Source Type: Personal Reflection & YouTube
Have you ever wondered about the reasons behind the great amount of attention you pay on certain issues? Why are you more anxious on the upcoming reports of particular events and not the others? Well, you bet what I’m going to write about in this post. Yes, we can safely attribute these answers to the pervasive influence of the mass media. We may not be such powerless creatures that succumb to the Powerful Effects Theory nor are we totally resistive to the influence of the media according to the Limited Effects Theory. However, we are somewhere in the continuum of the power of media influence, where we hold the perspective of Moderate Effects Theory. It says that although audiences are not totally manipulated by the media, similarly, the media also do not have total control of our thoughts. Continuing on, I will show the application of the different functions of the media to substantiate my perspective. Enjoy reading on!
Question: Who owns the media?
Answer: The rich and powerful.
You do not buy this statement? Watch the YouTube below!
It features that 95% of the media in United States is dominated by 5 major companies; Time Warner, VIACOM, Vivendi Universal, Walt Disney, and News Corp! They have tremendous monetary resources to extensively inform and educate the public through news and print media. These companies are very self-sufficient as they fund their own production, manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sales. Media Hegemony is more than convincing to account for the ownership of the media. This theory explains that the media represent views of those who hold economic power. When these companies have the capital to market their products through advertisement and feature their success through broadcast news, they gradually influence the audiences’ attitudes. Through the mainstreaming effect of the Cultivation Theory, the media create a way for us to comprehend the world which eventually affects our beliefs about social reality. In this case, through the cumulative deliverance of the information about themselves, it makes us feel that the products they sell are one of the finest. Their marketing strategy becomes a success when viewers like us are compelled to purchase their product. Also, the medium of the message has great potential to change the way we experience the world. This is governed by the theory of Media Determinism. Our perspective will be swayed depending on status of the source which is bringing the message across. If a piece of news originates from an entity like News Corp, whose reputation is well-established, most of us will trust the message even though it may be distorted.
Question: What makes you more concern about a certain issue?
Answer: The media.
Take a look at the YouTube below!
It shows that at one point of time, there was large amount of media coverage on environmental problems like global warming, wilderness destruction, air and soil pollution, water pollution. When media coverage was pervasive, poll shows that the public concerns were very elevated. As the new media lost its interest on that issue, even though these environmental problems were at its pits, the poll study shows that public concern decreased accordingly. Again, this reflects the Agenda Setting Function of the media where through repeated news coverage; it raises the importance of an issue in the public’s mind. Even though in reality, the environmental problems are worthy of our attention, just because the media lessen its coverage, the public’s focus was altered by the media.
Ironically, these analyses that I’ve presented are from a source of media. So has the media set my agenda upon this discussion? Or does it just confirm the fact that we are vulnerable to the information offered by the media?
To you, how much has the mass media affected your way of looking at the world?
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Modernism VS Postmodernism
Source Type: Personal Reflection
Having read through the text, it has already given us a wide scope of examples about the interaction between people of the different countries. Since we already have a comprehensive understanding about communication between various nationalities, I will be touching on something different in my blog this time.
One of the characteristic of culture is that they are dynamic in nature. As time goes by, the changes in the economy and technology affects the living condition and behaviors of human kind. Clearly, we often hear youngest mention that they have a ‘generation gap’ between themselves and their elders. The reason behind this gap is to be explained by the different culture we live in. Here, we will explore deeper into two cultures that evolves with time; the modernism and the postmodernism cultures.
The whole idea of modernism and postmodernism revolves around the complexities of literature, philosophy, art, history, architect, music, identity and culture. Here in this post, I will limit the scope of discussion by only commenting on the culture, the way of living, as well as the mindset that governs the thought of the different generations.
Through the application of communication concepts to the two cultures, the modernist culture (where most our parents belong to) is relatively more collectivist while the postmodernist is more individualistic in nature. It could be traced back to our parents’ living conditions in the past. The most visible example is by examining the fact that they live in ‘kampongs’ where the homes of their parents, aunts and uncles, nephew and nieces are of walking distance. Naturally, as they grow up in that environment of high interdependence, they value the fulfillment of others’ needs in order to live in harmony. Different from the postmodernist culture, we live in a nuclear family style where we are often separated miles apart from our relatives. Adapting to this living condition, we start to believe that an individual is the most important social unit where one act on each owns interest. As we develop low dependency, we become less concerned for the needs and feelings of the people around us.
