Concept
perception in communication (Gerbner)
In Gerbner’s model communication begins with the perception of an event: the perceiver sees not the whole event but a view (E1) limited by selectivity, context and availability.
For Gerbner the first step of communication is not speaking but perceiving. An event (E) cannot be passed on as it is, because the perceiver (M) sees only part of it. What he or she sees depends on three things: what is selected, the context in which the event is found, and how far the event is accessible. According to McQuail and Windahl, Gerbner thinks of the perceptual relation as a continuum. At one end, what is perceived depends mainly on the perceiver’s assumptions, point of view and experience. At the other end the event itself is decisive and perception stays faithful to it under favourable conditions.
This view marks a shift in communication models: before asking how accurately a message is carried, one also asks how the thing the message is about was seen. In work such as news, testimony and content analysis it opens the question “how well does the statement fit the event?”
Example
A witness sees an accident from where she stands and with her attention; her statement is not the accident itself but its perceived version.