Lasswell's model of communication

Lasswell's model of communication (also known as Lasswell's communication model) describes an act of communication by defining who said it, what was said, in what channel it was said, to whom it was said, and with what effect it was said. It is regarded by many communication and public relations scholars as "one of the earliest and most influential communication models." The model was developed by American political scientist and communication theorist Harold Lasswell in 1948 while he was a professor at Yale Law School. In his 1948 article "The Structure and Function of Communication in Society", Lasswell wrote:

[A] convenient way to describe an act of communication is to answer the following questions:

This verbal communication model has been referred to as "a linear and Uni-directional process", "a one-way process", an "action model", a media theory "classic", "widely used segmentation of the communication process", and "a simple, linear, and potentially hypodermic conceptualization of communication."

The model organizes the "scientific study of the process of communication". The focus of the model is broken down by each element of communication: "'who' refers to the communicator who formulates the message; 'what' is the content of message; 'channel' indicates the medium of transmission; 'whom' describes either an individual recipient or the audience of mass communication; 'effect' is the outcome of the message..." The movement of the message travels from the communicator to the audience. Although this model represents a one-way flow of communication, the "effect" also refers to feedback in public relations. The model can be used in pedagogical settings to teach students major elements of a communication process and as a starting point for developing hypotheses.

Lasswell stated that the "Who" referred to "control analysis", the "Says What" referred to "content analysis", the "In Which Channel" referred to "media analysis", the "To Whom" referred to "audience analysis", and the "With What Effect" referred to "effect analysis".

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