Master of Arts (MA) — Journalism & Mass Communication

Welcome to Master of Arts (MA) — Journalism & Mass Communication. We will study Models of Communication: Lasswell, Shannon–Weaver, Schramm, Berlo and Westley–MacLean, work through an example, and practise using the course's learning material. Postgraduate academic support for Master of Arts (MA) — Journalism & Mass Communication, including advanced concept notes, research orientation, assessment practice and dissertation support. The underlying degree is awarded only by the learner's recognised institution. Sign in and use the study header to open your authorised course. Select this published lesson. Start Course Tutor with Auto audio on: it teaches continuously, answers a typed question, then resumes. Shannon and Weaver's mathematical model (1949). Claude Shannon, an engineer at Bell Laboratories, developed a theory of signal transmission; Warren Weaver extended it to human communication. The model has five parts in a line: information source , then transmitter , then channel , then receiver , then destination, with a noise source acting on the channel. Question. A television channel runs a live debate on a farm-price policy. Viewers send reactions through a hashtag that the anchor reads out on air. Which model best explains the situation, and why do the others fall short? Step 1: identify the structure. There is an event in the environment (the policy), advocates (party spokespersons), a media organisation that selects speakers and questions (the channel), and a mass audience that sees the policy mainly through the channel. Feedback reaches the channel during the broadcast. Step 2: test each model. Lasswell: covers who, what, channel, whom and effect, but has no feedback and no gatekeeper; it cannot represent the anchor reading out tweets. Shannon–Weaver: explains technical noise such as a dropped satellite link but treats the audience as a passive destination. Osgood–Schramm: captures two-way flow but assumes equal participants; the channel and viewers are not equal. Westley–MacLean: shows the advocates (A), the channel as gatekeeper (C), the viewers (B), the policy (X) and feedback from B to C. Step 3: conclusion. The Westley–MacLean model fits best because it represents the gatekeeping role of the channel and the feedback loop from the audience. Add that the hashtag feedback is itself selected by the channel, so the gatekeeper also filters the feedback. Second example (fields of experience). A science magazine prints an article on climate models for school students, and most readers do not understand it. Using Schramm, the overlap between the writer's field of experience (specialist) and the readers' (school students) is small. The remedy is to widen the overlap: everyday analogies, a glossary box and diagrams. Which mistake would change the reasoning in this example? 1. Calling Shannon–Weaver a model of meaning. Correction: it was a model of signal transmission; Weaver himself separated the technical level from the semantic and effectiveness levels. 2. Adding feedback to Lasswell's model without comment. Ask Course Tutor: please explain this step from the example. Lasswell: covers who, what, channel, whom and effect, but has no feedback and no gatekeeper; it cannot represent the anchor reading out tweets. Why does it follow? Add what you tried, so the explanation addresses your difficulty. Now try the source practice. What are Weaver's three levels of communication problems? Pause before the answer. The source answer is: Technical (accuracy of transmission), semantic (precision of meaning) and effectiveness (whether meaning affects conduct). Compare your reasoning as well as the result. If your response differs, return to the worked example and identify the step that needs correction. Explain the key idea in your own words, revisit any mistaken step, then continue to the next lesson. Use Stop to end Course Tutor when you finish.