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Selections from Calcote,
Michelle, Coffey, David, and Littlefield,
Dana
Clicking on a name above will take you to the
corresponding essay on this page.
Clicking on each name below will take you to
the writer's personal profile.
In Stevenson’s chapter on the developmental concept of mass media, he traces the beginnings of this concept to the United States’ Agricultural Extension Service. This service was a form of what is now called development communication, or development support communication. Stevenson defined this type of communication as information created to promote issues such as education, agriculture, public health, nutrition or family planning (p. 236).
Instead of arguing the different controversies involved in the developmental concept of media, I chose instead to focus this paper on how media is used as a developmental tool in the above-mentioned manner in contrast to the development journalism or news concept where information is used to support political development (Stevenson, p. 237). I will use the method of case study to illustrate this media concept.
In the 1997 UNESCO Courier, Jayaweera discussed the manner in which rural communities in the Philippines were using community radio stations to solve problems and aid in the socio-economic development of the areas. A common complaint among many developing countries is that communication and media information do not originate from these countries, but instead are imported from various media-rich countries, such as the United States. This situation has led in part to the situation of cultural imperialism. A developmental media system in Banga, a small town in the province of Aklan, in the Philippines, is working to provide the people of Banga their own voice, contrasting the common situation where media are imported from the communication-rich world which leads to a saturation of cultural influences on the receiving audience.
This system, a community radio project sponsored by UNESCO, the Danish International Development Agency and the Philippines, derives its initiative from the communities, according to Jayaweera (p. 34). “The local folk build the radio station, and after group discussions, they set the guidelines for the broadcasters,” Jayaweera stated. “They organize the radio team, drawing on all sectors of the village. There is no lack of volunteers” (p. 34).
To illustrate the aspect that the radio project is run by local citizens, Jayaweera provided several examples of local citizens turned broadcasters. Nerrie Bihis is a local citizen who gives talks on development topics such as town cleanliness, while a local law officer hosts a weekly program on law and order (p. 34).
An interesting point in this case study of developmental communication is the manner in which the citizens use the radio station to promote their national culture, a main function of the development media system. One Christmas, the Banga community purchased a karaoke machine as a sing-along system for the radio station. Using traditional instruments, the citizens sing and play, furthering the development cause. “Whatever the music, people sing to cultivate a sense of belonging and identify with their community in the context of a larger national culture,” claimed Jayaweera (p. 34).
The karaoke sessions, due to their popularity, are used to link other forums on topics such as gambling, irrigation, relief during floods and typhoons and fishing rights and education. Jayaweera found that the karaoke sessions, along with the forums and citizen participation, have made a difference in the communities.
They have encouraged people to analyze their problems and come up with their own solutions, with contributions from the local political and administrative authorities. Live discussions on the air ensure a continuing dialogue on issues of concern to the community and perform a watchdog function by making sure solutions stick. More civic organizations are being formed, and new income-generating activities are being started by families and neighborhood groups. There is a more constructive dialogue with local officials (Jayaweera, p. 35).
Most of all, a major contribution of the radio program to the Philippine community can be summed up in the following quite by Banga’s station manager Porfirio Bullo: “Before we used to just listen to radio; now we are the ones who are listened to” (p. 35).
Therefore, this case study can be helpful in discussions of development in the Third World. A common problem with many causes, where wealthier nations aid less developed nations, is the condescending and disrespectful manner in which the aid is given. As illustrated in the LIVE AID case, many development and charitable actions further condescending attitudes held by those in the West.
Although the bias is obvious in the report by UNESCO on a UNESCO project, and thus the actual success of the project cannot be adequately determined, projects such as the radio system in Banga, where local citizens help local citizens, should be studied to address this issue.
References:
Jayaweera, W. (1997). Villages find their voice: radio brings empowerment
to rural communities in the Philippines. UNESCO Courier, 34 – 35.
Stevenson, R. (1994). “Development Media.” Global Communication in the
Twenty-First Century. (pp. 231 – 259). White Plains, NY: Longman Publishing
Group.
Coffey, David
Chapter ten of Robert L. Stevenson’s Global Communication in the Twenty-First Century, and “A Political Economy of Television: State, Class, and Corportate Confluence in India” by Manjunath Pendakur both deal with the development of satellite television in India.
In 1969 India’s Department of Atomic Energy agreed to collaborate with NASA in a satellite experiment. From 1975 to 1976 India participated in the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE). This program brought television to 2,400 villages that had been selected for the economic deficincies. The villages received dishes, antennaes and receivers. All India Radio(AIR) produced programs. AIR was advised by experts from the government, universities, and social work institutions.
Of the SITE program Stevenson writes:
At the the end of the experimnet, no one was sure whether the results
from SITE could translate into the kind of national change that would move
India from the bottom of the list of countries in developmnet indicators
such as literacy, infant mortality, and agriculture to, say, somewhere
in the middle. (Stevenson, p.255)
Despite obvious problems in feeding and clothing its needy, the Indian state introduced color television and began sponsoring programs in 1983. On August 15, 1982 color TV began in India to “showcase India’s technological and organizational abilities and gain prestige in the international community.” (Pendakur, p.242)
From 1971 to 1988 the number of transmitters in India grew from 1 to 258 while television audiences grew from 50,000 to 216,000,000. These transmittors were built by states owned and private enterprises and cost an estimated 86 million dollars. Millions in government money was spent on this expansion.
