Role of Communication in Development

[Dee]

Okay.. So, look.. Here's the deal.. I have this paper that I have to write, about, well, role of communication in development, and I don't really have enough resources to get the information from...

So, if you help me, I'll give you a cookie!!

Better yet.. I'll give you a hug

[cantrlady]

Dee,

Have you looked at the professional organizations for speech therapists? I am not sure if you are talking of speech or language being key in development.

Sarah

[Dee]

Actually, I was talking about communication media: i.e: newspapers, TV, radio, magazines, interent..

And all other forms of communication, really... Commercials, PR campaigns... All of that...

I'm not writing a big reasearch paper or anything (just 5 pages) but I'm having a hard time finding material.

[formerly known as hf]

Communications in development?
In what context?

Communication in the development of human civilisation?

Communication in 'development' of underdeveloped countries?

Communication in the development of a market product?

If it's the second, I can help somewhat.

[Dee]

Yes, it is the second one

Communication in development of underdeveloped countries

Like Egypt...

[formerly known as hf]

Ok, in what context?

The development of communication-technology based businesses? Like that as has blossomed in places like Bangalore, India.

Or more general, in the use of communications in promoting development, as in media advertising, PR and the like?

[Dee]

In spreading awareness through PR campaigns, also spreading ideas of modernization, through advirrismenets.. Yes, the more general concept of development, really..

[fishfin]

you could talk about how the fastest way to comunicate from town to town in cantr is by radio

[formerly known as hf]

The thing that first comes to my mind in realtion to media and advertising is charities. Whilst not part of the a more limited concept of development, which focuses on trade agreements, the WTO, IMF, World Bank and so forth - some charities are large-scale, and do do a lot of 'development' work in local communities.
A good example here would be Oxfam. They're main, central document (the 'Strategic plan': http://www.oxfam.org/en/files/strat_plan.pdf ) does have a short section on 'media and communications' - the chances are there are more documents which will say more if you look around the various Oxfam websites.
In the UK at least, Comic Relief http://www.comicrelief.com/ (the UK site, not the .org - which is american) runs, every other year, a huge media-based fundraising campaign (including a whole night on channel 1 in the UK devoted to the charity)

I'll post more later, I've gotta go now...

[Dee]

Thank you so much!! These are very helpful

[formerly known as hf]

The IMF (International Monetary Fund), World Bank and WTO (World Tade Organisation) are the primary international bodies for 'development' and 'aid'. They work primarily as an in-between for governments, and direct and organise aid for development on an international scale.

Because of how they work - with governments, they don't really need to use media and advertising - they aren't involved with the 'public' so they don't need to advertise.


The IMF, WB and WTO have all, however, come under a lot of attack from public media for the way they handle development. A large amount of the 'aid' for development that the IMF deals with are linked to 'structural adjustment' -i.e: you only get aid if you change the way your government works. This has usually involved prvatisation and trade liberalisation.

A lot of the criticism aimed at the IMF has come from Non-Governmental Organisations (Again, Oxfam are good here - search their websites for structural adjustemnt) but also the media. Your best bet for media criticisms is to search the 'liberal' newspapers for articles (The Guardian www.theguardian.co.uk in the UK - I'm not sure about in the US)

The IMF has 'changed' the way it deals with development aid, and they have used their website to 'respond' to these criticisms (see: http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/ccrit/eng/cri.htm ) although the 'changes' are widely considered to be little more than a change of name for the same thing.

Similar things can be found on the WTO websites, and in media criticisms of the WTO


I'm not sure how much this links in with 'development', but, in the UK at least, the last G8 summit ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G8 and www.g8.gov.uk ) there was a very large popular movement for the meeting to combat poverty. The backing got a lot of support from many celebrities - Bob Geldof (of course) Bono, but also a huge raft of others, and there was a large concert at the time of the meeting. The focus wasn't on development as such, but the cuases of poverty, primarily debt relief.

As far as media coverage go, it was virtually wall-to-wall before and during the G8 meeting, all UK newspapers ran numerous stories, there were many TV programmes, whole evenings dedicated to the concrt. Again, you can search www.theguardian.co.uk for articles, but the site of any UK newspaper will produce something.

www.makepovertyhistory.org is the main body which revolved around then - and used loads of avertising and media promotion for the cause, much of it backed by celebrities.

The G8 produced a number of 'promises' from the governments involved, and the huge movement lost steam almost the day after the G8 ended. In my opinion, and this is the opinion of many who were heavily involved, the 'promises' that were produced are worthless - there is no framework to implement them, no real signed document, nothing to ratify. It was a large PR spin to appease the huge popular movement.


Anyway, back to development.


A lot of what I've produced here is obviously biased, as I have my own stance, and thus my own knowledge of the subject. When I think about using the media in relation to development, I think about criticisms of development, as that's what I'm involved in.

Saying that, as I have said, the way these international organisations work is such that they do not have any involvement with the public -either the public in governments who provide the money, nor even the public in the countries who receive the 'aid' - they deal directly with governments. As such, they have no real need to use the media much.

A number of 'grassroots' movements have also used communications and the media to get their message across. The Zapatistas are probably the most well-known example, and are worth a google.

Indymedia - www.indymedia.org - is also a good respository for 'alternative' media on development.

If I go much further, I'll be hitting the real fringe of the debate and showing my bias even more.

One thing I will point out, (and this is just for clarification, not related to the topic of communications and development) is that when I have spoken about the criticisms of development - it's not that the criticisms are against poorer countries developing, but it's about the whole 'idea' of development. The one which most people in the west think of it, and the one which the IMF etc. go by, is that 'underdeveloped' countires need to develop to be more like western countries. The criticisms see this as wrong - development should be on the terms of those developing, and that the paths to a developed country are many, and there should be a freedom to choose that path. Finally, the whole process of labelling some countries as 'underdeveloped' and others as 'developed' just enforces the inequality that already exists.


Hopefully someone will be able to produce some pro-IMF, WB and WTO, or some positive things about the current development processes, else you'll justhave got a very biased view from myself...

[Dee]

Thank you, HF , you're my saviour!!!!