Communication Theories: From Marxism to the Information Age
Edgar Morin
Proposed that mass culture alienates, turning individuals into consumers of marketed cultural products, immersed in a profit-driven environment.
Marxist Analysis in Communication
Focuses on the alienation of man, analyzing communication content. It views humans as pivotal for social change, contrasting with functionalism’s linearity.
Technical-Operational Level
Concerned with the technical design of information, focusing on signal transmission rather than content. It aims to optimize physical channel performance, as seen in Shannon’s Mathematical Theory of Communication.
Cognitive-Semantic Level
Refers to the ability to represent an object or concept accurately, undergoing standardization. Artificial intelligence exemplifies this level.
Socio-Discursive Level
Views information as a product shaped by ideological and social practices within a specific socio-historical context.
Information Paradigm
Defines communication as encoding and decoding messages between senders and receivers, emphasizing effective transmission channels.
Cultural Paradigm
Considers communication as a process of producing and exchanging meanings, involving understanding and activation of those meanings.
Media Functions (Stuart Hall)
Deliver speeches that shape our understanding of the world, as seen in media portrayals of conflicts.
Locate, qualify, and classify social events, creating a map of social reality.
Produce consensus and legitimacy within dynamic historical and power contexts.
Information
Explicit knowledge derived from interactions with the environment or sensory perceptions.
Marx on Communication
Communication is natural to humans, serving as a tool for interaction, liberation, or alienation. Propaganda can manipulate consciousness.
Cultural Traits and Industrial Production
- Culture produced in series, standardized.
- Continuous manufacturing.
- Institutionalization and specialized functions (professionalism in information work).
- Routinization of time and activities.
- Planning and centralization of sources.
- Bureaucratization and rationalization of the workforce.
Information Society Pillars
- Transnationalization of media markets (ownership concentrated).
- Integration of communication technologies.
- Exponential multiplication of media outlets due to new technologies.
Apocalyptic vs. Integrated Views
Integrated: Digital revolution’s increased channels guarantee independence and freedom of information.
Apocalyptic: New technologies don’t ensure democracy or equality, but can serve as tools for ideological control.
Gonzalo Abril on Information
- Communication encompasses all human activities, providing a new rationale.
- Involves selection, processing, and dissemination of information.
- Refers to the systematic study of these processes and practices.
Physical Definition
Technical-operational meaning influenced by mathematical communication theory. Aims to reduce uncertainty and entropy, encoding and organizing reality.