1.

COMMUNICATION
Meaning of Communication
Communication has been derived from the Latin word ‘communis’ or communicare, meaning to
share, make common or to keep in touch (Italian). Other words with the same ‘ancestry’ as
communication are: communion, community, commonality and communism. It has been argued
that the word ‘communication’ has been hampered by the lack of a generally accepted or at least
a consistent definition. Any given definition of the concept will necessarily be challenged by
those who wish to contest the completeness of that particular version of definition. Therefore,
various definitions of communication exist. None of those definitions is wrong, but they are
oftentimes incomplete. But the objective of every communication is to have people understand
what we are trying to share. Schramn (1965) aptly sees it a purposeful effort to establish
commonness between a source and receiver. Commonness: that is the crux.

There are various schools of thought in the definition of communication. Some define
communication as interactive, others define it as transmissive, and there are even those who
define communication as transactional.

Transmissive or Linear School: It sees communication as consisting of the sender encoding a

message and channeling it to the receiver in the presence of noise. It assumes that there is a clear
cut beginning and end to communication. It also displays no feedback from the receiver.

The following definitions are in line with the transmissive school of thought:

1. Communication is the process of transmitting and receiving ideas, information, and

messages (Ndolo, 2002).
2. Communication is the transmission of a message from a source to a receiver or the
process of creating shared meaning (Baran, 20004).
3. Communication is the transferring of a message to another party so that it can be
understood and acted upon (Eyre, 1983).

Interactive School: It provides two linear models added up on top of each other. The sender
channels a message to the receiver and the receiver then becomes the sender and channels a
message to the original sender. This school has added feedback and indicates that
communication is not a one way but a two way process.
The following definitions are in line with the interactive school of thought:
1. Communication is seen as a process by which information is exchanged between
individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behaviour.
2. Communication is the creation or exchange of thoughts, ideas, emotion and
understanding between sender(s) and receiver(s). It is the sharing of information between
two or more individuals or groups to reach a common understanding (Guo and Sanchez,
2005).

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 3. When we communicate, we intend thereby to influence the behaviour of our recipients by
sharing our thoughts, feeling and desires with him. It is not a one-way affair. There must
be a sender to transmit the message and a receiver to receive and respond to the message.
This response will enable the sender to make appropriate decisions on how the rest of the
exchange should continue (Konkwo, 1997).

Transactional School: It assumes that people are connected through communication; they
engage in transaction. It recognizes that each of us is a sender-receiver, not merely a sender or a
receiver. Secondly, it recognizes that communication affects all parties involved. So
communication is fluid/simultaneous. This is how most conversations are like. For example,
when you are talking/listening to friends, while your friend is talking you are constantly giving
them feedback on what you think through your facial expression or verbal feedback without
necessarily stopping your friend from talking.

The following definition is in line with the transactional school of thought:

1. Verderber (1984) defines communication as a dynamic, ongoing, transactional process. It

is dynamic because it is constantly in motion; it is ongoing because it has no fixed
beginning or end; it is transactional because the elements occur simultaneously and the
people communicating are interdependent.

Process of Communication

Communication is a process. It starts and ends somewhere. It is not spontaneous, even when you
think it is. It probably was thought of so fast and was so brief, maybe a fraction of a second, that
you did not know it was actually thought of. See what happens in the communication process:
The sender has an urge; that is, a drive for engaging in communication. He encodes the message,
which may be spoken, written or paralinguistic. He transmits it through a medium, targeted at a
receiver. Then, there is the feedback which is the receiver’s response to the source’s message,
and then there is noise, which is the unanticipated factor that causes a lack of clarity on the part
of the source.

Communication requires that the communicating parties share an area of communicative

commonality or common frames of reference (in terms of language, culture, education, etc). The
communication process is complete once the receiver has understood the message of the sender.
Feedback is critical to effective communication between parties.

Elements of Communication

By elements of communication, we mean the various features or basics of the communication

process. They include the following:

Stimulus: The urge that triggers off the exchange.

Sender: the initiator and encoder of a message.

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Message: the substance that is to be shared; the verbal and nonverbal components of language
that is sent to the receiver by the sender which conveys an idea.

Receiver: the one that receives the message (the listener) and the decoder of a message.

Decode: translating the sender’s spoken idea/message into something the receiver understands.

Encode: putting the idea into spoken language; putting meaning into word/message.

Channel: the medium through which the message travels such as through oral communication
(radio, television, phone, in person) or written communication (letters, email, text messages)

Feedback: the receiver’s verbal and nonverbal responses to a message such as a nod for
understanding (nonverbal), a raised eyebrow for being confused (nonverbal), or asking a
question to clarify the message (verbal). Feedback is considered an indispensable component,
since it contributes correctively to the new inputs of information, or even works towards the
adjustment of sender and receiver.

Noise: interference with effective transmission and reception of a message.

2. TYPES AND LEVELS OF COMMUNICATION

Types of Communication
Communication is classified into two broad categories – verbal and nonverbal.
Verbal communication is a kind of communication which takes place through the use of words.
It can transpire in an oral form or written form. It refers to the form of communication in which
message is transmitted verbally; communication that is done by word of mouth and a piece of
writing. Verbal Communication is further divided into oral and written communication.
In oral communication, spoken words are used. It includes face-to-face conversations, speech,
telephonic conversation, presentations, discussions, video, radio, television, voice over internet.
As a type of face-to-face communication, body language and voice tonality play a significant
role, and may have a greater impact upon the listener than informational content in oral
communication.
Speech also contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage. These include voice lesson
quality, emotion and speaking style as well as prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation and
stress.
In written communication, written signs or symbols are used to communicate. A written message
may be printed or hand written. In written communication message can be transmitted via email,
letter, report, memo etc. Message, in written communication, is influenced by the vocabulary and
grammar used, writing style, precision and clarity of the language used. Written texts include
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nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words and the use of
emoticons to convey emotional expressions in pictorial form
Nonverbal communication describes the process of conveying meaning in the form of non-
word messages. It is a form of communication which is carried out without speech. It is the
sending or receiving of wordless messages. It uses gestures and other non-verbal cues. We can
say that it means communication other than oral and written, such as gesture, body language,
posture, tone of voice or facial expressions. Nonverbal communication is all about the body
language of speaker. Majority of our communication is nonverbal, also known as body language.
Some of nonverbal communication includes chronemics (non-verbal communication by the use
of time), haptics (non-verbal communication by the use of touch), kinesics (non-verbal
communication by the use of motion or behaviour), proxemics (non-verbal communication by
the use of space, which is either intimate space, personal space, social space of public space),
paralinguistic (non-verbal communication by voice tone, pitch or emotion), gesture, body
language or posture; facial expression and eye contact, object/artifacts, clothing, hairstyles,
architecture, symbols, infographics, and tone of voice as well as through an aggregate of the
above.
Nonverbal communication helps receiver in interpreting the message received. They reinforce
the verbal communication. Often, nonverbal signals reflect the situation more accurately than
verbal messages. Sometimes nonverbal response contradicts verbal communication and hence
affects the effectiveness of message.
Levels of Communication
1. Intrapersonal communication
2. Interpersonal communication
3. Group communication
4. Mass communication

