign and change in people’s voting behaviour or purchasing new

products inspired by the advertisements.

What is Mass Communication?

The simplest definition of mass communication is “public communication transmitted electronically or mechanically.” In this way messages are transmitted or sent to large, perhaps millions or billions of people spread across the world. The communication passes through the different forms of mass media such as newspapers, magazines, films, radio, television and internet. Media is the plural for the word medium or ‘means of communication’.

Mass Communication is a means of disseminating information or message to large,  anonymous, and scattered heterogeneous masses of receivers who may be far removed from the message sources through the use of sophisticated equipment. In other words, communication is

the sending of message through a mass medium to a large number of people.

Mass Communication represents the creation and sending of a homogeneous message to a large heterogeneous audience through the media. Mass communication studies the uses and effects of the media by many as opposed to the study of human interaction as in other

communication contexts.

Stanley Baran defines Mass Communication as the process of creating shared meaning between the mass media and their audience. Also, John Bittner defines Mass Communication as messages communicated through a mass medium to a large number of people.

One needs to underscore the underlying fact that what is common in every definition of mass communication anywhere in the world is that it is communicated through a mass medium. In other words, for any message to be regarded as being mass communicated, it must be

disseminated through a mass medium like Radio, Television, Newspaper and Magazine.

Mass Communication can also be defined as a device by which a group of people working together transmits information to a large heterogeneous and anonymous audience simultaneously. It is a process by which information originates from the source to the receiver, having been thoroughly filtered and transmitted through a channel ( Sambe 2005:29).

The Mass

The concept “mass’’ in mass communication is defined as a large, heterogeneous, assorted, anonymous audience.

‘Large’ means we can’t exactly count the number of the members of audience. It is relatively large but it doesn’t mean that the audience includes all people.

‘Heterogeneous’ means the audience of mass media includes all types of people – the rich, the poor, farmers, bureaucrats, politicians and so on.

‘Assorted’ means the audience of mass media is not necessarily limited to a particular geographical sector. They may be scattered everywhere. For example, a newspaper may have a reader in every nook and corner of the world.

‘Anonymous’ means we can’t specifically identify a reader of a newspaper of newspaper with his certain characteristics. Today he may be reader of a particular newspaper. Tomorrow, he may change his media habit. Anybody at any time may be a member of mass media audience.

The channels of communication that produce and distribute news, entertainment content, visuals and other cultural products to a large number of people. Mass media can be classified in to three major groups on the basis of their physical nature.

They are:

 Print Media like newspaper, magazines and periodicals, books etc.

 Electronic like radio, cinema, television, video and audio records

 Digital Media like CD RoMs, DVDs and the Internet facilities.

Mass Communication Process

How does mass communication work can be well explained in linear model of mass communication?. According to this traditional concept, mass communication is a component system made up of senders ( the authors, reporters, producers or agencies) who transmit messages ( the book content, the news reports, texts, visuals, images, sounds or advertisements) through mass media channels ( books, newspapers, films, magazines, radio, television or the  Internet) to a large group of receivers ( readers, viewers, citizens or consumers) after the filtering of gatekeepers ( editors, producers or media managers) with some chance for feedback ( letters to editors, phone calls to news reporters, web-site postings or as audience members of talk shows or television discussions). The effect of this process may formation of public opinion, acceptance of   particular cultural value, setting the agenda for the society and the like.

A simple linear model of mass communication situation can be represented with the diagram  given below.

Nature of Mass Communication

From the above model of mass communication, it is easy to identify the following features of mass communication.

1. Mass communication experience is public one. It means that anybody can be a part of this communication process at any time without much effort or permission.

2. It is a mediated communication act. Nature of the media involved in the process defines the mediation in mass communication. For example, television can transmit a news instantly as it is a fast medium, newspaper takes to bring the same news report to the public because of its limitations. This is how nature of the media defines the mediation process in mass communication.

3. Mass communication is filtered communication. This filtering processing is called gate keeping. For example, a news report in a newspaper or on a television channel filtered or controlled at different level by reporter, sub editor, news editor, editor.

4. It is the most complicated form of communication as it involves complex technology like satellites digital networks, management structure, marketing chain etc.

5. Mass communication can alter the way the society thinks about events and attitudes.

6. Mass communication experience is transient. It means that once you used a message (for example, a news report or a film) you may not use it again. The message is meant to be used once and it is gone. Who will read yesterday’s newspaper?

7. Mass communication is most often remains as one-way communication. As receivers, how many of us write letters to editor (sender)? A very few. But, in interpersonal communication, senders and receivers are in active conversation sending feedback to each other.

