Concept
Gerbner’s general model of communication
George Gerbner’s 1956 model draws communication as a chain of perception, production and perception: someone perceives an event, produces a message with some means, and the message is perceived by someone else.
Gerbner’s model starts with an event, not with a sender. A perceiver (M: a person or a machine) perceives the event (E) within his or her selectivity, context and access to the event; the result is an incomplete view of the event (E1). M turns this into a message by means and controls (SE: a statement about the event; S is form, E is content). The message reaches another perceiver (M2), who perceives it in his or her own frame (SE1).
The model has two dimensions: the horizontal one shows the relation of perception, the vertical one the relation to the communication product (means and controls). A verbal formula accompanies it: someone perceives an event and reacts in a situation, through some means makes available materials that present a content in some form and context, and some consequence follows. The model stresses that communication is subjective, selective and variable, and that communication systems are open systems.
Example
Moisture in the air: someone perceives it as “rain” and says “it’s raining”; the listener perceives this, in his or her own frame, as “it’s raining”.