Conduit metaphor

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Communication
MEDIA, POWER AND CULTURE

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Words as containers
• He put a lot of emotion into his words
• The story was filled with meaning
• His speech was packed with ideas

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Communication as transmission
• He sent a clear message
• You didn’t get your point across
• He hurled criticism at me

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Reading as unpacking
• I got a lot out of your lecture
• You gave me a lot to think about
• His words were hollow

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The Conduit Metaphor
• Conduit: A pipe, tube or channel
• Conduit metaphor: Talking about language
– and communication in general – as if
ideas are concrete things that can be
taken from one person and sent into the
brains of other people like money
transferred from customer to bank via a
pneumatic tube (Michael Reddy, 1979)

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Consequences
• Does communication really work like the
conduit metaphor?
• How does unconsciously accepting the
conduit metaphor affect those who initiate
(send) communication?
• How does it affect those on the receiving
end?

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The non-apology apology
• I’m sorry if anyone was offended
• I’m sorry for hurting you
• I’m sorry that your cat died

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The toolmaker paradigm

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Conduit metaphor & media
• Communication is not one-to-one, mutual
or in person
• Framing = attempt to establish similar
context, or at least signal intended context
• Language is an imperfect tool of
communication. Unfortunately, it’s the
main one we have.