Intrapersonal communication is the internal transfer of information that goes on within an

individual. The stimuli are received from either through the senses or from our thought, these
messages are sent to the brain as electric signals. The individual is the sender as well as the
receiver. Intrapersonal communication is when a person communicates with themselves. It
includes thinking, meditation, dreaming, soliloquy, etc

Inter-personal communication refers to direct one to one communication between two or three
persons. The verbal and nonverbal cues are sufficiently used. When two persons are involved in
this form of communication, it is called Dyadic; whereas when three are involved it is Triadic. In
this situation, responses are generally immediate, and the speaker or speakers will often adjust
their messages based on the responses they receive. Message is highly personalized. It is also
known as face-to-face communication.

Successful interpersonal communication is possible only when there is homophily – that is, the
degree of similarity between the parties engaged in interpersonal communication.

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Group communication; In this situation, communication takes place among people who come
together because they share a common interest or they hope to achieve a specific goal. The
degree of directness and intimacy depends on the size of the group. Their coming together may
be by design or by accident but so long as there is exchange of ideas and information among the
group, you have group communication. Group communication takes place in churches, offices,
schools, clubs, etc where a group share ideas with one another for the attainment of group goals.
(Sybil, et al, 1990). Two aspects of group communication exist: small group and public
speaking.

In the small group, a group of individual numbering between four and 15, and even up to 50,
usually engages in communication in which they could be several senders but with one sender at
a time; each of the receivers has the potential of being a sender at a point in the communication
process. Characteristically, feedback is immediate and the message is sometimes personalized
and could also be depersonalized. It depends on the whims of the person talking at a particular
time.

In public speaking situation, it is made up of larger audience and where message is

depersonalized and eye contact is minimal. Receivers become audience members which in
essence are heterogeneous and very large in number; feedback can be immediate or delayed; and
the communication situation can transform into mass communication when it is published or
aired on any or a combination of the mass media.

Mass communication is the process of transmitting information, ideas, attitudes, values, and
beliefs through a communication device to a relatively large, heterogeneous and anonymous
audience simultaneously. Sambe (2004) says that in mass communication, modern
communication gadgets are used in putting across a message through channels like radio,
television, newspapers, magazines, etc. More discussions on Mass Communication are seen in
the next chapter.

3. IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION IN SOCIETY

Communication is the foundation for sharing information between people to ensure that
everything is understood and can be acted upon. A human being starts communicating as soon as
he starts producing his first noise in the act of drawing his parents’ attention. Every emotion that
we portray on our faces, the movement of our hands, the way we look at someone and our speech
instantly communicates our ideas to others. Communication is highly necessary for our society,
as it is quite hard to imagine a life where there is absolutely no communication. In fact, maybe it
is not even possible to lead a life without communication. So, we can surely say it is a most
important aspect of our lives because it is only through exchange of ideas and co-operation that a
society can grow and develop.
Communication can be of different types such as verbal communication, non-verbal
communication and written communication. In case of verbal communication, it is merely by
using speech and language that the communication takes place. In case of non-verbal
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communication, there is no exchange of words, but it may be gestures or signs or facial
expressions that are used for communication.
In our modern world, the importance of communication has surpassed all previous levels.
Interestingly, the means of communication has outnumbered the means of food production in the
world nowadays. The communicative technologies in the world have been increasing not only in
number, but also in speed, accuracy and clarity.
Let us take a closer look and perform an in-depth analysis of some importance of communication
in our society and modern world.
Importance of communication:
1. Meet Personal needs
We communicate to satisfy personal needs.
This reminds us that, just as survival was about more than physical things, so also our needs are
not merely physical. We have a personal need to feel secure within ourselves. This leads to
other needs – to have a good opinion of ourselves, to feel that we are wanted and valued by other
people. In the story above, Sarah had begun to feel badly about herself, to feel that there might
be something wrong with her. She wanted to be wanted and valued, and so was turning to a
friend for comfort. Communication with and from others helps to satisfy these security needs.
All of this underlines the important fact that communicating isn’t just about practical things like
buying six kilos of potatoes. Itis also about non-physical things such as emotions, feelings and
ideas. These personal needs are behind acts of communication such as dressing in the right way
for an occasion; having a cry on somebody’s shoulder; or giving people presents.
2. Cultivate Relationships
We communicate to be involved with other people, to form and maintain relationships.
We need to have friends, because friends support each other. We need to get along with our work
mates, because working with people is about more than job tasks, it relates to needs for co-
operation. When one talks about being involved with others, this could be in terms of number
(pairs or groups); in terms of what binds those involved (friendship or love); and in terms of
what description we may give the involvement (family or social club).
3. Persuasion
We communicate to persuade other people to think in the way that we do or to act in the
way that we do.
The most obvious example of this is advertising. The advertiser intends
to persuade a certain category of people – car owners or old age pensioners, for instance – to buy
a given product or service. Communication makes the connection with these people persuasively.
It usually seeks to change the opinions or attitudes of those people regarding the advertised
product or service. However, persuasive communication is more common than we may realize
and is not confined to flamboyant examples of advertising. We may want to persuade someone to
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loan us some money, or to join our drama group, or to help us with repairing our car. It is true
that the word ‘persuasion’ has a certain sense of manipulation – to get what we want. But in this
sense, we are all manipulators, every day.
4. Exert Power
We communicate to gain or exert power over other people.
To a certain extent this may seem to be like persuasion – our purpose is to get someone else to do
something we want. But the word ‘power’ introduces something new into the situation. It
suggests that the communicator intends to put the
other person in a submissive or helpless position. It can suggest that the communicator hasspecia
l privileges in terms of what they know or the means of communication they can use.
For example, a blackmailer has power. This person may possess such significant information
about another that we call this other person a victim. If
the blackmailer threatens to reveal this information to others, then their purpose incommunicatin
g is to exert their power, usually to get money.
Propaganda is communication used to control or manipulate others, usually large groups
of people.
It involves the control of sources of information and of the means of communication. This
control represents power. The former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics used propaganda to
reinforce their economic and military power for several decades this century.
Mass media are particularly well suited to this exertion of
power because they can broadcast or distribute information and opinions to great numbers of
people from a central source. Those who have power control that central source. That is why
there is always concern about who controls the media in any country. The media can exert power
over their audiences. It is argued that the most important way in which they do this is in shaping
people’s attitudes and beliefs. Even in democratic societies, information about the state and
about defence issues is often closely guarded. In the United Kingdom in the past few years there
has been a campaign for a freedom of information act which would provide more access to
information about national and local government.
5. Meet Social needs
We communicate to hold our society and our organizations together.
The bigger the society or the organization, the more communication is needed. It is the practical
problems of running large businesses, for example, that have led to the development of new
forms and media of communication. Data processing with computers seeks to solve the problems
of handling huge amounts of information quickly by using new means of electronic
communication. These more practical social needs are to do with what goes on outside ourselves.
They are to do with making the whole system work for us. Hospitals, schools, manufacturing
organizations and government organizations all rely on effective means of communication in
order to function.
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6. To give Information
We communicate to give and receive information.
We are exchanging information with other people almost constantly. We may need to find out
the time when a bus leaves. We may be keen viewers and readers of the news because we want
to know about other people, events and places in the world. On a smaller scale, we are great
gossips and conversationalists because we want to find out what is going on around us.
7. Making sense of the world
We use communication to make sense of the world and our experience of it.
We suggest that making sense of the world is about four important things: What we believe in;
What we think of ourselves. What we think our relationships are with other people; What we
think is real. These ideas map out the physical world, our social world and the world
inside our heads. When a child asks questions in order to find out, for example, how granny is
also mummy’s mummy, he or she is making sense of the world of family relationships. When we
watch a television documentary on the forests of South America, then we are making sense of
another piece of the physical world. If we become involved in a discussion about the rights and
wrongs of the way we treat animals (as when we use experiments on animals) then we are
making sense of the world of our values and beliefs.
8. Means of Self-expression
We communicate to express our imagination and ourselves to others. We like to be creative
with our communication in words, pictures, sounds and other forms.
This is an important kind of need because it covers the creative aspects of communication. This
creative expression of the imagination includes the kind of reasoning seen in a book on the
possibilities of life existing on other planets, as well as that seen in a television play. We use our
imaginations to cover an infinite range of possibilities. One could argue that drawings
representing the design concept for a new car show communication being used in the cause of
self-expression. If stories are made up through the powers of our imagination then so is our view
of ourselves. Under this heading of self-expression comes the whole range of urges that
all people have to express themselves through dress and body adornment.
These may be regulated through social conventions. On certain occasions certain sorts of dress
are considered appropriate: for example, if we attend a funeral then we wear dark clothes. These
serve to express our feelings in socially accepted ways. However, we may seek to dress and
adorn ourselves in ways that we think challenge social conventions. It seems that humans have
an innate urge to use their imagination and to be creative. Clearly, there is more to life than
merely surviving or doing business. We use communication for more than carrying out
transactions with other people. Our use of forms of communication, especially those using words
and pictures, enables us to make up things that might happen, or create situations that will never
happen. In particular we love stories and dramatic creations – fictions which give us amusement
and pleasure and explore possibilities.

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 Through a story we can be in places which we may never visit or meet people whom we
would fear to meet. We can be involved with a relationship which reminds us of one which we
once had, or one which we would like to have.
9. Survival
We communicate to survive.
In wealthy northern countries it seems strange to talk about survival, especially in its basic senses
of warmth, food and shelter. Yet some of our communicating is still about these physical needs.
For example, we would communicate in order to rent a flat (shelter). The flat might be rather
different from a village hut, but it still does the same job. If we felt ourselves in physical danger,
we would also communicate with others to try to get help.
10. Co-operation
We communicate in order to work with others.
It could be argued that co-operation between people is the single greatest need and purpose in
communication. It is obvious that our need to form social groups actually comes from our need
to co-operate with each other in order to survive. Organized groups of people in any society
work together to provide basic needs and also fewer basic needs. We use communication to get
along with other people and to work with other people.
11. Transferring of ideas and feelings
To transfer ideas from one person to another, communication plays a vital role. Every human
being has some ideas that are unique to his own mind and he wants to convey those messages or
ideas to others. Until the person doesn’t communicate and share his ideas he cannot let others
know what he is thinking or what he has in his mind.
12. Interaction with society
Humans are social animals they need to interact with each other. It is highly important that we
interact with our surroundings and people living in the surroundings. Whenever we talk to
someone, we, knowingly or unknowingly, react to his/her questions, actions or comments.
Healthy communication is essential for a healthy society.

13. For education

To educate someone, we need to communicate the ideas, information regarding syllabus or the
study material to the student. If a teacher is communicating well with his students, his students
will be satisfied with him and they will able to grasp more. Inefficient communication can lead
to transfer of ambiguous knowledge.

14. To entertain world

Entertainment, today, is mostly based on the channels of mass communication, like films and
television. Internet is another common platform for entertainment, which again is a mode of
communication. In short, we can easily say that communication and entertainment are entwined
in today’s world.

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15. To Understand the World
Unless we communicate with the world, we will never understand the way things function and
how things are piled up and related to one another. We need to interact with the environment in
order to understand life. People who do not communicate tend to get isolated, which thereby
leads to many problems.