As an individual, we are increasingly capable of striving for advancement when we value speed and accuracy. Undeniably, this efficiency brings our country and economy to greater heights. However, as we enjoy the benefits, being individualistic also brings drawbacks to our society. When we are only concerned about fulfilling the task laid in front of us and the results we would achieve as an individual, we may neglect the fragility of others’ feelings.
Secondly, the modernist culture is high context in which non verbal cues are often interpreted and less importance is placed upon spoken messages. On the other hand, postmodernist culture is relatively low context in nature where we make sense of the context through spoken languages. Since modernist value face-saving and modesty, they are more sensitive to the facial expression and kinesics of the communicator. Belonging to the high context culture, our parent’s value politeness and respect where they believe that not all things must be spelt out for our comprehension. However, for postmodernist like us who grew up in a society of a low context culture, we see speech as a tool to express ourselves. Governed by this mindset, we become more straightforward in our articulation. Although it helps in the clarity of our expression where we minimize miscommunication, sometimes we may become too direct in our enunciation. When this happens, we would be baring the risk of hurting others feelings once again.
A once slow paced life with rich human connection has evolved into a fast paced culture where people become relatively insensitive to interpersonal relationship. If you have a choice, which culture would you prefer to belong to? A Modernist or a Postmodernist?
Having read through the text, it has already given us a wide scope of examples about the interaction between people of the different countries. Since we already have a comprehensive understanding about communication between various nationalities, I will be touching on something different in my blog this time.
One of the characteristic of culture is that they are dynamic in nature. As time goes by, the changes in the economy and technology affects the living condition and behaviors of human kind. Clearly, we often hear youngest mention that they have a ‘generation gap’ between themselves and their elders. The reason behind this gap is to be explained by the different culture we live in. Here, we will explore deeper into two cultures that evolves with time; the modernism and the postmodernism cultures.
The whole idea of modernism and postmodernism revolves around the complexities of literature, philosophy, art, history, architect, music, identity and culture. Here in this post, I will limit the scope of discussion by only commenting on the culture, the way of living, as well as the mindset that governs the thought of the different generations.
Through the application of communication concepts to the two cultures, the modernist culture (where most our parents belong to) is relatively more collectivist while the postmodernist is more individualistic in nature. It could be traced back to our parents’ living conditions in the past. The most visible example is by examining the fact that they live in ‘kampongs’ where the homes of their parents, aunts and uncles, nephew and nieces are of walking distance. Naturally, as they grow up in that environment of high interdependence, they value the fulfillment of others’ needs in order to live in harmony. Different from the postmodernist culture, we live in a nuclear family style where we are often separated miles apart from our relatives. Adapting to this living condition, we start to believe that an individual is the most important social unit where one act on each owns interest. As we develop low dependency, we become less concerned for the needs and feelings of the people around us.
As an individual, we are increasingly capable of striving for advancement when we value speed and accuracy. Undeniably, this efficiency brings our country and economy to greater heights. However, as we enjoy the benefits, being individualistic also brings drawbacks to our society. When we are only concerned about fulfilling the task laid in front of us and the results we would achieve as an individual, we may neglect the fragility of others’ feelings.
Secondly, the modernist culture is high context in which non verbal cues are often interpreted and less importance is placed upon spoken messages. On the other hand, postmodernist culture is relatively low context in nature where we make sense of the context through spoken languages. Since modernist value face-saving and modesty, they are more sensitive to the facial expression and kinesics of the communicator. Belonging to the high context culture, our parent’s value politeness and respect where they believe that not all things must be spelt out for our comprehension. However, for postmodernist like us who grew up in a society of a low context culture, we see speech as a tool to express ourselves. Governed by this mindset, we become more straightforward in our articulation. Although it helps in the clarity of our expression where we minimize miscommunication, sometimes we may become too direct in our enunciation. When this happens, we would be baring the risk of hurting others feelings once again.
