MAC 201- Theory of Mass Communications

Different scholars have defined communication severally but relying seriously upon their different fields of study. Hence, in communication we have scholars of sociology, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, engineering, mathematics etc defining communication to suit their various purposes. Some of these scholars are:

 Stevens (1950), who defines communication as:"The discriminatory response of an organism to stimuli From the use of the words – ‘discriminatory’, ‘response’ and ‘stimuli’, it becomes obvious that this scholar is a psychologist.

Hovland (1948), defines it as: "The process whereby an individual transmits stimuli, usually verbal, to influence the behaviour of another individual". He, however, prefaces this definition by saying that "communication is the sharing of meaning ..." Hovland has given an anthropocentric perspective to this definition. Hence, the definition is "Human Centred" Hovland is said to be the father of modern "Rhetorics". This is because he has done a lot of works and researches on PERSUASION. That is, how to use persuasion to change people's attitudes.

 Schacter (1951) - as: "The mechanism by which power is exercised". This scholar is a political scientist. How does his definition affect communication? When two people communicate, power is at play. This definition is relevant to the significance and importance of communication. In the political context, power is a very important weapon. The government often wants to monopolise power and of course, muffle the press”. Communication, they say, is power; hence, if you can catch people's wind by manipulating them through communication, then you are fully in control. America for instance has tried to colonies the world through their media.

Cooley (1909): "The mechanisms through which human relations exist and develop all the symbols of the mind together, with the means of conveying them through space and presenting them in time". This scholar is a sociologist. He has brought in the 'symbolic - interactionist perspective of sociology into communication. This perspective has a lot of implications for communication as this theme of 'interactionism' is a very important tool for determining the role of communication in a society.