Field scheme of mass communication

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The field scheme of mass communication (also field model of mass communication) by Gerhard Maletzke (1963) extends the communications model ( sender-receiver model ) of Shannon and Weaver (1949) to include essential elements of communication through mass media . It is still based on a fixed channel (the route of the message from the sender to the recipient), but includes sociological and psychological aspects (i.e. the social environment of the actors). The term "field" indicates, based on field theory , that the elements of the model are in constant, closely intertwined interaction.

The model is designed to depict mass media communication, as can be seen from the description of the communicator: A communicator is “any person or group of people who is involved in the production of public statements intended to be disseminated through a mass medium, be it creative or controlling . ”Nevertheless, the model with reinterpretations is also used in interpersonal communication .

functionality

Field model of mass communication

The communicator (K) produces a statement (A) through material selection and design, depending on or partly determined by his intra- / interpersonal factors (his image of himself, his personality, his position within a possible team, his position within a possible team Institution, its situation within social relationships and under public pressure.)

The statement (A) is passed through a medium (M) to the recipient (R). It must be adapted to the individual (technical and dramaturgical) characteristics of the medium. (e.g. broadcast time / format on TV, text length and form in newspapers, etc.)

The recipient selects certain statements from the offer and also receives them according to their individual interpersonal factors.

In the case of the communicator as well as the recipient, the respective image of the other also plays a role; on the one hand in the choice and design of fabrics, on the other hand in the reception. Finally, there is the possibility of a spontaneous response from the recipient, which in mass media communication can, however, only take the form of so-called parafeedbacks. These are e.g. B. letters to the editor, calls but also audience ratings, survey results etc.

criticism

  • The model of mathematical communication theory according to Shannon / Weaver was carelessly transferred by Schramm in 1954 to the transmitter-receiver model of classical communication science.
  • The field scheme of mass communication originally describes the problem that creates the correct syntactic transmission of electronically encrypted statements: How many bits can be transmitted from a source to a destination by electrical impulses per unit of time?
  • The field scheme of mass communication is also seen as the foundation for the decades-long misunderstanding of communication: the meanings that the communicator ascribes to information cannot be transferred and are not identical to those of the recipient (container model).

literature

  • R. Burkart: Communication Science. 4th edition. Böhlau, Cologne 2002, pp. 499–501.
  • M. Kunczik, A. Zipfel: Journalism. 2nd Edition. Böhlau, Cologne 2005, p. 54.
  • Gerhard Maletzke : Psychology of mass communication. Publisher Hans Bredow Institute, 1963.
  • Gerhard Maletzke: mass communication theories. Niemeyer, 1988, pp. 62f.
  • Klaus Merten : What is communication? In: Klaus Merten: Introduction to Communication Science. Volume 1: Basics of Communication Science. Münster / Hamburg / London 1999.
  • Gebhard Rusch (ed.): Introduction to media studies. Westdeutscher Verlag, 2002, p. 106 ff.