A once slow paced life with rich human connection has evolved into a fast paced culture where people become relatively insensitive to interpersonal relationship. If you have a choice, which culture would you prefer to belong to? A Modernist or a Postmodernist?
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Which role do you play?
Source Type: Personal Reflection
Since human have an innate need for affiliation, there is a natural tendency for us to form groups. It can either be an informal one where friendship evolves naturally, or a formal one where there are goals to be accomplished as a team. I’m sure almost everyone has the experience of being part of a group. Do you know that whether consciously or unconsciously, you are playing a particular role in your group at a certain point of time? My question to you would be which role do you actually play?
There are two broad categories in our role playing:Task Roles and Maintenance Roles. We often specialize in either one, but the best group member is one who is able to display both kinds of behavior, depending on the needs of the group. Continuing on, I will be giving a personal sharing about the roles I play.
Task Roles
I see myself as an Initiator-Contributor who starts the ball rolling. This is so because I belief that in order to motivate others, I have to be motivated first. Also, this helps to enhance the group performance when goals and ideas are clearly laid out. In this way, all the members will know what to expect from this particular project or partnership. With that, it brings me to evaluate myself as an Evaluator-Critic who sets the benchmark for the group functioning. Personally, I have expectations of my own and my group’s performance as we accomplish tasks. No one would want a lousy output, neither do I. Therefore, I would constantly assess the quality of our output against a yardstick. If you are wondering what standard of comparison I use, my answer would be alongside the principles associated with our group. Hence, I also play the role of an Opinion Seeker who would seek clarification of values that our group holds. To me, it is a crucial role to play for ensuring a smooth and comfortable working relationship. Imagine what would happen if a person constantly decides and demands the group to achieve something that everyone in the group is unwilling to adhere to. The concept of group synergy confirms the fact that groups provide more input than an individual is capable of. Thus as an Information Seeker, I constantly question the group about our progress and encourage each of us to contribute suggestions and improvements that could refine the quality of the fruit of our labor. By playing these task roles, there is always a motivating drive for me to achieve the best that we are capable of. What is the point of putting in our precious time and effort if we are not giving our best?
Maintenance Roles
A highly task-oriented person may be too insensitive to the other member feelings in the midst of achieving goals, thereby causing tension and discontentment within the group climate. Hence, it is always desirable to be able to strike a balance in the various responsibilities we undertake. As a Gatekeeper-Expediter, I feel that it is important to give everyone a chance to voice their concerns as well as to express their opinion about the project that we are on. This gives them a sense of participation and belonging when their ideas and suggestions are taken into account for the benefit of the group as a whole. As I play the role of an Encourager, I belief that it is always pleasant to say a word of thanks and show appreciation to the contributor. It allows the person to know that he/she is not taken for granted and his/her ideas are valued.
Though out my experiences, I’ve never evaluated myself in the roles that I am playing in a group setting. It is indeed fascinating to discover a lot of myself through this communication course. I don’t mind a few comments from you about your perception of the roles I play when I am/was working with you!
Do take a few moments to discover more about yourself with the list of roles displayed below:
TASK ROLES
INITIATOR/CONTRIBUTOR: suggest new ideas
INFORMATION GIVER: offers facts and relevant information
OPINION GIVER: states beliefs/opinions
INFORMATION SEEKER: ask for information for facts
OPINION SEEKER: asks for clarification of values
COORDINATOR: pulls ideas together and coordinate work
ELABORATOR: works out details, gives examples
EVALUATOR-CRITC: develops standard
ORIENTOR: summarizes and ask questions about new paths
PROCEDURAL TECHNICIAN:performs routine tasks for the group
ENERGIZER: stimulates the group to action leading to closure
MAINTENANCE ROLES
ENCOURAGER: praises good points, exhibits acceptance
HARMONIZER: reduces tension and mediate differences
GATEKEEPER/EXPEDITER: attempts to encourage communication
STANDARD SETTER: applies standards for the group
COMPROMISER: is willing to compromise or yield his/her idea
GROUP OBSERVER: observe process and offers feed backs
FOLLOWER: going along with the ideas of others
So what role do you normally play? I’m eager to understand more about you, my dear friends! Just want to let you know that your comments are greatly appreciated!
