Mass Communication: Communication Information

Concept of Information

The facts provided about someone or something is known as information. It is a facts or details about a subject. Information is a message that was sent from the sender to the receiver. It is capable of understanding the message. It is generally referred to as data when information is entered into and stored in a computer. After processing, output data can again be perceived as information. The word inform is derived from the latin word ‘ informare’ which means to give inform and to form an idea. Information has influenced almost every aspect of life. Information was simply a message, sent from the source of the receiver before there were the mass media. When the mass media was born , information was something important, interesting and meaningful. It is useful content sent from one source to large masses.

Nowadays, information is the most significant wealth of the commodity. Information is the indication of the power too. Information is a symbolic means by which one mind influences another mind. The country which is rich in information can be considered as the powerful country. Information is the means of giving form or shape to the mind. Some of the definitions of information are listed below:

“ Information by nature cannot rise to exchange transactions, only to share transactions”.- Colin Cherry

“ Information is any written document, material or information related to the functions, proceedings thereof or decisions of public importance made or to be made by the public agencies.”-Right to Information Act, Art 2(b)

Information Process

Information process is an interactive method of finding out the actual information . It is a cyclical but non-linear process. Language and communication skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening are also essential to this process. The information process includes six main stages. These stages are linked closely to each step impacting on every other stage. The six stages are;

1. Defining information needs

It is not always a simple task to define the information need since it may be hard to define the topic. It is an exact question since the information retrieval systems and forms of publication are varied. This is why an information seeker has to be able to handle a certain degree of uncertainty. It helps to find the different methods for seeking information.

2. Locating information sources

The sources of information may be various types of internal and the external sources . It may be observations, people, speeches, documents, pictures, organizations, websites, etc. They may be primary sources, secondary sources, tertiary sources and so on.

3. Selecting Relevant information

Selecting relevant information is to make decisions about the relevance of information. The information must be selected depending on the question and the purpose for reading. It refers to critically analyzing information and reflecting on the purpose of a task. Understanding the purpose of reading dictates the relevance of the information.(National career of literacy and Numeracy for adults)

4. Organizing the selected information

After, selecting the relevant information it is necessary to organize them. Organize means to put in order. The selected information may be useless if they are not organized and cannot be retrieved when needed. So organization of the information is very important.

5. Creating and Sharing information

Nowadays, the creation and sharing of new knowledge are essential to the survival of almost all businesses. There are many reasons. It includes ideas, processes, information which are taking a growing share of global trade from the traditional.

6. Evaluating information and its process

After, selecting and sharing information. It is necessary to evaluate the information. Evaluating information encourages you to think critically about the reliability, validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness, point of information. While using the process of information students can achieve outcomes across all learning areas.

When the students conduct an investigation or do a research assignment students are able to develop these stages of information process each time. While using this process students can achieve outcomes across all learnings areas.

Information Lifecycle of communication

The information cycle is a way in which groups can measure the effectiveness of interaction and messaging. The best cycles are those that tap into the most effective engagement resources and promote rapid and in-depth visibility of correspondence. The speed with which documents and ideas pass through the entire communication cycle measures the effectiveness of these systems.

They information cycle includes:

1. Acquiring information

The first step of the information life-cycle is to find out information from some source. In Journalism, journalist usually goes to search the information. They have to contact their sources, visit the place of incidents, read various documents, interview many people like eyewitness, experts, victims, stakeholders etc. The collected information is in crude form.

2. Processing information

In the second step of information cycle, information is processed. Here information is purified by removing all non- information aspects. In journalism, a journalist collects information in a very crude form. That is purified in reporting and sub-editing divisions.

3. Storing information

In the third step, the purified information is kept in a particular place. Today such storage is done usually in computers. The informative documents were kept in different files and boxes in the past. Some information are very important and are kept for a long time and some are stored for short term purposes. Long term information is kept in CDs, DVDs or Hard Disks of the computer.

4. Disseminating information

In this step, information is distributed to various target groups. Different information has different target groups. In journalism, journalist strives to make information reach to the target group on time. The information that is not disseminated in time will be meaningless. It cannot function properly.

5. Using information

The final step of the information life-cycle is to use or consume it. We know that information is consumed as a product like biscuit. The consumers of information are readers of print media, audiences of broadcast media and users of internet media .. After using or consuming information, readers/audiences generate feedback. This feedback will further improve the journalist to acquire information again.