Dissertation Chapter on Communication
Answering Questions
- News Credibility
- Measuring Credibility
For a number of years, certainly in the age of many communication means, the initial concepts of credibility are varying. Still, there are universal facets that are trusted to make up credibility. Credibility is amongst the ancient theories of communication. It is “the feeling of trust and respect that you inspire in others” (Stacks & Salwen, 2008, p.435). When it comes to media, credibility necessitates the truthfulness of news. Certainly, there is a lot to bring up when we speak ‘truth’. When it comes to news, truth alludes to the full thought of the 5 Ws and 1H: what, when, who where and how. News, as a result, does not search for the deeper meaning. However, any kind of communication we allude to, the targeted group finds credibility the moment they feel that the data has considered all basics engaged: “believability, trust, perceived reliability, and a number of other theories as well as a group of them (Stacks & Salwen, 2008, p.435). Simply, credibility is essential in all news-linked components for instance media sources as well as messages.
The role of communication is to incite certain reaction in the targeted individuals. The question, as a result is, what effect do news provoke, a constructive or destructive one. The impact relies on the targeted individuals’ viewpoint on the truthfulness of the source of data they get, the means of communication where they get it as well as the message itself.
Source Credibility
The credibility of the source as well relies on message flexibility and target audience trust. They established that sources of high integrity had sturdier impact on the addresses’ feedback than low trustworthiness sources. For instance, they summed up that material obtained from credible sources varied viewpoints instantly following communication to a bigger degree than when obtained from unreliable sources.
Message Credibility
The audience is as expected to go for certain messages than others. The question here concentrates on what puts the message in a reliable or unreliable position, on components such as the quality of the message, discrepancy and the intensity of language utilized. Message structure is a key factor. In this respect, we focus on planning of the message. In line with Stacks & Salwen (2008, p.441), planned data is has the highest possibility of being factored trustworthy by the addresses than unplanned messages.
Media Credibility
The debate is about the medium of data utilized directly impacts the reliability of the data. In this circumstance, emphasis is put on the relative trustworthiness of mean of communication which include radio, television, newspaper and social media among others. Roper (cited in Schweiger, 2000, p.42) did a study, inquiring from the addressee which means of communication they perceived more reliable as source of information. The target trusted radio, TVs, magazines and newspapers as the most reliable data sources. These days, these views have not varied in any way. Nevertheless, the addressee still trusts in reliability of chief media companies, programs as well as trustworthiness ratings of certain information companies. Constructive credibility ratings for both USA Today and New York Times have dropped 7 and 9 points respectively two years ago.
- Social Media
Social media, essentially is “more vulnerable to become a place …to spread misinformation and rumors” (Castillo, et al., 2011, p.675). This is due to the directness of social media, individuals can write anything they like. For instance, via social media, incorrect information on the death of Jackie Chan amongst other famous people has been disseminated. Thus, it is challenging to distinguish which kind of data is more trustworthy and one which is not.
On the other hand, it would be partial to simply all data on social platform are not trustworthy. Certain data is reliable or not. To properly figure out the trustworthiness of social media, it is essential to concentrate on other components of data reliability, other means of communication, source as well as the message trustworthiness. In this regard, the same gauge demands necessary for message source and content are utilized.
- Political Communication
- Examples of Political Issues or Candidates that Have Been Framed by the Media
From a political science angle, Harold Laswell (cited in Stacks & Salwen, 2008) in simple words describes politics as “the process of determining who gets what, when, and how in a society”. This does not work for everyone, so it is put into the hands of a few individuals to represent them, in essence, politicians (president, senators, and governors, among others). In the same way, due to the fact that not everyone can get data on political decisions as well as procedures, it is the only duty of social media to connect the people and the politics. Americans, same as other people globally, have and are rapidly turning skeptical on politics, the capability of the chosen people to represent them aptly as well as the capability of the media to be an open connection between the people and the politics. Individuals are bring these days, are well-acquitted with numerous means whereby the media promotes the status quo, favors sides and utilizes several tactics to attract the audiences. Framing is an example of the tactic.
