Radio as a Medium of Mass Communication

Radio as a Medium of Mass Communication LESSON 1 RADIO AS A MEDIUM OF MASS COMMUNICATION IN TODAY’S CONTEXT Introduction Communicators use several media to transmit a message (a thought, idea, opinion, and attitude) to the readers, listeners and or viewers. These media: film, print, broadcasting, are used differently by people for various purposes. Each mass medium has its own distinct nature and characteristics. For example, print medium (newspapers, magazines, etc.) provide detailed information which can be kept for a longer period; accessed whenever needed and used by many persons at a convenient time. Films can be watched and enjoyed at one single place (cinema hall) by many people in large or small groups, or at homes through television sets. Broadcasting on radio and television can bring voices and pictures to a large number of listeners and viewers from long distance. Thus, we see every medium of mass communication works in its own unique way and carries the message far and wide. Each medium has its advantages and limitations in the areas of operation, influence and impact. For instance, print depends on the ability to read. For communicating a message to a child or an illiterate person, television, film or radio would be effective while the print medium will not be relevant. Every medium uses its strengths to provide information, education and entertainment to the public. 1.2 Meaning and Definition In order to appreciate the role of radio as a medium of mass communication, we need to understand what is the concept of communication, what are the various functions and types of communication. The word Communication is derived from the Latin word cornmunis, which means, to make common or to share. There are numerous definitions of communication, and there is yet no agreement on any single definition. Some of the more functional definitions of communication describe it as the transfer or conveying of meaning (Oxford dictionary), transrnission of stimuli (Colin Cherry), one mind affecting another (Claude Shannon); one system influences another (Charles E. Osgood), the mechanism through which human relations exist and develop, or sharing of experience on the basis of commonness (Wilbur Schramm). â€Å"Thus, communication is, a process of sharing or exchange of ideas, information, knowledge, attitude or feeling among two or more persons through certain signs and symbols†. 1.3 Functions of Communication Communication is vital for human existence, and for the progress of humanity. No person, group or society can exist without interaction with others. Think for a moment what would happen to us if we did not talk with anyone at home; didnt listen to lectures at School or college; didnt speak to friends and co-workers; or didnt play games or watch TV or films? Essentially, the primary function of communication is to inform, instruct/educate, entertain influence and persuade people to make them function smoothly and effectively. Besides, communication has a secondary function to perform as well: through debate and discussion it promotes cultural integration, it fosters consensus, creativity, and understanding among people, groups and societies enabling them to live in peace and harmony. 1.4 Types of Communication Human beings are engaged in a variety of communication acts. Although each type of Communication appears-to have distinctive features, they are all much alike in the senses that are enters into a meaningful relationship with one or more persons by means of signs and symbols. These are: Intrapersonal Communication Interpersonal Communication Group Communication Mass Communication. 1.4.1 Intrapersonal Communication refers to communication that leaks inside a person; and this happens all the time. It is like conversation to oneself, listening to oneself and linking with oneself. It is important in anticipating, abstracting and communicating our thoughts or ideas before we actually treat in open communication. 1.4.2 Interpersonal Communication is the world-wide form of communication that takes place between two people. In interpersonal communication, there is face-to-face interaction between two persons, that is, both are sending and receiving messages. This is an ideal and effective communication situation because you can elucidate and highlight many points through your expressions, nods and voice can get instant feedback. 1.4.3 Group Communication is an addition of interpersonal communication where more than two individuals are involved in discussion of ideas. Communication in a group helps many goals including collective decision making, self-expression, increasing ones effect, uplifting ones status, and relaxation. Group communication provides a chance for direct interface among the members of the group; it helps in bringing about changes in attitudes and opinions. 