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The HUB model of mass communication describes essential aspects of media in the communication process. This model helps with analyzing the mediums with which mass communication takes place. All of the concepts within the HUB model are essential in the process of communicating, including feedback. Feedback stated simply Is information being relayed back to the person releasing the original content (otherwise known as the source). Feedback is vital when it comes to influencing the source. The Ithacan is an award winning student newspaper at Ithaca College.
Its success has much to do with the success of the HUB model, as each feature helps the medium of communication run smoothly. The Ithacan relies on information such as feedback to Improve their work and continue In their success. When gathering information from members of the Ithacan about feedback, it became clear that is it a fundamental part of the mass communication process. When speaking with Army Pygmalion, a columnist from the Ithacan, it became evident how necessary feedback Is as a writer. Army writes a biweekly opinion column about women’s Issues.
When seed about how vital feedback is in her work, Army responded: “It is important to know that your work is touching people’s lives, even in the smallest way, and when they notice enough to give you feedback, even if the feedback is negative, it is still a great sign because it means they read the work”. This concept is a form of feedback In Its own way. People’s response to a writer’s work, even If it Isn’t necessarily constructive, gives the source a specific perception of their own work. A huge reason feedback is so necessary, however, Is the content.
When the receiver decodes the usage and responds with feedback, the source is able to react and change accordingly. Army said that her Ideal feedback Is “an opinion, positive or negative. That has some reasoning attached to it”. In order to react to the feedback, the source must be persuaded by the opinion. Indicating a specific reason behind the negative or positive reaction creates a cyclical mode of communication. By allowing the feedback to affect the source’s work, the receiver becomes part of the process.
Feedback is an important part of the process because it allows the writer to grow and improve. Army spoke about a specific time when feedback affected her: “My Introduction to Journalism Professor, Brian Delaney, told me he liked my Mile Cyrus column because it didn’t Just bash on Cyrus for her promiscuous behavior, it looked deeper and addressed an Issue that many people had not considered or noticed” The fact that Delaney used specific examples of why he liked the article gave Army a descriptive version of feedback, which can be the most useful.
While feedback in general Is an important concept to understand, there are several kinds of feedback that can affect the source In different ways. Within the Ithacan, there are two types of feedback in regards to the newspapers articles. The first form of feedback occurs before the article is published, even before the author begins to write. This process commences with the weekly meeting held by the editors to discuss and assign topics to the writers. Once they are assigned, the writers will usually meet with the editors to discuss their article’s Intended angle, sources Ideas, etc.
By proposing different ideas to the editors, writers will receive feedback through face-to-face conversation. In order to confirm if they are doing things correctly. If something does not agree with the editor’s intentions or ideas, the writer must change their story to match their goals. This type of feedback is often directly through text, message, telephone, or email. Once the writer is finished with the article, he or she must submit their work to the editor. The editor then reads and revises the story. The first draft of the article is when the entire piece is looked at and corrected thoroughly.
Feedback from the editor is usually received electronically through comments on Google Docs. Once the writer receives the comments, he or she corrects the article and resubmits it to their editor, who corrects it once more. This cycle continues until the editor feels the piece is ready to be looked at by the current Editor in Chief of the Ithacan, Megan Devils, a senior at Ithaca College. “As a COM major, I learned that feedback is a very continual process,” Megan said. Uniform are revising while you are going through the process. Megan rarely receives articles that do not need revising. “l usually send it back. I don’t think there has ever been a time when I didn’t send it back,” she says. Receiving feedback while writing the article speeds up the editing process forces the final reduce to be on deadline. It also allows for a stronger, better written story. The second type of feedback the Ithacan articles receive are from its readers, after the writing process is complete. This feedback is received through emails, in person conversation, telephone, etc.
No matter what topic the newspaper reports on, there will always be some sort of disagreement or disinterest. It is extremely difficult to engage the audience completely and satisfy every opinion. A recent article that received a lot of feedback was the “SWAG life: Senior girls reflect on social evolution wrought college,” article published in the November 13th, 2013 edition. Written by the Ithacan managing editor, Allele Healy discusses the transition from freshman to senior year through clothing style and social life.
Several readers were unhappy with the term “SWAG” which is an acronym for “Senior Washed Up Girls. ” After the article was released, the Ithacan office received emails from alumni of Ithaca College discussing their indifference to the article. “We knew going into it there would be some controversy,” Megan Devils said about the SWIG article. That’s what happens with news stories. You’ll write something from a certain perspective and people will have positive feedback but also some negative things to say. ” To continue, the Ithacan does not only receive feedback from it’s articles.
After each newspaper is published, the editors from all of the different sections attend evening meetings every Thursday, the day that the paper comes out, to discuss what they could improve on. Originally, the Thursday board meetings were supposed to be budget meetings where they would discuss what was on each agenda. Megan Devils, The Editor in Chief, noticed these meetings were unproductive and then decided to change the structure. She asked the other board members what they wanted out of an evening meeting and what could make this process more collaborative and successful.
By hearing the editors feedback on how the meeting should be ran, the meetings now consist of brainstorming creative visual ideas for the front page stories, work shopping those pieces, and giving writing critiques. By doing so, their board meetings have become much more beneficial to the newspaper as a whole. Editors would have continued to hold unsuccessful meetings. The Ithacan success as a newspaper is represented through the amount of positive feedback it receives, as well. The newspaper was awarded countless titles from national to regional for it’s excellence in editorials, photography, features, columns, and many more.
It was a finalist for the National Newspaper Pacemaker award, which is the equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize for collegiate Journalism students, for 2011 and 2012. It also was the National Online Pacemaker Finalist for 2011 and 2012. These awards are only four of the thirty-three awards the newspaper received n the past two years (2011 and 2012). Receiving these prestigious awards created more people to recognize the Ithacan work and give even more positive feedback. This type of feedback reassures the editors that they are heading down the right path.
Koala Dwyer, a freshman Ithacan staff member, was interviewed about the feedback process as a writer. When asking Koala how she would define feedback she said, “feedback is suggestions for change. I don’t think there is any kind of feedback that wouldn’t impact you in some way to make some kind of change. ” Dwyer scribed feedback as “part of the Job”. “Our editing process is a system of constant feedback from a chain of editors: my news editor, a copy editor, the managing editor, and the editor in chief. ” She described the feedback process as a “crucial” element.
Without feedback, not only would Dwyer be effected negatively but so would the rest of the Ithacan writers; they would have an extremely hard time guessing if the audience liked their piece and also figuring out what they needed to improve on for the future. Feedback ultimately gives the Ithacan a higher chance of success by appraising things that were done right, and emphasizing what expectations aren’t being met. By writers meeting with their editors during the certain goals are being accomplished.
With both the writer and the editor having the same goal in mind, this is a very constructive and essential part of the editing process. Once they perfect the piece for the public, the feedback from the audience is Just as essential. This allows the writers to have a chance to improve and ultimately allowing The Ithacan to expand. The writers interviewed, all agreed that they rather get feedback, whether it’s positive or negative, then not get feedback at all. Without it, he Ithacan would not have had such a high success rate or won 33 awards in the past two years.
As a community at Ithaca College, we have a lot of pride about our award winning newspaper. However, the pride is much heavier when you contribute into making it award winning, whether you work behind the scenes writing or editing for the Ithacan, or you are giving feedback, you are essentially contributing to what has been accomplished here. In conclusion, it is clear that feedback is an essential and vital part of the communication process and without it, communication would not exist in the same way as it does today.