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Understanding Political Communication Dynamics

This document provides an introduction to political communication. It discusses key concepts such as the definition of communication, models of communication including the Dance-Osgood model and mediated communication. It defines political communication as involving political actors, media, and public opinion. It also outlines the main functions of media in informing, entertaining, forming opinions and social links. Propaganda and filtering of information by media are discussed using Chomsky and Herman's propaganda model. Public opinion is defined as the combination of rational, emotional and experiential elements in response to issues. Methods of evaluating public opinion include polls, votes and riots. Dominique Wolton argues that media is the weakest element in influencing public opinion.

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58 views2 pages

Understanding Political Communication Dynamics

This document provides an introduction to political communication. It discusses key concepts such as the definition of communication, models of communication including the Dance-Osgood model and mediated communication. It defines political communication as involving political actors, media, and public opinion. It also outlines the main functions of media in informing, entertaining, forming opinions and social links. Propaganda and filtering of information by media are discussed using Chomsky and Herman's propaganda model. Public opinion is defined as the combination of rational, emotional and experiential elements in response to issues. Methods of evaluating public opinion include polls, votes and riots. Dominique Wolton argues that media is the weakest element in influencing public opinion.

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Introduction to political communication

October 22nd

communication = the message that a sender transmits to a receiver; it is


information that has been encoded using a common code through a mean of
communication (e.g. speech, body language)

Feedback:
1) Positive / Negative
2) Immediate / Delayed
3) Internal / External (the perception of the message from an internal/external
point of view)

The Dance Osgood model of communication - the only dynamic one (spiral)

Mediated communication: Marshall McLuhan - "Medium is the message"

Political communication = dynamic process that involves three elements:


1) political actors (politicians, parties, organisations)
2) media
3) public opinion as it results from opinion polls (Dominique Wolton)

The 4.5 media functions:


1) to inform (the agenda setting; through media, people learn what is important,
what they should be thinking about - the human factor)
2) to entertain
3) to form opinions
4) to educate
5) to form social links (it provides people with subjects to talk about) - generalist
TV

Propaganda model of the media - Noam Chomsky + Ed. S. Herman

Five filters that interfere with the way media broadcasts:


1) site, ownership and profit orientation (of the media institution)
2) advertising
3) sources of information and experts
4) media analysis, institutions
5) anticommunism - changes to antiterrorism.

The public opinion = the sum of rational, emotional, experience elements that
appear after the contact with a controversial issue on a relevant public scale (!=
right, wrong, true, false)

the smallest group - a village

Evaluating the public opinion (changes very very fast => it doesn't exist):
-polls
-vote
-riots

Dominique Wolton - in this trinome we have a weak element - the media


-because it works on an agenda based on either public or political actors - the
idea of neutrality does not apply.
-one of the main sources in the public opinion's information are the opinion polls;
to some extent, public opinion is autogenerated.
-opinion leaders - not automatically the group leaders.
People will tend to expose themselves rather to the messages sent by the
opinion leaders of their own groups than to the media original message.
-the only public of a campaign is the undecided.

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