basic linear communication models: lasswell, shannon and weaver
TRANSCRIPT
EARL GUZMAN holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and has a professional experience that spans 5 years. Among his most notable roles are: Legislative Staff Officer at the Senate Electoral Tribunal and Catalog Writer for ABS – CBN. He currently works as an Online Content Writer under the creative marketing department of tech merchandising company Beyond the Box.
PART IT H E L A S S W E L
L F O R M U L AWHO WAS HAROLD LASSWELL
THE LASSWELL FORMULA EXPLAINED
BACKGROUND HAROLD LASSWELL
WHY DO WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LASSWELL?
Because it will enable us to better understand how his theory works, what it is intended for, under what paradigm it operates,
and what it seeks to describe.
HAROLD LASSWELL WAS
A Political scientist;A creative innovator in social science;A Multi-disciplinary academic;Prominent scholar in Propaganda Research
Chief of the Experimental Division for the Study of War Time Communication. There, he analyzed Nazi propaganda films to identify mechanisms of persuasion used by Nazi’s to secure the support of the German populace.
THEORY HOW DOES IT WORK?
THE LASSWELL FORMULA
Typical example of Transmission Model of Communication
One of the earliest and most influential
models of communication
Aimed at describing the function of
communication to society
A process that has five elements;
seeks to answer five questions
This model is about process of communication and its function to society, According to Lasswell there are three functions for communication:
SURVEILANCE OFTHE ENVIRONMENT
CORRELATION OF COMPONENTS OF
SOCIETY
CULTURAL TRANSMISSION
BETWEEN GENERATION
THEORY HOW DOES IT WORK?
THE LASSWELL FORMULA“A convenient way to describe an act of communication is to answer the
following questions…”
WHO?SAYS
WHAT?IN WHICH CHANNEL?
TO WHOM? WITH WHAT EFFECT?
COMMUNICATOR MESSAGE MEDIUM RECEIVER
EFFECT
CONTROLANALYSIS
CONTENTANALYSIS
MEDIAANALYSIS
AUDIENCEANALYSIS
EFFECTANALYSIS
WH
OTHEORY HOW DOES IT WORK?
THE LASSWELL FORMULAE X P L A N A T I O N
CONTROL ANALYSISWho refers to the communicator or the sender of the message. He may also be referred to as the source or transmitter of the message.
This element of communication is studied through Control Analysis. It investigates things such as who owns this newspaper or broadcast station? What are their aims? What are their political allegiances? What is their ideology?
SAYS WHATCONTENT ANALYSISThis pertains to content of the message.
Content Analysis investigates how the message is presented to the public and is usually concerned with questions of representation. Some examples are:
How are marginalised sectors of the society represented in popular mass media forms?How is Philippine Politics described in documentaries produced abroad?
THE LASSWELL FORMULATHEORY HOW DOES IT WORK?
E X P L A N A T I O N
MEDIA ANALYSISPertains to the medium by which the message is transmitted.
Media Analysis investigates the suitability of the chosen channel or medium in carrying out the message based on the content, purpose, and target among other things. It finds the answers to questions such as:
Is the medium appropriate?Can it reach the people we want to reach?
W/C CHANNEL
TO WHOMAUDIENCE ANALYSISRefers to the audience or people receiving the message.
Audience Analysis attempts to know everything about the audience’s demographics.
AgeSex / GenderEconomic StatusEducational Attainment
THE LASSWELL FORMULATHEORY HOW DOES IT WORK?
E X P L A N A T I O N
EFFECT ANALYSISRefers to the outcome or consequences triggered by the message sent. It posits that people communicate in order to achieve a desired end.
Effect Analysis’ primary concern is to determine whether or not the media has any effect to the audience and if it does have an effect, how has it affected the receivers.
WITH WHAT
EFFECT
THE LASSWELL FORMULA
THEORY HOW DOES IT WORK?
E X A M P L E
Embattled Vice President Jejomar Binay wrote letters to his critics and bought an ad space in a newspaper to defend himself from allegations hurled at him. The headline of his ad read (in glaring bold letters):
“LIES, HEARSAY, GUESSWORK, CONJECTURES…”
THEORY EXAMPLE
THE LASSWELL FORMULAWHO?
SAYS WHAT?
IN WHICH CHANNEL?
TO WHOM?
WITH WHAT EFFECT?
CONTROLANALYSIS
CONTENTANALYSIS
MEDIAANALYSIS
AUDIENCEANALYSIS
EFFECTANALYSIS
The communicator is an embattled politician who
plans to run for office next year; he is considered
a political dynast /
patriarch with vast resources
under his disposal.
“LIES, HEARSAY, GUESSWORK,
CONJECTURES…”
Professes his innocence; paints himself as a victim of selective justice and demolition by perception while simultaneously
accusing members of the
administration of weaving webs of
deceit.
BROADSHEET
The VP chose a broadsheet
newspaper to publish his retort
against his detractors. It
cannot be established whether the
newspaper has ties with the
Binays.
GENERAL PUBLICELECTORATE
CRITICS
The VP was not just targeting his
critics, he was also trying to appeal to the electorate.
EMBATTLED POLITICIAN
SEEKING HIGHER OFFICE
Since publishing his ad, no trust rating surveys have yet been conducted. There is however, some response from the people who received letters from him. One such response came from Philippine STAR columnist Carmen Pedrosa who continued to doubt VP Binay’s credibility and his plans for the nation. Response from social media were also mainly negative.
PART IIS H A N N O N &W E A V E R ‘ S
M A T H E M A T I C A L
M O D E L
BACKGROUND SHANNON & WEAVER
Dubbed as the mother of all models, the Shannon & Weaver
Model is the embodiments of concepts such as information source, message, transmitter,
signal, channel, noise, receiver, and slew of others.
MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
In 1948, American mathematician Claude Shannon and electronic
Engineer Warren Weaver collaborated to write an
article called the “Mathematical Theory of Communication” with the primary goal of improving technical communication.
THEORY SHANNON & WEAVER
MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
THEORY SHANNON & WEAVER
The Shannon & Weaver model bears a strong semblance to Lasswell’s model, albeit, this one has some elements which the other model lacked: feedback and noise.
While Lasswell’s model was more concerned with the effect of the message and the function of communication with respect to society,
Weaver& Shannon’s model’s primary concern was to find out the most effective means of human communication.
MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
THEORY SHANNON & WEAVER
SOURCE ENCODER CHANNELThis is the origin of the message. The source is the starting point of the communication process.
When the source sends a message, it is translated into signals or codes.
This refers to where the transmitted signal travels through and may vary depending on the type of signal.
MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
THEORY SHANNON & WEAVER
DECODER DESTINATION FEEDBACKTo be able to understand the message sent, it must be decoded first. The decoder reconstructs the signal and present the message according to the signal it received.
The intended recipient of the message sent by the source.
Feedback refers to clarifications made by the sender to confirm that he really got the message. Please note though that this element is NOT part of the original model.
MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
THEORY SHANNON & WEAVER
NOISERefers to internal or external interruptions to the signal
The model suggests that a message begins at an information source, which is then relayed through a transmitter and sent via signals to the receiver. Once you speak, your voice (signal) is carried through the air toward the listener’s ear. As the sound waves produced by your voice travel, it is joined by a myriad of other sounds and distractions (noise). The receiver takes in everything, trying to maximize the message while minimizing the noise, after which, the receiver conveys its message back to the sender.