THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

 

A COMMUNICATION MODEL

 

4.

MAJOR FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATIONS

The major functions undertaken by Communications in the society can be categorized as:

Information Function:                                        The collection/gathering, and dissemination/distribution of relevant and vital

information from/to the public/audience.

Command or Instructive Function:               The offering of directions, guidelines, orders, etc. ,  to the audience in order to

tell them what to do or how to do it or when to do it.

Influence or Persuasive Function:                The process of inducing the audience to change their views, opinions, attitudes, or behaviour.

Integrative Function:                                         The process of maintaining stability, organizational/societal integration and unity.

EPS CYCLE OF MASS MEDIA

Two renowned Mass Communication scholars: John Merrill and Ralph Lowenstein developed the progression cycle concept called the Elitist – Popular – Specialized (EPS) Cycle. They pointed out that all media develop in three stages:

Elite Stage:                          A mass communication medium usually starts out in the elite stage. During this period, the media appeal to, and are consumed by, the affluent leaders in the culture. Elite Culture is the culture of the educated, aristocratic, and wealthy people. It is also referred to as the high culture, which revolves around fine arts, literature, and classical music.

Popular Stage:                    After a nation breaks through the barriers of poverty and illiteracy, its media enter the popular

stage and are enjoyed by the mass culture.

The mass culture was ushered in with the Industrial Revolution, public education of the masses, and development of political democracy. Mass culture reflects the cultural world around us – out attitudes, habits, clothing, food practices, housing, means of travel, entertainment, religion, our beliefs and activities. It is our main stream culture, it encompasses the objects, customs, fads, and activities that we take for granted.

The Popular Culture can be defined as the culture liked by everyone in a society. Every country has its own popular culture at various stages of development. Most of today’s popular culture is mass produced and is disseminated in large quantities through the mass media. Popular music, cheap paperback novels, soap operas, video cassette movies, and advertised products reflect and create popular culture. Mass Culture has developed due to mass mediation of our Popular Culture.

Specialized Stage:             Eventually, as the elements of higher education, affluence, leisure time and population growth come together and form one whole, the mass media begin to enter a third stage of the EPS Cycle – specialization. In this stage, the media are consumed by highly fragmented segments of the population, each with its own interests and cultural activities. There is demassification of the mass media, which means the control of mass communication systems is relocated from the message producer to the media consumer, which reflects the participatory nature of the new media.