From 1978 to 1980 Indira Ghandi was removed from office. During her absence many multinational corporations were thrown out of India. Upon her return to office she began to seek out foreign investment. Ghandi’s government increased India’s telecommunications and imported 40% of the technology. After his mother’s assasination in 1984 Rajiv Ghandi took over as Prime Minister and started talking of developing a computer based revolution in India.
It appears that the current policy shift toward a city-based, Delhi-centered television system dominated by entertainment programs is part of that package. Such a policy finds allies in th booming corporate sector, including the advertising industry, which is central to the creation of a consumer culture. (Pendakur, pp.250-251)
Spending on television advertising rose 192% from 1974 to 1977. The
leading adveriser in India in 1985 was Colgate/Pamolive. The development
of TV made it easier to access middle class and upper class consumers.
Of the program that started out as an Instrutional Television Experiment
Pendakur writes:
Not only have advertiser demanded more entertainment on television
they have complained about the “intrusion” of rural educational programs
on the commercial network. (Pendakur, p.254)
It was interesting to see NASA involved in a project that ended up being
a way to deliver 200 million consumers to advertisers. And it’s strange
to think that some people in this country consider NASA a waste of money.
References:
Stevenson, Robert L. (1994). “Development Media”, in Global Communications in the Twenty-First Century. White Plains, NY: Longman, pp. 231-259.
Pendakur, Manjunath (1991). “A Political Economy of Television: State,
Class, and Corporate Confluence in India”, in Transnational Communications:
Wiring the Third World. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE, pp.234-262.
Pravda, a publication that
is normally thought of in terms of Communist media, is actually a very
fine example of the Revolutionary concept, as defined by William Hachten,
the theorist credited with defining
the "five concepts" model of the press. Revolutionary press is, "the
concept of illegal and subversive mass communications utilizing the press
and broadcasting to throw a government or wrest control from alien rulers"
(Hachten, 69-70). Though it is often seen as an arm of the Communist Party,
or a tool of propaganda, it must be remembered that Pravda was not
a legal paper. Edited by Joseph Stalin, it was published outside czarist
Russia and smuggled across its borders. In his book on this subject, Angus
Roxburgh writes that, "amid the scholarly ideological tracts and the overblown
claims of economic success, Pravda exposes a great many faults[of
Soviet life], from inefficiency and bad management to corruption and hooliganism,
from food shortages and poor quality goods to alcholism and even the stifling
of criticism at party meetings" (Roxburgh, p. 9).
As it has been since its creation, Pravda is the voice of the Bolshevik party, though in 1912, five years before the Bolsheviks took power, it was constantly hounded by the Tsarist police. It was produced by revolutionaries in a small office, with a guard positioned outside to warn its creators of oncoming police raids. The paper was originally written in coded language which its readers learned to decipher. The code was used to hide the revolutionary messages the paper held, pushing for Russian workers to overthrow the Establishment.
Today Pravda is a proud pillar of the Establishment, as it should be since it played a major role in organizing and informing the people. Roxburgh writes that, "in the last days of the Tsar, when Russian newspapers filled their pages with stock-exchange news and high-society gossip, while remaining silent about the ignominious conditions endured by the workers and peasants, the title- which means 'Truth'- was a direct challenge to the ruling class, and a brilliant name for a workers' newspaper which sought to tear the veil of silence from a rotten society" (Roxburgh, p.14). Today, workers' attitudes toward the paper have changed.
As it is now the voice of those in power its connection to the masses has somewhat waned. Roxburgh gives the example of one taxi driver's answer to the question of what he thinks of Pravda's coverage of events in Afghanistan. The cab driver remarked, "with his tongue in his cheek: 'Well, if it's called "The Truth", I suppose it must be!'(Roxburgh, p.14).
However, when it comes Pravda's history, the truth appears to
be somewhat clouded, at least in terms of V. I. Lenin's relationship to
the publication. It is a popular belief that Lenin was the paper's founder.
Even the masthead reads that the paper was founded on May 5, 1912 by
V. I. Lenin. Roxburgh writes that, it was actually Nikolai Poletayev, a
Social Democratic Deputy to the Duma (Parliament) in St. Petersburg and
publisher of Zvezda, a Bolshevik weekly, who raised the money an obtained
permission for the new paper while Lenin was still in exile in Paris. Lenin's
first article to be published in Pravda appeared in the thirteenth issue.
His second did not appear until the sixty-third issue and forty-seven of
his articles were not published at all. Lenin had an intense interest
in the paper itself and the revolutionary potential it held, however he
was frustrated in that he had little control over how the paper was run.
Roxburgh writes that "his letters to the editor show that he was far
from pleased with the line it was taking - especially its conciliatory
attitude towards the more moderate Menshevik faction of the Russian Social
Democratic Labour Party". Stalin's editorial in the first issue called
for "peace and cooperation within the movement"(Roxburgh, p.15), an attitude
V.I. Lenin did not share. Lenin's wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya wrote of Lenin's
frustration with Pravda in her memoirs. She wrote, "Ilyich [Lenin]
attached enormous importance to Pravda and sent articles to it almost
daily. He fervently counted up how much money was collected for Pravda
and where, how many articles were written on each subject, and so
on. He was terribly pleased when Pravda published successful
pieces and took the
correct line" (Roxburgh, p.15).
References:
Hachten, William A. (1981). The World News Prism: Changing Media, Clashing Ideologies. Ames, Iowa: The Iowa State University Press.
Roxburgh, Angus.(1987). Pravda: Inside the Soviet News Machine.New York: George Braziller, Inc.
Stevenson, Robert L.(1994). Global Communication in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Longman Publishing Group, 261-285.