The Enlightenment of Communication

As a Communication student, I strongly believe that communication plays a vital role in our society, therefore we should not only be aware of what communication is merely all about but we should also be aware about its impact in our society. Learning about the four periods of rhetorical studies enlightened me that there are enormous requirements in order to fully comprehend what communication is truly all about. “The Development of the Field of Communication: Our Roots” in some way gives me an idea about the effects of communication studies that has started a long time ago up to the major trends that we have in the present day.

In Greek tradition, the Classical period arose with Greek democracy. It was mentioned in the readings that during this period people found out that they had to speak for themselves to exercise their rights. According to Gerard Hauser’s Vernacular Voices: The Rhetoric of Publics and Public Spheres “democracy is based on premise that public opinion should matter in deciding the course of society.” The main idea of this period is that public communication is significant in solving problems. We consider public communication as the core of economy, society and politics. No policies or products will be successful without a keen communication directed to the right audience in creative ways. In early times up to the presents, speakers use this communication strategy – public communication – to influence the minds of the people to think wisely.

While the rhetoric was weakening its role in political aspect, it started playing a prominent role in the rise of Christianity with the rise of the medieval period. The rise and fall of rhetoric happened during this period. During its early years, Christians agreed upon gett...

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...to new things, it is also more accessible and fast, it provides latest information, it can be a form of entertainment and it can also be used to educate people.

After learning about the history of rhetoric, I came to realize that not all innovations are good. Yes, we do benefit from these innovations but they also have negative effects to people such as; it fails to recall the importance of face-to-face communication, sensational news are often used to get attention from the public which may be misleading and divert the minds of youth in the wrong path and media bias can occur in due to various reasons. Despite all the changes we should still not forget about the true essence of communication. It’s not just a simple process of exchanging messages to socialize with other people but it plays a pivotal role in building economic and social advancements in our society.