Communications and Power

Communications and Power

• Communication technology can lead to a centralization of power, according to Innis
• Space-biased media are portable, while time-biased media are durable
• Changes in communication technology cause profound changes in culture and social order
• Technology changes how people think, how society is structured, and cultural forms

Historical Communication Systems

• Elite classes control communication systems
• There exists a link between communication media and social structure
• Early empires were based on elite control of the written word
• Pre-literate societies relied on spoken word, with dialogue dominating public discourse
• Political authority was widely distributed before elites discovered the written word
• Written word became the main mode of elite communication, with power amplified by new materials
• Small groups of elites gained control over vast regions through written communication
• Empires using the written word expanded as far as communication technology allowed
• Expansion depended on communication for disseminating orders, instead of military might
• More advanced technology centralizes power among elites across space and time

Freud and Communication Studies

• Freud significantly impacted the 20th-century understanding of people
• Freud's concepts explain how people function, including the unconscious as a driver of decisions
• Enlightenment views people as rational, while Romanticism emphasizes emotion and imagination
• Freud saw people as psychodynamic beings, motivated by unconscious factors
• Aspects of the psyche inform information processing

Levels of Consciousness

• Preconscious thoughts and feelings can be easily brought to consciousness
• Conscious thoughts are present experiences directly accessible to awareness
• The conscious is just the tip of the iceberg
• The unconscious affects our operation, storing repressed trauma and unacceptable feelings
• The Id contains primal drives, the Ego mediates between impulses and environment, and the Superego acts as a moral compass

Psychological Concepts

• Semiotics studies sign systems and symbolism
• Repression is a defense mechanism that stores thoughts and feelings in the unconscious, affecting life functions
• Psychoanalysis brings the unconscious to the surface
• Dream analysis interprets unconscious symbolism in dreams

Early Public Relations

• Edward Bernays developed public relations, strategic communications, and propaganda
• Bernays used Freudian ideas to motivate people based on unconscious drives
• Third-party validation is a PR technique using external endorsement
• Endorsements utilize influencers to speak on behalf of a product

Propaganda and Social Influence

• Bernays states propaganda can manipulate public perception across industries
• Controlling information presentation influences how it is received and internalized
• Engineering consent manipulates public opinion by making people believe decisions benefit them
• Social acceptance fulfills the desire to belong and contribute
• This falls under Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Social and Political Manipulation

• Immigrants at the time looked to assimilate and gain social acceptance
• Orchestrated media events combined marketing with social influence
• An example is the "torches of freedom" campaign linking smoking with women's liberation
• Nazi Germany used Bernays' ideas to connect during the Holocaust
• Joseph Goebbels used mass communication to spread hatred against Jewish people

Models of Communication

• The objective is to understand how communication is modeled
• This helps understand audiences and how they decode information
• John Durham Peters influenced the cultural or ritual model of communication
• Peters' "Speaking into the Air" explores the history of communication ideas
• The text considers what communication is and who theorizes about it

Challenges in Communication

• We often approach it as a problem
• Communication breakdowns prevent conveying thoughts and feelings seamlessly
• Traditional transmission models view communication as a linear process from encoder to decoder, which faces obstacles

Communication as Connection

• Communication involves human connection, not just information transfer
• People have interiority that cannot always be expressed
• Symbolic realms try to imitate these feelings
• Communications systems do not solve the issue of communication because the core issue is social, not technical

Communication Models

• Transmission model assumes information transfer from point A to B involving encoding, decoding, and linear processes
• Sometimes conveying specific details is important, but it can be open to interpretation
• The cultural or ritual model focuses on forming an understanding, building social norms, and interpreting the world with stories
• James Carey believed that communications is about creating and maintaining shared meanings

Problems and Theories

• Noises and misunderstandings get in the way of clear communication
• People are easily persuaded by media
• The transmission model is used in alarmist ways, focusing on direct effects from author to audience
• Propaganda can be encoded to profoundly influence the decoder
• Media theory examines how media forms impact communication
• Communication addresses loneliness helping to foster communion and connection while alleviating the fear of breakdown
• Raymond Williams examines keywords in communication over time to show communication imparts a common understanding and involves reciprocity

Central Concerns

• The power of media and communications
• Their potential to manipulate
• How media can change the meaning
• How mediums can impact understanding

Historical Media Theory

• Peters references Plato's story of Phaedrus anticipates McLuhan
• It shows moral panic regarding the new medium as writing
• It shows orators delivering speeches exhibit a distinct performance quality
• Phaedrus recounts an orator’s speech to Socrates and reads from a scroll
• Socrates critiques writing arguing writers can manipulate from afar
• He suggests orality provides a more genuine reciprocal exchange

Plato

• Critiques writing as inferior to spoken dialogue
• Ironic because his written work was preserved
• This brings up the worry of new media as a threat or progress for communications
• He thinks if Comms are a meaningful exchange and deliver, how is the participation process designed?

