Mass Communication Study And Current Affairs

HOW PEOPLE ARGUE History and Orientation Argumentation exists from way before the 19 th  century, where the Aristotle’s logical theory is found first. This indicates that argumentation was an important factor already in society. Until the 1950s, the approach of argumentation was based on rhetoric and logic. In the United States debating and argumentation became an important subject on universities and colleges. Textbooks appeared on ‘Principles of Argumentation’ (Pierce, 1895). In the 1960s and 1970s Perelman and Toulmin were the most influential writers on argumentation. Perelman tried to find a description of techniques of argumentation used by people to obtain the approval of others for their opinions. Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca called this ‘new rhetoric’. Toulmin, the other influential writer developed his theory (starting in 1950’s) in order to explain how argumentation occurs in the natural process of an everyday argument. He called his theory ‘the uses of argument’....

USE OF LANGUAGE HAS PERSUASIVE POWER There is no such thing as the Psycho-Linguistic Theory. Several theories are part of the field of Psycho-Linguistic. See for example:  Model of Text Comprehension Core Assumptions and Statements Language is a product of reasoning and therefore accessible to general, rational analysis, i.e. in analogy to other cognitive functions. Cognitive linguistics can be seen as the modern instantiation of this view, regarding language-bound functionality of the brain as incorporated and inextricably linked with other functions of the brain and being a learned ability, biologically / genetically based only on general-purpose "reasoning-mechanisms" of the brain. Applied in communication science this theory a.o. means that a particular use of language in messages has more or less persuasive power depending on a.o. the value system, the effort and the motivation of receivers. (Chomsky, Piaget, Vygotsky).

THE ADOPTION OF NEW IDEAS, MEDIA, ETC.  (or: Multi-step flow theory) History and Orientation Diffusion research goes one step further than two-step flow theory. The original diffusion research was done as early as 1903 by the French sociologist Gabriel Tarde who plotted the original S-shaped diffusion curve. Tardes' 1903 S-shaped curve is of current importance because "most innovations have an S-shaped rate of adoption" (Rogers, 1995). Core Assumptions and Statements Core:  Diffusion research centers on the conditions which increase or decrease the likelihood that a new idea, product, or practice will be adopted by members of a given culture. Diffusion of innovation theory predicts that media as well as interpersonal contacts provide information and influence opinion and judgment. Studying how innovation occurs, E.M. Rogers (1995) argued that it consists of four stages: invention, diffusion (or communication) through the social system, time and consequences. T...

TO EXPLAIN OR PREDICT MEDIA EFFECTS The overview below is commonly used to explain or predict media effects. This overview is by no means complete, but provides a global summary of thinking about media and its effects. See:  Social Presence Theory,   Reduced Social Cues Approach ,  Social Identity model of Deindividuation Effects. Core Assumptions and Statements Computer-Mediated Communication has become a part of everyday life. Research has suggested that CMC is not neutral: it can cause many changes in the way people communicate with one another, and it can influence communication patterns and social networks (e.g., Fulk & Collins-Jarvis, 2001). In other words, CMC leads to social effects. Rice & Gattiker (2001) state that CMC differs from face-to-face communication. CMC limits the level of synchronicity of interaction, which may cause a reduction of interactivity. Furthermore, CMC can overcome time- and space dependencies. Together with these argument...

اسلام آباد میں احتساب عدالت نے وفاقی وزیر خزانہ اسحاق ڈار پر معلوم ذرائع سے زیادہ آمدن اور اثاثے بنانے کے ریفرنس میں فرد جرم عائد کرنے لیے 27 ستمبر کی تاریخ مقرر کی ہے۔ احتساب عدالت کے جج محمد بشیر چوہدری نے اس معاملے میں ملزم کو ریفرنس کی نقول فراہم کیں تو ان کے وکیل امجد پرویز نے عدالت سے استدعا کی کہ انھیں نقول پڑھنے اور تیاری مکمل کرنے کے لیے سات دنوں کی مہلت فراہم کی جائے۔ عدالت نے ان کی یہ استدعا مسترد کرتے ہوئے انھیں ایک دن کی مہلت دی۔ قومی احتساب بیورو (نیب) کے پراسیکیوٹر عمران شفیق نے عدالت کو بتایا کہ ملزم کے قبول ضمانت وارنٹ گرفتاری جاری کیے گئے تھے جس میں انھیں دس لاکھ روپے کے دو ضمانتی مچلکے جمع کرانے کا حکم دیا گیا تھا لیکن وہ ایسا کرنے سے پہلے عدالت میں پہنچ گئے۔ اس پر اسحاق ڈار کے وکیل نے کہا کہ وہ ضمانتی مچلکے اپنے ساتھ لے کر آئے ہیں لیکن عدالتی وقت شروع ہونے کے سبب اسے جمع نہ کرا سکے۔ کارروائی کے بعد مچلکے جمع کر دیے گئے تھے۔ عدالت نے اگلی سماعت کے لیے اسحاق ڈار کی حاضری کو یقینی بنانے کے لیے انھیں 50 لاکھ روپے کے ضمانتی مچلکے جمع کرانے کا حکم دیا ہے۔ ...

UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR History and Orientation Schneider (1987) asserted that “the people make the place” and that organizational culture, climate and practices are determined by the people in the organization. This theory is closely related to psychology. This theory is part of the socialization process, whereby new members in organizations according tot the framework fit in a specificorganization. For over 100 years discussions are held on the influence of situational variables - such as groups, technology, structure, environment - on organizational behavior. Schneider argues that the psychologists have failed to incorporate people types into our theories of organizations. In 1995 the ASA Framework was updated. Schneider already mentioned that the person is particularly important in the organizational context. Schneider et al (1995) now added the dimension that the people are responsible for the structure, processes and culture of the organization. Core Assum...

ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN ORGANIZATION CHANGE History and Orientation Adaptive Structuration Theory is based on Anthony Giddens' structuration theory. This theory is formulated as “the production and reproduction of the social systems through members’ use of rules and resources in interaction”. DeSanctis and Poole adapted Giddens' theory to study the interaction of groups and organizations with information technology, and called it  Adaptive Structuration Theory.  AST criticizes the technocentric view of technology use and emphasizes the social aspects. Groups and organizations using information technology for their work dynamically create perceptions about the role and utility of the technology, and how it can be applied to their activities. These perceptions can vary widely across groups. These perceptions influence the way how technology is used and hence mediate its impact on group outcomes. Core Assumptions and Statements AST is a viable approach for s...

INFLUENCE OF MEDIA MESSAGES History and Orientation The two-step flow of communication hypothesis was first introduced by Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet in  The People's Choice,  a 1944 study focused on the process of decision-making during a Presidential election campaign. These researchers expected to find empirical support for the direct influence of media messages on voting intentions. They were surprised to discover, however, that informal, personal contacts were mentioned far more frequently than exposure to radio or newspaper as sources of influence on voting behavior. Armed with this data, Katz and Lazarsfeld developed the two-step flow theory of mass communication. Core Assumptions and Statements This theory asserts that information from the media moves in two distinct stages. First, individuals (opinion leaders) who pay close attention to the mass media and its messages receive the information. Opinion leaders pass on their own interpre...

EXPLAINING OF MEDIA USE History and Orientation Originated in the 1970s as a reaction to traditional mass communication research emphasizing the sender and the message. Stressing the active audience and user instead. Psychological orientation taking needs, motives and gratifications of media users as the main point of departure. Core Assumptions and Statements Core:  Uses and gratifications theory attempts to explain the uses and functions of the media for individuals, groups, and society in general. There are three objectives in developing uses and gratifications theory: 1) to explain how individuals use mass communication to gratify their needs. “What do people do with the media”. 2) to discover underlying motives for individuals’ media use. 3) to identify the positive and the negative consequences of individual media use. At the core of uses and gratifications theory lies the assumption that audience members actively seek out the mass media to satisfy individual needs....

(MEDIA) OR (PEOPLE) DECIDE WHERE PEOPLE THINK ABOUT also: framing in organizations History and Orientation The concept of framing is related to the agenda-setting tradition but expands the research by focusing on the essence of the issues at hand rather than on a particular topic. The basis of framing theory is that the media focuses attention on certain events and then places them within a field of meaning. Framing is an important topic since it can have a big influence and therefore the concept of framing expanded to organizations as well. Core Assumptions and Statements Core:  The media draws the public attention to certain topics, it decides where people think about, the journalists select the topics. This is the original agenda setting ‘thought’. In news items occurs more than only bringing up certain topics. The way in which the news is brought, the frame in which the news is presented, is also a choice made by journalists. Thus, a frame refers to the way media an...

MEDIA EFFECTS History and Orientation Much attention in agenda-setting research, in the 80’s, was focused on the concept of priming. This concept was derived from the cognitive psychological concept of priming. Core Assumptions and Statements Priming refers to enhancing the effects of the media by offering the audience a prior context – a context that will be used to interpret subsequent communication. The media serve to provide the audience with standards and frames of reference. Agenda-setting refers mainly to the importance of an issue; priming tells us whether something is good or bad, whether it is communicated effectively, etc. The media have primed the audience about what a news program looks like, what a credible person looks like, etc. Conceptual Model Not applicable. Favorite Methods Experiments, panel studies, cross-sectional field studies. Scope and Application News mass-media

THE CREATION OF WHAT THE PUBLIC THINKS IS IMPORTANT History and Orientation Agenda setting describes a very powerful influence of the media – the ability to tell us what issues are important. As far back as 1922, the newspaper columnist Walter Lippman was concerned that the media had the power to present images to the public. McCombs and Shaw investigated presidential campaigns in 1968, 1972 and 1976. In the research done in 1968 they focused on two elements: awareness and information. Investigating the agenda-setting function of the mass media, they attempted to assess the relationship between what voters in one community said were important issues and the actual content of the media messages used during the campaign. McCombs and Shaw concluded that the mass media exerted a significant influence on what voters considered to be the major issues of the campaign. Core Assumptions and Statements Core:  Agenda-setting is the creation of public awareness and concern of salient...

EXPLAINING HEALTH BEHAVIORS History and Orientation The Health Belief Model (HBM) is a psychological model that attempts to explain and predict health behaviors. This is done by focusing on the attitudes and beliefs of individuals. The HBM was first developed in the 1950s by social psychologists Hochbaum, Rosenstock and Kegels working in the U.S. Public Health Services. The model was developed in response to the failure of a free tuberculosis (TB) health screening program. Since then, the HBM has been adapted to explore a variety of long- and short-term health behaviors, including sexual risk behaviors and the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Core Assumptions and Statements The HBM is based on the understanding that a person will take a health-related action (i.e., use condoms) if that person: feels that a negative health condition (i.e., HIV) can be avoided, has a positive expectation that by taking a recommended action, he/she will avoid a negative health condition (i.e., using...