Transcript History of Mass Media (New York College)

introduction
defining communication
communication
 let’s draw our map
being the communicator
as you move through life communicating with lots
of people in numerous settings, you bring
yourself to the encounter; you most often look
at the situation from your own perspective as a
communicator
in western society, the individual assumes
tremendous importance as the key player in
social life
... questions
- who am I as a communicator?
- what resources enable me to communicate?
- how do other people view my behavior?
- how does my communication change as I move
from one situation to another?
the message
in much human communication, words
have a function beyond mere transfer of
information
the message has value as an act
... questions
- how is the message structured and
delivered?
- what symbols and words does it include?
- how is it interpreted?
conversation
for most people, conversations are informal,
everyday interactions
in communication theory, the term has a special
meaning; it is an interaction sequence with a
defined beginning and end, turn taking, and
some sort of purpose or a set of goals
conversations are governed by rules, they have
structure and display coherence and sense
(contin.)
conversations include:
- social talk;
- debates and arguments;
- problem-solving efforts;
- conflict episodes;
- romantic exchanges;
- any other type of discourse in which
communicators use language and nonverbal
communication to interact with one another
workshop
 choose a topic to discuss as group; focus
on a specific aspect and develop a
conversation about it
relationships
conversations are rarely isolated; instead they are
connected to one another over time and create
communication context much larger than any
one conversation
these larger contexts include: relationships,
groups, organizations, media, culture and
society
in general
people are fascinated with relationships because
they differ greatly
some of relationships are easy and comfortable
and others are hard and controlled
relationships change and evolve, often
dramatically, and such changes have the ability
to affect us in significant ways
issues at
stake
we must constantly decide how much information
about ourselves to share with others in
relationships
sometimes we really feel like sharing something
private with a friend and other times we feel
more guarded
we negotiate what topics you can talk about and
what levels of information can be revealed, not
only between ourselves but also with others
outside the relationship
managing differences
the tension between disclosure and privacy is only
one example of a difference we have to
manage effectively in relationships
we often feel confused about:
-whether we should be dependent or independent
-whether we should keep things the way are or
change them
-whether we should be an individual or be part of a
couple
broadest context
every act of communication – whether personal
or mediated – is affected by and contributes
to large social forms and patterns
because the social and cultural context of
communication is so huge, we often don’t
see it
the
forest
we lose our view of the forest when we
concentrate too much on individual trees
how we understand and how we act are very
much shaped by the language of our culture
language
language is not an inert medium for transmitting
information but affects and is affected by
daily interaction
patterns of interaction among friends, in
communities, and throughout society
determine lines of influence, which, in turn,
shape our values, opinions, and behavior
culture
cultural difference is palpable, but we may not
be used to thinking of ourselves as cultural
beings whose sense of identity and how we
relate to others is a product of some
combination of cultures that impact
ourselves
workshop
let’s reflect on how the social and cultural
context may affect acts of communication
source
 Littlejohn, S. W. & Foss, K. A. (2008)
Theories of Human Communication (9th
edition).
thank you very much
for your attention