Development communication

See also Communication for social change

Development communication has been defined, alternatively, as either a type of marketing and public opinion research used to develop effective communication, or the use of communication to promote social development. As the former, it often includes computerized linguistic analysis of responses to qualitative surveys and may involve psychological "right brain" (emotional) research techniques. In the latter definition, development communication refers to the practice of systematically applying the processes, strategies and principles of communication to bring about positive social change by supporting sustainable change in development operations; it aims to do this through engaging key stakeholders, establishing conducive environments, assessing risks and opportunities, disseminating information, and inducing positive behavioral and social change. As the first form, known also as "communication development research," it uses approaches that cannot be elaborated upon without revealing proprietary information; the remainder of this article focuses on the latter definition.

History and definition

The practice of development communication can be traced back to efforts undertaken in various parts of the world during the 1940s, but the widespread application of the concept came about because of the problems that arose in the aftermath of World War II. The rise of the communication sciences in the 1950s saw a recognition of the field as an academic discipline, with Daniel Lerner, Wilbur Schramm and Everett Rogers being the earliest influential advocates. The term "development communication" was first coined in 1972 by Nora C. Quebral, who defines the field as

...the art and science of human communication linked to a society's planned transformation from a state of poverty to one dynamic socio-economic growth that makes for greater equality and the larger unfolding of individual potentials.

Or as Erskine Childers has defined it:

Development support communications is a discipline in development planning and implementation in which more adequate account is taken of human behavioural factors in the design of development projects and their objectives.

Both Childers and Quebral stress that communication for development is not confined to the mass media channels, but includes any and all effective means of communication - interpersonal, face-to-face, small group, the stage play, a picture, or even a billboard.

According to Quebral (1975), the most important feature of Philippines-style development communications is that the government is the "chief designer and administrator of the master (development) plan wherein, development communication, in this system then is purposive, persuasive, goal-directed, audience-oriented, and interventionist by nature." The theory and practice of development communication continues to evolve today, with different approaches and perspectives unique to the varied development contexts the field has grown in.

Development communication is characterized by conceptual flexibility and diversity of communication techniques used to address the problem. Some approaches in the "tool kit" of the field include: information dissemination and education, behavior change, social marketing, social mobilization, media advocacy, communication for social change, and participatory development communication.

Early development

The theories and practices of development communication sprang from the many challenges and opportunities that faced development oriented institutions during the 20th century. Since these institutions existed in different contexts, different schools of development communication rose in different places over time. Manyozo (2006) suggests that the history of the field can be broken down into those of six different schools of development communication, with the Bretton Woods school being the dominant paradigm in international literature, and others being the Latin American, Indian, African, Los Baños, and participatory development communication schools, respectively.

Bretton Woods school

The "Bretton Woods school of development communication" is a term that has been applied to the development communication approaches that arose with the economic strategies outlined in the Marshall Plan after World War two, and the establishment of the Bretton Woods system and of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in 1944. The descriptive term is not widely used in the field, but has been used to differentiate between different "schools" or approaches to development which have historically evolved, sometimes independently, at later points in history and in other parts of the world. Leading theorists under this school include Daniel Lerner, Wilbur Schramm and Everett Rogers. Due to his pioneering influence in the field, Rogers has often been termed the "father of development communication."^{[citation needed]}

Originally, the paradigm involved production and planting of development in indigenous and uncivilized societies. This western approach to development communication was criticized early on, especially by Latin American researchers such as Luis Ramiro Beltan and Alfonso Gumucio Dagron, because it tended to locate the problem in the underdeveloped nation rather than its unequal relations with powerful economies. There was also an assumption that Western models of industrial capitalism are appropriate for all parts of the world. Many projects for development communication failed to address the real underlying problems in poor countries such as lack of access to land, agricultural credits and fair market prices for products.^{[citation needed]}

Failure of many development projects in the 1960s led to it reconceptualizing its top-down methods. (Manyozo, 2006) The school has reviewed its approaches over the years and has been the most dynamic in testing and adopting new approaches and methodologies.

The World Bank currently defines development communication as the "integration of strategic communication in development projects" based on a clear understanding of indigenous realities.

Institutions associated with the Bretton Woods school of development communication include:

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
• Rockefeller Foundation
• Department for International Development, United Kingdom
• Ford Foundation

Latin America

The Latin American school of development communication traces its history back further than the Bretton Woods school, emerging in the 1940s with the efforts of Colombia's Radio Sutatenza and Bolivia's Radios Mineras. These stations were the first to use participatory and educational rural radio approaches to empowering the marginalised. In effect, they have since served as the earliest models for participatory broadcasting efforts around the world.

In the 1960s Paolo Freire's theories of critical pedagogy and Miguel Sabido's enter-educate method became important elements of the Latin American development communication scene.

Other theorists who have influenced this school include Juan Diaz Bordenave, Luis Ramiro Beltran, and Alfonso Gumucio Dagron. (Mayonzo 2006, Mayonzo, 2005)

In the 1990s, technological advances facilitated social change and development – new media outlets began to emerge, cable TV signal coverage spread over more regions, and as the presence of communication firms grew so did an echoed global trend from major corporations.

