PROCESS OF
COMMUNICATION

• A model is a miniature, a highly selective
visual representation of any reality.
• In that sense, communication model means
graphical/visual representation of
communication process using various
elements involved.
• Purpose of Communication Models
• A graphic representation of any reality helps
us visualize the relationships among various
elements of a structure, system or process;
an object, event or act.

• Communication models help us to visualise,
analyse and discuss various complex processes and
issues that would be otherwise difficult to explain.
• Aristotle’s Concept of Communication
• The first known scholar who wrote about
communication, though not directly, is Aristotle
(384-322 BC).
• In his famous books, ‘Rhetoric’, Aristotle called the
study of communication as ‘rhetoric’ and
elaborated three elements within the process.
• According to him, communication process
composed of a speaker, a message and a listener.
• Person at the end of the communication process
holds the key to whether or not communication
takes place.

According To him communicators need to develop five skills:
Invention - ability to generate ideas;
Disposition - ability to organize ideas;
Style - use of appropriate language;
Memory - ability to recall facts & ideas;
Delivery - use of voice and gestures.

LASWELL MODEL OF
COMMUNICATION
• Harold Dwight Laswell (1902-1978) is the
proponent of famous question formula,
which is otherwise called Laswell formula of
communication.
• This American political scientist stated that
the most convenient and comprehensive
way to describe an act of communication
was to answer the following questions:
• Who (says) What (to) Whom (in) What
Channel (with) What Effect?
• 5W’s

• Lasswell conceived
communication as a linear
process which starts from
communicator and ends at
receiver with some effect.
• The major missing elements of
this basic model are feedback
and context of communication.

• Lasswell saw communication as performing three
functions:
• Surveillance of the environment
• Correlation of components of society and
• Cultural transmission between generations
• Mechanistic and effects approach to
communication
• The notions of transmission and transfer of
information for intended effects.

COMPONENTS MEANING ANALYSIS
Who
the communicator or sender or source of
message
Control Analysis
Says What the content of the message Content Analysis
In Which Channel the medium or media Media Analysis
To Whom the receiver of the message or an audience Audience Analysis
With What Effect the feedback of the receiver to the sender Effect Analysis

• Control analysis helps the sender to have all the power.
• Content analysis is associated to stereotyping and representation
of different groups politically. It is also related to the purpose or
the ulterior motives of the message.
• Media analysis represents which medium should be used to
exercise maximum power against the receivers.
• Audience analysis shows who are the target population to be
manipulated or brain-washed.
• Effect analysis is done before the process starts. It is used to
predict the effect of message over the target population to be
exploited.

• David Berlo’s Model of Communication
• David Berlo’s model of communication has
four major parts : source (S), message (M),
channel (C) and receiver (R).
• It is conceived as a linear model.
• This model is otherwise called SMCR model
denoting each element.

• Berlo’s model has the following demerits:
• No feedback / don’t know about the effect
• Does not mention barriers to communication
• No room for noise
• Complex model
• It is a linear model of communication
• Needs people to be on same level for
communication to occur but not true in real life
• Main drawback of the model is that the model
omits the usage of sixth sense as a channel which
actually a gift to the human beings (thinking,
understanding, analyzing etc).

SHANNON AND WEAVER MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
CLAUDE SHANNON, AN ENGINEER AT
THE BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY,
ALONG WITH WEAVER DEVELOPED
THE MOST INFLUENTIAL OF ALL
EARLY COMMUNICATION MODELS.
THEIR GOAL WAS TO FORMULATE A
THEORY TO GUIDE THE EFFORTS OF
ENGINEERS TO FIND OUT THE MOST
EFFICIENT WAY OF TRANSMITTING
ELECTRICAL SIGNALS FROM ONE
LOCATION TO ANOTHER.

• As the prime concern of the developers of this
model was to quantitatively maximize the signals
transmitted, this model is also called Mathematical
Model of Communication.
• The model is based on technical communication
settings where information source transmits the
messages after converting it to signals.
• These signals are captured using receivers and
decoded.
• Communication through mechanical devices like
telephone or television is a best example for this
model.

• However, often there are problems, difficulties or
gaps in understanding and comprehending or
following the message.
• This is caused by ‘noise’ which can make the
message ‘ineffective’.
• Just as while tuning on an electronic gadget,
‘noise’ is caused, similar is the situation in this
model too.
• In many cases, the message suffers detoriation,
loss of content or information.