8. Unlike other communicators, mass communicators can’t see their audience. Karan Tapar or Pranoy Roy, the leading television personalities in India know that their programmes are watched by millions of Indians. But, they can’t see how people respond or react while watching their presentations. That’s why they can’t change the style of presentation or mode of communication instantly as we do in interpersonal or group communication.

Mass Media

           Mass media influence our daily life more than any other cultural institution. They are our main sources of news and entertainment. They define our purchase decision, voting behavior, academic achievement and so on. Because of this all-encompassing impact of mass media, politicians, businessmen and government agencies depend on media to influence people. During election time, we witness politicians spending millions of rupess for political campign through mass media. Business firms across the world spend billions of dollars to market their products with the help of mass media advertisements. We are informed of the policies of our governments through newspapers and electronic media. Likewise, we people need mass media to express our needs, complaints and wishes to the authorities. In short, role of mass media in our society is omnipresent.

Defining Mass Media

           According to Wilbur Schramm ‘a mass medium is essentially a working group organized around some device for circulating the same message, at about same time, to a large number of people’. From this definition, let us know that there is a well organized system behind each mass medium. For example, a newspaper is produced everyday with the collective efforts of a lot of people using various information sources ranging from local reporters to international news agencies. Same is the case of distribution of the newspaper also. Everybody from circulation manager to local newspaper boy is actively engaged in smooth circulation of each copy of a newspaper. Moreover, every county has its own policy, laws, and telecommunication systems to facilitate mass media. In this sense, the production of a mass medium is the result of a well organized system.

And, the messages are disseminated to a large number of people ie. mass. They are called the audience. No media can sustain without a sufficient audience. We learned the characteristics of mass audience in the earlier unit.

The definition again talks about devices of circulating messages. These devices are technological means through which messages are communicated to the audience. Devices include printed documents, television, radio, DVD, cassettes, the internet etc.

Types of Mass Communication

Mass media can be categorized according to physical form, technology involved, nature

of the communication process etc. Given below are the major categories of mass media.

Print Media

           Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the moveable metallic type in the fifteenth century paved the way for proliferation of the print media. The printing press using moveable types introduced the method for mass production of texts. Before the invention of the printing press, books were expensive materials affordable only for the aristocrats and royal families. Printing reduced the cost of books and made them available to the common men also. Rapid duplication of multiple copies of handy texts led to the innovation of modern newspapers.

Print Media include

 Newspapers

 Magazines

 books

 other textual documents

Electronic Media

           The history of electronic mass media starts with the invention of radio by Marconi. The first radio station was set up in Pittsburg, New York and Chicago in the 1920s. Following the USA, European countries also started radio stations for broadcasting news and entertainment content. The colonial powers like Briton and France set radio stations in Asian and African countries in the early years of 20th century. The next step in electronic communication media history was the invention of cinema. Following cinema, television broadcasting was initiated in the US on experimental basis during 1920s. But, the dramatic impact of television as a mass medium began in 1950s. Parallel to these, recording industry was also boomed in the western countries. In short, the term electronic media mainly include:

 Radio

 Movies

 Television

 Audio and Video records

New Media

Online and digital means of producing, transmitting and receiving messages are called

new media. The term encompasses computer mediated communication technology. It implies the use of desktop and portable computers as well as wireless and handheld devices. Every company in the computer industry is involved with new media in some manner. The forms of communicating in the digital world include

 CD-RoMs

 DVDs

 Internet facilities like World Wide Web, bulleting boarding, email etc.

Functions of Mass Media

As mentioned earlier, mass media have pervasive effects on our personal and social life. The role and scope of mass media in our society are in the following areas:

 Information

 Education

 Entertainment

 Persuasion

Types of Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication has three major types. They include:

1. Dyadic communication,

2. Public speaking, and

3. Small-group communication.

DYADIC COMMUNICATION

Dyadic communication is simply a method of communication that only involves two people such as a telephone conversation or even a set of letters sent to and received from a pen pal. In this communication process, the sender can immediately receive and evaluate feedback from the receiver. So that, it allows for more specific tailoring of the message and more personal communication than do many of the other media.

Basic Elements in Interpersonal Communication

The basic elements involved in interpersonal communication process

are:

1. Sender; person who sends information.

2. Receiver: person who receives the information sent.

3. Message: content of information sent by sender.

4. Feedback: response from receiver.

Barriers against Effective Interpersonal Communication

Emotions

Sometimes when people communicate an idea or matter across, the receiver can feel how the sender perceives the subject matter. Often messages are interpreted differently for different people. Extreme emotions are most likely to hinder effective communication because the

idea or message may be misinterpreted. It's always best to avoid responding or reacting to the subject matter when you're upset or angry because most of the time, you'll not be able to think in a clear manner.