India

The history of organized development communication in India can be traced to rural radio broadcasts in the 1940s. As is logical, the broadcasts used indigenous languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and Kannada.^{[citation needed]}

Independent India's earliest organized experiments in development communication started with Community Development projects initiated by the union government in the 1950s. The government, guided by socialistic ideals of its constitution and the first generation of politicians, started massive developmental programs throughout the country. While field publicity was given due importance for person-to-person communication - also because the level of literacy was very low in rural areas - radio played an equally important role in reaching messages to the masses. Universities and other educational institutions - especially the agricultural universities, through their extension networks - and international organizations under the UN umbrella carried the development communication experiments further.^{[citation needed]}

Development communication in India, a country of sub-continental proportions, acquires many connotations. On one end of the spectrum are the tools and techniques locally applied by charitable and not-for-profit organizations with very close inter-personal relations among the communicators and on the other end is the generic, far-off, one-way sort of communication emanating from the government.^{[citation needed]}

The need for development communication continues since a large population, over 600 million, lives in rural areas and depends directly on agriculture. Poverty is reducing as percentage of population but still over 200 million are very poor as of 2009. They all, and the urban slum dwellers, need government support in different forms. Therefore, communication from the government remains highly relevant. In addition to the traditional ways, a new form of communication is being tried by the union government to support its developmental activities, though at a limited scale. Called Public Information Campaigns, public shows are organized in remote areas where information on social and developmental schemes is given, seminars and workshops are held, villagers and their children are engaged in competitions, messages are given through entertainment shows. In addition, government organizations and corporates involved in rural businesses display their wares and services in stalls lining the main exhibition area. This approach brings various implementing agencies and service / goods providers while the information providers encourage the visitors to make the best use of various schemes and services available. Some state governments have also adopted this model to take their development schemes to the masses.^{[citation needed]}

Community radio is another new medium getting a foothold in rural India, though in patches. NGOs and educational institutions are given license to set up a local community radio station to broadcast information, advisories and messages on developmental aspects. Participation of local community is encouraged. As community radio provides a platform to villagers to broadcast local issues, it has the potential to elicit positive action from local politicians and civil servants.^{[citation needed]}

Africa

The African school of development communication sprang from the continent's post-colonial and communist movements in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Development communication in Anglophone Africa saw the use of radio and theatre for community education, adult literacy, health and agricultural education (Kamlongera, 1983, Mlama, 1971, Manyozo 2006, Manyozo, 2005).

In 1994 the FAO project "Communication for Development in Southern Africa" was a pioneer in supporting and enhancing development projects and programs through the use of participatory communication approaches. The FAO project, placed under SADC, developed an innovative methodology known as PRCA - Participatory Rural Communication Appraisal, which combined participatory tools and techniques with a strong communication focus needed to design strategies enhancing projects' results and sustainability. FAO and SADC published a handbook on PRCA and this methodology is still widely used today in various projects around the world.^{[citation needed]}

Well into the 21st century radio has had a strong presence in the development communication research and practice. Radio is especially important in rural areas, as the work of the non-governmental organization Farm Radio International and its members across sub-Saharan Africa demonstrate. Linkages that exchange knowledge between development partners such as agricultural scientists and farmers are being mediated through rural radio (Hambly Odame, 2003).

Los Baños school

The systematic study and practice of development communication in the Philippines began at the University of the Philippines Los Baños in the 1970s, through the establishment of the Department of Development Communications in the College of Agriculture, which offered both undergraduate and master's degrees preparing persons to assist in communicating the government policies of agricultural development.

Nora C. Quebral first coined the term, "development communication", while at the university's Office of Extension and Publications, now the College of Development Communication (CDC). According to Felix Librero, the term development communication was first used by Quebral in her 1971 paper, "Development Communication in the Agricultural Context," presented in at a symposium in honor of Dioscoro L. Umali, former Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture (UPCA) and University of the Philippines (UP) Vice President for Agriculture and Forestry Affairs, who had just been appointed FAO Deputy Director-General for Asia and the Far East. The symposium was held at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, with the theme "In Search of Breakthroughs in Agricultural Development." In her paper, Quebral argued that development communication was to be treated as science, so all the tasks associated with communicating development oriented issues were based on the rigors of scientific inquiry; a strong argument for undertaking rigorous research in the field of communication even if it was, at that time, limited to agricultural and rural development efforts (Librero, 2008, p. 8).

At the time, elsewhere in the world the term 'development support communication' was being used in UNDP programmes under the leadership of Erskine Childers, who was operating from his UNDP office in Bangkok together with his co-author of significant development support communication papers and wife, Malicca Vajrathron.^{[citation needed]} This brand of communication was clearly focusing on the support functions of communication in promoting agricultural and development programmes of the United Nations; clearly, therefore, development communication, Los Baños style, was, from the beginning, an academic field of study rather than just techniques program (Librero, 2008, pp. 8–9). The meaning of development, as espoused by Seers (cited in Quebral's 1971 paper), became a major point of argument in favor of the term, development communication, as opposed to Childer’s development support communication, which was used in public and in the scientific literature for the first time. Librero recounts that colleagues in agricultural communications in Los Baños agreed with Quebral, but colleagues from the field of mass communication in the University of the Philippines Diliman, and more so from other countries notably in North America, did not agree completely, although years later they ultimately accepted development communication, even if in the beginning they also focused on the concept of it being agricultural. Today, development communication is as acceptable to them as mass communication is.^{[citation needed]}

In 1993, in the Institute of Development Communication's faculty papers series, Alexander Flor proposed that the definition of development communication expanded from the perspective of cybernetics and general systems theory:

If information counters entropy and societal breakdown is a type of entropy, then there must be a specific type of information that counters societal entropy. The exchange of such information -- be it at the individual, group, or societal level -- is called development communication.

Participatory development communication

Main article: Participatory development communication

Focusing the involvement of the community in development efforts, while greatly influenced by Freirean critical pedagogy and the Los Baños school, the evolution of the participatory development communication school involved collaboration between First World and Third World development communication organizations. (Mayonzo 2006; Mayonzo, 2005; Besette, 2004)

Today

The growing interest for these kind of applications is also reflected in the work of the World Bank, which is active in promoting this field through its Development Communication division and published the Development Communication Sourcebook in 2008, a resource addressing the history, concepts, and practical applications of this discipline.

