The class mainly focused on three concepts
and their interrelation with each other. The three concepts were media,
communication and development communication. Starting with the origin of the
term media i.e. from the word Medium
or Mediation, various angles were elaborated. The features and functions of
media such as the mediatory role between the people
and public, media’s influence, functions such as to educate, to inform, to
entertain, persuade, debate and discus. Media’s role in cultural promotion, edutainment,
an agent for social change, knowledge circulator and multiplier were all
elaborately discussed. Media’s positive campaign on various issues such as health
(polio), school enrollment among others were also discussed. The historic
events such as the emergency period from 1975- 1977, and the evolution of the
Indian cinema of the 60s and 70s such as
Sholay, Mother India to cartoons and animation which had famous character such
as Mina were linked with the entire concept of development communication.
Stories with a moral conclusion along with direct social messages were part of
the discourse. Opinions where media is considered to be an integral part of
human life and man’s incapability to escape media’s existence and influence were
justified in the discussion.
Secondly, Communication, which is the root
of all human activities right from sharing knowledge, information dissemination
and experience establishing the co- relation between media and communication
was established. “Media is one of the most powerful and influential part of
communication. In order to prove the influence of media in the society an
understanding of the development stories is extremely important,” stated
Kashyap.So to elaborate this he cited examples of stories that he himself has
covered. The successful radio programme named “Krishi Jagat” (where the
listeners who were mostly non- literate were the real heroes making the green
revolution a great success with the help of agricultural information provided
via the program)
Coming to the third concept, Development
communication or Journalism, he analusd few definitions such as:
Nora Quebral, 1975: It is an art and sciences
of human communication applied and achieve speedy transformation of a country
and the mass of its people from poverty to a dynamic state of economic growth
that makes promotes greater social equality and larger fulfillment of the human
potential.
Rosario Braid, 1979: It is an element of
the management procession in the overall planning and implementation of
development programmes. In a broad sense, it is the identification and
utilization of appropriate in the development process that will assist in
increasing participation of intended beneficiaries at the grass root levels.
The resource person made an attempt to define
development communication as a special area of interest along with how the
media can be used in a positive manner to bring about sustainable development
in the society. He said, “Development should not only be measured in economic
terms but in social, political, cultural, educational aspects also”.
Few parameters that surrounded the concept
of development communication such as a perceptible change in people lives, per
capital income of the majority of the people for a given period of time, access
to clean drinking water, sanitation, heath care, primary education,
immunization, employment, road connectivity and its relation to market
expansion to employment, proper education, better facilities to health care etc.
was a part of elaboration.
Kashyap also said that, “Development does not
mean uprooting the originality of the people and civilization in the name of
development, industrialization and expansion, it also does not mean the
destruction of the beautiful mother nature, but it means sustainable
development, bringing desirable changes, thinking and working for the people of
the society.
At the end of the session Kashyap discussed
about his experience in the Indian Express and explained the ground reality of
the journalism world along with the development stories of the state of Assam
citing examples of the development of higher education and multipurpose school
including Goalpara Rabha community, the koyal lady named “rangoli” who
self-educated herself at the age of 45 along with many more fascinating stories.
Report prepared by Shashi Subba on the second session, October 24, 2017 on Refresher Course on Communication for Development organised by DEpartment of Communication and Journalism and UGC-HRDC, Gauhati University with support from UNICEF, Assam
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