Mass Communication Talk

Language Skills & Communicative Abilities

Guidelines of precis writing

April 10, 2012 No Comments

It was not so in Greece, where philosophers professed less, and undertook more. Parmenides pondered nebulously over the mystery of knowledge; but the pre-Socratics kept their eyes with fair consistency upon the firm earth, and sought to ferret out its secrets by observation and experience, rather than to create it by exuding dialectic; there were not many introverts among the Greeks. Picture Democritus, the Laughing Philosopher; would he not be perilous company for the desiccated scholastics who have made the disputes about the reality of the external world take the place of medieval discourses on the number of angles that could sit on the point of a pin? Picture Thales, who met the challenge that philosophers were numskulls by “cornering the market” and making a fortune in a year. Picture Anaxagoras, who did the work of Darwin for the Greeks and turned Pericles form a wire-pulling politician into a thinker […]

Language Skills & Communicative Abilities

Differences between journalistic and literary writing

April 9, 2012 No Comments

Journalistic writing Joseph Pulitzer, a famous publisher in the 1800s, stressed one of the most important qualities of journalistic writing in his memorable command: “ Accuracy! Accuracy! Accuracy!” Roger Mudd’s quote on the first slide refers to another important quality of journalistic writing: objectivity. In addition, all journalistic writing should be clear, concise and colorful. Nothing is more embarrassing or unprofessional than writing and publishing a story that has factual inaccuracies. As a reporter, we were responsible for the information printed in your story. Review everything carefully. Our reputation, and that of your publication, is at stake. Double-check the spellings of student, faculty, and staff names, as well as grade levels and titles. Refer to official documents listing this information, such as homeroom lists or a school directory. Keep a current phone book and an atlas handy to double-check the names of organizations and places. Double-check dates, using a calendar […]

Mass Communication I

Uses and Gratifications Approach

April 9, 2012 No Comments

Uses and Gratifications One influential tradition in media research is referred to as ‘uses and gratifications’ (occasionally ‘needs and gratifications’). This approach focuses on why people use particular media rather than on content. In contrast to the concern of the ‘media effects’ tradition with ‘what media do to people’ (which assumes a homogeneous mass audience and a ‘hypodermic’ view of media), U & G can be seen as part of a broader trend amongst media researchers which is more concerned with ‘what people do with media’, allowing for a variety of responses and interpretations. However, some commentators have argued that gratifications could also be seen as effects: e.g. thrillers are likely to generate very similar responses amongst most viewers. And who could say that they never watch more TV than they had intended to? Watching TV helps to shape audience needs and expectations. U & G arose originally in the 1940s and underwent a revival […]

Mass Communication I

STRATEGY OF AGENDA SETTING

April 9, 2012 No Comments

THE STRATEGY OF AGENDA SETTING: Arrangement or setting of news, current affairs, items and documentary elements in a descending order of importance is called agenda setting. The process relates to the dynamics of coverage and to the structuring of what and how. Agenda setting is more concrete and dependable in broadcasting as compared to newspapers. It is because the items follow in a linear order in broadcasting and there is no alternative with the audience but to follow the agenda except by switching off the sets. Paying attention to some issues and neglecting others will have an effect on • public opinion. People will tend to know about those things which the mass media deal with and adopt the order of priority assigned to different issues. The best known of the more recent proponents of the agenda-setting hypothesis are the American researchers Malcolm McCombs and Donald Shaw (1972, 1976). […]

Language Skills & Communicative Abilities

Different forms of Journalistic writing

April 7, 2012 No Comments

There are following different forms of Journalistic writing the details is as under 1. News writing News writing follows a basic formula; there are key elements every news story follows. While styles can diverge more dramatically depending on the kind of story a feature story may look and sound very different than a hard news one all news stories are cut from the same mold. The first element of news writing is, of course, to deliver the news. Most people have heard of the 5 W’s, even if they’ve never taken a journalism class. The W’s in question, as you probably know, refer to the Who, What, When, Where and Why that every story should address. Depending on what the story is, how and when you answer those W’s may change. If, for example, you’re reporting on a drive-by shooting in a city, we likely start with where the crime […]

Language Skills & Communicative Abilities

differences between spoken and written language

April 6, 2012 No Comments

Spoken language Spoken language is a form of human communication in which words derived from a large vocabulary (usually at least 10,000) together with a diverse variety of names are uttered through or with the mouth. All words are made up from a limited set of vowels and consonants. The spoken words they make are stringed into syntactically organized sentences and phrases. The vocabulary and syntax together with the speech sounds it uses define its identity as a Particular language. Some human languages exist with their own vocabularies and syntax that are not spoken but use sign gestures. Sign languages have the same natural origin as spoken languages, and the same grammatical complexities, but use the hands, arms, and face rather than parts of the mouth as their place of articulation. Many spoken languages are written. However, even today, there are many world languages that can be spoken but have […]