Examples

• One of the first examples of development communication was Farm Radio Forums in Canada. From 1941 to 1965 farmers met in groups each week to listen to special radio programs. There were also printed materials and prepared questions to encourage group discussion. At first this was a response to the Great Depression and the need for increased food production in World War II. But the Forums also dealt with social and economic issues. This model of adult education or distance education was later adopted in India and Ghana.

• Similar to Canada's Farm Radio Forums, Radyo DZLB, the community broadcasting station of UPLB College of Development Communication is a forerunner of school-on-air (SOA) concept that provides non-formal education for rural folk. DZLB has hosed SOAs on nutrition, pest management and cooperatives. Currently, DZLB continues to air educational programming for farmers and cooperatives.

• Instructional television was used in El Salvador during the 1970s to improve primary education. One of the problems was a lack of trained teachers. Teaching materials were also improved to make them more relevant. More children attended school and graduation rates increased. In this sense the project was a success. However, there were few jobs available in El Salvador for better-educated young people.

• In the 1970s in Korea the Planned Parenthood Federation had succeed in lowering birth rates and improving life in villages such as Oryu Li. It mainly used interpersonal communication in women's clubs. The success in Oryu Li was not found in all villages. It had the advantage of several factors including a remarkable local woman leader and visits from the provincial governor.

• A project of social marketing in Bolivia in the 1980s tried to get women in the Cochabamba Valley to use soybean recipes in their cooking. This was an attempt to deal with chronic malnourishment among children. The project used cooking demonstrations, posters and broadcasts on local commercial radio stations. Some people did try soybeans but the outcome of the project is unclear.

• In 1999 the U.S. Government and D.C. Comics planned to distribute 600,000 comic books to children affected by the Kosovo War. The comic books are in Albanian and feature Superman and Wonder Woman. The aim is to teach children what to do when they find an unexploded land mine left over from Kosovo's civil war. The comic books instruct children not to touch the anti-personnel mines and not to move, but instead to call an adult for help. In spite of the 1997 Ottawa Treaty which attempts to ban land mines they continue to kill or injure 20,000 civilians each year around the world.

• Since 2002, Journalists for Human Rights, a Canadian based NGO, has operated long term projects in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the DR Congo. JHR works directly with journalists, providing monthly workshops, student sessions, on the job training, and additional programs on a country by country basis.

Pressing issues within the field

Sustainable development

Main article: Sustainable development

Sustainable development is the process of maximizing the use of available resources in order to ensure the long-term well-being of present and future beneficiaries. Sustainable Development is a continuous progress which aims for and maintains a constructive state of living in society as preserved by social institutions and systems. However, sustainable development entails 1. Economic sustainability. 2. Social sustainability. 3. Cultural sustainability.

Community/people participation

Community/people participation is a voluntary involvement of an informed and motivated community while being equipped with proper knowledge and training in which they are equally gratified. It is the active involvement of members of a particular social unit in all aspects of developmental procedures (planning, decision-making, evaluating, monitoring, etc.). An equipped and facilitated environment is arranged to initiate the involvement of different willing social units, as to enhance the process of development and communication amongst its members. The participating people can inject or infuse to another people of the society largely, of the ideas and perception of the developmental process or project ongoing round about them. Community participation propels the objective of development communication. A variety of methodologies are used to advance people's participation, such as peer education, community mapping, participatory rural appraisal, among others. The sole heart of community participation is the people.

Complications in practice

Like any intervention covering the society, and more because human communication itself is complicated, development communication can become complicated. The complications increase when we deal with diverse societies over a large area, such as India; when we try to change behavior of the recipients and in the process bring in many types of media / persuasive skills; and when the ground realities do not allow results to reach the target audience, i.e. there is disconnect between the ground realities and messages.

Cultural factors including local rituals and mores, nuances of language, gender perceptions, affect the reception of messages and their impact. The success of dev-comm will, therefore, depend on the credibility of the messenger, the simplicity and directness of the message, and its location-specificity. This aspect assumes more significance when we communicate in complex societies.

Definitions

Development communication is recognizing the power of communication as a catalyst for social development. It is also the utilization of existent communication tools and applicable theories for result-driven strategies for the advancement of society.^{[citation needed]}

Development communication can also be defined as purposive communication intended for a specific target audience that allows for the translation of information into action resulting in a higher quality of life.

It is greatly linked with the concept of sustainable development (which can be defined as the improvement of a community using information and technology and the community's ability to maintain the created ideal state without compromising its environment and resources). It also relies greatly on Community and People Participation, which is the voluntary involvement of a group of people in a development activity with full knowledge of its purpose that will allow them to grow individually and as a community.

Development communication is the process of eliciting positive change (social, political, economic, moral, environmental, etc.) through an effective exchange of pertinent information in order to induce people to action.^{[citation needed]}

If the present understanding of communication and development are integrated, the horizon of a practitioner's understanding of development communication will widen. It will not be limited by historical definitions but include the following elements and more such aspects. Development "communication" thus would include: information dissemination on developmental schemes/projects, communication for eliciting positive change, interactivity, feedback on developmental issues, feedback/reverse communication for eliciting change. On development side, sustainability issues need to be given proper importance vis-a-vis economic development.

Development support communication (DSC) can be described as development planning and implementation in which adequate action is taken of human behavioral factors in the design of development project and their objectives. It addresses development planning and the plan of operation for implementation. Development support communication is urgently suggested by UNESCO, UNDP and communication scholars and practitioners worldwide. DSC stands for linking all agencies involved in the planned development works such as political executives, political planners, development administrators, subject specialists, field workers, opinion leaders, media representatives, researchers and the beneficiaries who continue the final delivery points and the consumers of the information. The route of communication envisaged are not only vertical as flowing from upper level to bottom or bottom level to upwards but also horizontal between the institutions and personnel connected with the process of development.

