There are eight steps in communication, whether its face to face, machine assisted, or mass communication. Six of these are essential, one blocks communication, and one can be used to improve communication.
1) A sender
2) A process of encoding
3) A message
4) A channel
5) A process of decoding
6) A receiver
7) Feedback
8) Noise
4) Channels
The way the messages travel to the receiver.
Some messages use more than one channel. This class, for example, uses multiple channels. The narrated presentation is one channel, the web site is another, the Canvas Discussion Board is a third. Within each of these channels are sub-channels - the videos, graphics, and readings are all sub-channels carrying messages.
With the rise of the internet, another critical failure point has emerged - delayed channels carrying messages long after the initial communication. Go to YouTube and you'll see video clips many years old still carrying messages. Here is an example of a message created in 1915, kept alive on YouTube.
Websites, made years ago but still available on the internet, are other examples of delayed channels. These delayed channels have haunted politicians, celebrities, businessmen, and the general public.
In effective communication, your choice of channel is critical. Students who do not have an internet connection (a channel) cannot take this class. My communication will fail to reach them because of my choice of channel.
"Targeting an audience" with effective channels is a vital part of advertising. If you choose the wrong channel to reach your intended audience, your advertising will fail.
And channels can be interrupted. A critical element of military success is disrupting the channels of communication of your enemy. The same is true in the battle for political or ideological supremacy.
Examples of channels are:
A conversation
An E-mail
A TV Program
A song
Social media
As the cartoon on the right shows, different channels (words) can lead to different messages.
As the video below shows, the same channel (words) can also lead to different messages because of errors in "decoding."
Creating meaning from the messages encoded in the channel.
As a sender, you're at the mercy of the skill of the decoder. No matter how important your message, how thorough your encoding, how effective your channel, if the receiver can't decode it, you've failed to communicate.
And who does the decoding? Are we interpreting the message ourselves or are we letting others decode the message for us?
A major problem with mass communication is that no two decoders interpret a message the exact same way.
As a result, mass communication can lead to mass misunderstanding. There are many decoders on each media channel. Each one of those decoders might miss your intended meaning. And messages can have multiple meanings. For example, in Module 6, we'll look at the three meanings found in each advertisement.
This commercial shows repeated errors in verbal decoding. In addition, if you don't recognize the two customers, the commercial has no impact - a good example of "Noise"
This R rated clip shows what would happen in an advertising meeting if the verbal messages were decoded truthfully.
One of the most critical issues in decoding is the use of "proxy" decoders to interpret events for us. Politics, with its "analysts," "commentators," "spin doctors," "pundits" has good examples of proxy decoders. It's hard work thinking for yourself. You have to make an effort to gather information, to weigh evidence, to draw logical conclusions. It's so much easier to let someone else do it for you.
6) The Receiver
The target for the message.
A person
A group
Or millions
Just like communications can have unintended messages, some receivers may be unintended. The negative reaction to the 2004 Superbowl halftime show was fuelled by anger over the unintended receivers - the millions of children watching the game.
Many of the arguments for control of the media involve unintended receivers. Magazine sales are restricted, TV shows, movies, CDs, and Video games are "age rated" to prevent unintended receivers.
The Module 2 article "The Other Parent" discusses the problem of unintended receivers and urges steps to restrict content.
The cartoon to the right shows clearly the result of unintended receivers.
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