MASS MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR DEVELOPMENT Unit
- Slides: 8
MASS MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR DEVELOPMENT (Unit III) (PPT 1) Paper: Development Communication Course: BJMC , Semester: II Institution: DSPMU, Ranchi Teacher’s Name: Sumedha Chaudhury
Why Mass Media plays a vital role in Development? Mass media perform a vital and a crucial role in society. They are called the Fourth Estate, as they are one of the pillars of democracy along with the executive, legislature, and the other socioeconomic forces that bind a society together. In this context, it is important to note that they are both the watchdogs of public behavior of elected officials and custodians of popular goodwill as they seek to report on the goings-on in society.
Hence, mass media are especially relevant to society because without the media, we would never know what is happening in the world around us and be without the moral compass and ethical conscience needed to hold society together. The point here is that like all opinion makers, the mass media has both duty and responsibility towards society and this is the reason it is considered a vital part of modern democracies.
To understand Mass Media as a tool for development, Wilbur Schramm’s role of media in development can be related which divided it in three parts as: i) To Inform ii) To Instruct iii) To Participate
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 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. The basic mass media tools for development are: Newspapers, Radio and Television which are explained in the next slides.
Newspaper as a tool for Development The power of the press arises from its ability of appearing to the minds of the people and being capable of moving their hearts.
Radio as a tool for development • 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 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.