The fundamental objective of DSC is to communicate the latest skills, knowledge and innovation to the agriculturists so that by adopting them the agriculturists may increase their output manifold. In this connection three vital groups are identified which are as follows:

1. Innovation or knowledge generation
2. Political leaders or government of the state
3. Users of the knowledge or agriculturists

A very close interaction is necessary among the three groups as mentioned above, to achieve the success of development support communication. (Phazcom 26.02.09.)

International communication, the intellectual field that deals with issues of mass communication at a global level, is sometimes also called development communication. This field includes the history of the telegraph, submarine communication cables, shortwave or international broadcasting, satellite television, and global flows of mass media. Today it includes issues of the Internet in a global perspective and the use of new technologies such as mobile phones in different parts of the world.

Development communication policy

Development communication is a process that builds consensus and facilitates the sharing of knowledge to achieve positive change in development initiatives. It is not only about effective dissemination of information, but about using empirical research, two-way communication, and dialogue among stakeholders. It is also a key management tool that helps assess socio-political risks and opportunities. By using communication to bridge differences and take action towards change, development communication can lead to successful and more sustainable results.

Development communication is envisaged as a response to particular historical, social, and economic factors that characterize freedom of access to information and citizen participation. This includes socio-economic problems such as high levels of poverty and unemployment, low standards of living, poor access to basic services, remote settlement patterns, lack of access to technology, lack of information, poor health services, lack of education and skills, and lack of infrastructure.

A decisive role can be played by communication in promoting human development in today’s new climate of social change. As the world moves towards greater democracy, decentralization, and the market economy, conditions are becoming more favorable for people to start steering their own course of change. But it is vital to stimulate their awareness, participation, and capabilities. Communication skills and technology are central to this task, but at present are often underutilized. Policies are needed that encourage effective planning and implementation of communication programs.

The implementation of communication policies and practices requires joint action among those involved in the social, economic, scientific, educational, and foreign affairs of each country. Their role is not to be conceived as a superpower set up to control the media. They can be successful only in constant contact and consultation with the communicators and the citizens whose direct participation in the formulation and implementation of communication policies and plans is both essential and vital. Today, the decision makers and the citizens of these countries cannot but pay close attention to the role that communication currently plays in society, and explore how communication may best contribute to all aspects of human and national development.

The UNESCO has provided the groundwork for development communication policies. It has conducted a series of studies on communication policies as part of the resolutions adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO during its 16th session in 1970. Its objective was to promote an awareness of the concept of communication policies at the governmental, institutional, and professional levels of selected member states. The selected countries were Ireland, Sweden, Hungary, Yugoslavia, West Germany, and Brazil. Two years later, a UNESCO meeting of experts on communication policies and planning defined communication policy as a set of norms established to guide the behavior of communication media. According to these experts, the basic requirements of communication policies are:

• The values that determine the structure of communication systems and guide their operation
• The systems of communication, their structures, and operation
• The output of these systems and their impact and social functions

The Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) was commissioned by UNESCO to do a feasibility study on "Training in Communication Planning in Asia" in 1974. It organized the first AMIC Regional Conference on Development Communication Policies and Planning in Manila, Philippines in May 1977. Attended by delegates from ten countries, it drew up basic recommendations including the setting up of national development communication councils by each country's governmental, educational, and media groups.

According to Habermann and De Fontgalland (1978), the difficulties in the adoption of a viable development communication policy have to be simultaneously analyzed at the horizontal and vertical levels. The horizontal level consists of diversified institutions such as government agencies, semi-governmental offices (e.g., rural extension service), independent development organizations, and private media outlets, which are all active in communication. The coordination of these institutions becomes a major item of a meaningful development communication policy. The vertical level is defined by the need for mutual information flows between the population base and the decision-making bodies. On this level, even more institutions are involved because of the local and supra-local administrations that are active in handing out directives and in feeding back reports to the government. Coordination of development communication initiatives becomes a more difficult task on this level because, with the exception of government extension bureaus, no institution is really prepared to pick up information from the grassroots levels and feed them back meaningfully to the national administration.

Nora Quebral, on assessing the relevance and currency of development communication training values in 1986, has stressed the importance of systematic practice being equally recognized along with formal research as a legitimate basis for decisions on development communication policy. According to her, in the well-ordered world of Western academics, research precedes policy, and is the foundation of policy.

Stakeholder analysis

Main article: Stakeholder analysis

The design and implementation of policies is becoming more complex, and the number and type of actors involved in policy implementation has increased; hence, the policy process is progressively changing towards multi-actor and multi-goal situations. Where several groups of stakeholders are involved in the policy process, a stakeholder analysis can provide a useful policy definition tool. Stakeholder analysis has been mainly concerned with policy-making. Crosby explained that stakeholder analysis has emerged as a range of methods and approaches to analyze the interests and roles of key players in a specific policy domain. The notion of "stakeholder" has been defined in the literature in different ways depending on the goal of the analysis, the approach that is adopted, or the policy area. A stakeholder in an organization, according to Hannan and Freeman, is any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization's objectives, while other authors limit the notion of stakeholder to only those actors that can affect the issue at hand, and not necessarily those who might be affected by it. For instance, Brugha and Varvasovszky defined stakeholder as "individuals, groups, and organizations who have an interest (stake) and the potential to influence the actions and aims of an organization, project,or policy direction." In which case, the stakeholders constitute broad groups and can be classified or categorized in many different ways.

Stakeholder analysis has been frequently applied in policy formulation and planning to help analyze the behavior, intentions, interrelations, agendas, interests, and the resources stakeholders have brought or could bring to bear on the policy processes. According to Flor, a stakeholder analysis of communication policy would reveal the interplay of interests of the following sectors:

• Government - all communication policies must be enacted by the government, making it the most powerful stakeholder in communication policy.