• Shannon and Weaver identify three levels of problems in the study of
communication. These are:
• Level A How accurately can the symbols of
(technical problems) communication be transmitted?
• Level B How precisely do the transmitted
(semantic problems) symbols convey the desired meaning?
• Level C How effectively does the received
(effectiveness problems) meaning affect conduct in the desired
way?

• Osgood and Schramm envisioned communication
as a circular process which has beginning and or
end.
• Hence their model is called Circular Model.
• In their view, sender and receiver are
interchangeable positions and though not
specifically mentioned, feedback is an essential
component of this model.
• There are three functions on each part of the
communication circle.
• They are : encoding, decoding and interpreting.
• Both sender and receiver are encoders, decoders
and interpreters at the same time.

MERITS OF THIS
MODEL ARE:
• 1. Dynamic model- Shows how a situation
can change.
• 2. It shows why redundancy is an essential
part.
• 3. There is no separate sender and
receiver, sender and receiver is the same
person.
• 4. Assume communication to be circular in
nature.
• 5. Feedback – central feature.

• In above figure, E stands for event, M for man or
machines; S stands for shape (form)/signal while the
second E is content, SE: Signal about E
• This model suggests that the human communication
process maybe regarded as subjective, selective,
variable, and unpredictable and that human
variables are unpredictable and that human
communication systems are open.
• Though this is a comprehensive model, but it is quite
complicated.
• This model also does not adequately explain the
implications of the message for the receiver.

George Gerbner
tried to explain the
communication
process as an act
or technique of
communicating a
message.
His model stresses
the necessity of
‘creative,
interactive nature
of perceptual
process and the
importance of
contextual
meaning and
comprehensive
dealing of human
communication’.
The author of this
model believes
that its shape can
change depending
upon the nature or
content of
communication.

• This model is given a verbal and
graphic version by the following
formula:

GATE-KEEPING -
SIMPLE MODEL

• Gatekeeping is a process by which filtered
information goes through to the public by radio,
TV, or newspapers.
• According to Pamela Shoemaker and Tim Vos,
gatekeeping is the "process of culling and crafting
countless bits of information into the limited
number of messages that reach people everyday,
and it is the center of the media's role in modern
public life. […] This process determines not only
which information is selected, but also what the
content and nature of the messages, such as news,
will be."

In exercising its "surveillance" function,
every news medium has a very large
number of stories brought to its attention
daily by reporters, wire services, and a
variety of other sources.
Due to a number of practical
considerations, only a limited amount of
time or space is available in any medium
for its daily presentations of the news to
its audience. The remaining space must
be devoted to advertising and other
content.

WITHIN ANY
NEWS
ORGANIZATION
THERE EXISTS A
NEWS
PERSPECTIVE.
• This news perspective and its complex criteria are used by
editors, news directors, and other personnel who select a
limited number of news stories for presentation to the
public and encode them in ways such that the requirements
of the medium and the tastes of the audience are met.
• Therefore, personnel in the news organization become
gatekeepers, letting some stories pass through the system
but keeping others out, thus limiting, controlling, and
shaping the public's knowledge of the totality of actual
event occurring in reality.

FUNCTIONS OF
COMMUNICATION
Considering the essentiality of communication, scholars
enumerated the following functions of it.
Education: To transfer knowledge for the progress of the
society (Example: class room communication).
Information: To find and explain some thing new
News media).
Cultural promotion : To help foster social values and pass
them from generation to generation (Example: Festivals,
parties, celebrations).

• Social contact: To help make enjoyable companionship (Example: Friendship,
clubs, organizations etc.)
• Integration: To create harmonious relationships among various social groups
(Example: Political parties, conferences, meetings etc.)
• Stimulation: To create interest and develop positive thinking
/behavior(Example: Advertisements)
• Counseling: To alleviate anxiety and lead to better ways (Example: guidance,
consolation etc.)

EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONS
(EXAMPLE: CRYING, SMILING
ETC)
ENTERTAINMENT: TO HELP PASS
TIME AND ENJOY LIFE
(EXAMPLE: DRAMA, SONG ETC.)
CONTROL FUNCTION: TO GET
SOMEONE TO BEHAVE IN AN
APPROPRIATE WAY (EXAMPLE:
MANAGEMENT, CENSORSHIP
ETC.)