1.4.4 Mass Communication outside the realm of interpersonal communication exists another form of communication which involves communication with mass audiences and hence the nomenclature mass communication. The channels through which this kind of communication takes place are referred to as mass media. Mass communication and mass media, are generally considered synonymous. Mass communication is unique and different from interpersonal communication as is evident from the following definition: Any mechanical device that multiplies messages and takes them to a large number of people simultaneously is called mass communication. The media through which messages are being transmitted include: radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, films, records, tape recorders, video cassette recorders, etc., and require large organizations and electronic devices to put across the messages. Radio as a Mass Medium Radio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. In electronics, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of high frequency periodic waveform, called the carrier signal, with respect to a modulating signal. This is done in a similar fashion as a musician may modulate the tone from a musical instrument by varying its volume, timing and pitch. The three key parameters of a periodic waveform are its amplitude (volume), its phase (timing) and its frequency (pitch), all of which can be modified in accordance with a low frequency signal to obtain the modulated signal. During the 1930s, radio was considered an intimate and credible medium. The public used it as a news source and expected it to provide factual information. Radio was the first truly mass medium of communication, reaching millions of people instantly and altering social attitudes, family relationships, and how people related to their environment. Radio is an attractive medium among the various mass communication media because of its special characteristics. It continues to be as relevant and potent as it was in the early years despite the emergence of more glamorous media. It is a truism that in the first phase of broadcasting spanning three decades from the early twenties, radio reigned alone or was the dominant player. However, over a period of time, the media scene has changed drastically. Television with its inherent strength of audio-visual component has captured the imagination of the people. The advent of satellite television, the Internet and the convergence of technology have added further dimensions in media utilization patterns. However, despite the presence of a plethora of media, there is room and scope for each medium. Experience has revealed that new technologies add things on but they dont replace. One medium is not displaced by another each medium reinvents itself in the context of changes in the communicati on environment. In the changed media scenario, radio is reorienting itself with more innovative programmes and formats.

Good and Evil in The Horses :: Horses

Good and Evil in The Horses    The concepts of good and evil resonate throughout the work of the Scottish poet Edwin Muir. In Muir’s important poem â€Å"The Horses,† guilt and innocence, good and evil, are also in the plainest view. But the poem is not sabotaged artistically because of it, as so many such poems are. â€Å"The Horses† is about the unexpected return, after an apocalypse, of new horses that restore the â€Å"long lost archaic companionship† with the surviving humans. The narrator condemns the â€Å"old bad world† that wreaked the damage: Barely a twelvemonth after The seven days war that put the world to sleep, Late in the evening the strange horses came. By then we had made our convenant with silence, But in the first few days it was so still We listened to our breathing and were afraid. On the second day The radios failed; we turned the knobs; no answer. But on the third day a warship passed us, heading north, Dead bodies piled on the deck. On the sixth day A plane plunged over us into the sea. Thereafter Nothing. The radios dumb. And still they stand in corners of our kitchens, And stand, perhaps, turned on, in a million rooms, All over the world. But now if they should speak, If on a sudden they should speak again If on the stroke of noon a voice should speak, We would not listen, we would not let it bring That old bad world that swallowed its children quick At one great gulp. We would not have it again . . . Have Armageddon and its aftermath ever been more powerfully, more palpably imagined? And yet, I do not think that the poem’s extraordinary vividness is the greatest strength of â€Å"The Horses.† Its special power is in the way cataclysm evokes Muir’s most abiding theme: the renewal of that â€Å"long-lost archaic† bond between life and the world even in the face of catastrophe (â€Å"Our life is changed; their coming our beginning†).