• Education sector - universities are in the best position to conduct research on development communication, the results of which can help the government craft meaningful communication policies.

• Communication industry - as creators and channels of communication materials, the industry can influence communication policies being crafted by the government. To avoid getting regulated by the state, it has created self-regulating organizations like the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas and the Philippine Press Institute to institute codes of ethics. In addition, since media outlets have continuously resisted efforts by the government and other sectors to practice social responsibility. Since they are business organizations, they print or broadcast what is profitable even if it is sensational, bordering on pornographic, or unverified information.

• Private sector - businesses other than the communication industry also influence communication policy. Companies need to advertise their products and services, so they will naturally block any policy that would limit what they can communicate to the public.

• Religious sector - religions have always prescribed a set of moral codes for people to follow. Thus, they traditionally oppose policies that allow obscenity, violence, and profanity to be aired or published.

• Foreign interests - it is not uncommon for foreign governments and organizations to influence communication policies of sovereign states. For instance, international lending agencies prescribe the breaking up of monopolies—including state media entities—as a condition for financial aid.

• Consumers - as the audience of the media, consumers are the end recipients of the messages broadcast or published by the communication industry. For a long time, they have never been consulted in the crafting of communication policies. However, in the past decade, consumer groups have been formed, whose aim is to protect the interests of the public.

The United Nations has recognised the importance of "the need to support two-way communication systems that enable dialogue and that allow communities to speak out, express their aspirations and concerns and participate in the decisions that relate to their development" which can give voice to previously unheard stakeholders. Such two-way dialogical interactions can help understand the local people’s reality based on the whole range of social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental issues affecting their lives. The involvement of people in a development communication process is very important, as they are the "ultimate and perhaps the most important beneficiaries of development communication policies and planning".

Historical perspectives

See also: History of communication

Cuilenburg and McQuail (2003) identify three main phases of communications policy-making:

• Phase I: Emerging Communications Industry Policy (until the Second World War) -- during this era, communications policy was mainly pursued for reasons of state interest and financial corporate benefits; communications and media policy referred to the emerging technologies of telegraph, telephony, and wireless. Cuilenburg and McQuail explain that this phase is transitional from the time of ‘no-policy’ and consists of a collection of ad hoc measures designed to regulate and facilitate the introduction of a series of innovations, from the mid-19th century until approximately the start of the Second World War; it is characterized by piecemeal accumulation of measures, with varying aims, means and scope. They further explain that there is no coherent goal, beyond that of protecting or advancing the interests of government and nation, and promoting the development of communication systems, whether by state or private capital investment, and in Phase I, policy refers primarily to the emerging technologies of telegraph, telephony and wireless, although the cinema was also soon regulated when it arrived around the start of the 20th century.

• Phase II: Public Service Media Policy (1945-1980) -- media policy, after the Second World War, was dominated by sociopolitical rather than economic and national strategic concerns. This phase according to Cuilenburg and McQuail extends from after the Second World War until about 1980, when new media were developing on the basis of improved means of distribution and computerization characterized more by normative and political than technological considerations and by the search for national coherence and stability. Despite the Cold War climate, the spirit of democracy and the wish for international solidarity were able to influence media policy. Neither the lessons of the misuse of mass media for propaganda nor the dangers of monopoly control of the mass press were forgotten. The postwar (Second World War) phase of media policy was dominated by sociopolitical rather than economic or national strategic concerns. Even the once sacred print media could legitimately be brought within the scope of policy. The general spirit of the time was favourably disposed to progressive change and to social planning in all spheres of life.

• Phase III: New Communications Policy Paradigm (1980 to present) -- technological, economic, and social trends fundamentally changed the contexts of media policy from 1980 onward. Convergence became an agenda item when the former US Office of Technology Assessment published its pioneering study, Critical Connections (OTA, 1990); later in the decade, the European Union adopted the same theme for its new approach to communication policy (CEC, 1997). Technological convergence means, for instance, that the boundaries between information technologies and communication networks are blurring: computer and telecommunications are converging to telematics; personal computers and television become more similar; and formerly separated networks become more interconnected to render the same kind of services. Regulation of mass media became increasingly connected to telecommunications regulation. In addition to technological changes, social-cultural changes are also central to our time. The ‘decline in ideology’ that has been reflected in the fall of Communism, the increased scope and respectability of the free market and the shift to the right in European politics, is a notable feature of recent developments. Pragmatism and populism increasingly drive policy. Globalization of communication and the permeability of national frontiers by multinational media are also new in the scale of their impact.

Risk communication

Main article: Risk communication

Risk communication is a relatively young field within communication studies. Most of what could currently be considered risk communication could be traced back to the United States where environmental clean-up efforts were implemented through legislation in the 1980s. The terms ‘risk communications’ and ‘risk management’, however, were first used by William Ruckelsaus, the first administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which was established by President Richard Nixon in the 1970s. Communicating risk is a feature that is now currently included in any development communication policy. Risk communication may include but is not limited to having to communicate management decision risks in organizations, implementation risks resulting from the implementation of a program or project, or existing risks related to an environmental, health, political, or social situation or circumstance. Such risks need to either be included or considered in the crafting of a development communication policy regardless of who or what the development communication policy is designed for. For instance, in the health sector, risk communication is aimed at addressing the communication demands that are required in identifying health risks such as pandemics, natural disasters, bioterrorism, resource contamination, etc. There are, nonetheless, a number of definitions of risk put forward by certain recognized organizations, these being:

• American National Standard for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems ( ANSI/AIHA Z10 - 2005 ): " The identification and analysis, either qualitative or quantitative, of the likelihood of the occurrence of a hazardous event overexposure, and the severity of injury or illness that may be caused by it. "
• The Framework for Environmental Health Risk Management (Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management, 1997 ): "Risk is defined as the probability that a substance or situation will produce harm under specified conditions. Risk is a combination of two factors: (1) the probability that an adverse event will occur and (2) the consequences of the adverse event."
• The Safety Professionals Handbook (Fields 2008 ): "Risk is the probability (or likelihood) that a harmful consequence will occur as a result of an action."

