Name: Vyas Nupur Hitesh
Bhai.
Roll No: 34, M.A
English
SEM: 4
Paper 15 Mass Media
and Communication
Topic: What are the
Needs for communication?
Batch- 2015-17
Submitted to S.B.
Gardi Department of English, MKBU [Bhavnagar}
Communication
meaning:
A human relationship
involving two or more persons who come together to share, to dialogue and to
commune. Thus, communication is not just an act or a process but also a social
and cultural togetherness. According to Denis Mcquail, “Communication is a
process which increases commonality – but also requires elements of commonality
for it to occur at all.” A common language for instance does bring people
together but language alone does not suffice for communication to take place.
There are other factors too at play such as a shared culture and a common
interest which bring about a sense of commonality and more significantly, a
sense of community. The Sanskrit term, ‘Sadharanikaran’ comes closest to
the term of ‘common’ or ‘commonness’ usually associated with communication.
Needs for
Communication
A human being’s need
for communication is as strong as the need to eat, sleep and love. Communication
is as much a natural need as it is a social requirement in order to engage in
the sharing of experiences, through symbol mediated interaction. It requires
active interaction with our physical, biological and social environments. The
basic human need for communication can perhaps be traced to the process of
mankind’s evolution from lower species. Excommunication or lack of
communication may lead to sensory deprivation, anxiety, depraved judgement,
strange visions. Communication
represents an essential and very important human need as well as a basic human
right. Without having the possibility to communicate and talk to other people,
no individual, community, group or any other institution would be able to
exist, or prosper. Strictly speaking the ability to communicate or the general
right of communication make it possible to exchange opinions, thoughts and
meanings. So it enables people to express themselves and show their own points
of view. Consequently communication makes people who and what they are and
particularly strengthens human dignity. By having the right to communicate and
express personal thoughts, ideas, and opinions, people feel themselves treated
equally – in other words: Communication validates human equality. Thus the
protection and implementation of communication rights represents an essential
part of the general topic of human rights. Strictly speaking there exist four
central Pillars of Communication Rights. Each Pillar refers to a different domain of
social existence, practice, and experience, in which communication generally
represents a so-called core activity on the one hand and performs specific key
functions on the other hand. The most important point considering the four
pillars consists in the fact that each involves a relatively autonomous sphere
of social action. So they are extremely necessary in order to achieve
communication rights – a fact that means that everybody has the right to
communicate about every single topic.
The Four Pillars of
Communication Rights are the following ones:
Communicating on the Public Sphere: The role of
communication and media in exercising democratic political participation in
society.
Communication Knowledge: The terms and
means by which knowledge
generated by society is communicated, or blocked, for use by different groups.
Civil Rights in Communication: The
exercise of civil rights relating to the processes of communication in society.
Cultural Rights in Communication: The
communication of diverse cultures, cultural forms and identities at the
individual and social levels.
The Four Pillars of Communication Rights
point out very clearly why the right to communicate is important for people in
order to live in freedom, peace, justice, and dignity. So the right to
communicate can be seen as a means to enhance human rights as well as to
carefully strengthen the social, cultural and economic lives of people of
different nations, communities, institutions and groups. It is very important
to know that the ‘right to communicate’ does not have the equal meaning of
‘communication right’. In spite of all the two terms are closely related in
both their history and usage. Strictly speaking the ‘right to communicate’ is
generally associated with the New World Information and Communication Order
(NWICO) debate and expresses the need for a legal acknowledgement as a
framework for a better implementation. The other term, ‘communication right’,
points out that a group of international rights fortifying communication
already exists, but in spite of everything many are too often ignored.
Communication is a process of sending and receiving
information among people. Humans communicate with others not only by
face-to-face communication, but also by giving information via the Internet and
printed products such as books and newspapers. Many people believe that the
significance of communication is like the importance of breathing. Indeed,
communication facilitates the spread of knowledge and forms relationships
between people.