Filtering

This is where the sender manipulates the information that he communicates to the receiver. The purpose of this is because sometimes people would shape and reform the message so that it appears and sounds favourable to the receiver. Filtering information may mislead the receiver into thinking something favourable and the let down may be upsetting if it is found out that information has been filtered.

Overloaded with Information

Too much information about the same subject matter may be confusing. For example, you have 50 e-mails on the same subject matter, each email contains a little part of the subject matter. It would be better to have one e-mail from the sender which includes all the information in clear and simple form with only the information that you asked for. Normally, the human brain can only take in so much information to process, overloading it with information will exceed our human processing capacity, and the receiver would misunderstand or not understand at all what the sender is telling them.

Defensiveness

Humans tend to refuse for a mutual understanding when they feel that

they are being threatened or are put in a position in which they are at a

disadvantage. Defensiveness normally consists of attacking what the

sender tells you, putting out sarcastic remarks, questioning their motives

or being overly judgmental about the subject matter.

Cultural Difference

Sometimes our culture may be a huge hinderance for effective interpersonal communication. When two people with different cultures communicate, they often do not understand each other's cultures and may misunderstand the true meaning of what each other are trying to convey through such a sense. For example, Japanese people would say "􀀀􀀀 "  pronounced as 'ha-i') and Americans may misunderstand that they are saying "hi". This makes the intentions unclear between both people.

Jargon

Not everyone understands each other's jargon words. Jargon should be avoided when talking to someone who isn't familiar with you personally or within your organization.

Overcoming the Barriers of Effective Interpersonal Communication

Simplify Language

By structuring your language to clear simplistic sentences, the receiver would be able to easily understand what the sender is saying. For example, jargon can be used within your organization as it will only use one word rather than a whole sentence to explain what you are trying to communicate across.

Constrain Emotions

Hold back emotions whilst discussing a certain sensitive issue. Speaking in a neutral manner allows mutual understanding to occur and for both sender and receiver to communicate in a rational manner.

Listen Actively

Often, when the sender says something, the receiver normally hears but does not listen. Place yourself in the sender's position and try to understand exactly what they are trying to convey to you. The receiver is trying to understand fully what the sender is trying to say, so putting the receiver in the sender's point of view makes understanding much easier.

Feedback

Done by the sender, as a word of confirmation by using closed ended questions such as "Did you understand what I just said?" or "Is what I said clear to you?", or using an open ended question to have the receiver summarize the message. This results in the sender knowing that the receiver has fully understood what is being communicated.

Intra-Personal Communication

This is essentially a neuro-physiological activity which involves some mental interviews for the purposes of information processing and decision making. The basic operations of intrapersonal communication are to convert raw data from environment to information; to interpreter and give meaning to that information and to use such meaning. In other words, it is communication that occurs within you. Because intrapersonal communication is centered in the self, you are the sender and the receiver. The message is made up of your thoughts and feelings and the channel is your brain, which processes what you are thinking and feeling. There is also feedback because you talk to yourself, you discard certain ideals and replace them with others.

Intrapersonal communication is language use or thought internal to the communicator. Intrapersonal communication is the active internal involvement of the individual in symbolic processing of messages. The individual becomes his or her own sender and receiver, providing feedback to him or herself in an ongoing internal process. It can be useful to envision intrapersonal communication occurring in the mind of the individual in a model which contains a sender, receiver, and feedback loop.

Although successful communication is generally defined as being between two or more individuals, issues concerning the useful nature of communicating with oneself and problems concerning communication with non-sentient entities such as computers have made some argue that this definition is too narrow.

Kinds of Intrapersonal Communication

Below are the different kinds of intrapersonal communication:

Writing (by hand, or with a word processor, etc.) one's thoughts or observations: the additional activities, on top of thinking, of writing and reading back may again increase self-understanding ("How do I know what I mean until I see what I say?") and concentration. It aids ordering one's thoughts; in addition it produces a record that can be

used later again. Copying text to aid memorizing also falls in this category.

Making gestures while thinking: the additional activity, on top of thinking, of body motions, may again increase concentration, assist in problem solving, and assist memory.

· Sense-making e.g. interpreting maps, texts, signs, and symbols

· Interpreting non-verbal communication e.g. gestures, eye contact

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

· Day-dreaming

· Nocturnal dreaming, including and especially lucid dreaming

· Speaking aloud (talking to oneself), reading aloud, repeating what one hears; the additional activities of speaking and hearing (in the third case of hearing again) what one thinks, reads or hears may increase concentration and retention. This is considered normal, and the extent to which it occurs varies from person to person. The time when there should be concern is when talking to oneself occurs outside of socially acceptable situations.