Art and Literature in Augustan Rome Essay

The beginning of this time period comes with the death of Julius Caesar and the rise to power of his nephew, Octavius. He was in the Second Triumvirate that was formed to maintain order in Rome. Octavian, Marcus Lepidus, and Marc Antony ruled formally unlike the informal triumvirate of Julius Caesar. The triumvirate set out to execute members of the conspiracy against Julius Caesar. In 42 BC, Brutus and Cassius were finally defeated. In the following years the triumvirate diminished. In 36 BC, Lepidus retired. Marc Antony began to have affairs with Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt. These affairs briefly came to a pause when Antony married Octavian’s sister Octavia. Marc Antony later returns to Egypt and marries Cleopatra. This causes Octavian and Antony to break out into war. He then takes his great-uncles name of Augustus and claims his leadership over Rome by defeating Mark Antony. Much art and literature was dedicated to the support of Augustus, which helped to bring together his empire. The Aeneid is an example of such propaganda in favor of Augustus, which people often find parallels between Aeneas and Augustus. In order for Augustus to maintain his newly gained power he uses such art and literature to influence his people. This form of media, which propaganda was a key part, plays an important role in his plan to maintain power. Augustus, known first to history as Gaius Octavius, was born in 63 BC. His relation to Julius Caesar comes from his grandmother Julia, who was Caesar’s sister. His great-uncle encourages him, for he sees talent in him, and even puts him in his will as his successor, along with three quarters of his estate. In 44 BC Caesar is assassinated and Augustus heads to Rome to pay his respects and to take his throne. He has to battle against Mark Antony, who was one of Caesar’s most trusted lieutenants. After ultimately causing Antony and his second wife Cleopatra to commit suicide, Augustus returns to Rome as the undisputed master of both east and west. Augustus ruled by patronage, military power, and accumulation of the offices. He was a sole ruler of Rome, which in result became known as the Roman Empire. The Senate became docile to Augustus and allowed him to have control. He gained the people’s support by funding various poets and artisans, who in exchange  glorified him in their work. This use of the arts, is example to Augustus’ use of political propaganda through art and literature. The writer of the Aeneid, Virgil, was a part of the circle of artists and poets supported by the wealthy patron Maecenas, who was close to Augustus. This gave him the freedom to spend most of his time writing. Since Virgil was writing under a patron close to the emperor, his stories had an element of political propaganda. He tied the life of Aeneas in the Aeneid, to that of Augustus, legitimizing the position of monarch and pleasing the emperor. This story was extremely popular in Rome and Aeneas was seen as the model citizen, so you can see why the connection to Augustus could work as a sort of propaganda. The Aeneid is interpreted by some, to validate the â€Å"golden age† and the restoration of the republic that Augustus had claimed to have done. It is a form of positive propaganda for Augustus, portraying him in a positive light for all of Rome to read. The most obvious connection between Aeneas and Augustus was their roles as founders. Aeneas founded the Roman Empire in the Aeneid and Augustus re-founded the empire after it had begun to fall apart after Caesar’s assassination and the subsequent battle for total power. In Book Six, Aeneas is shown a prophecy of the coming greatness of Rome, in a clear reference to Augustus’ rule. Another example is that the poem also served in Augustus’s attempts to re-introduce Roman values into Roman society, including reverence for the gods. Aeneas continually showed reverence to the gods, just as he did when he left Dido because it was the god’s will. The poem continues to reflect these ideals by portraying Aeneas not as a man motivated by personal gain, but a man motivated by his love and loyalty to his country, people and gods. For Romans the Aeneid is seen as something mystical, which it may be, but for Augustus it is just another example of his use of literature and art as propaganda. Augustus also united the Empire through his use of the arts as a form of self-promotion and to promote the themes of his administration, such as peace, allegiance to Rome, and respect for tradition. He visually improved the city by constructing new buildings that were worthy of the powerful Empire. He made art into the materialization of Roman government which was an idea continued by his descendants and was declared a god. He knew that he  had to portray his greatness in all the aspects of his subjects’ lives, including the arts. Three examples of such art are the Ara Pacis, the Temple of Mars, and the Res Gestae Divi Augustus. The Ara Pacis was made to honor the triumphal return from Spain and Gaul of Augustus and to celebrate the peace established by his victories. The Temple of Mars was constructed in Rome, to give thanks to the god for his victory over the assassins of his adoptive father, Gaius Julius Caesar. The Res Gestae Divi Augustus, is the first-person record of Augustus’ life and accomplishments. It is to show the greatness of Augustus and how he wanted it to be portrayed to his Roman people. These three pieces of art were very important in helping Augustus maintaining his power. Augustus’ use of art and literature as propaganda to influence his people was his way of keeping hold of his power. He was aware, as example of his great-uncle, that keeping power as a Roman Leader wasn’t easy. Even from the very beginning of his climb to power, when he had to fight for his throne against Mark Antony, he realized that his reign would come with some struggle. Which is why once he obtained complete control he used the works of artisans and poets to pay homage to himself and to influence the people of Rome to see Augustus in a favorable light. Just as Virgil’s epic, the Aeneid was extremely influential, not only to the people of the time of Augustan Rome, but also to many generations afterward. Augustus’ support created a â€Å"golden age† of literature even if much of it was a sort of propaganda. It is easy to understand why many other monarchs would strive to be like Augustus and to immortalize themselves in the arts and literature of their time as he once did. For he was an outstanding military leader, an excellent overseer of many public works, as well as being the leader during the longest period of peace and prosperity that Rome has ever experienced. Not only did he do all of this, but he also was extremely successful in his use of art and literature propaganda to influence the people around him. It not only gained him the support of the people of Rome, but it helped to unite his empire, as well as allowing him to live forever, not in a human body, but in the threads and strokes of all the works dedicated to him.

