W2 – Communication Models & Semiotics

Announcements

• Student General Meeting for Palestine

  • Jack, representing the National Union of Students (NUS), promoted the national student referendum (21 Aug) on the question of Palestine.

  • Leaflets with QR code → petition to UQ Union to host a Student General Meeting.

  • Goal: ≥ 1 000 signatures; current count ≈ 800; deadline Thursday.

  • Students must enter their 8-digit student number (no “s”).

  • Leaflets placed at front desks for both lecture‐hall exits.

• UQ JACS (Journalism & Communication Society)

  • Speaker: Kate, President.

  • Society = student-run; offers social + professional events: coffee catch-ups, boat parties, formal ball, networking.

  • Women-in-Journalism Panel (Thu)

  • 4 female journalists (Chan 7/9/10 & ABC).

  • Tickets: 15\, (members receive 5\, discount).

  • Link in @uqjacs Instagram bio.

  • Membership perks: event discounts & cheaper outlet purchases.

  • Testimonials from alumni (Molly Sideri, Andy Fisher, Giselle Manning) – networking & employment benefits.

  • Slides uploaded under Week 2 on Learn.

• Clubs & Well-being Reminder

  • Lecturer (Leah) encouraged joining societies – academic or hobbyist (e.g.
    K-pop dance club) – for happiness & social balance.

Course Logistics & Housekeeping

• Tutorial Attendance & Participation Marks

  • No make-up option; top 5 tutorial participation scores counted in final grade to accommodate absences.

  • Tutorial slides & instructions uploaded for self-study if missed.

• Email Etiquette

  • Email tutor (not lecturer) for absence notifications.

  • Always include course code; Leah teaches multiple courses.

• Lecture Recording Glitch

  • Week 1 audio poor; transcript acceptable.

  • Week 2 expected fixed; IT will be contacted if not.

• Exam Clarifications

  • Not designed to trick; content drawn directly from lectures + tutorials.

  • Students receive all questions ≥ 1 week in advance (per course profile).

  • Tutorial before exam devoted to Q&A.

  • Exam length extended: originally 60\,\text{min} → now 90\,\text{min} (exam written for 45\,\text{min}).

  • Exam sits during regular tutorial slot.

• Blood Donation Drive

  • Mobile clinic on campus this & next week; walk-ins accepted; booking encouraged.

  • Leah donated that morning (visible bandage) – encouraged eligible students, no pressure.

Acknowledgement of Country

• Respect paid to Traditional Owners of the land of learning & meeting; reminder of the value of Indigenous knowledge and continual learning from Indigenous colleagues.

Today’s Road-Map

• Quick review of Week 1.

• Introduction to Theory.

• Communication models: Laswell & Shannon-Weaver.

• Deep dive into Semiotics.

• Tutorial preparation guidance.

What Is Theory?

• "Structured ways of thinking"; frameworks, models, lenses, terminology.

• Adds tools/glasses to see familiar phenomena differently.

• Not inherently dull – enables deeper, alternative understandings.

Week 1 Review — Defining “Media” (Marshall McLuhan)

• Media as Individual Extensions: extend thought & senses (e.g.
  note-taking).

• Media as Social Bridges: connect people across time/space.

• Media as Cultural Environments: create/reshape surroundings (e.g.
  smartphone culture).

• McLuhan’s axiom: “The medium is the message.” – focus on form & resulting environments over content.

Dolphins Analogy (John Durham Peters)

• Dolphins = advanced animal communication without artefacts.

• Humans differ via inorganic media (tools, writing, monuments).

• Media allow communication across time & space → civilisation (pyramids, literature, constitutions, etc.).

Communication-as-Process Models

1. Harold Laswell (1948)

• Core formula: Who says What in Which Channel to Whom with What Effect.

• 3 elements: Communicator → Medium/Message → Receiver.

Example: Australian Social-Media Age-Restriction Notice

2. Claude Shannon & Warren Weaver (1949)

• Engineering perspective: Information Source → Transmitter → Channel (+ Noise) → Receiver → Destination.

• Adds Noise Source concept (technical or social distractions/interference).

• Expanded questions (Weaver):

  1. Technical accuracy – symbols transmitted correctly?

  2. Semantic precision – intended meaning preserved?

  3. Effectiveness – meaning alters conduct as desired?

Social Translation of Shannon Model (Age-Restriction Example)

• Information Source: Govt policy makers.

• Transmitter: Web developers encoding copy.

• Channel: Internet/website.

• Noise: Distrust of govt, pop-ups, media misreporting.

• Receiver: Citizen reading page.

• Destination: Behaviour (e.g.
  parents restricting child accounts, platforms enforcing).

Semiotics – The Study of Signs

• Sign = Signifier (form) + Signified (concept).

• Two principal layers of meaning:

  • Denotation: literal/explicit.

  • Connotation: associated/implicit, culturally loaded.

• Intertextuality: one text references/echoes another, adding layered meaning & signalling in-group knowledge.

• Meaning only emerges within cultural context.

Illustrative Example – STOP Sign

Semiotic Analysis – Govt Age-Restriction Webpage

• Denotation: New law will bar <16-year-olds from social-media accounts by Dec 2025.

• Connotative signs:

  • Black text on white → official, serious, bureaucratic.

  • Pinks/reds in banner (“report abuse”) → mild danger signal, reinforces protective framing.

  • Logos (Commonwealth Coat of Arms, eSafety) → legitimacy.

• Intertextuality & Counter-Texts:

  • Get-Ready-With-Me TikTok videos: informal bedroom setting, skin-care routine, teen slang; connotes intimacy, relatability, authenticity; challenges govt framing.

  • Memes (e.g.
    BoJack Horseman trench-coat kids, Mr Krabs) – require pop-culture familiarity; create in-group humour while critiquing policy.

• Semiotic outcome: competing narratives shape public perception & potential compliance.

Power, Meaning & Media (Nick Carah Quote)

• Media = “social processes of transferring and circulating meaning.”

• Meaning shapes world-views; world-views organise action.

• Control over meaning circulation = power.

• Studying models & semiotics reveals how persuasion & influence operate.

Exam & Tutorial Connections

• Expect to apply Laswell and/or Shannon-Weaver to unseen (but pre-released) stimuli.

• Tutorials this week = hands-on semiotic practice; prepare by:

  • Completing required reading (Carah Ch.
    on communication models).

  • Answering reflection prompts on Learn.

  • Reviewing lecture concepts & examples.

Coming Weeks / Administrative Dates

• Week 3: No lecture – ECHO (study) week; “go touch goats”.

• Next lecture after Echo will continue theory foundations.