VIDYA INSTITUTE OF FASHION

TECHNOLOGY
VIDYA KNOWLEDGE PARK
BAGHPAT (NCR), MEERUT- 250002

AFFILIATED TO

CHAUDHARY CHARAN SINGH UNIVERSITY, MEERUT

This project report (research) is submitted in the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Bachelors
of Journalism & Mass Communication (BJMC) course of (2019 – 2022) of Vidya Institute of Fashion
Technology.

PROJECT REPORT ON

MEDIA IN DEVELOPMENT

COMMUNICATION
Submitted by-

SHAGUN SINGH
BJMC (Sixth Semester)
190329111024
MEDIA IN DEVELOPMENT

COMMUNICATION

SHAGUN SINGH
BJMC- 190329111024

DR. MAMTA BHATIA

2|Page
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project report presented in this research (thesis) entitled

‘MEDIA IN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION’ is submitted to Department of

Journalism & Mass Communication, Vidya Institute of Fashion Technology, Vidya

Knowledge Park, Meerut affiliated to Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut for

the degree of Bachelors of Journalism & Mass Communication.

This original bonafide project report (research) is carried out by Shagun Singh, BJMC

III Year (Semester Sixth) under the supervision of Dr. Mamta Bhatia, Head of

Department, BJMC, Vidya Knowledge Park.

The result embodied in this project report (research) has not been submitted to any

other institute or university for the award of any degree or diploma.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my sincere gratitude to my faculty guide and mentor, Dr. Mamta Bhatia

(H.O.D), Journalism & Mass Communication for her guidance, support and cooperation

throughout the project, without which the present work would not have been possible.

Without her, it would not have been possible for me to understand the context of the

issue and adhere solutions to real problems.

This project is nothing but a classic example of the collaborative work of many people

and many resources. I thank each one of those who participated in this project either

directly or indirectly. It has been my pleasure knowing you all.

I also acknowledge informally my family members and my friends for supporting me

like always.

Finally, I thank a thousand times to the respondents who attempted my questionnaire

and shared their valuable feedbacks and considerate time with me and my project

report.

Thank you, everyone, for your unending support and motivation that kept me driven for

this project report from start to the end.

Yours Sincerely,

Shagun Singh

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 ABSTRACT

Communication is used for more than just passing on information from one person to

another. It is often used as a tool to facilitate the participation of people in

developmental activities. Such form of communication is known as development

communication. According to Everett Rogers “Development communication refers to

the uses to which communication are put in order to further development.” It can thus

be said to be an approach to communication which provides communities with

information they can use in bettering their lives. Development communication has two

primary roles, i.e. Transforming role, as it steps social change in the direction of the

hygiene taste of today’s generation in this competitive market and a socializing role by

seeking to maintain some of the established values of the society.

Media plays an important role in development communication through circulation of

knowledge, providing forum for discussion of issues, teach ideas, skills for a better life

and create a base of consensus for stability of the state . From the early stages of the

introduction of the media in India various attempts were made to exploit their potential

for development purposes. The history of development communication in India can be

traced to 1940’s when radio broadcast was done in different languages to promote

development communication through various programmes, like—Programs for Rural

Audience, Educational Programs and Family Welfare Programs. Today television in our

country is also used as a medium for social education, weapon against ignorance and

awareness among the people, through is difference programs like Educational

Television (ETV), Countrywide Classroom (CWC), Teleconferencing etc. Experiments in

Satellite technology has been conducted in recent years to bring about Social change and
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development. This has been done in the form of SITE Program and Kheda

Communication Projects.

New Technologies have also been put to serious use for development communication.

New technologies like mobile, website and internet are interactive in nature.

Interactivity, instant feedback and persuasion capability are used to rope in common

person into the process of development. Today government has different websites and

call centers that provide instant information or answers queries to questions of

development. Right from its inception, development communication has been pursued

by all kinds of media, both traditional and new. However, sadly enough, it had been put

into more theoretical use. Its possibilities, people’s change of demand and opportunities

have not been d to its limit to get an overall success. Both the strength and weakness of

the media and the message and access of people to these medium should be considered

to achieve success in real sense and not only in pen and paper.

