Quarter 2 – Week1

The Clientele And Audiences In

Communication
 Objectives:

At the end of this session the students will be able to:

a.Identify the clientele and audiences of communication

b.Explain the characteristics of clientele and audiences of

communication
Audiences are also called receivers. They are
formed by two factors which are:

1.Social context- people of the same

background with shared culture,
understanding information needs.
2.Response to media content- audiences from
news show, variety show, soap opera and
others
Media sociologist Denis McQuail (1997) noted some
ways to define who are the audience namely

 By place- audience in the case of a newspaper

 By people- as when media content appeals to a certain age group,
gender, political belief or income category
 By the particular type of medium or channel involved - the
audience of radio may differ from the audience of television.
 By the content of the message of a medium - talk shows and and
soap operas with many different audiences
 By times - as in daytime, primetime or weekend audiences.
Characteristics of Clientele and Audiences of
Communication
SOCIAL POSITION

It is the status that a person enjoys in a

communication context. One may be a
president or leader, middle manager, a
colleague, or a subordinate in a organization
of community.
EDUCATION LEVEL

It may suggest the reading skills and healthy

literacy and the ability to engage with more
complex topics-new and even unfamiliar. An
audience that has limited literacy skills may
find it difficult to use written materials;
with such audience, oral presentations may
be more effective.
AGE RANGE

Can affect choice of communication format or

distribution. Thecommunication materials may be
relevant to people of all agesbut the age of the
audience may affect the communicationformat or
distribution channels.
Example: social media websites and mobile texting
–Younger printed materials, emails, phonecalls,
meetings-older
Race and Ethnicity

Race and ethnicity particularly in deciding

on graphics and photos. It is important to
design the graphics and photos in the
communication materials to reflect the
demographics of the intended audience
Primary Language

If the language used is different from the

one used by the target audience, there is a
need to translate the communication
materials into the primary language
Health Status

Health status matters a lot as it dictates

people’s disposition to listening and
responding and the ability to make meaning
out of the communicated material
Job Type

Job Type can affect the format of materials

and the distribution methods to be used. For
an audience without access to their own
computers, disseminating the materials
through an Internet site or email messages
may not be effective
Information Sources

Information sources matter for they affect

the format and distribution of the
communication materials and also the
medium they trust
CHARACTERISTICS OF CLIENTELE AND
AUDIENCES OF COMMUNICATION

*Social Position *Primary Language

*Educational Level *Health Status
*Age Range *Race and Ethnicity
*Job Type *Information Sources
Needs of Various Types of Clientele and
Audiences of Communication

Different individuals, groups, and communities have

distinct communication needs. They want to send
andreceive messages to and from other parties. Let us
take a look at the following communication context to
explore howvarious types of clientele and audience of
communication may be represented in the April 30,
2015 Mary Jane Veloso Case.
On 28 April 2015, the Philippines and the world awaited an execution of a
30-year old Filipina and mother oftwo together with eight other prisoners
in Indonesia. Mary Jane Veloso, was caught with 2.6 kg of heroin at
Yogyakarta airport in Indonesia and later accused of drug trafficking in
April2010. In October of 2010 she was sentenced to death.Veloso
maintained her innocence and that she was just tricked but all her
appeals through her legal team were rejected. She claimed that in her
desire to support her two children she sought for work abroad as a
domestic helper. She claimed that the person behind her crime was Maria
Kristina Sergio, the daughter of one of her godparents, who convinced
her to travel to Indonesia to start a new job as a maid. A male friend of
Sergio gave Veloso new clothes and a new bag to travel with as her
luggage and she was not aware it had heroin sewn into it. The family of
Veloso pleaded for the Philippine government direct intervention and to
NGOs and media convinced that she was truly an innocent victim. These
efforts were met with resistance from the Indonesian side.
The family of Veloso pleaded for the Philippine government direct
intervention and to NGOs and mediac onvinced that she was truly an
innocent victim. These efforts were met with resistance from the
Indonesian side.

