Intercultural Communication

Definitional

According to Tubbs & Moss culture is defined as “ A way of life developed and shared by a people and passed down from generation to generation”. Because cultures are so vastly different, effective communication between different types of cultures is essential to being a collective group such as a city, state or country. The main things that make each culture individual is their rights that are associated with the culture, their values which are very often implied and lastly their needs which are very often needs that aren’t noticed or talked about. These three things make each and every culture different and give each culture their own unique identity. Identifying is essential when there are disputes, as humans we tend to identify with those who are similar with us and we tend to contrast or negatively compare ourselves to those who are different from us or who have different cultural backgrounds. As far as relationships between different cultures or different people within cultures, there is always a sense of reality that is deeply rooted in power relationships; this often deals with who is on top in terms of politics. An important thing to note when studying intercultural communication is the issue of stereotyping. Stereotyping is defined as a generalization about an individual’s connection with others, and they are typically culturally bound. The good things about stereotyping in intercultural situations are that they can very often help predict behavior as well as allow for some positive communication. They do however usually aggravate power relationships as well as help to create negative cultural norms. Stereotypes can be considered mostly a good thing however with some limitations. Also when studying intercultural communication mass migration and diasporas play a role when discussing the physical locations of a group of people. Mass migration deals with the displacement of a large group of people and diaspora is a scattering of people from their home land. There are 4 elements of diaspora they are the scattering of people which can be either voluntary or not but it must be to at least 2 locations, there must be some type of relationship to a homeland, the group being displaced must be aware of their similarities as a culture and lastly for it to occur there must be at least 2 generations going through the process. These topics are all considered important when studying intercultural communication which is studied mainly to recognize the difference between cultures and within cultures.

Application

For my application section I have chosen to link a clip from the movie The Last Samurai. This movie is a great example of intercultural communication because it tells the story of a man who was hired to train an army of a foreign country, was captured in the process and forced to work for the other side to tell their enemies secrets. Tom Cruise's character is quite hesitant when he first is captured and then the emotion really sets in and he begins to understand that he can communicate and relate with this new culture he is forced to reside with. He learns many things such as the specifics of non verbal communication in their culture because he cant speak their language so non verbal communication because a useful tool for him. He learns the power structure of the village that he is living in and realizes how men are the workers for the village and the women are meant to take care of the men. It is interesting to see in the movie how he interacts in the home is living in because he stays with a woman and her kids who have no father, during the time he spends there he uses only non verbal communication because he can't speak their language but nevertheless he is still able to convey his emotions to her and her family by gestures. Towards the end of the movie the woman who is taking care of him gives him her husbands armor to wear in battle and the entire exchange is done without speaking, this is an interesting scene to watch due to the heavy emotions as well as the intercultural and non verbal communication being used. During his time spend with the village I think he is able to truly determine the 3 things that make up the identity of the culture, he sees their rights associated within the village, he understands and adapts to their values and lastly but most importantly he is able to see their needs and do everything he can in his power to help achieve their goals.

Personal

For my personal application I would like to talk about my experience with intercultural communication back home in the international relations club that I was in at my high school. This club was mainly a politically driven organization however by looking beneath the surface it is not easy for me to see how much of a role intercultural communication played in many of our discussions. We often talked about issues such as problems in third world countries for example, we as a country have identified that these problems do exist in the world and the cultures are in need of our help, however because we are so tied up with other issues in other countries these have been pushed aside for the moment. Intercultural communication is essential to international relations because of the fact that we can not have relations with other countries internationally if we are not able to communicate in any way with people from those cultures. However by understanding things such as their rights, values and needs we are able to identify with that culture and help solve problems or assist in helping them obtain their needs. Furthermore by studying a culture to a certain depth we are also able to understand much more about their power structures which is one of the main things that we looked at in my organization-- various political power structures in countries around the world and how they are similar & different. By truly taking an in depth look at a society and by noting many things in regards to their intercultural communication we are able to further understand cultures that are different from ours and hopefully interact better with them in the future.

