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Sunday, March 24, 2013

The Theme Introduced- Communication, Media, Society and Politics.





Our ideas about surroundings,our social imageries,our social understanding,our self   and life skills are formed through  the information received from a sender.Our world view is hsaped and designed by the communication we are part of.

Communication and media plays crucial role by which social and political life is vastly decided and shaped.

The media and other communication platforms and institutions form prisms and lenses through which ideas and information reach the public.

Those who care about freedom and democracy, about controlling their own lives, must discern how social realities are distorted by such prisms and lenses.

People are highly communicative creature-all people communicate parents, children, lovers, teachers, government, citizen, etc.

People communicate in different ways-Hamsa-Swan- Nala Damayathi,Unnineeli Sandhesham,Meghasandhesham,Messengers in ancient kingdoms, etc.Mobiles in modern life are important way for communication-SMS , MMS etc,

People communicate different things-artists –Pablo Picasso,M F Hussain-communicated their artistic mind in paintings,Kanai Kunhiraman communicates in his sculpture,Leo Tolstoy communicated Russian society in his novels,KPSC communicated socialist ideas in Kerala.

People communicate for various reasons-


Italian writer and literary critic Umberto Eco, in his renowned essay Travels in Hyperreality-who went on a tour of America to get a firsthand look at the imitations and replicas that were on display in the nation's museums and tourist attractions. An early description of the way contemporary culture is now full of re-creations and themed environments was provided by Umberto Eco.  In a brilliant essay, Eco saw that we create these realistic fabrications in an effort to come up with something that is better than real -- a description that is true of virtually all fiction and culture, which gives us things that are more exciting, more beautiful, more inspiring, more terrifying, and generally more interesting than what we encounter in everyday life. The two capitals of this new culture of illusion are Las Vegas and a vastly enlarged Disney World. In just the last few years, Las Vegas, with its Egyptian pyramid-hotel, reproduction of the Empire State building, and fantasy version of the Grand Canyon, has become the city of imitations, that is turning itself into the world's first urban theme park. Meanwhile, Disney World has expanded, in typically orderly fashion, one module of imaginary worlds, at a time, becoming not a city that is a theme park, but a theme park that has become a city. Disney World has even developed its own suburbs of fantasy, that are filling central Florida with theme park sprawl, as miniature and not-so-miniature attractions, featuring Medieval knights, re-created Chinese buildings, and an animatronic King Kong, spring up around its outskirts.

For Marx communication is false consciousness, where dominant ideology of ruling class is disseminated to indoctrinate the working calss.Inshort communication can be due to craze for conquest,emotional expression, intensifying miseries, love, etc.

Look at world around us,all animals communicate, Animals might not be able to speak or master advanced language techniques, but they certainly have other ways of communicating. All members of the animal kindgom communicate extensively among themselves without using any apparent words. In addition, some species, like whales, dolphins and elephants, employ sounds or body language as well. Whale song, wolf howls, frog croaks, bird chips -- even the waggle dance of the honeybee or the vigorous waving of a dog's tail -- are among the panoply of ways animals transmit information to each other and to other denizens of the animal kingdom.

But do animals also try to communicate with people? Absolutely! Our domesticated pets are excellent examples of animals who consistently tries to communicate with humans.

Animal vs. Human Communication

Conveying of meaningful information is known as communication, and it has been an integral part of success and hence, the longevity of any animal species and so for the humans. There are so many different ways of communication. Humans have various well developed communication techniques to serve a major distinction between animals’ and humans’.

Animal Communication
Animals have different forms of communication viz. gestures, facial expressions, gaze following, vocalization, and olfactory signals. Displaying body parts is a very common form of animal communication, especially in birds as their males become extremely attractive during the breeding season. The facial expressions are another form of communication, mostly in dogs. The dogs’ facial expressions reveal their intentions. When a dog is ready to play, the expressions from its face could be understood. Some of the better explained examples for gaze following among animals are bees and ants. Foraging bees play an act called the waggle dance, in order to let the other bees know of the source of food with the direction and the farther. Animal vocalizations have been well identified, and trying to characterize their functions by the scientists with the use of hormonal variations. Among most of the animals, sound has been a very effective form of communication. Olfaction, or the sense of smell is a pioneering form of animal communication, and it has been utilized by human also by using dogs most of the time. Through all forms of communication, animals are able to let others know about their requirements viz. feeding, breeding, aggression, alarming…etc.
Human Communication
Humans have developed many ways of communication ranging from gestures, facial expressions, letters, vocalizations, visualizations…etc. Usually, the distance matters for communication but, humans have invented many ways to overcome the distance. First, it was by sending messages via animals, then by creating postal services. The communication process was tremendously developed with the invention of telephone by Alexander Graham Bell and later, radio, newspapers, magazines, journals, television, internet, emails, and social networking websites appeared. However, still people prefer to meet and communicate with the gestures and facial expressions because, the real meaning could be conveyed through those ways. For communication, humans use many different languages but, English is the common global language. Visualization and olfaction have been other forms of communication in humans. Scenes or smell of delicious foods make the humans salivate, and these are being used by the restaurants and food companies to attract more customers. All those ways of communication function differently according to the needs.
Both animals and humans communicate among themselves according to their needs in the lifestyle. The forms of communication look similar in both animals and humans but, the functions are different. Although, the forms could be classified and explained as similar in animals and humans, the humans have developed a very complex and rapidly expanding means of communication. Humans have been trying to understand the animal behaviours and their means of communication through the scientific method, which is another form of communication in humans.
Language and medium are most distinguishing elemnt which makes human communication most complicated.The social institution which brings these two elements in a system of mediation is media in modern life.
Language in Human communication

