New communication trends
 Though holding a responsible state media position, the university don
Professor Ariyaratne Athugala has managed to find time to compile a
series of notes pertaining to the much discussed subject of
communication trends.
Sannivedana Pravanata (Surasa Books, Fast and Fast, 2011) spanning to
12 broad chapters, the author cum researcher shuttles from the known to
the unknown trends as a rediscovery, taking into consideration the
present standpoint of the media culture as it stands today, particularly
in our country. Chapter One titled as ‘Modern Communication Trends’,
briefly traces the various communication trends form the past to those
in the modern context such as electronic trends and the use of internet
facilities, addressing the issues related to globalization. Though he
salutes to the new technological gadgetry and the benefits of their
usages, Athugala stresses the blessings as related to the traditional
uses particularly in the print medium.
Developing the concept of the user-oriented mass media, the author in
Chapter Two anticipates at ideology which should reach the user as a
guiding beacon light. This point is clarified as a philosophy much
needed, depending on the moulding of a theoretical perspective.
This becomes the subject matter in chapter two of the work. Media
literacy is a concept gradually taking roots in the communication
studies at all levels. It stresses the recipient knowledge content as a
necessity for the understanding of the realistic issues related to the
message dissemination. This factor is exemplified with illustrations in
Chapter Three, which is titled as ‘Trends in Media Literacy’. One of the
most significant notes I came across is the discourse on the electronic
dominance termed as ‘Vidvat Yatat Vijithavadaya’, a pioneer attempt to
trace the concept which becomes the central subject in Chapter Four.
He tries to present briefly the ideological basis of such concepts as
‘western media models’, ‘revolutionary and alternative media models’,
‘communist media models’, ‘development media models’, and the related
issues linked with militarism, colonialism and commercialism. As a
reader I felt that one whole book could have been compiled on the source
material embedded in this chapter.
Chapter Six which is titled as ‘Media Criticism Trends’ is yet
another series of innovative notes which will help the student of
communication studies. As media channels could lead to a pseudo
environment in the lives of the recipient, audience, certain regulatory
factors have to be ascertained linked to cultural susceptibilities. Some
aspects of the subject area come to limelight in Chapter Seven titled as
‘Madhya Niyamana Pravanata’.
In some of the contents in Chapter Eight titled as ‘Child and Media
Trends’ the author depicts the vividness of the picture of the child
exposed to mass media channels and the resulting behaviour patterns. He
takes examples from the much discussed field of commercial advertising
showing how the adverse use of words, sounds and visuals could lead to
such effects.
As far back as 1960s the late professor James D Halloran wrote one
innovative text taking into account the effects of television on
children in several parts of Great Britain. This book paved the way for
elaborative studies pertaining to other channels as well.
Coming on to Chapter Ten the significance and the need to have a
sound understanding of research trends in communication is stressed.
Professor Athugala takes a synoptic view of some existing methods of
research adhered to by social scientists with special reference to mass
media. Then he gradually develops the theme by introducing some of the
qualitative, alternative, innovative and scientific sociological
approaches that could be enlarged into a frame of communication studies.
The structure and the contents of the chapter are well designed and
could go as a companion area of study in literary rediscoveries.
‘Culture and Creative Industrial Trends’ is the subject of Chapter
Ten which is by and large is a scarcely discussed subject area, and a
neglected area of attention on the part of communication scholars.
Professor Athugala draws examples from the orient as well as from
Occident to illustrate the need to reinvestigate the creative aspects as
enveloped in a broader canvas of a media industry. Quite a number of
diagrams are presented by way of interpreting the laid down concepts.
The contents in Chapter Eleven revolve round the information order
and the evolution of cyber impediments. Various concepts such as mega
television, the impact of soap opera, the adverse effect of media
change, the glossorial terms used, come as supplementary source
material. As the studies in communication expand gradually, the need to
design a communication culture becomes a must both for the teacher and
the student. Professor Ariayaratne Athugala, to a large extent, fulfills
this need. As such this is a gift of rediscovery.
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