Drawing from these definitions of risk, a number of proponents have described risk management as being 1) The evaluations and decisions that go into coping with risks, 2) Strategically planning for a crisis which should involve the removal of risks and uncertainties from negative or unexpected occurrences allowing an organization, a society, or a system to be in greater control of its fate, and 3) Factors that are specifically aimed at combating crises with the end objective of lessening any damage that the crisis may cause. Risk communications therefore becomes a vital component of risk management as risk communications involves being able to successfully impart that which is important in managing risks to an audience whether the end objective is to prevent consequences from risks or to acquire information that could further improve risk and crisis management.

With development communication being perceived to be "providing communities with information they can use in bettering their lives, which aims at making public programmes and policies real, meaningful and sustainable" it is therefore clear that development communication benefits from risk communications in two ways, 1) Risk communication supplements and complements what development communication would like to achieve and, 2) Risk communication as a component of risk management facilitates effective delivery of development communication.

Policy issues

At the close of the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (also known as Rio+20), 193 governments reiterated that the "people are at the center of sustainable development" and reaffirmed the pursuit of an equitable, inclusive and sustained growth that benefits all (The Future We Want, Paragraph 6). Integral to these imperatives of equity, inclusiveness and sustainable development are fundamental communicative aspects, such as freedom of expression, voices, worldviews, access and opportunities. It can thus be asserted that communication lies at the root of economic equity, social justice and human rights.

Communication policies determine the structures of the industries that can enable or encumber public access to information and communication resources which are essential means to the people’s ability to speak, be heard, and meaningfully participate in public determination. Despite this central role, communication policies are often excluded from socio-political policy processes.

Communication policy development covers formal and informal processes where interests are defined, expressed and politically negotiated by actors with different levels of power and with the goal of influencing policy decisions (Mansell, Raboy, 2011).

Development communication policy as a field has always been characterized by tension and conflict owed to a socially contextualized policy-making process and value-driven technologies (Williams 1974). From its nascent stages in the 1950s through to the 2000s, communication policy debates have been framed within the ruling discourses on development paradigms: autonomous vs. dependent in the 50s; unequal North-South communications flows in the 60s and 70s; the rise of the transnational corporations and the non-governmental actors in the 80s; the emergence of the global information society in the 90s along with the convergence of media and communication technologies and the rule of the market-based media structure in the 90s; and finally, the gathering of governments to formulate a global information society policy agenda during the World Summit on the Information Society with online media as a central focus in the 2000s.

The rapid prevalence of ICT and how it was breaking down boundaries of space and time for social interfaces have expanded the policy discussions and implications beyond national borders. Though the state, economy and civil society remain as key players, the policy making arena has extended to the global sphere. Policy makers have to contend with growing demands for content diversity, equal access, broader participation and transparency in policy development. With ICT access defining a new form of social underclass as demarcated by the digital divide between developed and developing countries, the central issue has become the need for ICT to serve economic, political and social justice.

This concern was amplified by a 1997 report of the United Nations which stated: "We are profoundly concerned at the deepening mal-distribution of access, resources and opportunities in the information and communication field. The information and communication technology gap and related inequities between industrialized and developing nations are widening: a new type of poverty – information poverty – looms." (Paragraph 5)

To counter the historical dominance of the global North, calls were raised for multistakeholder participation in ICT governance and for a new "enlightenment" where the policy process includes both formal and informal mechanisms and enables state and non-state actors to shape the aspirations of the media and communication industries (Hamelink and Nordenstreng, 2007). In the context of the new digital communication resources, issues of distribution and dependence as they relate to political power, economic opportunities and social and cultural values need to be revisited.

Ultimately, communication and media resources (traditional and digital) are vital public interests, thus granting the public the right and legitimacy to take active part in their governance and policy development process.

Communication for development policies

Is development communication a panacea, if not a diversion, supported by the ruling elites to focus the communities’ attention on development initiatives vs. any attempt at a radical transformation?

Do international development organizations in their preference for a homogenous media approach that is mainly Western-oriented foment cultural imperialism or a culture of dependence through their communication for development initiatives?

In encouraging a rethinking of communication for development policies, Linje Manyozo (2011) cited a common failure by communication policy makers to see through the role of funding institutions in encouraging cultural imperialism and in maintaining the unequal power relations between Western and local organizations in the design of policy interventions. Manyozo attributes this to the absence in communication policy debates of a political economy discourse which is what encourages the consideration of issues related to consciousness, value, and structures of power and institutions.

In reviewing the different approaches to communication for development policies – media, participation and community dialogue – Manyozo criticizes groups that reify one and overlook the others. "Dialogue may be important but discursive power is even more important, as it is a matter not only of speaking but also of being heard and recognized." (p. 322)

The global village - for the privileged?

The world has come a long way from when Marshall McLuhan conceived of a global village powered by the broadcast reach of radio to these days when the term has come to mean the global online community on the World Wide Web. Despite how distance has become virtually non-existent and how emails and social media platforms facilitate global conversations online, the reality remains that a true global village will remain an elusive concept (Melody, 2011).

In most parts of the world, Internet access remains a privilege. The right to communicate has long been acknowledged as a basic human right but this has not necessarily come with opportunities for and access to communication capabilities. Access is a matter of government policy and/or economic power. And while information generally comes with high public values – economic, social, political and cultural benefits – that far exceed the economic transaction behind its production and dissemination, communication policies do not always account for this public interest dimension.