4. COMMUNICATION NOISE
Noise in Communication
Noise is any form of interferences or barriers to effective and efficient communication. They
reduce the fidelity of communication. In any communication process, noise is interference with
the decoding of messages sent over a channel by an encoder. It is, according to Ndolo (2005),
anything or stimulus that interferes with the understanding and sharing of ideas and feelings
There are many examples of noise:
Physical/Environmental Noise: Noise that physically disrupts communication. It emanates
from the environment. Physical noise or external noise consists of environmental distractions
such as loud music.
Physiological-Impairment Noise: Physical maladies that prevent effective communication,
such as actual deafness or blindness preventing messages from being received as they were
intended. Physiological noise are biological influences that distract you from communicating
competently such as hunger, or feeling sick, fatigue, etc.
Semantic Noise: Different interpretations of the meanings of certain words. For example, the
word ‘sex’ can be interpreted as a reproductive category such as male and female, or relating to
intercourse. Semantic noise consists of word choices that are confusing and distracting.
Syntactical Noise: Mistakes in grammar can disrupt communication, such as abrupt changes in
verb tense during a sentence. Example is ‘I has a house’ instead of ‘I have a house.’
Organizational Noise: Poorly structured communication can prevent the receiver from accurate
interpretation. For example, unclear and badly stated directions can make the receiver even more
lost.
Cultural Noise: This one emanates from cultural differences and misunderstandings.
Psychological Noise: Certain attitudes can also make communication difficult. For instance,
great anger or sadness may cause someone to lose focus on the present moment. Emotional
disorders may also severely hamper effective communication.
Message overload: Interference to successful communication include message overload (when a
person receives too many messages at the same time).

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5. MASS COMMUNICATION
Mass Communication
There are several definitions of mass communication. They all point to the fact that mass
communication means the creation and sending of a non-personal message to a large
heterogeneous audience through the mass media.

We shall provide some of the definitions of mass communication here:

Mass communication is the technically-mediated transmission of messages to thousands or

millions of people. It is the process of transmitting information, ideas and attitude to large,
heterogeneous and far-flung aggregates of people who are dispersed in time and space, the
transmission being done by means of technical media developed for the purpose (Konkwo,
2003).

Mass communication is a process whereby professional communicators use the mass media to
disseminate messages widely, rapidly and continuously to arouse intended meanings in large and
diverse audience in attempts to influence them in variety of ways (DeFleur and Denis, 1994).

Mass Communication is also defined as a means of disseminating information, ideas, thoughts,

attitudes, behaviours or message to large, anonymous, and scattered heterogeneous masses of
receivers who may be far removed from the message sources through the use of sophisticated or
technical equipment.

To say that mass communication involves technically mediated transmission of messages means
that some technological and technical assistance is needed to reach thousands and millions of
persons at the same time. The receiver too needs some technological assistance – that is,
enabling gadgets – in the reception of the transmitted materials.

As a field of study, Mass Communication is the term used to describe the academic study of the
various means by which individuals and entities relay information through mass media to large
segments of the population at the same time.

Features of Mass communication

From the definitions, some features or characteristics of mass communication have been
identified.
1. It comprises both technical and institutional methods of production and distribution.
2. It involves the commodification of messages.
3. There are separate contexts between the production and reception of information
4. It has the capability to reach those far removed in time and space, in comparison to the
producers.
5. Mass communication products are mass produced and disseminated to a great quantity of
audiences. That is, the audience are massified.
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 6. This form of communication tends to have an anonymous appeal, perhaps with only a
general knowledge of who the individual is.
7. Audience are largely passive recipients of the messages distributed by the media, with
little opportunity for feedback and practically no opportunity for immediate feedback.
Where there is feedback, it is delayed. The feedback can be quantified or measured and it
is mostly through letters to the editor or telephone calls or personal calls on the media.
8. Communication flow is largely one-way, from sender or source to receiver or audience.
9. It gives the illusion of face-to-face relationship with the performer.
10. There are enlarged sources (senders) which constitute a conglomeration of professional
communicators.
11. Receivers become audience members.
12. Audience members are heterogeneous in nature (they differ in their demographic and
psychographic attributes) and are hardly known to one another.
13. Message is to a large extent depersonalized or impersonal and standardised.
14. There is the presence of gatekeepers – that is, people who go through the message before
it is sent. The gatekeepers are usually the reporters, sub-editors, editors, producers,
writers, etc. Kurt Lewin describes gatekeepers as individuals or groups of persons who
govern the travels of news items in the communication channels.
15. It appeals to limited sensory channels. It does not involve all the sensory channels all at
once. It either appeals to the sense of sight or hearing or both, and nothing more. Mass
communication only enables one to use his or her sense of sight and hearing.

6. MASS MEDIA
Meaning of Mass Media
Mass media are technologies that enable messages of mass communication to reach far beyond
the immediate proximity of the sender. Kaye and Medoff (2005) assert that, for a medium to be
regarded as mass in communication it must have acquired at least fifty million adopters.

McQuail (2000) describes the mass media as the organized means for communicating openly and
at a distance to many receivers within a short space of time. The mass media are impersonal
communication sources that reach large audiences.

The mass media are vehicles or the means by which information or messages are conveyed from
source to receivers –the heterogeneous, large and anonymous audience. They are ‘organisations’
that distribute cultural products or messages that affect and reflect the culture of society. They
provide information simultaneously to large, heterogeneous audiences (Ate, 2008).

Classification of the Mass Media

The mass media can be broadly classified into two: the print media and the electronic media.
The classification is carried out according to the mechanism involved in the process of
conveying messages.

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Print media involve the group of media that use the instrument of written matters, mostly on
paper. They include newspapers, magazine and books. The first two are regarded as traditional
print media.
Broadcast media involve the group of media that use the instrument of
electronics/electromagnetic waves. Ate (2008) explains the electronic media as those media that
use devices that can transform or change sound or light waves into electrical signals, which are
reconverted to things that can be heard or seen on radio or television. The electronic media
technique can be divided into production, transmission and reception.
They include radio, Television, films and the Internet. The first two are regarded as traditional or
conventional electronic media.
Daramola (2003) classifies the electronic media to include:
1. Radio and audio recordings that appeal to the sense of sound
2. Television, motion pictures and video recordings that appeal to both sense of sound and
that of sight.

Marshall McLuhan further classified mass media into two: hot and cold media.
A medium is hot if it focuses on a single sensory receptor, example is print or radio.
It is cool if it stimulates several different senses and requires high sensory involvement, example
is television.

Differences between Print and Electronic Media

Daramola (2003) lists the ways that broadcast media differ from print media. They include:
i. Print media appeal to the eye while broadcast appeal to both the eye and ear.
ii. Print is always in written form, while broadcast is always in oral form.
iii. Broadcast news are forgotten easily and cannot be kept as reference work while the print
media serve that purpose.
iv. Print media is more detailed than broadcast media.
v. Print media is more permanent than broadcast media which is very ephemeral

Characteristics of the Mass Media

Weaver (1973), cited in Ate (2008) identified five major characteristics of the mass media. These
are:
1. The first characteristic derives from the name, mass media which implies that media is
designed for, distributed to and consumed by mass audiences. The mass audiences are very large,
either in terms of number or proportion of total population and the audience exist in large,
heterogeneous societies either industrial or transitional societies.