Hypodermic Needle Theory

• This states powerful media directly affects weak audiences
• It explains how the transmission model functions
• It suggests media injects effects directly into unsuspecting victims
• Media becomes powerful while the audience lacks agency
• People see it as negative in many ways when people consider the impact on children

Direct Effects

• It does not consider individual interpretation, critical thinking, or resistance
• The encoder is powerful while the audience remains in a passive position
• "War of the Worlds" is an example involving a theatrical production of an alleged alien invasion
• News headlines caused panic but few listeners thought it was real
• Some listeners missed the disclaimer or were predisposed by faith

Minimal Effects

• Suggests media reinforces existing behaviors rather than change them
• Media won't cause behaviors and attitudes
• Media affects that have existing views
• People select exposure and messages

Uses and Gratifications

• People engage in media to satisfy intellect
• It defies the concept of passive media
• It empowers an active agency

Propaganda Theory

• Media is not a place to inform, but persuade
• Media can influence public opinion
• It suggests that media is not a neutral persuasion tool

Communication Practitioners

• Theorists have become alarmed by propaganda strategies
• Lasswell said propaganda is the manipulation of society with the manipulation of familiar symbols
• Symbols bypass the concept of rational thought
• It's an unethical tool

Lasswell's Points

• Media can corrupt morals and influence when instabilities occur
• Propaganda relies on powerful master symbols
• People must know ideas can influence with hypodermic needs

Democratic Theory

• When threatened, citizens need to be told what to do for national security
• Lippmann suggests that one should be able to lead via propaganda
• An ethical elite can contribute expertise on decisions
• Dewy said citizens should always be involved in decision-making
• This applies regardless of experience

Comms Model

• People don't engage media civically
• The model asks who says what to whom, through which channel
• It seeks what is missing in Comms like context
• The Shannon Weaver model offers a way to send messages to people, but removes any external factors
• The Frankfurt School highlights mass media for entertainment to rule society
• Pop culture distracts citizens to have a totalitarian rule
• McLuhan suggests the medium is the message and is not about the contents but delivery

Harold Innis

• The theorist highlights elite-run systems of time
• He also considers how scriptures were interpreted
• Comms biases dictate that media has different forms
• Space can allow something to become more portable, but time can create more durable information
• Cultural shifts dictate access to information

Oral/Written Communication

• Oral Comm unifies communities but doesn't fix particular details
• Socartes suggests citizens help the understanding
• Writing cultures can save individual data but shift natural communication

Print/Electronic Communication

• Print allows for easier sharing/ distribution
• McLhuan suggests it empowers solitude
• New media empowers senses with distance
• Retribalization connect different villagers

Cool vs Hot Media

• Based on how much participation is needed
• Turotial dives deep into freud theory and how the unconscious can be used to attract consumer
• Ad communication can come from desires and meanings can be manipulated

Behavioral Research

• Empirical methods of testing grew in the early 20th century Laswell also questioned who can be easily influenced
• Behavioral studies have a scientific approach and can be used to study media and audience relationships
• The study can be done using surveys that downplay the effect when it comes to social control

Political Fields

• Propaganda is used in war, and propaganda is critical for governments
• The influence of these thoughts can generate opinions and impact actions
• Surveys and tests gauge emotional impact within Comms
• Marketing looks at buying actions and demographics

Lazarsfeld Emphasis

• Psychology can be applied to both social and economic models for Comms
• Studies test the power of external motivation and goal setting
• Comms theory revolves around the power of effects
• People tend to follow the hypodermic needle when it comes to being influenced

Behaviorism

• Action has a condition. Thoughts can modify how an environment can change thoughts
• This allows scientists to do data testing to measure
• Skinner suggests rewards can change the behavior of variable groups
• This requires a variable loop that can trigger ethical dilemmas

Comms

• Propaganda is a common tactic to influence
• People are prone to follow propaganda
• Lasswell's Comms model follows the channel in which messages are sent
• This is a linear model influenced by feedback. However, it does not highlight specific demographics of audiences

Social Lab Studies

• Tests conclude if actions influence actions. Rating systems often demonize behavior.
• Psychology tests action and motivtion
• Testing the impact of the broadcast and its effect on behavior

Postivism Influences

• Studying the impacts with objectivity vs. Subjectivity
• Key theories of cultivation show how reality can be seen via TV
• It makes reality seem far more violent

Political Actions

• Agenda setting and spiraling of silent actions causes social isolation
• Modern models look at egency and interactions
• Traditions show how to impact individuals at a group and individual level
• The traditions are highly measured by bias

Today's Influence

• The world is highly driven by advertisements and algorithm
• Algorithmic structures can be found within Google ads