Key words: development, communication, mass media, satellite

technology, new media, government projects.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Cover page 1
2. Title page 2
3. Declaration page 3
4. Acknowledgement 4
5. Abstract 5
6. Table of contents 8

Chapter 1- INTRODUCTION 9

Chapter 2- USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN DEVELOPMENT

COMMUNICATION 12

Chapter3- USE OF MASS MEDIA FOR DEVELOPMENT 16

Chapter 4- ROLE OF MASS MEDIA IN DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 5- DATA ANALYSIS

Chapter 6- RESULTS

Chapter 7- CONCLUSION

7. Bibliography
8. Annexure

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 CHAPTER 1-

INTRODUCTION

Communication is a two way process where messages flow both ways. Communication

also refers to that use of different forms of media, such as print, electronic media (radio,

television), new media etc. These media are used as an empowerment tool, i.e. it is

used as a tool to facilitate and encourage the participation of people in developmental

activities. Different mass media is used to effectively communicate knowledge and

information to people for developmental purpose.

The term Development Communication‘ can be divided into two terms, i.e.—

Communication and Development. Here communication refers to the use of different

types and media in the context of development. It is also used to mean sharing of

information and experience to accelerate development. Whereas development refers to

the change of society for betterment. It can be both social and economic change for

improvement or progress.

Thus when we refer to development communication, it is about such communication

that can be used for development. It is about using communication to change or

improve the way of living of the citizen of a country. Here we use difference types of

messages to change the socio-economic condition of people. These messages are

designed to transform the behaviour of people or for improving their quality of life.

Therefore, development communication can be defined as the use of community to

promote development.

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Mass communication expert Everett M. Rogers defined development communication as

―It refers to the uses to which communication is put in order to further development.

Such applications are intended to either further develop in a general way, such as by

increasing the level of the mass media exposure among the nations citizen, in order to

create a favourable climate for development, or to support a specific definite program or

project. In the above mentioned definition Rogers said that for the development of

community; the community will create an environment or climate for development. This

climate will be of two types —

a) physical climate and

b) psychological climate.

F. Rosario Braid on the other hand is of the opinion that development communication is

“an element of the management process in the overall planning and implementation of

the developmental programs” Thus, development communication can be said to be an

identification and proper utilization of appropriate expertise in the development process

that will assist in increasing the participation of the people for whom it is meant, even if

it is at the grass root level.

Development communication thus can be said to have two primary roles, i.e.,

(a) transforming role, as it seeks social changes for a higher quality of life.

(b) Socializing role, by seeking to maintain some of the established values of the society.

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The role can be discussed as following:

A) Development communication is used for transforming role by bringing in social

change in a way that will bring a higher quality of life. Here communication acts as an

instrument to achieve these objectives.

B) Development communication also tries to maintain the established values of the

society by playing a socializing role. In playing these roles, development communication

seeks to create an atmosphere for change as well as providing innovation through which

society may change.

Development communication process is however successful only with the presence of a

few key elements in the approach. These are:

It should be responsive, should wing on feedback, should be innovative and creative,

should be sustainable and continuous, independent validation For a successful

development communication policy it is necessary to identify the core areas of

development. The core areas of development are Agriculture, Fisheries, Animal

Husbandry, Food, Security, Communication, Irrigation, Public works, Employment,

Environment, Ecology and Education.

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 CHAPTER 2-

USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN DEVELOPMENT

COMMUNICATION

Mass media and technology should be extensively and tactfully used for development

purpose. It should be kept in mind that it is a weapon in the hands of the government

for positive developmental purpose. When the media is used for developmental purpose,

develop communicator has to keep in mind that the usage should be extensive. And for

this purpose the mass media structure should be planned and efforts should be made to

reach out to maximum number of people every time. Daniel Lerner in 1958, while

discussing the relation of development with that of any mass media said that: ―the

greater the communication facilities, the greater or even faster is modernization.

