Arrange the elements of Westley and MacLean's Model in proper sequence. A.…
2024
Arrange the elements of Westley and MacLean's Model in proper sequence.
A. Feedback
B. Communicator
C. Source of Information
D. Audience
E. Mass communication organization (gatekeeper)
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer: C. C, B, E, D, A — ConceptWestley and MacLean's (1957) conceptual model treats mass communication as a one-way chain of roles with a return loop. X stands for the objects and…
- A.
D, B, C, A, E
- B.
C, D, B, E, A
- C.
C, B, E, D, A
- D.
B, A, C, E, D
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
Westley and MacLean's (1957) conceptual model treats mass communication as a one-way chain of roles with a return loop. X stands for the objects and events in the environment that supply raw information; A is the advocate role, the communicator who purposively selects and encodes some of those objects; C is the channel role, the mass communication organization that acts as a gatekeeper and makes a further, non-purposive selection on behalf of its public; B is the behavioural system role, the audience whose needs the message is meant to serve; and f is feedback, the return flow that runs from the audience back to the channel and the communicator. The order is fixed by dependence: each role can only act on material handed to it by the role before it, and feedback is a response to a message already received, so it can never precede reception.
Mapping the given elements
Element | Role in the model |
|---|---|
C. Source of Information | X — the objects and events in the environment that supply raw information |
B. Communicator | A — the advocate role that purposively selects and encodes a message |
E. Mass communication organization (gatekeeper) | C — the channel role that filters and transmits on the public’s behalf |
D. Audience | B — the behavioural system role that receives and uses the message |
A. Feedback | f — the return flow from the audience to the channel and the communicator |
Applying it here
Information originates in the environment, so the Source of Information opens the chain.
The Communicator selects from that environment and gives the message a purpose, so it follows the source.
The mass communication organization, acting as gatekeeper, filters and carries the message onward, so it sits between the communicator and the receiver.
The Audience receives what the gatekeeper transmits, so it comes after the organization.
Feedback is generated only once the message has been received and travels back to the channel and the communicator, so it closes the sequence.
Cross-check
D, B, C, A, E opens with the audience and lets feedback occur before the gatekeeping organization has handled the message.
C, D, B, E, A places the audience immediately after the source, ahead of both the communicator and the gatekeeper.
B, A, C, E, D puts feedback second, before the source of information has entered the chain.
Sequence: C, B, E, D, A — Source of Information → Communicator → Mass communication organization (gatekeeper) → Audience → Feedback.