COMMUNICATION SCIENCE

As defined by Charles Berger and Stephen Chaffee:

“Communication Science seeks to understand the production, processing, and effects of symbol and signal systems by developing testable theories containing lawful generalizations, that explain phenomena associated with production, processing, and effects.”

Communication Science is a perspective that integrates all research approaches grounded in quantitative, empirical, behaviour, research methods. In joining limited effects, ideas, active audience theories and research on interpersonal communication, Communication Science includes most forms of quantitative, empirical research and theories it supports. It does, however exclude cultural, critical, and political economic theories.

In the year 1987, Chaffee and Berger offered a restructuring of the scientific study of Communication Science based not only on the usual narrow interest in specific aspects of the communication process as applied in individual circumstances or settings but, rather, based on the four levels at which communication phenomena occur:

1.             Intra-individual:                                   The analysis of communication that occurs within the individual.

Dialogue taking place within one’s self or an internal communication (the individual’s ability to think, to visualize, to perceive, to learn, to form attitudes, and to express ideas).

2.             Interpersonal:                                     The analysis of communication relationships between two or small

groups of people. Communication between couples or friends, relatives, acquaintances, etc.

3.             Network or Organizational:             The analysis of larger groups of people and the contexts of their

continuing relationships. Communication between two or more organizations, and between an organization and its stakeholders.

4.             Macroscopic Societal:                      The analysis of the communication characteristics and activities of

large social systems. Communication directed towards the public, society or towards a mass audience.

Based on the above structure, Denis McQuail developed a Pyramid of Communications illustrating the various levels and types of communication network that exist in the society.

Birth of the Newspaper Industry

Denis Mc Quail states in 'Mass Communication Theory' that it was almost two hundred years after the invention of printing before what we now recognize as a prototypical newspaper could be distinguished from the handbills, pamphlets and newsletters of the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

According to Mc Quail the newspaper was more of an innovation-the invention of a new literary, social and cultural form-even if it might not have been so perceived at the time. Its distinctiveness, compared with other forms of cultural communication, lies in its orientation to the individual reader, reality-orientation, utility, disposability, secularity and suitability for the needs of a new class: town-based business and professional people. Its novelty consists not in its technology or manner of distribution, but in its functions for a distinct class in a changing and more liberal social-political climate.

Later history of the newspaper can be told either as a series of struggles, advances and reverses in the cause of liberty or as a more continuous history of economic and technological progress. The most important phase in press history started after the entrance into the modern definition of the newspaper. Mc Quail has listed the qualifications of a newspaper as follows:

• Regular and frequent appearance
• Commodity form
• Informational content
• Public sphere functions
• Urban, secular audience
• Relative freedom

Genres of newspaper according to Mc Quail:

• The political press
• The prestige press
• The commercial newspaper

Stanley J. Baran and Dennis K. Davis has stated in 'Mass Communication Theory' that in the mid and late nineteenth century, popular demand for cheap media content drove the development of new media such as the penny press. High-speed printing presses and other technological advancement made it practical to mass produce the printed word at very low cost. Urban newspapers boomed all along the East Coast and in major trading centers across the United States. Newspaper circulation wars broke out and led to development of yellow journalism, the irresponsible side of the penny press.

In 1700, Benjamin Harris published the first American newspaper, Publick Occurrences both Foreign and Domestick, which contained material offensive to the ruling power. The paper was suppressed after one issue. Fourteen years would pass before another attempt would surface. In 1704, the Boston News Letter was published by John Campbell.

Competition grew as the number of newspaper goes up.

A Joseph R. Dominick presented in 'The Dynamics of Mass Communication', several conditions had to exist before a mass press could come into existence:

• A printing press had to be invented that would produce copies quickly and cheaply.
• Enough people had to know how to read in order to support such a pres.
• A 'mass audience' had to be present.

The Penny Press, Yellow Journalism and the birth of Mass Newspapers:

Dominick has identified the four changes during the period of Penny Press (1833-1860):

• The basis of economic support for newspapers.
• The pattern of newspaper distribution.
• The definition of what constituted news.
• The techniques of news collection.

Then Yellow Journalism (1880-1905) brought enthusiasm, energy, and spirit to the practice of journalism, along with aggressive reporting and investigative stories.

New York City in the 1890s, when Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst and two dozen dailies fought for the eyes and the pennies of millions of people newly exposed to reading and to print.

Although the newspaper press already had a long history, it was only towards the end of the nineteenth century that newspapers escaped from the constraints of localism, elitism or sectionalism (political or religious) and became a medium 'for the masses', although were still mainly large urban populations. The formal study of the newspaper has its main roots in German universities early in the twentieth century under the heading of Zeitungswissenschaft. (Mc Quail 4)

McQuail, Denis. Mc Quail's Reader in Mass Communicatioin Theory.London: Sage Publications,2004.

Behavioral Change

Media provide adequate information to people. Information is knowledge and knowledge is power. It means information make the people powerful by knowledge. The functions of media are to inform, to educate, to entertain, to persuade and to socialize.

Media make people mature, so if the watch, heard or read the news related accident the do not be panic. Due to repetition of these types of news time to time, people take it without panic. People draw their attention to receive information by media. So information has been established as basic needs of people. They don not look to sky to know the weather of the day, but they tune to radio or television. Media has been appropriate medium for information which is related with daily human life. So dependency to media is growing up day by day.