The two appeals which were launched by the Philippine government on

the request of Veloso, to the Indonesian government were both
rejected. The Philippine government tried to argue that veloso had poor
translatorsduring trial which made her incapable of understanding what
was going on during trial and that she was just a victim of a drug
syndicate.,In his capacity, President Aquino had met President Joko
Widodo on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Malaysia to discuss
Veloso's case as well as spoken to Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno
Marsudi and proposed keeping Veloso alive so that she could testify
against drug traffickers. This two did not seem to have worked.
On April 28,2015, Veloso, together with the eight other convicted
prisoners found themselves at Nusakambangan Prison Island awaiting their
executions as scheduled. Groups of people in the Philippines and around
the world gave the case prominent coverage. In Manila the activists
protested at outside the Indonesian embassy. The story of Veloso had
reached and received a worldwide sympathy from peoples of all walks of
life. During the time leading to the scheduled execution, Ms. Sergio, the
woman accused of duping Veloso,u nexpectedly turned herself up to the
police station in Cabanatuan City asking police protection saying she was
receiving death threats. As time went by Indonesia issued a reprieve,
saying Veloso was needed to testify against a "perpetrator suspected of
human trafficking." She was then transferred back to a prison in
Yogyakarta. What followed next were counterclaims by various groups for
credit: political leaders, NGOS, human rights groups, lawyers, the families
and groups that protested in the streets, and in front of the Indonesian
Embassy. Each felt they succeeded in their communication goals.
 The Individual as Client of Communication

As an individual, you want to be the first to know about all

matters that pertain to you.
Hodgetts (2002)) presents four major barriers to
communication that in a situation like this can make things
more traumatic:
• perception,
• inference,
• language,and
• status
Every day you engage in a communication. As
one one cannot escape it along the different
levels of communication whether
intrapersonal, interpersonal or in mass media.
We do this of different reasons. People
communicate to be informed and to inform, to
gain guidance for one’s own opinion and to
have an identity or be a member within a
group.
Research says that among the benefits one
gets from communication are the following:
 Information and Education
 Guidance
 Advice
 Socialization and Relaxation
 Identity formation
 Security
 Build mutual relationship
The Group and Organization as Client of
Communication

Groups and organizations tend to have communication

needs that are specific to them. In the Veloso case,groups
and organizations may be identified as family and friends,
migrant organizations, the legal team, media, andthe
Philippine government. Their communication needs had to
do with wanting to convince the Indonesiangovernment to
stop the pending execution of Mary JaneVeloso
Organizations communicate with others for a variety of
reasons. Innet and Schewchuk in 1995 said that thereare
communication needs of organizations. These are:

1.To inform. It is communicating to the audience like what you can do for them
or what advice you couldgive them or vice versa.
2.To build understanding. It is encouraging the audience to improve their lives
ike stopping from smokingwhich appeals to their feelings and thinking.
3.To resolve conflicts. Empathy can prevent conflicts as misunderstanding really
exist in an organization.
4 .To present an idea. In an organization presenting an idea is a need but one
has to know also the correctmanner in presenting it.
5. To lower barrier between groups and individuals. Prejudices and
discrimination may exist ifcommunication process is not done in a correct
manner thus one has to know the audience very well.
The Community as Client of Communication

• When a community is the client of communication, the

message has to be responsive to the need and
thechannel has to be appropriate, and the subject to be
communicated has to be relevant to the community.

• Community is the most organic place we do

communication. When you go out from your house and
interactwith your friends, your neighbor or to everyone
in your place you do communication to them.
But you still have toknow that in the discipline of
communication when you consider the community as your
audience you need toremember the following needs:

1. Right language. This must be simple and easy to understand words

2. Time. Extend more efforts to let them be understood the topic
3. Information background. If you need to persuade or convince them
with your idea you need to know their level of awareness of the
topic
4. Awareness of interests. You need to know what the community
likes or have interest to
5. Education. People in the community acts as audience because of
the reason that they need to know aboutthe topic