2. The second characteristic of the mass media is that they are big businesses, employing
millions of people and making billions of naira as the case may be as profit.

3. One other characteristic of the mass media is that they are sole disseminators of news (defined
as factual, current and verifiable information about recent events). The mass media also

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disseminate other sorts of information – fictional stories, political advocacy, and strictly
utilitarian information like recipes.

4. The mass media are also characterized by speed with which they gather information and
frequency with which they distribute it. Media producing organizations are continuously
gathering information and are in instantaneous communication with their sources of information.
The speed and rhythm of this ongoing process of gathering and distributing information,
especially news, sharply differentiate mass media from other media and exert enormous
influence on the character of their messages.

5. The fifth characteristic of the mass media is that they are all twentieth-century phenomena. In
other words, they all developed and attained maturity during roughly the same period, in
response to the same circumstances and in pursuit of the same purposes.

Functions of the Mass Media/Mass Communication

The mass media performs numerous functions. Three of those functions are basic or
conventional. They include: information, education and entertainment

We will explain them and then go ahead to explain other functions:

Traditional functions of the mass media

1. Information: The basic function of the mass media is to provide information to the audience.
It is the first and primary function of the mass media. They create awareness on the part of the
people. The mass media provide information to the entire society on daily basis. Such
information comes through news on radio, television, newspaper and magazines. The news raises
the awareness of listeners as in the case of radio, viewers (television) and readers (newspapers
and magazines).

2. Education: Mass Media are classrooms on the airwaves or printed materials. They teach
people by imparting knowledge with a view to broaden the horizon of members of the society.
Ate (2008) explains that through the education via the mass media, people can discover
themselves and the potentials in their environment and harness such potentials for the holistic
development of the society. It can be said therefore, that the mass media is a school of its own.
Through it, a lot of people have been delivered from the bondage of ignorance and illiteracy and
it has the power to introduce light in the life of the audience.

3. Entertainment: Mass media provide fantasy escape to the audience. You can use the media to
forget your sorrow. The media can make the people laugh and fantasize.
Actually, entertainment is a kind of performance that provides pleasure to people. Mass media
fulfill this function by providing amusement and assist in reducing tension to large degree.
Newspaper and magazines, radio, television and online medium offer stories, films, serials, and
comics to entertain their audience. Sports, news, film review, columns on art and fashion are
other instances. It makes audience recreational and leisure time more enjoyable.

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But these days, media have comprised information and education in the entertaining programs.
The fusion of entertainment and information is called infotainment. Similarly, the inclusion of
education in entertaining programs is regarded as edutainment.

Other functions of the mass media/mass communication

Harrold Lasswell in Ate (2008) identifies the following functions of the mass media:

1. Surveillance: There is a thin line between surveillance and the watchdog function.
Surveillance means that the mass media is to inform and provide information to the society by
keeping watch on the activities of government and correcting uncomplimentary occurrences. The
word ‘surveillance’ connotes a careful monitoring of something done in secret. It means that the
press provides news and information (Laswell and Wright, 1960).

It is referred to by Konkwo (2003) as the news function of mass communication. As the mass
media report illegal actions going on in the society, they awake the awareness of people. The
surveillance concept is synonymous with the ‘watchdog’ role of the press. As a watchdog, the
press monitors societal ills and exposes them. These ills include crime and corruption in any
sector of the society. By exposing corruption, for instance, the journalist is sanitizing the society
and at the same time, putting public office holders on public scale whose measurement is done
by members of the public.
To stress the watchdog function, the media are traditionally the watchdog of democracy, which is
also linked to their status as the fourth estate. The key assumption of the media as watchdog is
that they speak for the people, represent the interests of the people, and serve as checks on the
government.

Schuepp (2000) identifies the responsibilities of a watchdog as follows:

(a) A watchdog has to protect his owner, give him security and react to possible outside
interference with the rights of his owner.
(b) The watchdog has to know his loyalties therefore the media have to be loyal to the society,
because they are the watchdog of society and not of government.
(c) Anybody who threatens democracy, freedom of speech, the basic rights of the people, should
be attacked by the watchdog.

2. Correlation Function: The correlation function of mass communication is otherwise known

as the opinion or editorial function of the press. Correlation means that the press presents the
information to us after they select, interpret, and criticize it (Laswell and Wright, 1960). By the
correlation function, the press provides the background, social context and critical analysis
necessary for that understanding. The press also helps to monitor public opinion, for example,
through phone-in radio or the press programmes.

According to O’harley (2009), the correlation function is the function of the press that allows it
to interpret issues and give solutions which eventually affect the formation of the public’s
attitudes.
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This means that the correlation function is best illustrated in columns and editorial pages of
newspapers where the columnist may compare statements made by political office holders with
conflicting statements made by other politicians or personal views on a matter. It may also be
observed in broadcast commentaries and editorials in the press documentaries designed to make
viewers aware of an issue or supportive of a prescribed course of action (Sambe, 2005).
3. Transmission of Cultural Heritage: This function of the mass media focuses on the
transmission of knowledge, values and social norms from one generation to another or from
members of a group to newcomers. Mass media help to transfer cultural heritage to generations.
New members of society learn how to behave using the mass media. Media of communication
keep the world running smoothly by helping individuals adjust to the reality of lives. They keep
society on and healthy by suggesting solutions that are socially acceptable (Murphy, 1977).

People’s way of life in terms of dressing can also be preserved by the mass media. The same
thing is applicable to certain cultural festivals which can be preserved for the sake of posterity by
the mass media.

4. Status Conferral: Mass media bestow prestige on people who attempt to remain well
informed about events in their community. People who are well informed about what is going on
in government and society are looked upon as opinion leaders. The mass media have the power
to make instant celebrities of hitherto unknown persons. Mass media have the power to make
people famous or notorious overnight. The electronic media, most especially, have conferral
effect on the audience. People or organizations that are featured in the media tend to acquire
some level of importance above the ordinary.

People or organizations that are featured in the media tend to acquire some level of importance
above the ordinary (Sambe, 2004).

