History of “Speech
Communication”: Models and
Messages
Lee & Baldwin
1. Rhetoric

Earliest study: Ancient cultures
– Greece: Aristotle, Plato
– Rome: Cicero, Quintilian
– China, India

Beginning of a discipline (19001940)
– 1914: National Association of
Academic Teachers of Public
Speaking
– Departments of English
– Focus on public speaking
1. Rhetoric, cont.

From practice to theory
(1940-present)
– Aristotle (again): Logic,
credibility, emotion
– Burke (dramatism):
Speech to remove guilt
– Fisher (narrative
paradigm): Stories well
told (believable, coherent)
2. Early Media Research

The beginnings (1900-1920s)
– Some early writers
 Charles Cooley (sociology)
 Robert Park (sociology, journalist, human
rights activist)
 John Dewey (educational philosopher)
2. Early Media Research

Strong effects models: Post
WW 1 (1920s-1950s)
– Media as “hypodermic needle” or
“magic bullet”
– A “mass audience,”—people with
the same characteristics/effects
– Started with analysis of radio
effects, Hitler’s propaganda, and
gaining support for U.S. war
effort (WWII)
– Radio available but only 3 tv
channels so viewing options
limited
2. Early Media Research

Limited effects models (1950s to
1960s)
– Post WW2—a move from focus on mass
audience to demographic groups
– People were seen as choice-makers—not
“sponges” soaking up media’s influence
– Origin of Uses and Gratifications Theory
2. Early Media Research

Summary thoughts
– Strongest influence from sociology,
psychology, social psychology
– Strong basis in scientific method, “media
effects” paradigm
– A change over the years in how strong
media’s influence is
– Began in early 1900s, but focus continues
today
3. Scientific View of Face-to-Face
Communication

Persuasion
– A move from “rhetoric” (analysis of speeches) to
“variables”
 Both in change of attitudes/beliefs (traditional
persuasion) and change in behavior
(compliance gaining—more recently)
– Some early writers (1930s-1950s)
 Kurt Lewin: Small group interaction, group leadership,
gatekeeping, networks
 Carl Hovland: Persuasion, source credibility, 2-sided
messages
3. Scientific View of Face-to-Face
Communication

Relationship research
– Self-disclosure (Jourard,
1960s)
– Relational growth: (1970s)
 Altman & Taylor: Social
penetration theory
 Thibaut & Kelley: Social
exchange theory
 Berger & Calabrese:
Uncertainty reduction
theory
3.5 Sociological View of Face-toFace Communication (Metts add)

Goffman
– Face and facework

Brown & Levinson (socio-linguists)
– Politeness theory

Scheflen
– Quasi-courtship behaviors
– Body language and social order:
Communication as behavioral control
4. Sociology of Culture

Chicago School (of Sociology)
– View: communication creates culture
– Social reality as process, not effect; “social
construction of reality” (Berger & Luckmann,
1969)

Symbolic Interactionism & Media
– We co-create reality through messages
– Media messages are part of the process of
reality construction
5. Marxist (critical) Approaches

The Original Marx
– The haves (bourgeoisie) &
have-nots (proletariat):
owners & workers
– Economic system (base)
drives all else—religion,
education, family, culture
(superstructure)
5. Marxist (critical) Approaches, cont.

Modified Marxism (1970’s to present)
–
–
–
–
It’s not just class, but race, sex, etc.
Oppression not always deliberate
Cultural studies, feminism, semiotics
Focus on group-held power, oppression
(racism, classism, sexism), empowerment,
resistence
– Media studies take a humanistic and critical
turn!
Some Models of Communication:
Ogden & Richards Triangle of Meaning
“D-o-g”
Reference (Thought)
Symbol
(Word: D-o-g)
Referent
(Reality)
Lasswell’s Model of
Mediated Communication
Who says
What in
Which channel
to Whom
with What Effect?
(in what Situation
and Context?)
Lasswell’s Model
Example: Presidential Media Event
Who: George Bush,
Kim Dae-Jung
What: Media Event
Which channel:
Whitehouse Webpage
to Whom: American
public
with What Effect: Positive PR for
Bush’s international
program
in what Situation: Goodwill trip
and Context: War with Iraq;
Tenserelations with North Korea
Extensions of Lasswell
Technological Determinism (McLuhan):
“The medium is the message” (medium
(influences) everything else)
 Media Ecology Theory: TV (and other
changes in media)  harmful societal
effects (e.g., texting, SNS 
relationships?)

Symmetry (Balance) Models
X
A
B
Symmetry (Balance) Models
A
B
Shannon & Weaver’s
“Information Theory” Model
Information
Source
Transmitter
Receiver
Channel
Signal
Received
Signal
Noise
Source
Destination
Shannon & Weaver’s
“Information Theory” Model
Example: Broadcast following crisis
A
television
station
B
TV
broadcasting
equipment
Signal:
A storm!
D
TV sets;
C
Circuitry,
waves
Received
Signal:
A storm!
Noise Source:
Storm damages TV
equipment; static from storm
in reception
E
viewing
public
Schramm’s Model
Field of experience
Encoder
Field of experience
Message
Interpreter
Encoder
Interpreter
Message
Decoder
Decoder
Schramm’s Model
Example: Broadcast Reporting (medical)
Field of experience:
Limited medical
experience
Field of experience:
Expertise in medical field
Encoder
Message
Interpreter
Decoder
Encoder
Interpreter
Messag
e
Decoder
Hall’s Circuit of Culture
Representation
Identity
Regulation
Consumption
Production
Hall’s Circuit of Culture
Example: Abercrombie & Fitch advertisement
Representation:
The image
Regulation:
None
Consumption:
Purchasing
Identity:
People’s
association in
mind--stylish,
sexy
Production:
For certain outlets