According to Wilbur Schramm, the role of media in development can be divided into

three parts i.e.

(i) to inform

(ii) to instruct

(iii) to participate.

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To inform:

for the development of the society, correct social, political and economic influence is the

main criteria. This information should be both national and international. People

should be aware of the areas or facts which hamper the development process.

To instruct:

Mass literacy is an essential criteria to development. This is possible by imbibing basic

skills among the people. Mass media plays an important role in this. Mass media can

instruct people and educate them. Projects like Educational Television and Gyan

Darshan are few such examples where media is used to instruct people, educate them

and teach them basic skills. These basic skills help people to develop their standard of

living.

To participate:

Voluntary and steady participation of the citizen of the country is necessary for its

overall development. Such participation is possible in a liberal society. Such awareness

is possible through debate, conflict and discussion. Discussions and debate helps people

to know current issues, participate in developmental programme and bring a change in

the standard of living of the society. Media in developing and under developed countries

strive to bring in developmental change, through its message to the mass. Mass media

through interpretation, analysis and discussion point out the drawbacks of the society

and core areas of development. The message should be such that it should create an

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urge for change and development among the common men. The media in its aim to

developmental changes shall function as a decision maker and teacher.

D. Lerner, while discussing the role of radio (as a medium of mass communication) said

that the emergence of radio in different villages and town not only help to educate

people, but at the same time bring in consumerism in that place. Consumer arouse wish

to own a radio, due to which the people work harder and usher in better standard of

living (a form of development). Radio programmes help to educate people about

different social issues like farming, agriculture, health, small scale industry etc. Radio

forums are a weapon for radio programme producers to involve people in

developmental projects. Here use is made of Telecentre where communities gather to

phone in. Discussions on difference topics are done as well as queries by expert are

answered.

Television as a mass medium has a huge appeal to common person. For such reason,

television is used in a planned manner to motivate people to participate in

developmental programs. Feature, documentaries or development campaigns should be

such that it creates interest in the mind of viewers, contents should be contemporary to

attract people of all ages and should be capable of influencing viewers to take part in the

developmental programs.

Wilbur Schramm in his book Mass Media and National Development discussed the role

mass media play in development communication while Lerner and others saw all of the

media outputs as having modernising effect. For Schramm it was their content that was

the key to their use in development. Schramm has put a lot of importance on feed back

for successful communication for development. Because a proper feed back helps

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implementation to findings whether or not the community is meeting their purpose or

aim. According to him, it should never be a one way traffic. Modern communication

technologies, according to him, would be of great use to meet the demand by

multiplying the messages and reaching each and every worker associated with

developmental work.

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 CHAPTER 3-

USE OF MASS MEDIA FOR DEVELOPMENT

Indian overview The history of organised development communication in India can be

traced to rural radio broadcast in the 1940‘s. Independent India‘s earliest organised

experiments in development communication started with communication development

projects initiated by the union government in the 1950‘s. Different medium was used in

the following manner for development purpose:

NEWSPAPER as a medium of Development Communication: The power of the press

arises from its ability of appearing to the minds of the people and being capable of

moving their hearts. However, it has been noticed that the press has not met the

requisite interest in developmental communication. In order to correct the imbalances

noticed in the media coverage of Rural Development Programs and to ensure that these

program are portrayed in proper perspective, several steps are taken to sensitize the

media about issues relating to rural development.

The Ministry on a regular basis interacts with the Press mainly through the Press

Information Bureau (PIB). Review press conference, press tours and workshops are

organised through PIB, with the financial assistance from the Ministry, so as to sensitize

press persons about Rural Development Program. For the purpose of creating

awareness in respect of rural develop programs among the general public and opinion

makers and for disseminating information about new initiatives, the Ministry issues

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advertisements at regular intervals in national and regional press through DAVP. To

enable people in rural areas to access information on Rural Development Program a

booklet ‗Gram Vikas‘ Programs at a glance is brought out in regional languages.