Media provide in formation as quick as they can. These types of flow of information make behavior of people quick. They can do their duty on time. Media grow consciousness of people and consciousness makes them empowered.

We can know many individuals who are from different sector. It makes people socialized as well as culture of collaboration will grow by media. Discussion and interaction is possible with the help of media. Behaviour of people to reach to conclusion will be developed.

News Bulletin

The bulletin is more than a sum-total of a number of stories. The bulletin is a collective form in which the separate news items are brought into a coherent order and some relationship.

Bhatt

News bulletin is the transmitting time of sum-total of news stories, which is determined by media. In time of news bulletin, fresh news is presented separately in same time. Media house has mentioned certain time for regular news bulletin, but sometime in particular incident or condition, media house may broadcast special bulletin.

Skill and editorial idea should have presented by professional communicator in news bulletin. Especially, the time of news bulletin in radio is 10 to 15 minutes. Some time the bulletin has space of 5 minutes without headlines.   

Elements of News Bulletin

The headline

Main points of broadcast media are the headline of broadcast media. The bulletin, which has space of 10 minutes, is every hour news bulletin. These types of bulletin have few headlines. Commonly these types of news bulletin mentions 4 headlines. The news bulletin, which has space of 15 minutes, has 5 headlines. But some bulletin may be long, may one hour time space. We can aspect comprehensive news matter in these type bulletins. The headline is repeated in mid time of bulletin.

The body of bulletin

News anchor reads different news after reading of headline. Different news is the body of bulletin. But the anchor reads some news without headline. These types of news are based on formal program. The news will present with headline in beginning period of bulletin, which has especial news value.

The break or commercial break

News anchor stops news reading while he/she is reading news continuously in news bulletin. To stopping of news is for presentation of identity of the media. For example, if the news anchor of Radio Nepal stops the news and says this is Radio Nepal, you are listening news of 9 o'clock bulletin. It proved that the news bulletin broadcasting by particular media.  Different news bulletin may be broadcasting at same time. If there is no break listener may be in dilemma that which bulletin is broadcasting? Radio station may face this type of identity problem.

After break for identity of station, media broadcast advertisements as commercial message. Broadcasting time of new bulletin is significant. So rate of advertisement is expensive, which is casting in time of news bulletin.

The repeated headline

News anchor repeats headlines of the news before ending of news. The audiences who have not got chance to heard headline, they get chance to know about previously broadcasted news. Radio and television both media have followed this types of trend. Television shows footage of related subject matter with script and similarly radio broadcasts only the related bite of audio.

Presentation of News

News anchor present the news after preparation the news. News presentation is also an art, thus pre-exercise is necessary is this art. The news anchors are these types of journalists, who have qualification of news reading. He/she should have good pronunciation as well as presentation of feelings.

News anchoring is final stage of news oriented task of news presentation. To collecting, writing, editing than broadcasting of news are major tasks of broadcast journalism.

News anchor should be aware with language, feelings and technical part during news presentation. If something has been mistake, it may affect to the whole image of media house. Thus the news anchor should be attractive, balance, conscious and efficient with good image. He/she should be cleat that what type of matter is reading by them. The news should be read by them seriously before on air. If they do not it they may be in dilemma. Qualities of 3C are necessary to the professional communicators of broadcast media. The term 3C refers to clarity, comprehensiveness and Command. 3C is basic qualities of news anchor.

News anchor should draw attention to their respiration.  If the anchor couldn't control his/her respiration echo will be created in sound. It will not better impact to audience. In the moment of news anchoring gesture and eye contact should be balanced.

In news anchoring the anchor should give stress to significant words and sentence. But he/she should not give stress to wrong words and sentences. He/she draw attention to this idea before airing the news.

Introduction of news

News comes from plural form of new. The origin of news is 'Nova', which is Latin word. Nova means new thing. So news is new information, message, event and invention.

According to Oxford Learners' Dictionary, news is information about something that has happened recently or reports of recent event hat appear in newspaper or on television or the internet.

Harold Evan has said news is people. We can understand news is concerning matter to people. News is kinds of task in journalism, which fulfill the right of know of people. People always want to know what happening cotemporary society of world is.

Facts in information are backbone of news. So news is closely related with fact. But all fact is not news. So, the combination of fact and journalistic presentation makes news. Journalistic presentation means the writing form of news.

Reporters gather information and they write or type in certain form of news. The editors correct fact and figure. After purifying, media disseminate or broadcast it. So news collection and selection is major task of journalism and it is major content of mass media.

People want to read, view and listen the matter, which is hidden. Reporters search the hidden matter to disclose. So news is the reported matter by reporter. News is not imaginary and fiction type of writing. It means news is nonfiction reporting. News must be factual.

The facts, which is not written in journalistic form is not news. Gossip, rumor, propaganda, literature, history are not news, though they are in written form.

Some definition of news

News is the timely reports of fact or opinion of either internet or importance or both, to considerable of people.

Michael V. Charnlay

When a dog a dog bite a man that is not news; but a man bites a dog, which is news.

John B. Bogan

News is a new piece of information about significant and recent event that affect the audience and is of interest them.

Paul De Maeseneer

Op-ed page

Editorial is regular publishing matter regarding print media. News paper or magazine publishes one or two editorial in inside of paper. Editorial is opinion or vision of the media. Article on contemporary issue, which has been published opposite of editorial page is op-ed. The meaning of op-ed is opposite to editorial.