The challenge to policy makers remains to bring most of society from the margins to the mainstream, and to enable them to participate in the online marketplace of ideas by providing universal access to these new communication opportunities.

Citing the European Commission’s definition, Maria Sourbati (2012) describes social enablement as preventing exclusion by providing access, and enabling inclusion by providing opportunities to participate in social processes. Meaningful engagement by actors in an information society is contingent on efficient access and having the right media literacy. Access and literacy can serve to distinguish those who have and those who lack these abilities; thus, they can highlight or aggravate existing inequalities.

Sen’s capability theory (1992, 1999) offers the view that the lack of access to ICT and to online media is effectively a denial of opportunities. Capabilities refer to freedoms, opportunities and abilities to do what individuals wish to do or value doing. This further broadens the conceptualization of ICT access as being linked to people having real freedoms to ultimately attain well-being. The capability theory is a response to the neoliberal tendencies that favor the economic goals of ICT; instead it focuses on the social implications of access while also linking it to political issues of inclusion, exclusion and choice.

In the Rio+20 outcome document, The Future We Want (2012), governments "recognize that improved participation of civil society depends upon, inter alia, strengthening access to information, building civil society capacity as well as an enabling environment. We [governments] recognize that information and communication technology (ICT) is facilitating the flow of information between governments and the public. In this regard, it is essential to work toward improved access to ICT, especially broad-band network and services, and bridge the digital divide, recognizing the contribution of international cooperation in this regard." (Paragraph 44)

If access will continue to be a privilege, despite this recognition from governments, the electronic global village will remain a gated community, if not a pipedream (Melody, 2011).

Women's issues

From under-representation to misrepresentation and marginalization, there is much congruence between issues of imbalance in global information flows and women’s issues in media and communication policies.

It was only in 1995, for example, where the silence on women issues in communication was broken with the introduction of the concept of empowerment (i.e. having a potential to transform structure) at the Fourth Women Conference of the UN in Beijing (Pandian, 1999).

In recognizing how ICT can be a tool for bridging the gender gap, the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development Foundation, Inc. (2003) proposed a policy framework that will mobilize ICT to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the areas of freedom of expression, access to opportunities for income and employment, spaces and networks where women can organize themselves, and participation in nation-building.

On the intergovernmental front, however, the issue of gender and communications policies has yet to reach a critical level of political significance. Through several references and a whole section on gender equality and women’ empowerment, the Rio+20 outcome document (The Future We Want, 2012) emphasizes the vital role women play in sustainable development and commits to ensuring full participation in policy formulation. It does not, however, mention anywhere in this landmark document about gender equality in media representation and access, and effective participation in communication policy development.

To date, media continues to be criticized for not adequately educating women about their rights and for its failure to accurately portray women’s struggles with poverty, health concerns and self-development.

Anita Anand (1995) amplified this point when she said information is useless to women unless it helps "to raise their consciousness about the oppressive structures that keep them in positions of powerlessness."

Fundamental issues of gender power relations, equal access to media decision-making, and fair representation in media content remain unaddressed in communication policy development. A key challenge is to rectify the continuing inability of policy makers to realize that policy-making is not a gender-neutral undertaking. Policy design and implementation have gender implications. Communication policies must respect the differences in the economic and social positions of women and men, and the relations and priorities that result from these (Gallagher, 2011).

Until such time that women no longer need to struggle for visibility, voice and influence, communication policy makers must continue to encourage a critical examination of the social, economic and cultural structures that constrain women’s freedom of expression.

Cultural pluralism

The recognition of the values of a common humanity has been widely extolled in several governmental and non-governmental forums yet ethnic and racial prejudice is a leading cause of conflict around the world. Technological nationalism, which considers communication technology as a tool towards the creation of national identity, has been used by the state to justify the promotion of a singular, dominant culture that undermines regional and local cultures (Young, 2003).

In exploring the relationship between communication and cultural dominance, which is also at times referred to as cultural imperialism, Flor (1995) distinguished between cross cultural communication as one-way and forced from one culture to another, and inter-cultural which he describes as interactive. The former results in cultural integration or subservience, while the latter fosters convergence or unification into what he calls the Collective Mind.

Despite political tendencies towards imposing homogeneity and cross cultural relationships, cultural pluralism exists as a reality and as a reflection of humanity whether in terms of the diversity within countries or the diasporas that characterize our present times. There is a need for communication policies that promote participation, the recognition of diversity, the creation of standards for the media portrayal of minorities, and the development of strategies for achieving broad distribution of communication resources in society (Karim, 2011).

Example

Development communication and the Catholic Church

Development communication has been labeled as the Fifth Theory of the Press, conceptualized based on the Third World realities, and with "social transformation and development," and "the fulfillment of basic needs" as its primary purpose. Jamias (1975) articulated the philosophy of development communication which is anchored on three main ideas, namely: purposive, value-laden, and pragmatic. Quebral (in Jamias, 1997) for her part provided an expounded definition of development communication, calling it as "the art and science of human communication applied to the speedy transformation of a country and the mass of its people from poverty to a dynamic state of economic growth that makes possible greater social equality and the larger fulfilment of the human potential." Both definitions complement each other and bolster development communication’s image as a principled and critical way of doing communication in service to the people. Further, development communication could be also apprehended as "emancipation communication" as it aims at liberating people from the shackles of servitude, poverty, gender inequality, violence, religious or political persecution, or any kind of unjust and oppressive situation.

