Public Communication
Public communication is encountered in the public sphere whenever groups or individuals engage in dialogue with the aim of delivering a message to a particular audience. Newspaper editorials, billboard advertisements, and public speaking events are among the many forms of public communication. There are various professional skills developed through public Communication. These skills include; familiarity with best practices in the community, strong critical thinking skills, strong writing skills and experience in adapting content for the different audience. Public communication skills enable individuals in maintaining positive relationships with both the government and the public. The American University Career Center stated that public communication skills make individuals familiar with best practices in the community and also equip them with the ability to utilize creative approaches to using media to inform, influence, and persuade. Other relevant skills developed through public communication include; experience researching, locating, synthesizing, and analyzing complex information.
Aspects of Public Communication
The normative task of public communication is to provide support to the legitimacy of collective decisions (Hanska-Ahy 2012, p16). In theory, there are two aspects of public communication which in particular have proved to be persistently challenging (Hanska-Ahy 2012, p3) The first aspect is the definition of public communication's purpose under conditions of pluralism. The second aspect is the definition of the composition of the public sphere. Previous research by Hanska-Ahy argues that the two aspects, that is composition and purpose of public communication are prerequisites for the democratic legitimacy of collective decisions (2012, p18). It is problematic to achieve the former condition given the relationship between public communication and the ideals such as public reason, inclusion and participation are unclear (Hanska-Ahy 2012). There are several aspects of public communication which include; continuing leadership, commitment, retention among others. In regards to the aspect of continuing leadership, the public communication channels serve a gatekeeping function. The purpose of this paper is to explore the problem of definition of the composition of public communication as a negative aspect in the public sphere. The paper is also aimed at exploring continuing leadership as a positive aspect of public communication.
The Composition of Public Communication
As noted earlier, the process of public communication is composed of the newspaper editorials, billboard advertisements among others. The political outcomes and decisions drawn from the process of public communication have significant impacts on the public sphere (Anna 2014. For instance, it leads to individualism as most people tend to spend most of their time watching television on the internet. As a result, there is reduced socialization with family, friends, and neighbors which affects the effectiveness of the society since socialization is a key factor in the development of any given society.
There are some contents aired by the media which are not suitable for children. It is worth noting that, given the current structure of the modern society, it is impossible to keep children off harmful content. As a result, the behavior of children is negatively affected as they are fed with misleading information. For instance, when children get access to information on criminal gangs, some may be tempted to join this groups which are not only harmful to them but also to the society.
The internet as a channel for public communication opens up possibilities of fraud, imposters, and hacking. The use of the internet can also be addictive. People may spend more time on the internet at the expense of being involved in productive activities. As a result, the general productivity of the society may be affected.
Continuing Leadership
Magazines, newspapers, Television, and radio and are important public communication channels. Most organizations use this channels to reach their customers. Knowledge shared through communication plays a key role in the daily operations of firms, individuals as well as the government. Public communication enhances co-operation with each other which helps individuals to collectively do things which they cannot do alone.
Bennet Roger 1998 argued that people in organization exist through effective communication. He also argued stated that information, knowledge, attitudes, and judgment are shared through effective public communication. Communication is variable which may have varying results in different settings. For instance, enhancement of communication by the introduction of the communication network via electronic systems has helped in reducing space and time and also increase the efficiency of the process of communication.
Public communication helps organizations to build a positive image to the members of the public. As a result, the organizations gain public support as people gain confidence in their objectives and goals. The partnership between different players in an economy is enhanced through effective communication.
In the recent past, there has been an expression of public communications channels towards being committed to following ethical professionalism, objectivity, and responsibility in their leadership roles as the primary source of information. They control or affect the information transmitted to their audiences in various ways. Valentini states that there are four gatekeeping functions played by public communication. These functions include; expanding, relaying, and limiting, and reinterpreting (\"Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies,\" 2016). Human beings are mainly receivers of information during public communication. In this regard, they depend on gatekeepers (public communication channels) to relay the message to them.
The communication channels determine the type and quality of information that should reach the receiver. The former is the limiting function of gatekeeping. Every piece of information received is edited. It is worth noting that editing does not necessarily mean that the message delivered is erroneous. However, editing choices are influenced by a range of forces which include personal bias, advertiser pressure, time constraints among others, can influence editing choices.
The other leadership role played by the gatekeepers (actors in public communication) is the expansion of messages. For instance, bloggers obtain stories from different sources and fact-check the news or even undertake further research from additional sources and then post the expanded news on their blogs (\"Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies,\" 2016). In this regard, expansion of the news helps individuals in getting more, valid, reliable, accurate and trustworthy information.
Lastly, public communication actors play the leadership function to reinterpret mass media messages (\"Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies,\" 2016). The reinterpretation is very useful since the foreign or complex message is made readily available and accessible to many people.
Conclusively
Public communication has many advantages. However, it also has some limitations. In this regard, it is up to the actors in public communication to use it effectively for the best results.
References
American University Career Center. (n.d.). Public Communication. Retrieved from https://www.american.edu/careercenter/pdf/upload/Public-Communication-Major-Career-Guide.pdf
Anna, N. M. (2014, June). The challenges facing effective communication. Retrieved from https://profiles.uonbi.ac.ke/anmutua/files/my_degree_project_extra_murals_final_2.pdf
Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies. (2016, September 29). Retrieved from http://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/15-2-functions-and-theories-of-mass-communication/
Hanska-Ahy, T. (2012). Public communication as ideal and practice: Definitions of the common good in Persian-language transnational newswork - LSE Theses Online. Retrieved from http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/627/
Valentini, C. (n.d.). Gate Keeping Theory and Social Media. Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics. doi:10.4135/9781452244723.n227
