In semiotics, connotation refers to the secondary, cultural or emotional meanings that a sign carries beyond its literal or primary meaning (denotation). While denotation is the direct, objective reference (a “rose” is a flower), connotation includes the associations we attach to it ( romance)

In his course in General Linguistics (1916) (published posthumously by his students), Saussure revolutionized the study of language. He explained the linguistic sign as composed of two inseparable parts:
Signifier: the sound or written form (the word dog).
Signified: the concept or idea (“dogness”).

This is freedom, or not.

This image is the painting "Liberty Leading the People" by Eugène Delacroix (1830). It represents freedom in a symbolic sense: the woman (an allegory of Liberty) holds aloft the French flag and leads the people, embodying the ideals of revolution and emancipation.

Framing bias is when the story itself is biased: facts are selected, certain aspects are emphasized, and others are omitted.

Examples:

A demonstration is shown only with broken windows → anti-protester framing

A strike is presented through human testimonies → pro-union framing

Semantic framing is the art of choosing words that influence our perceptions without changing the facts.

Example:

"Freedom fighters" vs "terrorists"
"Racailles " vs "jeune de quartier "

Framing refers to the way information is presented: the words used, the angles chosen, the elements highlighted or overlooked.

But it's not the only tool used by the media or decision-makers.

Agenda setting is the power to decide which topics are highlighted (and which are ignored).

Basque and Catalan are often considered particularly resilient minority languages ​​in Europe. This strength can be attributed to the dynamic interaction of three major components: the majority language, the majority media, and the nation.

"Love has many ingredients and one of them is power" Inaki Zabaleta

The spiral of silence theory, developed by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann in 1974, explains why some opinions become dominant while others disappear from public debate. It is based on the idea that individuals fear social isolation and avoid expressing an opinion perceived as a minority.

Today, we had to write a piece about public opinion. We analysed some links. We then reviewed the information and concluded that public opinion grew due to liberalism in the 17th century and became more powerful after 1935's Gallup scientific polling.

Today we read an article "The Chicago School of Sociology and Mass Communication Research: Rise, Rejection, Incorporation and Rediscovery" and answered 5 questions on it. We also learned about Jane Addams a progressive social reformer and activist who won a Noble Prize for peace activism.

This is on of the first survey in Chicago, made by Jane Addams on the neighborhood-based settlement. Hull-House represented its surroundings, which meant that in its early years, the majority of its clientele were white immigrants. Photographs of early activities show this clearly.

Today we went to the circle of fine trees, beside the Fine Arts faculty to analyse articles. It was interesting to sit with different people and learn about different points of view

Another interesting model!

Lasswell's model (1948) was very important due to its focus on the effect of the message being communicated. It was a great tool to use in the context of mass media and propaganda! 🔍 Lasswell suggested that the message flows through various channels in his model.

In our last class we discussed the transition from democracies to despotic societies. While discussing the state of our respective governments we realized that this phenomenon was quite current, especially in the United States.

Do you remember Shannon and Weaver's model ?

It's a model to defines communication but that it was not so complete.. No worries : we found a better one !!

It is the Wilbur Schramm's model, and it add the notion of feedback, that is really important in communication and the field of experience.

Our teacher also presented us the Shannon-Weaver Model. It is a linear communication framework with six elements: sender, encoder, channel, decoder, receiver, and noise. It is criticized for oversimplifying communication, ignoring feedback, context, and the complexity of human interaction.

Today, each of us explained their drawing about communication and it's definition. Some of us focused more the aspect of symbols while others focused on communication processes.