The Church’s social teachings and moral norms, on the other hand, are moving on parallel course. Rerum Novarum (On the New Things), for example, an encyclical written in 1891 by Pope Leo XIII made a critique on social ills and then discussed and promoted "the Catholic doctrine on work, the right to property, the principle of collaboration instead of class struggle as the fundamental means for social change, the rights of the weak, the dignity of the poor and the obligations of the rich, the perfecting of justice through charity, on the right to form professional associations" (pa. 144). In 1961, Pope John XXIII, writing on the topic "Christianity and Social Progress," produced an encyclical entitled Mater et Magistra (Mother and Teacher), which taught that the "Church is called in truth, justice and love to cooperate in building with all men and women an authentic communion. In this way economic growth will not be limited to satisfying men's needs, but it will also promote their dignity" (pa. 166). Then in 1967, Pope Paul VI gave the Church Populorum Progressio (Progressive Development). In it the Pope underscored the importance of justice, peace and development by declaring that "development is the new name of peace." And then, addressing all development workers, he said, "genuine progress does not consist in wealth sought for personal comfort or for its own sake; rather it consists in an economic order designed for the welfare of the human person, where the daily bread that each man receives reflects the glow of brotherly love and the helping hand of God" (pa. 86).

Drawing from the theological insights stated above, it can be said that the Church as a community engaged in working for social transformation must be a community-in-communication with the world, a community communicating development to the world. Such involvement could be seen through the prism of the Church’s identity as "in statu missionis"—in a state of mission (Pope John Paul II). Rightly so because the Church is by its very nature missionary (Lumen Gentium - Light of the Nations), and being missionary is its deepest identity (Evangelii Nuntiandi- Sharing the Gospel) as it embraces the entire life of the Church (Redemptoris Missio - Mission of the Redeemer). The content of the Good News being communicated through mission is in many ways socially transformative and humanly liberating---concretized in the preaching of the message to the poor, setting the captives free, giving sight to the blind (Lk 4:18), defending the interest of ordinary laborers and the value of work (Laborem Exercens - Through Work), promoting the welfare of the widows and the orphans, and protecting the rights of children and infants (Pacem in Terris - Peace on Earth, pa.12).

The importance of engagement for social transformation and development is also recognized in the Catechism of the Catholic Church which states that "as far as possible citizens should take an active part in public life; the manner of this participation may vary from one country or culture to another… as with any ethical obligation, the participation of all in realizing the common good calls for a continually renewed conversion of the social partners (pas. 1915-1916). Moreover, Gaudium et Spes (Joy and Hope), commonly referred to as the Magna Carta of the Catholic Church’s teaching on human dignity, implores people in order "to satisfy the demands of justice and equity, strenuous efforts must be made, without disregarding the rights of persons or the natural qualities of each country, to remove as quickly as possible the immense economic inequalities, which now exist and in many cases are growing and which are connected with individual and social discrimination" (pa. 66).

Bessette (2006, p. 42) defined development communication as a "planned and systematic application of communication resources, channels, approaches and strategies to support the goals of socio–economic, political and cultural development". In this understanding the ‘planned and systematic application’ is underlined in order to accentuate its participatory dimension. The contention is that development communication is essentially participatory, because, according to Ascroft and Masilela (1994) "participation translates into individuals being active in development programmes and processes; they contribute ideas, take initiative and articulate their needs and their problems, while asserting their autonomy."

As a community, the Catholic Church is more than aware how participation operates and impacts the lives of the people. Thus, the call for social engagement and active involvement in addressing socioeconomic and political ills is a call for participation that runs deep in the Catholic consciousness. As a matter of course, the involvement of many organizations and individual members of the Catholic Church in uplifting the plight of the needy and reaching out to the disadvantaged through works in education, health, livelihood projects, among others, serves as a concrete example of a Church that communicates a transformative and life-changing message.

The identification of development communication as the Fifth Theory of the Press elevates it to a privileged status that should aid it in actualizing purposive, value-laden, and pragmatic communication policies. In doing so, development communication could cement its credibility as truly being, in the words of Flor (2007), "the appropriate system given the ‘social and political structures’ of the developing world and its current environment." In the language of the Church’s social teachings, development communication policies should lead to “establishing new relationships in human society, under the mastery and guidance of truth, justice, charity and freedom—relations between individual citizens, between citizens and their respective States, between States, and finally between individuals, families, intermediate associations and States on the one hand, and the world community on the other.” In this way, the formulation of such communication policies could be performed based mainly on the developing world rhetoric of nation-building, but at the same time taking serious cognizance of its universal implication and global impact. It is in the light of this that Pope John Paul II, touching in part on Quebral’s (2007) thought on ‘development communication in a borderless world’, instructed Christian communicators to “interpret modern cultural needs, committing themselves to approaching the communications age not as a time of alienation and confusion, but as a valuable time for the quest for the truth and for developing communion between persons and peoples." Development communication policy could very find an invaluable niche in the social teachings of the Catholic Church.

See also

• Information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D)
• Global digital divide
• New World Information and Communication Order
• World Summit on the Information Society

Further reading

• Sloman, Annie. 2011 Using Participatory Theatre in International Community Development, Community Development Journal.
• Gumucio-Dagron, Alfonso & Tufte, Thomas (Eds.) 2006. "Communication for Social Change Anthology: Historical and Contemporary Readings." Communication For Social Change Consortium.
• Hedebro, Goran. 1982. Communication and Social Change in Developing Nations: A Critical View (Ames: Iowa State University Press).
• McPhail, Thomas. 2009. Development Communication: Reframing the Role of the Media (London: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009).
• Ramiro Beltran, Luis. 1980. "A Farewell to Aristotle: Horizontal Communication," Communication 5: 5-41.
• Rogers, Everett. 1976. "Communication and development: the passing of a dominant paradigm," Communication Research 3(2): 213-40.

External links

• Association for Progressive Communications
• College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines Los Banos
• Communication Initiative Network
• Communication for Social Change Consortium
• Communication for Sustainable Development Initiative
• Development Communication Online Forums
• "Major Trends in Development Communication", International Development Research Centre, Canada
• World Bank Development Communication