Framing alludes to “how the media presents information to an audience and how the selection of one method or content of presentation over another affects how an audience perceives a person, event, or issue” (Stacks & Salwen, 2008, p.461). When it comes to a contestant, the media can concentrate on building an image, data as well as utilizing the suitable media to vendor the two. Possibly, there is no political personality that has been a beneficiary of media framing more than Obama. Even though Obama as an individual attracted many people as he gave an impression of providing something fresh (a new way of doing politics and changes), the irresistible American and worldwide backing that he got in 2008, and also his triumph can be traced back to how the media portrayed him as well as his campaign agenda to American and the globe.
Both Obama and the media equally protected the procedure of frame building. As a black person, Obama had a challenge in the likelihood of being perceived as a foreigner. Obama’s search of the self, a pursuit that many American people stake with him, gave them the idea that he was the man who has absolutely gone through self-discovery and achieved self-awareness. As a result, Obama was able to create his personality directly to the masses. The same way, like he never doubted himself in the facade of the people (Sikanku, 2013, p.17). “The search for and definition of self not only creates an individual’s consciousness of her identity but also generates a response on how she is treated by the larger society” (Hogg & Reid, 2006, p.7). It seemed like Obama was the solitary politician to be absolutely shown to the societies, distance to McCain who looked more unfamiliar and cautious although he was a white American similarly to Mitt Romney in 2012.
Obama’s pleas to all ethnics played a part in the manner he built his African identity with the aid of media as well as how it run. When it came to message, Obama was not only an integral device (through his books and speeches), but also the media’s messaging that triggered the ethnic question in the subconscious minds of Americans, a facet of agenda setting not incorporating the broad consequences. His candidature, as a result of the media that kept going forward, exposed the concerns of race as well as ethnicity extraordinarily. Media itself, highlighted this, hitting at the broader America necessity for ethnic and racial cleaning, his election turning into the sign of a changed American mind.
Tali Mendelberg’s concept of inherent ethnic pleas has been established by the manner that ethnic-founded political communication offered Obama an added advantage among the lesser people, and also the white American in 2004 and 2008. Implicit ethnic pleas, fail to concentrate on the lesser people by itself. Reasonably they focus on the white people, inquiring their ethnic stands, making them somehow feel remorseful for it. In line with Mendelberg (2001), implicit ethnic appeals, different from explicit racial appeals, “prime white voters’ negative racial prejudices, which, in turn, influence views on public policy matters and voting decisions” (p.19). In this regard, the media utilizes dominant but refined signs in filling in ethical outlooks. TV adverts, for instance, carry messages that fill in ethnic outlooks devoid of essentially carrying any ethnic descriptions. For instance, image that links black peoples’ responses on unfit groups hold bigger priming impacts.
- Mcquail’s Comments that Political Campaigning and Debating are Necessary but Provide Little Benefit in Persuading Voters
McQuail’s stand, nevertheless cannot be right. Yes, to an assumed level, most voters fail to change their minds on who to vote in for the entire campaign or following the presidential debate. However, this outlook can only be real if political selections were only sentient as well as sane. Simply, voters’ favorites are only ambitious issue for social well being. Undoubtedly, these issues are quite essential. On other hand, voters have been reputed to be swayed by other aspects. For instance, a survey by the University of Masachussetts-Armherst (Lee, 2008, p.1-5) recorded a number of reliable concepts contending that opinion polls can influence voters: the bandwagon impact (that voters like to conform) and planned voting (that voters may not vote for their most favored candidates because of strategic considerations) and much more.
In the course of political campaigns as well as debates, other features are considered, for instance, the ability of the candidate to bring out their agendas openly. In this concern, eloquence abilities can aid greatly in appealing to the voters (Husser & Grose, 2008, p.2). Obama’s speech making abilities, his skills to bring out his thoughts perfectly and openly aided in his 2008 triumph. Even voters who did not comply with him, could accept that he comprehended what he was sharing and was not petrified to express it. In the same way, Bill Clinton’s speech at Democrat Party’s delegates’ conference in 2012 was alleged to have considerably furthered Obama’s ratings. His speech making abilities are perceived to be a part of his honesty that he is a being who plays well without anything to hide.
Works Cited
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