RADIO as a means of development communication: Radio from its very inception

played an important role in development communication; this is mainly due to its

advantage of reaching to a large number of people from difference section of the society.

Universities and other educational institutes‘ especially agricultural universities,

through their extension networks and international organisations under the UN

umbrella carried the development communication experiment. Community radio is

another important medium which is growing in importance especially in rural India.

Here, NGOs and educational institutions are given license to set up a local community

radio station to broadcast information and messages on 7 developmental aspects.

Participation of local community is encouraged. As community radio provides a

platform to villager to broadcast local issues, it has the potential to get positive action.

Radio Rural Forum: All India Radio has been the forerunner in the process of

implementing communication strategy adopted by the government. The Radio Rural

Forum experiment of 1956, covered 156 villages. It contained 30 minute duration

program two days a week on different issues like agriculture and varied subjects that

could promote rural development. Efforts are being constantly made to use radio for

social change. Apart from radio rural forum, other continuous efforts are being made to

bring in development. As in the case of project taken up to promote adult literacy in the

1980s. More recently, NGOs have helped broadcast program on women and legal rights

etc.

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 Local Service of AIR: On the basis of the Verghese Committee (1978) report which

recommended a franchise system for promoting local radio for education and

development. Several NGOs use local radio to further their development activities. For

instance, Chetana of Kolkata records their program on adult education, in the field using

local talents.

School Broadcast: Programs for school are broadcast from the metros and other centers

of AIR. Many teachers make excellent broadcast through this platform. AIR draws up

these programs on the advice of Consultative Panels for School Broadcast.

TELEVISION as a Medium for Development Communication: TV in India was

introduced in 1959, on an experimental basis. Its very inception was with the aim to see

what TV could achieve in community development and formal education. From this we

can very well understand the importance of television for development communication.

Today, after 50 years of Indian television, we see that broadcasters still broadcast

program with an eye on social responsibility, serials that incorporate socially relevant

themes, interactive talk shows and open forums with government representatives

responding to audience queries are popular programmes. In 1967, Delhi Television

centre launched Krishi Darshan Program at the behest of Dr. Bikram Sarabhai and Prof

R. S. Swaminathan. The object of this program was popularisation of modern method in

agriculture through the television.

TV has been used as an aid to satellite communication technology to effectively bring in

development. Satellite communications technology offers unique capability of being able

to reach out to very large numbers spread over large distances even in the most remote

corners of the country. In India, ISRO has continuously pursued the utilization of space

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technology 8 for education and development. This has been done through different

projects like Educational TV (ETV), SITE, Kheda project and Country wide classroom

(CWC) project. Over a period of last 30 years, these programmes have been designed to

cater to the country‘s need for education, training, and general awareness among the

rural poor. Among them few efforts shall be discussed in the following categories. These

are:

Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE, 1975-76): This one year project was

primarily undertaken to develop special development programmes through the satellite

communication to six rural clusters, which included a total of 2330 villages of 20

districts spread over six states—Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh,

Rajasthan and Gujarat. Its objectives were:

1. Improve the rural primary education.

2. Provide training to teachers.

3. Improve agriculture, health, hygiene, and nutritional practices and

4. Contribute to family planning and national integration.

The success of SITE can be judged from the fact that, after the completion of the project

evaluation studies showed that exposure to developmental messages through television

had contributed to the widening of horizon of the villagers.

Kheda Communication Project (KCP, (1975-89): SITE demonstrated that the

centralization, inherent in the technology of direct broadcasting, was a limitation, hence

the idea of ‗limited rebroadcast‘ was conceived, giving birth to the KCP. This project

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was launched in 1975. 607 community television sets have been installed in 443 villages

of Kheda district of Gujrat. Doordarshan and space application centre produces

programme for one hour everyday. The programmes mainly concentrate on and

discussed the problem of the poorer classes. Evaluation of Kheda project revealed that

women in particular gained knowledge from TV viewing. The serials generated self-

confidence, realization of equality etc.

