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Overview
How then should we respond to the growing importance of the media - including journalism, radio, television, community media and social media - for poverty and inequality? The first step is to acquire an informed and critical understanding of the multiple roles that the media can have in development. To help achieve this, this book provides concise and original introductions to the study and practice of communication for development (C4D), media development and media representations of development. In doing so it highlights the increasing importance of the media, whilst at the same time emphasising the varieties, complexities and contingencies of its role in social change.
The broad and interdisciplinary focus of this book will make it attractive to anyone with an interest in media, communication, development, politics and social change.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781780325538 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Bloomsbury Publishing |
| Publication date: | 05/08/2014 |
| Series: | Development Matters |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 240 |
| File size: | 368 KB |
About the Author
Dr Martin Scott is a lecturer in media and international development at the University of East Anglia. His research is primarily concerned with media coverage of development and the global South. He has also written about entertainment education, media literacy and the role of popular culture in engaging young people in politics.
Read an Excerpt
Media and Development
Development Matters
By Martin Scott
Zed Books Ltd
Copyright © 2014 Martin ScottAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-78032-553-8
CHAPTER 1
Media for Development: Magic Bullet or Corporate Tool?
Perhaps the most apparent role for media in development is as a channel for delivering information to the public. It is not difficult to appreciate how media, whether through posters, television advertisements or SMS, can act as an important source of information for individuals regarding all manner of development-related issues, such as family planning, nutrition and HIV/AIDS prevention.
This particular function of the media is referred to as a media for development (M4D) approach; defined here as the strategic use of the media as a tool for delivering positive change in individuals' knowledge, attitude and practice in order to achieve development results. The aim of an M4D project is to design the most appropriate message, targeted at the most relevant audience, delivered through the most suitable media channels in order to promote desirable change in a particular behaviour.
Rather than focusing on the historical legacy of this particular approach, which can be found elsewhere (Waisbord 2000; Melkote and Steeves 2001), the aim of this chapter is to clearly set out its key defining features so that readers can better identify contemporary examples of this approach. To help achieve this, reference is made throughout to the work of a particular high-profile current example of M4D work; that of Development Media International (DMI). DMI is a UK-based social enterprise, which describes itself as '[delivering] mass media campaigns to change behaviours and save lives in developing countries' (DMI 2013a). Its focus is primarily on changing behaviours related to reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health, largely in Africa and Asia.
As well as enabling readers to recognize examples of M4D projects, this chapter also equips readers with a critical perspective on this approach. This is crucial as M4D (and its variants) is often presented entirely unproblematically, particularly in relation to new information and communications technologies (ICTs). The results of a meta-analysis of all academic articles which addressed the topic of communication and development between 1998 and 2007 found that 'rather than disappear from the literature, it seems there has been a resurgence of the use of this paradigm, either explicit or implicit, as fully 37.3 percent of the articles made use of this frame for their research' (Ogan et al. 2009: 661).
Christine Ogan and her colleagues (ibid.: 656) conclude their analysis by suggesting that 'perhaps the introduction of ICTs into the discourse of development has caused some scholars to forget that technology cannot provide a magic multiplier effect for the poorest of the poor'. Indeed, their results also show, rather worryingly, that only 20 per cent of all articles were critical of any of the communication paradigms used to frame development.
In order to help combat this pervasive and uncritical (though not unchallenged) embrace of the M4D approach, this chapter also provides a clear overview of its various limitations. The central argument is that while the M4D approach certainly has the capacity to promote a particular kind of development (associated with individual behaviour change), under certain conditions, as with any intervention, there are inevitable limitations, assumptions and blind spots that need to be recognized. Moreover, the M4D approach can also be accused of helping to reinforce the agenda of large corporations involved in international development, particularly when applied to ICTs.
The final section of this chapter recognizes that, in practice, media-related development projects can look very different to the ideal form of M4D discussed and critiqued here. It therefore outlines two particular hybrid forms of M4D that, to varying degrees, incorporate the strategies and objectives of other approaches.
Defining features of the M4D approach
1 Information provision The central feature of the M4D approach is that information acquisition by individuals is understood to be a vital part of the development process. The essential problem is taken to be a lack of (appropriate or accurate) information regarding a particular issue, such as being unaware of free healthcare services or the necessity for climate change adaptation. The solution to this problem, then, is to combat such (apparent) ignorance by providing individuals with relevant information, which, it is predicted, will result in desirable behaviour change.
The central role of information and behaviour change in the M4D approach is made explicit in the way DMI describes its core activities.