5. Interpretation and Prescription of News: The selection, evaluation and interpretation of

news – focusing on what is most important in the environment tend to prevent over stimulation
and over mobilization of the population (Sambe, 2004). The mass media do not supply just facts
and data but also explanations and interpretation of events and situations. Media offer various
explanations correlating and interpreting information to make the reality clear. Unlike normal
reporting, interpretation functions provide knowledge. News analysis, commentaries, editorials,
and columns are some examples of interpretative contents. Basically, such types of interpretative
contents are prepared by those journalists who have a vast knowledge of background information
and strong analytical ability.

6. Agenda setting function: Agenda setting is one of the most important roles of the media. It is
defined as the process whereby the media determine what we think and worry about. Agenda-
setting is the media’s ability to transfer salience issues through their news agenda so that the
public agenda can form their understanding of the salience issues (Cohen, 1963). That is, media
have the ability to direct your attention to important issues in society. Through the way they
report some issues, they make you consider those issues as very important. For instance, events
that are placed on front pages of newspapers are likely the ones the public is going to discuss

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because those are the events the public would think are more important than the rest of the events
reported on the paper.

7. Media as the Fourth Estate of the Realm. The Fourth Estate is a phrase which refers to the
profession of Journalism. The phrase was attributed to Burke when he said that: “…there were
Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more
important than they all…”

It was therefore derived from the old English idea of three Estates: the Lords Spiritual, the Lords
Temporal and the House of Commons. The notion that the media is the Fourth Estate rests on the
idea that the media’s function is to act as a guardian of public interest, and as a watchdog on the
activities of government. The media are therefore important components of the checks and
balances that form part of modern democracy. In modern interpretation of the Fourth Estate, the
media are seen as the fourth “power” which checks and counterbalances the “powers” of
executive, legislature and judiciary.

8. Media as Gatekeeper. Gatekeepers are a series of checkpoints that the news has to pass
through before it gets to the public. Through this process many people have to decide whether or
not the news is to be seen or heard. Gatekeepers of the media are message filters, and they
include reporters, writers, editors, producers and even government officials. The concept
involves every aspect of message selection, handling and control.

9. Media as Force Multiplier. The media have force multiplying effects, especially during war.
It means a force that adds to the combat effectiveness of military commanders. Since information
is power, the media can be a potent force multiplier by their ability to mould national and
international opinion. For instance, in wartime, Akinfeleye (2008) explains, the media serve a
variety of roles, media coverage not only develops public awareness and the support of the
military in operations, and they also have the benefit of enhancing the morale of troops by
informing their families and friends of their activities. If the media are used prudently therefore,
they build public opinion as force multiplier.

According to Marshall McLuhan (1975) in Akinfeleye (2008), “Television brought the brutality
of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America –
not on the battlefields of Vietnam.”

Dysfunctions of the Mass Media

Media can also have negative effects on society. Those negative consequences are called
dysfunctions.

One of the dysfunctional roles of the mass media is believed to create panic among individual
members of the society. When, for instance, you hear on radio that 90% of Nigerian first class
holders are unemployed and you have been working hard to make a first class, what effect do
you think the news will have on you? Panic? Anxiety? Submission?

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Mass Communication also corrupts the moral sense of the audience, especially the
impressionable ones.

Mass Communication also narcotizes use. It holds us captive, detains us, sedates us and subdues
us. Remember the day you left school early just because you wanted to go and watch ‘Big
Brother Africa.’ The other day, you posted ‘Buhari should stop marginalization of the Igbos’ on
Facebook and you probably thought, just by that post, you have contributed to national
development? You only smoked the media narcotics!

Obe (2008) explains that two negative roles of mass communication in the society is the
propagation of violence and pornography. Researchers have proved that these two have caused
negative behavioural tendencies and institute false values in the minds of the people especially
children. Other dysfunctions of the mass media are: cultural imperialism, and invasion of
individual privacy.

7. THE MEDIA EFFECTS DEBATE

The media effects debate is a long-standing question over how influential and penetrative the
media is towards the people exposed to it. A particularly easy (and frequently occurring)
example is the question – does watching violent movies make violent viewers? Despite the
obvious impactful nature of the mass media, at least to a lay man, there exist sharp arguments
and counter arguments about the presence, strength and operation of effects. In other words,
school of thoughts exist as regard to the limited or minimal effects of the mass media.

The Mass Media Effect Issues

There is no way one can make a comprehensive study of media effects without channeling one’s
discussion towards salient issues that border on media effects. The issues are:

a) Violence
b) Drugs and alcohol
c) Political campaign and rating

Violence

The main issue here is that media, especially TV, exposes people to violent acts which make
them behave violently. In other words, there is a causal relationship between televised violence
and anti-social behaviors. Baran asserts: “The prevailing view during the 1960s was that some
media violence affected some people in some ways some of the time… for normal people, that
is, those who were not predisposed to violence – little media violence affected few people in few
ways little of the time.

Compelling arguments had however, been marshaled to exonerate the press from receiving all
the blame for anti-social behaviours of television viewers. In the words of Klapper (1960) “mass
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communication does not ordinarily serve as a necessary and sufficient cause of audience effect
but rather, functions through a nexus of mediating factor.

Drugs and Alcohol

The issue of drugs and alcohol is closely related to that of violence in that both blame the media
for exposing people unnecessarily to drugs and alcohol. The U.S department of Health and
Human services and National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism report that “the
preponderance of evidence indicates that alcohol advertising stimulates higher consumption of
alcohol by both adults and adolescents” and that “there is sufficient evidence to say that alcohol
advertising is likely to be a contributing factor to overall consumption and other alcohol related
problems in the long term”.

Political Campaign and Rating

One major issue under effects of political exercise is the fact that media have the power to
influence the electorate on who to vote and not to vote for. In other words, the media can set
agenda for the public as regards political directions.

The popular presidential debate on NTA and AIT, especially during the 2007 general elections in
Nigeria was the one in agreement with the notion that the candidates, through the media can be
heard and listened to thereby underscoring the power of the media during electioneering
campaigns.

The debate

Debates in Media effects are often anchored on 3 paradigms: Read them and argue which of the
paradigms you believe.

First, the media was believed to exert powerful effects, leading to the postulation of powerful
effects paradigms:

Powerful Effects Paradigm

Schramm (1982) points to three powerful effects which the media can exert:

 the media can confer status on organisations, persons and policies. As Schramm suggests,
we probably work on the assumption that if something really matters then it will be
featured in the media; so, if it is featured in the media, it must really matter;
 the media can enforce social norms to an extent. The media can reaffirm social norms by
exposing deviation from the norms to public view.

