Lasswell's model of communication is one of the first and most influential models of communication. It was initially published by Harold Lasswell in 1948 and analyzes communication in terms of five basic questions: "Who?", "Says What?", "In What Channel?", "To Whom?", and "With What Effect?". These questions pick out the five fundamental components of the communicative process: the sender, the message, the channel, the receiver, and the effect. Some theorists have raised doubts that the widely used characterization as a model of communication is correct and refer to it instead as "Lasswell's formula", "Lasswell's definition", or "Lasswell's construct". In the beginning, it was conceived specifically for the analysis of mass communication like radio, television, and newspapers. However, it has been applied to various other fields and many theorists understand it as a general model of communication. Lasswell's model is still being used today and has influenced many subsequent communication theorists. Some of them expanded the model through additional questions like "Under What Circumstances?" and "For What Purpose?". Others used it as a starting point for the development of their own models. Lasswell's model is often criticized for its simplicity. A common objection is that it does not explicitly discuss a feedback loop or the influence of context on the communicative process. Another criticism is that it does not take the effects of noise into account. However, not everyone agrees with these objections and it has been suggested that they apply mainly to how Lasswell's model was presented and interpreted by other theorists and not to Lasswell's original formulation.
Concept and usage Lasswell's model is one of the earliest and most influential models of communication. It was first published by Harold Lasswell in his 1948 essay The Structure and Function of Communication in Society. Its aim is to organize the "scientific study of the process of communication". It has been described as "a linear and Uni-directional process", "a one-way process", an "action model", a media theory "classic", a "widely used segmentation of the communication process", and "a simple, linear, and potentially hypodermic conceptualization of communication." Lasswell's model analyzes communication in terms of five basic questions: "Who", "Says What", "In What Channel", "To Whom", and "With What Effect". These questions refer to the most salient components of the process of communication. Who asks about the person formulating the message and what is about the content of the message. The channel is the way the message is conveyed from the sender to the receiver. Whom refers to the recipient of the message. This can either be an individual or a bigger audience, as in the case of mass communication. The effect is the outcome of the communication, for example, that the audience was persuaded to accept the point of view expressed in the message. It can include effects that were not intended by the sender. In the case of a news paper headline, the sender is the reporter, the message is the content of the headline, the newspaper itself is the channel, the audience is the reader, and the effect is how the reader responds to the headline. Lasswell assigns each question to its own field of inquiry within the discipline of communication studies, corresponding to control analysis, content analysis, media analysis, audience analysis, and effect analysis. Because of the centrality of its five questions, it is sometimes referred to as the 5W model of communication.
Alternative conceptions Despite being widely seen as a model of communication, not everyone agrees that this is an accurate characterization. A model of communication is a simplified presentation that aims to give a basic explanation of the process by highlighting its most fundamental characteristics and components. For example, James Watson and Anne Hill see Lasswell's model as a mere questioning device and not as a full model of communication. In the early reception, the term "Lasswell's formula" was commonly used instead by scholars interested in describing and classifying acts of communication. However, many subsequent theorists rejected this terminology since the term "formula" seems to miss part of the significance and applications. Many comparisons with the Shannon–Weaver model invited the term "model" here as well. In this regard, it may be understood as a framework for conceptualizing communication. Some theorists use the term "Lasswell's formula" only for the question "Who, says what, in which channel, to whom, with what effect?" and not for the framework as a whole. Because it treats various basic concepts of communication, some scholars also refer to it as "Lasswell's definition" and some dictionaries even make reference to Lasswell in their definitions of communication. Zachary Sapienza et al. hold that there are many different conceptions of Lasswell's model, given both by himself and by other theorists. For this reason, they propose the term "Lasswell's construct" to emphasize that it is not one particular model but "an umbrella term which allows for multiple conceptions".
Usage Lasswell's model was initially formulated specifically for the analysis of mass communication like radio, television, and newspapers. But it has also been applied to various other fields and forms of communication. They include the analysis of new media, such as the internet, computer animations, and video games. Lasswell's model is also utilized in pedagogical settings to teach students the major elements of the communication process and as a starting point for developing hypotheses. Lasswell and others have used his model beyond the scope of mass communication as a tool for the analysis of all forms of verbal communication. This is also reflected in the fact that some theorists employ his model in their definition of communication in general.
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