Development communication – for whom and for what?

Abstract

SUMMARY The communication media, in the context of development, are generally used to support development initiatives by the dissemination of messages that encourage the public to support development-oriented projects. Although development strategies in developing countries diverge widely, the usual pattern for broadcasting and the press has been predominantly the same: informing the population about projects, illustrating the advantages of these projects, and recommending that they be supported. A typical example of such a strategy is situated in the area of family planning, where communication means such as posters, pamphlets, radio, and television attempt to persuade the public to accept birth control methods. Similar strategies are used in campaigns regarding health and nutrition, agricultural projects, education, and so on. This model sees the communication process mainly as a message going from a sender to a receiver. This hierarchic view on communication can be summarised in Laswell's classic formula – ‘Who says What through Which channel to Whom with What effect?’ – and dates back to (mainly American) research on campaigns and diffusions in the late 40s and 50s. The American scholar Everett Rogers is said to be the person who introduced this diffusion theory in the context of development. Modernisation here is conceived as a process of diffusion whereby individuals move from a traditional way of life to a different, more technically developed and more rapidly changing way of life. Building primarily on sociological research in agrarian societies, Rogers stressed the adoption and diffusion processes of cultural innovation. This approach is therefore concerned with the process of diffusion and adoption of innovations in a more systematic and planned way. Mass media are important in spreading awareness of new possibilities and practices, but at the stage where decisions are being made about whether or not to adopt personal communication is far more likely to be influential. Therefore, the general conclusion of this line of thought is that mass communication is less likely to have a direct effect on social behaviour than personal influence. Newer perspectives on development communication claim that this is still a limited view of development communication. They argue that this diffusion model is a vertical or one-way perspective on communication, and that active involvement in the process of the communication itself will accelerate development. Research has shown that while groups of the public can obtain information from impersonal sources such as radio and television, this information has relatively little effect on behavioural changes. And development envisions precisely such change. Similar research has led to the conclusion that more is learned from interpersonal contacts and from mass communication techniques that are based on them. On the lowest level, before people can discuss and resolve problems, they must be informed of the facts, information that the media provide nationally as well as regionally and locally. At the same time, if the media are sufficiently accessible, the public can make its information needs known. Therefore, these newer approaches argue, the point of departure must be the community. It is at the local community level that the problems of living conditions are discussed, and interactions with other communities are elicited. The most developed form of participation is selfmanagement. This principle implies the right to participation in the planning and production of media content. However, not everyone wants to or must be involved in its practical implementation. It is more important that participation should be made possible in the decision-making about the subjects treated in the messages and the selection procedures. One of the fundamental hindrances to the decision to adopt the participation strategy is that it threatens existing hierarchies. Nevertheless, participation does not imply that there is no longer a role for development specialists, planners, and institutional leaders. It means only that the viewpoint of the local groups of the public is considered before the resources for development projects are allocated and distributed, and that suggestions for changes in the policy are taken into consideration. In this article, we present the general concepts which are normally referred to in discussions on development communication. We will address the topic from a historical perspective. Firstly, in theory, one observes a shift from modernisation and dependency theories to more normative and holistic approaches. We have attempted to group these new insights as ‘one world, multiple cultures’ or ‘multiplicity’. Secondly, also at the policy and planning level, one can distinguish between different approaches which could be identified as the ‘diffusion model’ versus the ‘participatory model’.

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