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  the media can act as social narcotics; sometimes known as the narcotising dysfunction,
this means that because of the enormous amount of information in the media, media
consumers tend not to be energised into social action, but rather drugged or narcotised
into inaction.

On crime, violence and delinquency, the powerful media effects paradigm believes that mass
media messages containing the portrayal of crimes and acts of violence can:

 be generally damaging
 be directly imitated
 serve as a school of crime
 in specific circumstances cause otherwise normal people to engage in criminal acts
 devalue human life
 serve as a safety valve for aggressive impulses

In essence, it is these assumptions which continue to underlie public concern over the media's
possible harmful effects, notably on children. This concern has been reflected in the government
funding of research into media violence and delinquency, both here and abroad.

Then, there was a paradigm shift to what is considered minimal effects of the media:

Limited Effects Paradigm

Limited effects theories are of the view that the effects of media on the people are not total or too
much but limited in proportion and weight. The theory states that even if there is an effect
created by the media on the thoughts and opinions of individuals; this effect is minimal at best or
limited. Paul Lazarsfeld was a very important researcher who contributed much to the
development of Limited effects studies during his work at the Columbia Bureau of Applied
Social Research. The most famous of the studies he conducted was that into voting behaviour
carried out in the 1940s and which led him to develop the highly influential Two Step Flow
Model of mass communication. As a result of his research, Lazarsfeld concluded that the media
actually have quite limited effects on their audiences.

Hovland, for example, whilst showing what variables can be altered to make a communication
more or less effective, also places considerable emphasis on those factors, especially social
factors such as group membership, which limit the persuasiveness of the message. Consequently,
this view of the media is often referred to as the 'limited effects' paradigm or tradition.

McQuail summarises some of the main findings of the research which confirms this 'limited
effects' view:

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  'persuasive mass communication is in general more likely to reinforce the existing
opinions of its audience than it is to change its opinion' (from Klapper (1960))
 'people tend to see and hear communications that are favourable or congenial to their
predispositions' (from Berelson & Steiner (1964))
 'people respond to persuasive communication in line with their predispositions and
change or resist change accordingly' (from Berelson & Steiner (1964))

Then there is a further shift toward active audience perspective that believe that the audience
choose what they are exposed to:

Uses and Gratifications Concept

This concept believes that people don’t just expose themselves to media messages, they do that
based on certain benefits they would derive. The theory was founded by Blumler and Katz’s.
According to the duo, media users play an active role in choosing and using the media. Users
take an active part in the communication process and are goal oriented in their media use. The
theorists say that a media user seeks out a media source that best fulfills the needs of the user.
Uses and gratifications assume that the user has alternate choices to satisfy their need.

Blumler and Katz believe that there is not merely one way that the populace uses media. Instead,
they believe there are as many reasons for using the media, as there are media users. According
to the theory, media consumers have a free will to decide how they will use the media and how it
will affect them. Blumler and Katz values are clearly seen by the fact that they believe that media
consumers can choose the influence media has on them as well as the idea that users choose
media alternatives merely as a means to and end. Uses and gratification is the optimist’s view of
the media. The theory takes out the possibility that the media can have an unconscience influence
over our lives and how we view the world. The idea that we simply use the media to satisfy a
given need does not seem to fully recognize the power of the media in today’s society.

Uses and gratification theory can be seen in cases such as personal music selection. We select
music not only to fit a particular mood but also in attempts to show empowerment or other
socially conscious motives. There are many different types of music and we choose from them to
fulfill a particular need.

In the fairly early days of effects research, it became apparent that the assumed 'hypodermic'
effect was not borne out by detailed investigation. A number of factors appeared to operate to
limit the effects of the mass media. Katz and Lazarsfeld, for example, pointed to the influence of
group membership (see Two-step flow) and Hovland identified a variety of factors ranging from
group membership to the audience's interest in the subject of the message As a result of this
evidence, attention began to turn from the question of 'what the media do to the audience' to
'what the audience do with the media'. Herta Herzog was one of the earliest researchers in this
area. She undertook (as part of Paul Lazarsfeld's massive programme of research) to investigate
what gratifications radio listeners derived from daytime serials, quizzes and so on. Katz
summarises the starting point of this kind of research quite neatly:

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... even the most potent of the mass media content cannot ordinarily influence an individual who
has 'no use' for it in the social and psychological context in which he lives. The 'uses' approach
assumes that people's values, their interests, their associations, their social rôles, are pre-potent,
and that people selectively 'fashion' what they see and hear to these interests (Katz (1959) in
McQuail (1971))

Researchers on the uses and gratifications vein therefore see the audience as active. It is part of
the received wisdom of media studies that audience members do indeed actively make conscious
and motivated choices amongst the various media messages available. This is called the active
audience concept.

There are other sociological perspectives on media effects such as the class‐dominant theory, and
the culturalist theory. But they are not within the scope of this course.

8. MEDIA LITERACY AND REPRESENTATIONS

MEDIA LITERACY

Media literacy is the ability to critically analyze and evaluate the messages conveyed through
media. Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential
skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy.

We live in a world that is saturated in media of all kinds, from newspapers to radio to television
to the internet. Media literacy enables us to understand and evaluate all of the media messages
we encounter on a daily basis, empowering us to make better choices about what we choose to
read, watch, and listen to. It also helps us become smarter, more discerning members of society.

Media literacy is about helping the media audience become competent, critical and literate in all
media forms so that they control the interpretation of what they see or hear rather than letting the
interpretation control them. To become media literate is not to memorize facts or statistics about
the media, but rather to learn to raise the right questions about what you are watching, reading or
listening to. Len Masterman calls it "critical autonomy" or the ability to think for oneself.
Without this fundamental ability, an individual cannot have full dignity as a human person or
exercise citizenship in a democratic society where to be a citizen is to both understand and
contribute to the debates of the time.

Media literacy interventions and education help children and adults recognize the influence
media has and give them the knowledge and tools to mitigate its impact.

9. MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY

Definition of Social Inequality

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Social inequality is the existence of unequal opportunities and rewards for different genders,
classes, social positions or statuses within a group or society. Social inequality has several
important dimensions, including gender, class, power, occupational prestige, schooling, ancestry,
and race and ethnicity.

