Compare and contrast Shannon and Weaver's model of communication with two of the following: Gerbner, Lasswell, Newcomb, Westley, Maclean, Jakobson. Which model would be most suited to the area of international relations?

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The 1949 Shannon and Weaver model of communication is one of the most famous in the field of Political Communication, having been referred to as "one of the main seeds out of which Communication Studies has grown" (Fiske, 1982). Due to its relative simplicity it is usually the first model a student of Communication Studies will learn, so that they might get a basic grip of how the concepts of Communication Studies work. It is however, far from the only one in existence, as many flaws have been identified in the Shannon and Weaver model, therefore many other communication theories have been put forward as alternatives that fill in the blanks that the Shannon and Weaver model has. It is these models and the Shannon and Weaver model that shall be focussed on, comparing the differences between them, and analysing their relative strengths and weaknesses. From this it is hoped that a conclusion can be drawn regarding which of the models is best suited in the field of international relations.

The Shannon and Weaver model was developed in 1949 by Claude Shannon, a communications engineer at Bell Telephone Laboratories in conjunction with Warren Weaver in an attempt to