Educational Television (ETV): Education is a vital instrument of social transformation

and important input in development effort. The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) is

being used to provide Educational TV (ETV), services for primary school children in six

states. University Grants Commission (UGC) is using this for its countrywide classroom

programme on higher education (college sector). INSAT is also used by the Indira

Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) for distance education progammes and

Doordarshan for Science Channel progranmmes. To meet the needs of development

ISRO has taken up the ‗TeleEducation‘ by launching EDUSAT, a satellite totally

dedicated to the nation‘s need for 9 education. EDUSAT strengthens education efforts

by augmenting curriculum based teaching, providing effective teachers‘ training, and

community participation. The networks are capable of facilitating live lectures/power

point presentations with student interaction, web based learning, interactive training,

virtual laboratory, video conferencing, data/video broadcast, database access for

reference material/library/recorded lectures etc., on line examination and admissions,

distribution of administrative information, etc.

NEW MEDIA as a medium of Development Communication: New media or computers

started creeping in the Indian Society around 1986. The actual transition in India

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happened after 1996 when several independent media houses brought out news website.

Today, new media has become an active tool in the run to development communication.

This takes various forms like E-Governance, E-Choupal, Telecentres etc. E-

GOVERNANCE: In simple terms, electronic governance is the delivery of public services

and information at the doorstep of the people with the help of computers. Citizens can

use the Information Community Technology (ICT) as administrative tools to pave the

way for a silent, social change.

E-governance can play the role of a catalyst for sustainable inclusive growth. E-

governance uses the ICT for planning, implementation, and monitoring of government

programmes. Through e-governance, government can carry out effective Management

Information System (MIS) and get real time information and reports of activities at the

Block level. The Karnataka government‘s Bhoomi project has led to the computerisation

of the centuries-old system of handwritten land records in the rural area.

E-medicine, through use of new media, can reach quality healthcare in a remote village.

A Kolkata-based hospital leverages e-governance for tropical medicine. The hospital

employs telemedicine to assist doctors in rural areas. This method does away with

patients having to travel all the way to Kolkata, from remote villages, for treatment. A

villager gets the benefit of being treated by both a local doctor and a specialist in the

state capital.

E-CHOUPAL: Traditionally, choupal is known as the central gathering place in the

village, a kind of rural forum, where people discuss, debate and decide on their course of

action about some burning issues in the community. E-choupals in the digital age share

information through the Internet while retaining their pristine, democratic character.

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The Internet has started revolutionising the way Indian farmers do business. The system

constitutes an Internet 10 enabled kiosk in a village, manned by a villager. He is familiar

with computers and known as the choupal sanchalak (one who conducts the forum). The

sanchalak acts as the interface between the computer and the farmer. Farmers can use

the kiosks to check the current market prices of agricultural commodities, access market

data better farming practices. Initially apprehensive, farmers have slowly but steadily

familiarised themselves with the new system. New Media‘s interactivity and easy access

have made it a commendable medium for development communication.

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 CHAPTER 4-

ROLE OF MASS MEDIA IN DEVELOPMENT

The significance of communication for human life cannot be overestimated. This is true

because beyond the physical requirements of food and shelter man needs to

communicate with his/her fellow human beings. This urge for communication is a

primal one and in our contemporary civilisation a necessity for survival.

That is to say without communication no society can exist, much less develop and

survive. For the existence as well as the organisation of every society communication is a

fundamental and vital process. A free press is not a luxury.

It is at the core of equitable development. The media can expose corruption. They can

keep a check on public policy by throwing a spotlight on government action. They let

people voice diverse opinions on governance and reform, and help build public

consensus to bring about change. Such media help markets work better. They can

facilitate trade, transmitting ideas and innovation across boundaries.