How do the media shape social inequality?

Today, most stereotypical ideas are spread through various forms of mass media, including
books, films, TV shows, newspapers, websites, emails, flyers, and bumper stickers. Thus, the
consumable objects of mass media constitute an "information highway" for disseminating social
preconceptions. Millions, perhaps even billions, of people across space and time share these
stereotypical depictions through transactions such as buying, selling, trading, checking out, and
interacting with them.

Media shape social inequality through the way they portray social groups in the various
programmes and offerings in the media, and the opportunities that they give to people from
various social groups in job placement in the media industry.

Some parts of society get a certain image from the media, which can strengthen prejudices. Let
us look at perspectives or schools of thought on how the media presents a certain group and
shape their perception, especially gender and class.

Perspectives from Liberal feminists

Liberal feminists contend that the media is too far behind the times to present a realistic picture
of society and the economy. However, they agree that media representations of women have
vastly improved over the previous three decades. There are still few top-executive women in
journalism, according to liberal feminists. Most media executives, newspaper editors, top
journalists, producers, TV/film directors, and TV/film heads of programming are also men.
Perspectives from Radical feminists
Radical feminists argue that male-dominated media purposefully perpetuate traditional
hegemonic ideas of femininity to keep women enslaved and confined to a small number of roles.
Consequently, women internalize patriarchal values and refrain from taking opportunities, and
men's hegemony remains largely uncontested. To radical feminists, this is when media products
symbolically relegate women to subservient positions as sex objects or mother homemakers,
even if women progress toward social, political, and professional equality.
Perspectives from Post-modernists
The media shapes people's identities, claiming that today's media channels threaten traditional
gender norms and are a key factor in societal change. There has been a growing critique of
conventionally masculine characteristics like toughness and emotional reserve in media that

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targets men. The media now presents various gendered images and concepts, giving people
more leeway when constructing their gender identities.
Perspectives from Neo-Marxists
The Neo-Marxists argue that media depictions of social class glorify hierarchy and wealth.
Wealth can be so glorified in the media that the poor people are hardly represented in the media
stories. When they are represented, it would be about their plight. However, in Nigeria, the
depictions of the upper class, and the very wealthy are sometimes projected as deserving, and at
other times, every wealthy man in politics is represented in most media as corrupt. This shapes
the perception of politics in Nigeria as reserved for only corrupt people.

Inequality in job employment in the media

One of the key issues in the examination of media content is that of gender bias in the media
workplace. An example of bias in the media can be illustrated by observing the ratio of men to
women in society, and placing that ratio to the available job opportunities in the media. At a ratio
of almost 1:1 in Nigeria, implying an equal number of both men and women in society, it should
be reflected in the media work place. That is to say, an example of a concept involving social
inequality in the media is the trend of hiring people for jobs they do not deserve by favoring
them for various reasons like their gender or ethnicity. Inequality in the media is a big issue,
where job opportunities matter, as it denies qualified candidates a chance to get a deserving job
in the media industry.

Under representation of rural areas in Nigeria

media is also able to reinforce inequalities in terms of representation of rural areas in Nigeria.
Most news stories that we see in the media actually emanate from urban areas. Ass a result,
people in the rural areas in Nigeria are either quantitatively or qualitatively underreported. This
means that there is less attention to their plight and less prospects for development.

Conclusion

Social inequality is an issue that we must try to do away with in order to progress in this
industry. Sometimes discrimination against certain gender or race may lead to companies losing
out on efficient workers and leaders. Although these norms have declined bringing changes in
the media industry, concealed racism and gender inequality are still evident in the media. It will
take much effort to control social disparity in the society (Dines & Humez 29).

10. CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

The term "culture" refers to the complex collection of knowledge, folklore, language, rules,
rituals, habits, lifestyles, attitudes, beliefs, and customs that link and give a common identity to a
particular group of people at a specific point in time. All social units develop a culture. Groups
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also develop cultures, composed of the collection of rules, rituals, customs, and other
characteristics that give an identity to the social unit. Where a group traditionally meets, whether
meetings begin on time or not, what topics are discussed, how decisions are made, and how the
group socializes are all elements of what, over time, become defining and differentiating
elements of its culture. Organizations also have cultures, often apparent in particular patterns of
dress, layout of workspaces, meeting styles and functions, ways of thinking about and talking
about the nature and directions of the organization, leadership styles, and so on.

The most rich and complex cultures are those that are associated with a society or a nation, and
the term "culture" is most commonly used to refer to these characteristics, including language
and language-usage patterns, rituals, rules, and customs.

A societal or national culture also includes such elements as significant historical events and
characters, philosophies of government, social customs, family practices, religion, economic
philosophies and practices, belief and value systems, and concepts and systems of law. Thus, any
social unit—whether a relationship, group, organization, or society—develops a culture over
time. While the defining characteristics—or combination of characteristics—of each culture are
unique, all cultures share certain common functions. Three such functions that are particularly
important from a communication perspective are (1) linking individuals to one another, (2)
providing the basis for a common identity, and (3) creating a context for interaction and
negotiation among members.

The Relationship between Communication and Culture

The relationship between communication and culture is a very complex and intimate one.

Cultures are created through communication; that is, communication is the means of human
interaction through which cultural characteristics— whether customs, roles, rules, rituals, laws,
or other patterns—are created and shared. It is not so much that individuals set out to create a
culture when they interact in relationships, groups, organizations, or societies, but rather that
cultures are a natural by-product of social interaction. In a sense, cultures are the "residue" of
social communication.

Without communication and communication media, it would be impossible to preserve and pass
along cultural characteristics from one place and time to another. One can say, therefore, that
culture is created, shaped, transmitted, and learned through communication.

The reverse is also the case; that is, communication practices are largely created, shaped, and
transmitted by culture. To understand the implications of this communication-culture
relationship, it is necessary to think in terms of ongoing communication processes rather than a
single communication event. For example, when a three-person group first meets, the members
bring with them individual thought and behavioral patterns from previous communication
experiences and from other cultures of which they are, or have been, a part. As individuals start
to engage in communication with the other members of this new group, they begin to create a set
of shared experiences and ways of talking about them. If the group continues to interact, a set of

25
distinguishing history, patterns, customs, and rituals will evolve. Some of these cultural
characteristics would be quite obvious and tangible, such that a new person joining the group
would encounter ongoing cultural "rules" to which they would learn to conform through
communication.

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