Southern Gothic Literacy in A Rose for Emily - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 553 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/04/15 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: A Rose For Emily Essay Did you like this example? Gothic can be characterized as writing managing the abnormal, puzzling, and extraordinary intended to conjure tension and fear in the peruser. Gothic writing for the most part exhibits similar topics and themes: love, lust. Gothic writing investigates forbidden subjects; for example, murder, suicide and inbreeding. A Rose for Emily, by William Faulkner, illustrates the Southern Gothic stories since the topics of affection lost, demise, and murder are available in it. There are numerous components that allude to the Gothic idea of the story:Emilys depiction, her home, the toxic substance she purchased, lastly, the closure. William Faulkner mimics the affiliated Southern narrating style as an anonymous first-individual storyteller. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Southern Gothic Literacy in A Rose for Emily" essay for you Create order He represents the entire town of Jefferson, pertaining to what all the townspeople know or accept Emily. Emily is a baffling figure who changes from a lively and cheerful young lady to a women who became depressed. Crushed and alone after her dads passing, she is a question of pity for the town people. Throughout the story, the creator depicts her as being unusual and lonely. She looked enlarged, similar to a body since quite a while ago submerged in unmoving water, and of that pale tone. Her eyes, lost in the greasy edges of her face, looked like two little bits of coal squeezed into a chunk of batter. She is depicted as a living tragedy.At that point, later in the story, Emily denies her dads demise and refuses to give individuals a chance to come in her home to get the body. She revealed to them that her dad was not dead. She did that for three days; similarly as they were going to turn to law and power, she separated, and they covered her dad rapidly. Faulkners depiction of the Gothic is likewise portrayed through Emilys home. What used to be a major and wonderful home is currently a terrible and disheveled shack. It is depicted as being moist, substantial, vacant, and brimming with corners to conceal mysteries. The house and Emily are identified in a similar way, remnants of the past. Inside the house is an eerie reflection of her; vacant and dim like the dry and cool voice of Emily. Every one of these components tie to the surface layer, the Gothic setting. There is additionally something specific about the house; there is a ghastly smell leaving it. This smell includes the dull climate around the house. Not to mention, the primary component that makes the story Gothic is the completion. Emilys mystery is uncovered; she has killed him to keep him with her and to keep a component of the past with her. Later on, when they found the body in a bed, they also discover a strand of her hair on a pad alongside him. This final scene proposes that she laid down with the cadaver. It leaves no uncertainty in the psyche of the peruser that A Rose for Emily is a Gothic story. It utilizes the topic of murder, which is a repetitive topic in Gothic stories. All in all, A Rose for Emily is a Gothic story. Emilys character, her tremendous and rotted house, the arsenic scene, and the disclosure of her sweethearts body are altogether occasions that demonstrate it. The presumption to the peruser is that something appalling will occur toward the end.