The media are also important for human, development, bringing health and education

information to remote villages in countries from Uganda to Nicaragua. But as

experience has shown, the independence of the media can be fragile and easily

compromised. It is clear that to support development, media need the right

environment in terms of freedoms, capacities, and checks and balances.

The World Development Report 2002, “Building Institutions for Markets” devoted a

article to the role of the media in development. This volume is an extension of that work.

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It discusses how media affects development outcomes under different circumstances

and presents evidence on what policy environment is needed to enable the media to

support economic and political markets and to provide a voice for the disenfranchised.

To this end, it draws together the views of academics as well as perspectives from those

on the front line-journalists themselves.

The success of agricultural development programmes in developing countries largely

depends on the nature and extent of use of mass media in mobilisation of people for

development. The planners in developing countries realise that the development of

agriculture could be hastened with the effective use of mass media. Radio, Television

has been acclaimed to be the most effective media for diffusing the scientific knowledge

to the masses.

In a country like India, where literacy level is low, the choice of communication media is

of vital importance. In this regard the television and radio are significant, as they

transfer modern agricultural technology to literate and illiterate farmers alike even in

interior areas, within short time. In India farm and home broadcast with agricultural

thrust were introduced in 1966, to enlighten farmers on the use of various technologies

to boost agricultural development.

At present, there are about 50 such radio units all over the country. With the main

stream of Indian population engaged actively in agriculture, television could serve as a

suitable medium of dissemination of farm information and latest technical know – how.

The farmers can easily understand the operations, technology and instruction through

television.

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Among the several mass media, newspaper and farm magazine are commonly used.

They have a vital role to play in the communication of agricultural information among

the literate farmers. Increasing rate of literacy in the country offers new promises and

prospects for utilising print medium as a means of mass communication. The print

media widened the scope of communication. It is cheap and people can afford to buy

and read them at their convenience.

It is a permanent medium in that the message are imprinted permanently with high

storage value which makes them suitable for reference and research. Agricultural

journalism is of recent origin in India. It came into existence just five decades ago. It is

now gaining importance, particularly after the establishment of agricultural university

in India technical information needs to be provided to the farmers at the right time and

in the right way, so that the productivity can be increased.

In the view of increase in literacy level to 52.11 per cent during 1991, print media has

acquired a greater role in dissemination of information on improved agricultural

practices to the farming community and also to inform the public in general. India has

farm magazines in every state, published mostly in local languages. Agricultural

department also encourages the publishing of such farm magazines particularly through

farmers association.

The coverage of different subject matter by radio, television, newspaper and farm

magazine are almost similar with regard to agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry,

agricultural marketing, agricultural engineering and cooperatives. In this paper, an

attempt is made to deal about the importance of radio, television, newspaper and farm

magazines and their effect in the field of agriculture through sound communication.

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 CHAPTER 5-

DATA ANALYSIS

As already mentioned in the previous section, we have used a mixed methodology for

the project report (research). Overall, we have received 21 responses from the

questionnaire. However, there was no specific population selected from any city or

district or state in particular. The 21 respondents were grouped categorized based on

their age, their sex (gender) and their professional status. The number of respondents

from each group is as follows;

1. Distribution on the basis of their age-

Figure 1, shows the majority of the respondents age i.e 21, then the

second age group is 19. 18 , 20 and 27 on third .

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2. Distribution on the basis of their sex (gender)-

Figure 2 , shows that the majority of the respondents were females rising upto

61.9 percent and remaining were the males 38.1 percent.

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 CHAPTER 6-

RESULTS
BASED ON THE RESPONSES RECEIVED

Following are the evaluations made according to the overall responses we received from

the respondents.

1. Do you think that the Media/Communication plays any significant role in

Development Communication?

The responses are shown in the figure 3. The respondents responded with the majority

of about 90 percent saying YES , and the remaining 10 percent of the respondents

responded with NO.