Since human have an innate need for affiliation, there is a natural tendency for us to form groups. It can either be an informal one where friendship evolves naturally, or a formal one where there are goals to be accomplished as a team. I’m sure almost everyone has the experience of being part of a group. Do you know that whether consciously or unconsciously, you are playing a particular role in your group at a certain point of time? My question to you would be which role do you actually play?
There are two broad categories in our role playing:Task Roles and Maintenance Roles. We often specialize in either one, but the best group member is one who is able to display both kinds of behavior, depending on the needs of the group. Continuing on, I will be giving a personal sharing about the roles I play.
Task Roles
I see myself as an Initiator-Contributor who starts the ball rolling. This is so because I belief that in order to motivate others, I have to be motivated first. Also, this helps to enhance the group performance when goals and ideas are clearly laid out. In this way, all the members will know what to expect from this particular project or partnership. With that, it brings me to evaluate myself as an Evaluator-Critic who sets the benchmark for the group functioning. Personally, I have expectations of my own and my group’s performance as we accomplish tasks. No one would want a lousy output, neither do I. Therefore, I would constantly assess the quality of our output against a yardstick. If you are wondering what standard of comparison I use, my answer would be alongside the principles associated with our group. Hence, I also play the role of an Opinion Seeker who would seek clarification of values that our group holds. To me, it is a crucial role to play for ensuring a smooth and comfortable working relationship. Imagine what would happen if a person constantly decides and demands the group to achieve something that everyone in the group is unwilling to adhere to. The concept of group synergy confirms the fact that groups provide more input than an individual is capable of. Thus as an Information Seeker, I constantly question the group about our progress and encourage each of us to contribute suggestions and improvements that could refine the quality of the fruit of our labor. By playing these task roles, there is always a motivating drive for me to achieve the best that we are capable of. What is the point of putting in our precious time and effort if we are not giving our best?
Maintenance Roles
A highly task-oriented person may be too insensitive to the other member feelings in the midst of achieving goals, thereby causing tension and discontentment within the group climate. Hence, it is always desirable to be able to strike a balance in the various responsibilities we undertake. As a Gatekeeper-Expediter, I feel that it is important to give everyone a chance to voice their concerns as well as to express their opinion about the project that we are on. This gives them a sense of participation and belonging when their ideas and suggestions are taken into account for the benefit of the group as a whole. As I play the role of an Encourager, I belief that it is always pleasant to say a word of thanks and show appreciation to the contributor. It allows the person to know that he/she is not taken for granted and his/her ideas are valued.
Though out my experiences, I’ve never evaluated myself in the roles that I am playing in a group setting. It is indeed fascinating to discover a lot of myself through this communication course. I don’t mind a few comments from you about your perception of the roles I play when I am/was working with you!
Do take a few moments to discover more about yourself with the list of roles displayed below:
TASK ROLES
INITIATOR/CONTRIBUTOR: suggest new ideas
INFORMATION GIVER: offers facts and relevant information
OPINION GIVER: states beliefs/opinions
INFORMATION SEEKER: ask for information for facts
OPINION SEEKER: asks for clarification of values
COORDINATOR: pulls ideas together and coordinate work
ELABORATOR: works out details, gives examples
EVALUATOR-CRITC: develops standard
ORIENTOR: summarizes and ask questions about new paths
PROCEDURAL TECHNICIAN:performs routine tasks for the group
ENERGIZER: stimulates the group to action leading to closure
MAINTENANCE ROLES
ENCOURAGER: praises good points, exhibits acceptance
HARMONIZER: reduces tension and mediate differences
GATEKEEPER/EXPEDITER: attempts to encourage communication
STANDARD SETTER: applies standards for the group
COMPROMISER: is willing to compromise or yield his/her idea
GROUP OBSERVER: observe process and offers feed backs
FOLLOWER: going along with the ideas of others
So what role do you normally play? I’m eager to understand more about you, my dear friends! Just want to let you know that your comments are greatly appreciated!
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