First of all, communication helps to spread
knowledge and information among people. For example, authors write books to
impart knowledge to the World, and teachers share their experience with their
students. Also, friends or co-workers discuss their ideas with each other, and
companies exchange information with their subsidiaries and customers. Besides,
the advent of the Internet not only allows people to have better access to
knowledge and information in all fields, but also makes it easier and faster to
contact with people around the World. Undoubtedly, the sharing knowledge and
information process cannot function without communication. As a result,
companies cannot operate, and humanity will be drowned in the abyss of
ignorance. Communication helps to spread knowledge and information among people. Moreover,
communication is the foundation of all human relationship. At first, strangers
start talking and getting to know each other, and then the relationships are
formed when they have more interaction and communication. Communicating helps
people to express their ideas and feelings, and it, at the same time, helps us
to understand emotion and thoughts of the others. As a result, we will develop
affection or hatred toward other people, and positive or negative relationships
will be created. It is no doubt that communication plays a vital role in human
life. It not only helps to facilitate the process of sharing information and
knowledge, but also helps people to develop relationships with others.
Therefore, the importance of communication cannot be underestimated. Every day,
we communicate with a lot of people including our families, our friends, our
colleagues, or even strangers. We should learn how to communicate effectively
to make our lives better.
Mass media and other forms of communication
technology have an enormous influence in helping to shape public opinion and
underlying sentiment. Newspapers, TV and radio are all important sources of
basic information about other people and other places and this can itself help
to engender understanding if presented in a fair, even-handed and
non-inflammatory way. The media is also an important accountability
mechanism: it raises important issues, corruption for example, that might
otherwise never be publicly debated or addressed. The media also has an
important role in stimulating governments to take action on social policy:
although stories about migrants or refugees might reinforce prejudice in some
quarters, they also expose problems that need to be addressed, for example poor
living conditions or lack of access to services, the citizenship status of
migrants, the response of local communities to their settlement and so on. But
the media can also, in some cases, become an instrument for the dissemination
of false and inflammatory messages and values that do not promote respect or
well-tempered dialogue and discussion. Negative messages can divide communities
and can help perpetuate the stereotypes that nurture violence. The internet
has radically changed the way in which people communicate and connect with each
other. As a means of social interaction, the web brings people together –
friends, family, young people, or complete strangers that share interests or
objectives – and this can foster a sense of belonging and identity. The web,
however, has also been used to target people, mainly young users, to radicalize
them into specific belief systems and divisive ways of seeing the world.
Other
media initiatives have been successful at increasing the inclusion of
previously marginalized groups by providing them with a means of expressing
their views. Positive results have also resulted from the creation of channels
through which older, familiar binary disputes can be broken down and
re-imagined in ways that highlight common interests that transcend warring boundaries.
Mass
communication becomes very important while communicating ideas intended to
change behaviour of people right from developing awareness to adoption of an
innovation. When people are exposed to an increasing flow of information, they
find themselves in a position which necessitates a change in their aspiration,
attitude and effort.
Frequent
exposure to mass media can create the urge for a higher standard of living.
There is adequate research evidence throwing light upon the potentialities of
individual medium of mass communication as well as a total effect of mass media
exposure in changing cognitive and affective behaviour of rural people.
Radio
and Television have invaded almost every corner of the country. People sit
glued to watch television. Research has also proved the effectiveness of these
media in educating people. Hence mass communication is one of the important
inputs for the development of the nation.
Radio,
television, newspaper, movies are used widely as means of mass communication
for information and entertainment.
Today,
mass communication brings people closer by developing common understanding of
the event or issue. We are dependent on mass communication not only for
information, entertainment and politics but also education, science, religion,
charities, agriculture and transportation.
In one
way or another, almost every major social activity in modern life depends on the
use of mass communication media to greater or lesser extent.
Mass
communication is important for socialization of people because changes in
subtle areas such as the socialization of the individual in regard to
knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs, can be brought about through mass
communication by using media like television and cinema.
Thus,
mass communication plays an important role in the transmission of attitudes,
perceptions and beliefs. Mass media like television and radio are influential
force when the same ideas, people, or behaviors, occur consistently from
program to program and presented in a stereotype manner.
Mass
communication has developed into industry and has provided jobs to millions of
people enabling them to earn their living.
Work sited
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