We design and deliver radio and TV campaigns that are designed to improve health outcomes by informing people about important healthcare issues and promoting behaviour change where appropriate ... If a mother can recognise that her baby has diarrhoea and is able to provide her child with oral rehydration therapy, then the child is far more likely to reach the age of five. (DMI 2013a)
In this formula, in which information is linked directly to individual behaviour change, the mass media are usually seen as the most effective mechanism for delivering the relevant information. Unlike conventional, classroom-based, education, the mass media can reach relatively very large numbers of people, very quickly, repetitively and inexpensively. Radio in particular is often cited as being especially effective in many contexts, not least because radio audiences are not required to be literate. DMI (ibid.) justify their focus on the mass media on precisely these grounds, arguing that
In Africa, the most popular media is radio, because of its lower cost and portability: for example, in Uganda, 74% of the population listen to the radio at least once per week (compared to 11% for TV). On average, it is between 100 and 1,000 times more cost-effective to use radio and television than face-to-face 'community-level' channels, such as street theatre.
More recently, though, mobile phones are increasingly being used as the mechanism for delivering information. One example of this is the work of the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA), which is a public–private partnership that provides mobile health messages primarily to pregnant women and new mothers, either through SMS or voice messages. An example of a MAMA SMS reads as follows: 'a cord infection can make your baby very ill. Sponge the cord with clean water and leave it uncovered to dry. It needs nothing else.'
2 Cultivating appropriate attitudes Alongside the need to deliver appropriate information, an M4D approach also commonly includes a focus on the importance of developing suitable attitudes. This emphasis on attitudes stems from the work of Max Weber (1930) and Daniel Lerner (1958), who both argued that the development of a society depends upon the predominance of a 'modern', rather than a 'traditional', mental outlook; characterized as being rational, calculating and forward-thinking.
Few would now refer to individuals as having either modern or traditional mental structures or make claims about the 'backwardness' of some cultures compared to others (see Rogers 1969). Yet the belief that culture and individual attitudes are a key determinant of development remains – in the global North as well as the South. For example, one of the key drivers of deprivation and social exclusion in the North Earlham, Larkman and Marlpit (NELM) housing estates in the city of Norwich, UK (one mile from the University of East Anglia), is often claimed to be a lack of aspiration as well as entrenched (resistant) attitudes towards the local authorities (Rogaly and Taylor 2009). Indeed, the establishment of the community radio station – Future Radio – here in 2004 was designed, at least initially, to tackle this perceived 'sub-culture' (Rogers 1969).
If an individual's attitude is taken as a key driver of (or obstacle to) development, then one function of the media in this scenario is to challenge traditional norms and values and instead develop a modern or more appropriate outlook. This is revealed in the work of DMI (2013a), when they state, for example, that
Cultural and social factors can also prevent people from changing their behaviours. For example, a belief that leprosy is caused by a divine curse rather than by bacteria, and the social stigma that is attached to it as a result, prevents people from coming forward for treatment ... We address whatever the barriers are to a particular behaviour change in a given country; if cultural issues are important, as they often are, then we will tackle these alongside simply imparting knowledge.
This statement makes clear that, in the M4D approach, culture is often understood as a barrier to development, and not as an 'ally' of development or part of a 'way of life', as in alternative approaches to media and development (see Tufte 2008: 330).
3 Assumptions about communication, audiences and behaviour change A third feature of the M4D approach is its basis in a combination of mutually reinforcing theories from media studies, social psychology and diffusion studies (the study of how innovations spread through society) (Sparks 2007: 26). Theories from media studies, and the 'two step flow' (Katz and Lazarsfeld 1955) model of communication in particular, are used to explain how information and ideas are transferred from media to individual members of society. The two step flow model suggests that information flows from media to the general public in two stages – first, from media to opinion leaders or local elites (who have the resources to access and respond to the information), and secondly, from such opinion leaders to the masses – through interpersonal communication (i.e. talk). The key emphasis in this two step flow model is the importance of targeting opinion leaders and of combining communication through media with interpersonal communication. These two ideas remain an important feature of most M4D interventions today, even if the two step flow model itself is not explicitly cited.
This emphasis on the importance of talk in behaviour change and the disaggregation of different target audiences has replaced the widely discredited 'hypodermic needle' model of communication, which asserts that mass media have a direct and powerful effect on passive audiences. Inherent in both of these models, though, and in the M4D approach more generally, is the assumption that communication is a largely linear, unidirectional process in which information is sent from 'senders' to 'receivers' through particular channels.
Theories from diffusion studies reinforce the basic premises of the two step flow model of communications. In particular, Rogers' (1962) widely cited theory of 'diffusion of innovations' suggests that new innovations spread throughout society in a relatively predictable pattern, with the early adopters of new innovations having a tendency to be elites. After an innovation has subsequently spread among the majority of the population, the last members of society to adopt will be the 'laggards', characterized by Rogers as having a focus on traditions.
