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classical broadcast media such as TV and radio. If we refrain from the requirement for synchronous or simultaneous
distribution and reception we could also include media such as film, books, newspapers etc.
Bottom-right: Conversation. If the individual information service consumers produce and own the
information, and if control of the means of distributing and handling the information are divided equally
between those consumers (at least in this idealized case) the resulting situation is diametrically opposed to the
one above, and we have a case of conversation. In this instance, the information flow runs in both directions,
between the two individual consumers, and there is an equal exchange of information as illustrated in [Fig. 4].
In a more general model, the connection between the two information consumers (i1 and i2) will often be
provided by an information service center (C), but the center represents a purely technical facility, neither
intervening in the production of information or in the time of distribution, just as the center often serves
several consumers and handles numerous conversation-connections, as noted in the generalized pattern of [Fig.
5]. This is the kind of communication often referred to as one-to-one communication (or many-to-many
communication), dialog, conversation etc.
Characteristic features of the conversation pattern are therefore: that the information, as well as the time
for exchange of information, are totally controlled by the consumers; that the distribution of power (at least in
the idealized form) is completely symmetrical and decentralistic (contrary to the above mentioned transmission
pattern); and that the traditional distinction between senders and receivers therefore tends to dissolve. The
prototypical example of the conversation pattern is of course the telephone, where the individual consumer
decides whom to call, when to call, and what to talk about, whereas the telephone system plays a purely
technical and mediating role in routing the telephone calls between the consumers. If we again refrain from
requiring a synchronous mode and instantaneous interaction, other examples of conversation could be: telex,
fax, ordinary mail etc.
Until now, communication and media studies have primarily based their models and insights on the two
above mentioned communication patterns: the transmitting pattern in mass communication studies, and the
conversation pattern in interpersonal communication studies, whereas the two following communication
patterns have been markedly underexposed.
Bottom-left: Consultation. If the information is produced and owned by a central information service
center (C), but the individual information service consumer (i) controls which information is to be delivered
and when to deliver it, we have a case of consultation. In this instance, the information service center only
delivers information on request from the individual consumer (thin line), and reversely the individual consumer
only gets the information required, at the time required (thick line) as illustrated in [Fig. 6]. In this
pattern too, the center can normally be consulted by, and serve, several information consumers, resulting in the
generalized pattern [Fig. 7].
The consultation pattern represents markedly different power relations in comparison with the two
patterns considered above. Characteristic features of consultative media are that they have an asymmetric, but
distributed division of power, where the power over the content is held by the center, and the power over the
distribution held by the consumer; that they–compared to the transmitting mode–require a higher degree of
activity or interactivity on behalf of the consumer; but that they in return offer far more freedom and flexibility
in the choice of information, making more individual and selective uses possible. Exemplary representatives of
the consultative pattern are found in various forms of ‘electronic memories’ such as CD-ROMs, harddiscs, data
bases, online services, etc., in various forms of printed media like reference works, dictionaries, encyclopedias.
It is even possible to argue that newspapers, magazines, periodicals and books belong in this category, to the
extent that they are considered collections of information units which can be selected and read by the
information consumer, at a time that is convenient. On a more general level, you could also say that
institutions like libraries, bookstores, etc. follow the consulta tion mode.
Top-right: Registration. And finally, the opposite situation: when the information is produced by an
individual information service consumer (i), but the use of the information is handled and controlled by an
information service center (C), we have a case of registration. Here the task of the center is no longer to issue
information, but to collect it. This information pattern has two variations. If the information is delivered by the
individual on request from the center we have an inversion of the information flow of the consultation pattern
([Fig. 6] and [Fig. 7]) as illustrated by the generalized pattern in [Fig. 8]. If, however, the information is
collected from the consumer without a request from the center, we have an inversion of the information flow of
the transmitting model, where the center no longer sends information to, but collects information from, the
consumer ([Fig. 2] and [Fig. 3]) as depicted by the generalized pattern in [Fig. 9]. The collected information
can in turn be processed, computed, (re)arranged, etc. by the center. This kind of pattern could perhaps be
referred to as many-to-one communication.
The registration pattern is thus also characterized by an asymmetric, but distributed division of power,
only in reverse order from the transmitting and the consulting patterns, since the information is produced and
delivered by the consumers, whereas the use of the information, i.e. the adoption, interpretation and distribution
(concealment, publication etc.) is controlled by the central information service. Examples of the