Figure 3-

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2. Do you think Media/Communication helped you in any kind of self
development?

The respondents responded to this question with a majority of 81 percent

agreeing to the question, 9 percent said no, and again 9 percent responded
with the third option, that was sticking to maybe.

Figure 4-

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3. Which form of media you use often?

To this question in our survey, the respondents responded a little differently,

but the responses were quite obvious. (Figure 5).

71 percent of the respondents responded that they use the Mobile

Applications, while 23 percent of the population uses websites.

Figure 5

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 4. In today’s world, what do you think Media is used more for?

The respondents responded to this question with a majority of 61.9 percent saying, that

the Media is used basically for Spreading Information, while 33.3 of the respondents

agrees that the Media is used in today’s world for fun and passing time .

Figure 6

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5. Do you think using media can benefit the betterment of the Economic Terms

of any person?

The respondents responded positively with a majority of 71 percent and also the

remaining opted for the option Maybe.

In this question of our survey, no respondent answered with NO.

Which proves the point – We do think that using Media can benefit the

betterment of the Economic terms of any person.

Figure 7

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 6. Which media do you think is better in today’s fast and busy world?

To this question 57 percent of the respondents responded with agreeing to the fact that

social media is better in any way, rest of the population thinks that electronic media is

better .

Figure 8

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 CHAPTER 7-

CONCLUSION

Media Community expert Rostow, Lerner and Schramm discussed the importance of

development communication in communication process. But how much effective have

development communication been, is a question that arises in our mind. This is because,

even after the omnipresence of media in our society; there is a vast difference between

the rich and the poor in most developing countries.

According to experts the main obstruction in the path to development is that the scope

of information is not available to everybody and that the development brought through

development communication should be equally shared by all section of the society.

Opening up of different mass media is necessary so that common people have easy

access to them. Availability of information will open up new avenues of development.

In Indian context, mass-media expert functions in a manner as if development

communication is a favour they are doing to common people. Development

communication sadly is not given its due importance to a large and developing country

like India. Politicians and bureaucrats still believe that different economical and

infrastructural projects under taken by the government is enough to eradicate poverty.

Development communicator of our country laid more stress on the projects undertaken

by the government rather than communicating these information to the mass.

India, despite the communication and information technology revolution, there does not

appear to be a commensurate change in the lives of millions of the poor. Indeed for the

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poor the promise of the new information age — knowledge for all- seems as a distant

star.

With the advent of electronic media it was thought that the print media will loose its

importance, and ultimately perish. But, this never happened. Print media with its

features and advantages not only competed with electronic media but is still a favourite

among many, specially the educated class who are info-holic, prefer interpretation and

love reading in their leisure hours. However, print media has become highly

commercialized, and social responsibility has taken a back seat. Today a key feature of

print media, unfortunately, is the glossy reporting. With the increasing cost of news –

print and production, and the pressure of market imperatives, news paper house has

started and is following the trend of carrying adfriendly fluff at the cost of more serious

developmental reports. There have been trends of leading dailies over the past few years

to drop their special sections devoted to development and health.

The government controlled media has been more or less toeing a centralized form of

communication. AIR (All India Radio) during its initial days formulated its community

policies in Delhi and got it translated to various languages for broadcasting. However, in

this process it never looked into regional variations of the problems, and the necessity of

customizing the messages was not felt. Hence, spending so much transmission time on

such issues and messages could never give positive result.

Community radio, an important weapon to development has not been enough

importance and popularity. Community radio can help in development of local area by

upholding their problem or disseminating information locally. Steps have not been

taken by the government to popularize this form of radio to support and influence

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communities to set up these. Rules have not properly been framed to regularise the

contents of private channels. Plans should have been drawn in a manner to strictly

promote development through radio channels which have not been done.