Mass Communication

Definitional

The mass media is a specific section of the media that is designed to communicate to a very large audience such as the public or a specific large group audience; television, radio or print media such as newspapers are great examples of mass communication. The phrase mass media was coined in the 1920s when these technologies were first introduced and began to be used on a much larger scale. Mass media has the ability to form its own society with its own unique audience usually being the group that will not be socially connected with the rest. The problem with mass media communication is that we become so accustomed to being in touch that when we finally lose that social connection that is provided for us we become much more prone to propaganda. One of the troubles when interpreting messages from the mass media is that it becomes hard to decipher what is true and false because of bias from the source as well as the fact that we don’t know specifically who is sending the message (on a personal level) and we don’t have a great understanding of how the message is mediated for its audience. Messages that are mediated differ from personal messages because the sensory input for the receivers is limited; this means we are only able to receive these messages from an indirect source (by reading, watching tv or listening to the radio). Another tricky thing with mediating mass communication messages is that the senders have very limited control over the sources of feedback as well as that the sources of mediated messages are either known in a very limited way (impersonal) or are only imagined. Wright has defined mass media communication in the following ways: the message is being sent to a large audience, the receiver is heterogeneous/diverse, the audience is anonymous, it is a rapid experience in a public manner and is constantly fleeting. He believes the source works through a complex organization, does not work well in isolation and that media and public are interchangeable terms. According to Tubbs & Moss there are three types of media: interpersonal meaning that you have control over your own audience, there is more power in the relationship and it is equally balanced. Network media is used to make connections (facebook, fax machines) and it is used to form a new social network of relationships. Lastly is mass communication, which communicates directly to a large audience, which is anonymous to the sender. The important fact to know about mass communication is the role it plays in society on a day-to-day basis. Technologies are improved everyday and are currently the most important tool for distributing the message to such a large audience. Institutions which are large scale entities that embody a range of social relationships and functions are created by human beings in order to perform essential functions in society (examples are the church, film or the internet). Lastly there are the cultural forms which are how the products and organizations of media technologies are structured with codes & signs and are made in order to express and better communicate our realities. Further improvements within the world of mass communication will depend solely on the humans ability to keep up with technology as well as to what effect they put these technological advances to use in their daily lives (Tubbs & Moss 550).

Application

The clip I have chosen as an application for mass communication is something I found online that I think shows some great examples of how the media is able to influence it's audience in many different ways. My generation has grown up with the same technologies that are around today and I feel this has drastically changed the way we are able to be influenced. With computers, more advanced print media, television and radio the media is able to portray just about any message they chose to any audience they chose and in many cases this can be an instantaneous transaction. One example I found interesting when watching this video was the photo of the cover of Star magazine that states, " Did Tom dump Penelope for Nicole?". This to me is a perfect example of how the media is getting into our heads and is able to create ways to interest the public and to convince them to buy the magazine, in actuality the average person really wouldn't care what Tom Cruise's love life is at the moment but because the media has made that information available to us we are drawn to it and in many cases people obsess over the everyday lives of celebrities. Along these lines is another example which is the cover of People magazine which states "Pressure to be Thin", this cover is an example of how the media has caused many people to relate to celebrities so much that they want to be just like them, wear the same kind of beauty products, dress the same and in some cases even try to make their bodies similar to celebrities. This has again been made available to us by the media because it sells their magazine and creates popularity over those kinds of issues. The media is not solely a negative thing but when not interpreted correctly or when not thoroughly looked into many people today fall into the media trap and end up being changed into someone they.

aren't.

Personal

For my personal application I have chose to talk about the role that the media plays in my life everyday as a college student and how it affects my life. I would consider myself like many other students today to be a fairly technological person and I think this slightly influences the way that the media affects my life. I grew up as a child watching television all the time, even as a young child the media influences our decisions. TV programs are made to help develop kids into respectable human beings and are aimed at teaching children good things at a young age and in a way that they can understand. This is what I would consider a positive effect of mass media communication but it is not always so. I never really noticed when I was a kid but I am not able to notice the fact that on television channels that are predominantly aimed at children there are commercials and advertisements that only relate to children. Toy companies develop commercials and advertisements that target kids in such a way that even if they can't go out and buy there product they will be watching TV, see a commercial for a toy they like and then immediately beg there parents until they buy the product. This is not completely negative because it is an example of good advertising but often times parents have to see through the advertisements from the media and convey that message to their child. Currently as a college student the media is around me all the time, I watch TV, listen to the radio when I am in my car and most prominently spend time on the computer. Pop up advertisements on the computer play a large role in trying to get teens to buy products or partake in scams as well as the new ads on popular social networking sites such as facebook or myspace. During the last presidential election the media played a large role in influencing the young vote by communicating issues that affect us and although they were often bias or false messages, these were proven to be effective during the election. The media is not always a negative thing in my life and I believe that the media will only play as big a role in your life as you let it.