Of all human skills, language is one of the most valuable because it allows us to communicate with one another. Human communication is important to society, enabling business and interpersonal relationships, as well as teaching and learning. Language is also important because it allows people to create new words for a changing society, like "Internet,"

By ages, most humans have developed an ability to communicate through oral language.  By time progress, most humans can comprehend, as well as express, written thoughts.  These unique abilities of communicating through a native language clearly separate humans from all animals.

Languages are, essentially, systems of symbols that have meaning. Language is a means of human communication, whether it be expressed verbally, it writing or through sign language. All languages have a system of rules and meanings and can express an infinite number of ideas or meanings within that system.
Even though language is standardized, the interpreted meaning of the words that being communicated is influenced by a variety of factors about the situation. The way something is phrased, the tone in which it is said and the volume all matter. These "hidden" parts of communication affect way the listener interprets the speaker.

The human communication process is more complex than as it initially seems

Medium and Communication

The term medium has a long history in the field of communication. The method or device used to communicate an information is very important an element in communication process.

A medium is a person who claims to be able to receive and send information between our three-dimensional world and the spirit world. A great mass of evidence exists proving the validity of this communication capability in a number of gifted individuals. These accounts are interwoven with cases of proven fraud, however, which served to discourage scientific inquiry into this phenomenon over the past century.
In the last decade a number of mediums have emerged into public view and demonstrated through radio, video and written media the capability to communicate with spirits of persons who have previously died. This collective evidence is very strong proof of the survival of consciousness. These mediums are often able to pass along messages to bereaved humans which contain information that only the deceased person would know. Recent scientific experiments have shown that this communication can take place with a high probability of success and without any form of fraud or cold-reading. Because of the possibility that this information could have come through telepathic communications between the medium and his/her client, the most credible evidence is that which is unknown to the client at the time of the sitting but which is later found to be true. A number of cases of this kind have been reported.
Lasswell's (1948) classic outline of the study of communication:
·         Who
·         says what
·         in which channel
·         to whom
·         with what effect
In the ecological model, the "who" are the creators of messages, the "says what" are the messages, the "in which channel" is elaborated into languages (which are the content of channels) and media (which channels are a component of), the "to whom" are the consumers of messages, and the effects are found in various relationships between the primitives, including relationships, perspectives, attributions, interpretations, and the continuing evolution of languages and media

We divide the different types of communication medium into two different categories:

1. Physical medium
2. Mechanical medium (everything that is not No. 1)
This site focuses on the internal communication. Our listings of types of communication medium therefore exclude external media.
Physical Medium
  • Large meetings, town hall meetings
  • Department meetings (weekly meetings)
  • Up close and personal (exclusive meetings)
  • Video conferences
  • Viral communication or word of mouth
Mechanical Medium
  • E-mail
  • Weekly letters or newsletters
  • Personal letters
  • Billboards
  • Intranet
  • Magazines or papers
  • Sms
  • Social media


Importance of Communication

Communication is easily overlooked, but the ability to communicate effectively is necessary to carry out the thoughts and visions of an organization to the people. The importance of speech and words whether through a paper or a voice is a communication medium to convey directions and provide synchronization. Without communication, there is no way to express thoughts, ideas and feelings
Six Reasons Why We Communicate
To promote understanding
    • Example:  a politics teacher gives idea of how media mediate our social understanding
    • To make decision
    • Example:  Presidential debates help us to choose what candidate we will vote for.
To inform
    • Example:  the student council president delivers announcements every day to inform students about current school events.
    • Example:  News broadcasts inform viewers of what is happening in their community
To resolve problems and conflict
Example: Students may use email or phone conversations to resolve disagreements
·         Example: on a national level, President used press conferences and other media outlets to help resolve the nations fear surrounding the impending terror strike .
To meet social and physical needs
·         Example:  Students hang out with their friends on Friday nights to help meet their social communication needs.
To persuade
Example:  elections  campaign ads are used to help persuade voters to pick a certain candidate
We all need solitude but we also need relationship.If we were not to communicate, we would not be able to fulfill our physical, identity and social needs and to attain practical goals.
Characteristics of Human Communication
Human communication has several key characteristics.
·         The process of communication is continuous, ongoing, and dynamic.
·         Communication begins with the self.
·         Communication is irreversible, or unerasable.
·         Communication is reciprocal.
·         Communication is unrepeatable.
·         Communication is transactional.
·         Communication exists in some kind of context, or setting.
·         Interpersonal communication involves two individuals.
·         Group communication exists among three or more people who have some common purpose.
·         Organizational communication occurs in a formal institution with a hierarchy, common goals, and individualized tasks.
·         Mass communication with a population takes places through some form of public media.

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