The state controlled television, Doordarshan, which has a very wide coverage area too

has its program designed in the same fashion and hence suffer from the same affliction

as that of radio. Here, programs are prepared without keeping the target audience in

mind. Development communicator fails to prepare development messages and

programmes that can inform as well as entertain its viewers. A good development

communicator is one who can pass on development message without bringing in

boredom. But broadcasters in television have often failed in it. Projects like SITE and

Kheda though initially successful could not be continued throughout years later.

Educational TV or Country Wide Classroom projects are more successful on pen and

paper than practically. It failed to meet its targeted TRP points. Programmes like Gyan

Darshan, though educational and informative in its approach, but 12 lacks efficiency in

its presentation. School and college goers who are most used to private satellite channels

are rarely even aware of these programmes.

Development communicators should try to popularize these programmes. This can be

done by being more interesting and attractive in its approach and bring variety in choice

of subjects. Use of more colours, picture and info-graphic can make the presentation

styles more acceptable. In such a condition it is necessary for a developing country like

India, to most urgently rethink their communication policies and research priorities to

address the information problems and knowledge gaps in social development.

Development communicatior should try in applying communication technology for

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economic and social changes. Problems that lie in the path should be found out and

highlighted. This should include both government policies and other different policies

that initiate faster social development to match and sustain the momentum of economic

progress.

Given, the current media scenario, and the needs of the development sector, it is

necessary for a development communicator to develop a regulatory framework that shall

under the umbrella of public service broadcasting shall include state owned media as

well as noncommercial broadcasting. This will encourage non-profit institutions such as

community organizations, local bodies and NGOs to participate in development

communication. Media education and literacy to create demand for better, need based

media stories and programmes are necessary. This is important to attract readers and

viewers and to pass the development messages among the common mass, for which the

programmes are undertaken. Decentralisation and provision of training for

communities is necessary for local broadcasting like community radio. Putting

communication resources in the hands of community is a way to achieve success in

developmental projects with the use of mass-media.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 https://www.google.com/search?
q=development+communication+role&oq=development+communication+
role&aqs=chrome..69i57.7773j0j9&client=ms-android-samsung-
ss&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
 http://communication.iresearchnet.com/development-
communication/
 https://ivypanda.com/essays/mass-media-and-ict-in-development-
communication/#:~:text=Modern%20technologies%20in%20the
%20media,technologies%20provide%20advanced
%20communication%20processes
 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media
 https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/sociology/contemporary-
mass-media/the-role-and-influence-of-mass-media
 https://www.quora.com/What-should-be-the-role-of-media-in-
Indian-Development
 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
261324153_Role_of_social_media_on_development
 https://ivypanda.com/essays/mass-media-and-ict-in-development-
communication/#:~:text=Modern%20technologies%20in%20the
%20media,technologies%20provide%20advanced
%20communication%20processes

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 ANNEXURE
GLOSSARY

 Development-

Development is a process that creates growth, progress, positive

change or the addition of physical, economic, environmental, social

and demographic components.

 Communication-

Communication is the act of giving, receiving, and sharing

information -- in other words, talking or writing, and listening or

reading. Good communicators listen carefully, speak or write clearly,

and respect different opinions.

 Mass Media-

The means of communication that reach large numbers of people in a

short time, such as television, newspapers, magazines, and radio.

 Satellite-

A satellite is basically a self-contained communications system with

the ability to receive signals from Earth and to retransmit those

signals back with the use of a transponder—an integrated receiver

and transmitter of radio signals.

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 Technology-

Technology is the application of scientific knowledge to the practical

aims of human life or, as it is sometimes phrased, to the change and

manipulation of the human environment.

 New Media-

New media is any media – from newspaper articles and blogs to

music and podcasts – that are delivered digitally. From a website or

email to mobile phones and streaming apps, any internet-related

form of communication can be considered new media.

 Government Projects-

Governmental project means the undertaking of a public

improvement, disturbance, development, construction or land-use

change by a State department or agency, county, municipality or any

other governmental entity except interior alterations to an existing

structure that involves no change of use.

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