Question

Example of one-way communication is ____________.

• A. computer networks
• B. telephone conversations
• C. book printing
• D. newspaper reading

Answer 1

The correct option is D newspaper reading

Defining One-Way Communication

Picture an enormous crowded lecture hall. A professor steps up to a podium. The audience goes quiet. The professor begins to speak about, let's say, quantum string theory. He speaks for an hour and a half, and then he steps down and walks away without exchanging a word with anyone in the room. That's how one-way communication works.

Communications theorists use simple models to describe how information flows between parties. The model uses three pieces: a sender, a receiver and a message. In one-way communication, a sender delivers a message to a receiver, but nothing flows back to the sender.

Sometimes, one-way communication occurs because of the medium or method of communication. When you read a book, newspaper, or even this website, you play the part of the receiver in one-way communication. In these cases, the information moves in one direction because time and space separate the sender and the receiver. Print is a one-way communication medium.

In the lecture hall, purpose separates the sender and receiver. The purpose of the lecture is to deliver, rather than exchange, information. To inform, to persuade, to entertain and to command are all common purposes for one-way communication, and we'll discuss each of these in this lesson.