Rogers' theory of diffusion characterizes the adoption of innovations as an individual decision-making process involving five stages: awareness, knowledge and interest, decision, trial, and adoption/rejection. Whereas media are taken to be central to the first stage of the process, Rogers saw 'personal sources' (ibid.: 99) as most important during the later stages of the adoption process. Thus, this model of diffusion also emphasizes the vital role of both interpersonal communication and the differences between groups in society, just as in the two step flow model.
Finally, theories from social psychology are used to help explain how individuals learn and adopt new behaviours, such as condom use or hand washing, based on the experience of media consumption. Some of the most widely cited theories in this context include Social Learning Theory, the Stages of Change Model and the Health Belief Model. In a similar way to Rogers' model of diffusion, the Stages of Change Model, for example, seeks to describe the sequence of stages through which an individual passes in the adoption of a 'positive' behaviour. In this model the stages consist of: precontemplation,contemplation of the reasons to change a behaviour, preparation to change a behaviour, action and, finally, maintenance of that action. The role of communication in this model is targeted at the stage being addressed, so, for example, to help move an individual from pre-contemplation to contemplation, the role of media might be to raise awareness of the issue and to demonstrate the positive reasons to adopt that behaviour (Prochaska et al. 1992). What characterizes this and other theories of behaviour change, as well as Rogers' theory of diffusion, is that they assume that behaviour change is a product of individual psychology (rather than group norms and processes) and that decision-making is a rational (rather than emotional) process.
In summary, whether these theories of behaviour change, media effects and diffusion are explicitly cited by M4D projects or not, M4D interventions do all share a set of common assumptions about the nature of communication (as a linear, one-to-many, process), audiences (as relatively passive) and behaviour change (as based on individual, rational, decision-making).
4 Change is planned, controlled, targeted, measurable, predictable and managed by external change agents Another key dimension of the M4D approach is that it requires external change agents (usually foreign consultants) to play a central role in managing the process of change. Colin Sparks (2007: 53) discusses the role and characteristics of change agents in the following way:
The experts are different from their audience in almost every respect. The experts have intentions as to what sense the audience should make of their messages. The experts set the goals of the programme and design the material it will use ... in order to achieve the results that they themselves have defined ... The experts are communicating something ... of which they are in possession, to people who are ignorant of these insights.
Implicit in this description is the idea that local people are not only ignorant but are also somewhat passive and predictable in the process of development. If the change agent was not there to identify the missing information, design the intervention and ensure it was delivered effectively, change would not otherwise occur.
In the M4D approach, not only is change being driven from outside the community, but the change agent is pursuing a particular kind of change. In contrast to the kind of unpredictable, uncontrolled and wide-ranging social change that characterized the Arab Spring, for example, M4D interventions seek to achieve change that is planned in advance, targeted at particular audiences, limited in scope and aimed at measurable outcomes. This narrow conceptualization of change is most obvious in the ways in which M4D projects are usually evaluated. Implicit in the evaluations described below is the idea that projects aim to achieve certain predetermined outcomes, limited to specific changes in individual behaviours, and that these outcomes can be both accurately measured and attributed directly to the M4D campaign. There is even a claim that the outcomes of such interventions can be accurately predicted in advance.
5 An instrumental view of participation To be clear, although projects adopting an M4D approach may be managed by external change agents and characterized by a sender–receiver model of communication, they are not necessarily imposed on recipient communities without any consultation. If media are to be used effectively as channels for delivering information to audiences with the intention of promoting behaviour change, then it is vital for the messages to be relevant to the particular contexts in which they will be received. Such interventions are much more likely to be effective if they are based on an understanding of what particular cultural beliefs currently prevent individuals from engaging in particular behaviours, for example. Similarly, knowledge of the media consumption habits of the target population will enable them to be reached more effectively. There is little point producing even the most well-made television drama, for example, if the target audience of women in rural areas does not have access to television, is too busy to watch when it is broadcast or doesn't like television dramas.
To achieve this level of understanding of audiences, at least some level of participation from the local community is required, and this must inevitably involve some degree of two-way and horizontal communication. What characterizes the M4D approach, though, is the nature and extent of this participation. Participation of the local community in this approach is fundamentally a means to achieving more effective use of media, rather than an end in itself. Put another way, the aim of consulting with the target audience, or of employing some local staff, is to maximize the effectiveness and delivery of predetermined messages, rather than to involve communities in determining the problems and the most appropriate courses of action themselves (Waisbord 2000: 10). This instrumental approach to participation is evident in the way in which DMI (2013b: 2) describes the audience research necessary for designing their campaigns.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Media and Development by Martin Scott. Copyright © 2014 Martin Scott. Excerpted by permission of Zed Books Ltd.
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Table of Contents
Introduction1. Media for development: magic bullet or corporate tool?
2. Participatory communication in development: more questions than answers
3. Defining media development: nailing jelly to a wall
4. From media development to development: a long and winding road
5. Strategies of humanitarian communication: choose wisely
6. Media coverage of the global South: who cares?
Conclusion