- •Module 1 Fundamentals of Communication
- •Module 2 Forms and Context of Communication
- •Module 4 Adjunct/Impact of the Mass Media
- •Course Marking Scheme
- •MODULE 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF COMMUNICATION
- •3.1.1 Understanding Communication
- •3.1.1 Understanding Communication
- •Therefore, there is no single definition of communication agreed upon by scholars. Psychologists, sociologists, medical practitioners, philosophers and communication specialists, all define communication based on their orientations and perspectives.
- •3.2 Functions of Communication
- •3.2.1 Functional Meaning of Communication
- •3.3 Attributes of Communication
- •SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
- •Highlight and briefly discuss the major challenges that are militating against the communication process
- •UNIT 4 MODELS OF COMMUNICATION
- •3.1 Aristotle's Model
- •Fig. 3 SCHRAMM'S MODEL OF MASS COMMUNICATION 2
- •Schramm’s model of communication posits that communication is interactive and interpretive. Discuss
- •3.4 The Hub Model
- •UNIT 5 THEORIES OF MASS COMMUNICATION
- •3.0 MAIN CONTENT
- •3.1 Understanding Theory
- •3.1.2 Why Study Theories?
- •3.1.3 How Theories are arrived at
- •3.1.4 Relationship between Theory and Research
- •3.2.4. Social Responsibility Media Theory
- •3.3.1 Hypodermic Needle/ Magic Bullet Theory
- •3.3.2 Lasswell’s Propaganda Theory
- •3.3.3 Lippman’s Theory of Public Opinion Formation
- •3.4.1 The Post Stimuli-Response theory
- •3.5.2 Main Streaming/Synchronisation Theory
- •3.5.3 The Knowledge Gap Theory
- •3.5.4 Spiral of Silence Theory
- •3.5.5 Media Systems Dependence Theory
- •This theory assumes that the more an individual depends on having his/her needs gratified by media use, the more important will be the role that media play in the person’s life; and therefore the more influence those media will have on that person.
- •3.6.1 Uses and Gratification Theory
- •3.6.2 Reception Studies-Decoding and Sense Making
- •3.7.2 Aggressive Cues Theory
- •3.7.4 Reinforcement Theory
- •3.7.5 Linkage Theory
- •3.8.1 ‘Reflective-Projective’ Theory
- •7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS
- •UNIT 6 FUNCTIONS OF MASS COMMUNICATION
- •MODULE 2 FORMS AND CONTEXT OF COMMUNICATION
- •3.1 Oral Communication
- •The engagement of mouth and tongue is very crucial to oral communication. Discuss
- •3.2 Written Communication
- •Compare and contrast the weaknesses and strength of oral and written communication.
- •UNIT 2 NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
- •3.1 Characteristics and Functions of Non-Verbal Communication
- •3.2 Types of Non-Verbal Communication
- •2.Types of Non-Verbal Communication and;
- •How functional is non-verbal communication to man?
- •Contexts of Communication
- •Contexts here mean the different levels at which communication occurs. It can also be referred to as the kinds of communication that are available. Under context of communication, we have the following:
- •3.2.2 Principles of Interpersonal Communication
- •Interpersonal Communication is Irreversible
- •Interpersonal Communication is Complicated
- •Interpersonal Communication is Contextual
- •3.2.3 Types of Interpersonal Communication
- •3.2.5 Barriers against Effective Interpersonal Communication
- •3.2.6 Overcoming the Barriers of Effective Interpersonal Communication
- •Unit 1 Print Media: Books, Newspaper, Magazine etc
- •Sambe (2005) highlights the following as functions of newspaper:
- •3.3.5 The Penny Press
- •3.2.6 Yellow Journalism
- •3.4.2 Convergence in Magazine Publishing
- •3.4.3 The Influence of Advertisers on Magazines
- •3.1.1 Four Important Periods in the History of the Book
- •Submission by Author or Agent
- •Acceptance and Negotiation
- •Editorial Stage
- •Prepress
- •3.1.3 Landmarks in Radio History
- •3.2 Television: The Most Influential Medium
- •3.4.1 Online-only Newspapers
- •MODULE 4 ADJUNCT AND IMPACT OF THE MASS MEDIA
- •Associated Press
- •4.0 CONCLUSION
- •3.3 Powerful Effects Paradigm
- •3.3.1 Media’s Harmful Effects: Violence and Delinquency
- •3.4 Uses and Gratifications Concept
- •3.4.3 Arguments against Uses and Gratifications Research
- •Cultural effects
- •4.0 CONCLUSION
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The elements involved in agenda setting include:
(1)The quality or frequency of reporting
(2)Prominence given to the reports – headlines display, layout, timing on radio and TV set
(3)The degree of conflict generated in the reports
(4)Cumulative media-specific effects over time
3.5.2 Main Streaming/Synchronisation Theory
This theory explains the process, especially for heavier viewers, by which television’s symbols monopolise and dominate other sources of information and ideas about the world.
There are two aspects to mainstreaming:
Message Analysis: involves detailed content analysis of selected media content {especially television programming} to assess recurring and consistent presentation of images, themes, value, and portrayals.
Cultivation Analysis: observation of the effects of the messages.
The assumption here is that television creates a worldview that, although possibly inaccurate, becomes the reality because people believe it is to be so. In other words, the more time people spend watching television, the more their world views will be like those spread by television.
You may like to examine the presentation of violence on television; is there as much violence in reality as the presentation is on television? What of the roles assigned to sex {gender} on television: are men presented as dynamic and aggressive while women are portrayed as passive and domestic? What of strike actions in Nigeria, how has the media presented it? Who is the winner or loser between government and labour? On the international scene, Africa is presented as a region of war, chaos, famine and HIVis it actually true?
3.5.3 The Knowledge Gap Theory
This theory establishes that the media systematically inform some segments of the population; especially those in higher socio-economic groups, better than they inform others. Therefore, the differences between the better informed and the less informed groups tend to grow and become bigger and bigger.
In other words, as the media output increases, rather than balancing the differences between the information rich and the information poor, it
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enlarges the differences, because those at the higher socio-economic levels acquire information much faster and much more easily than those at the lower levels.
However, the theory also states the possibility of the gap being narrowed. This may happen if the information rich become ‘sated’, that is they have got enough and do not seek for or need more, while the information poor continue to search till they catch up with the information rich.
3.5.4 Spiral of Silence Theory
It describes the tendency for people holding views contrary to those dominant in the media to keep them to themselves for fear of rejection. An opinion spreads from media to people and people are encouraged either to proclaim their views or to swallow them and keep quiet until, in spiraling process, the one view dominates the public scene and the other disappears from public awareness as its adherents became mute. In other words, because of people’s fear of isolation or separation from those around them, they tend to keep their attitudes to themselves when they think they are in the minority.
The point in the theory is that ideas, occurrences and persons exist in public awareness practically only if they are given sufficient publicity by the mass media, and only in the shapes that the media ascribe to them. So, people perceive issues as the media perceive them. And since society rewards conformity and punishes deviance, the fear of isolation constrains people to conform to shared judgment as guarded or judged by the mass media.
Certain terms that have emerged in the process of exposition and discussion of this theory include:
1.Double Opinion Climatethe media opinion is different from public opinion
2.Silent MajorityDomination of minority opinion over majority
3.Pluralistic Ignorance – Feeling of belonging to minority whereas opposite is the case
4.BandwagonTendency to belong because majority belong
5.SnobeffectDecrease in popularity of opinion because it is believed to be cheap.
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