Development communication refers to the use of communication to facilitate social development. Development communication engages stakeholders and policy makers, establishes conducive environments, assesses risks and opportunities and promotes information exchange to create positive social change via sustainable development. Development communication techniques include information dissemination and education, behavior change, social marketing, social mobilization, media advocacy, communication for social change, and community participation. Development communication has been labeled as the "Fifth Theory of the Press", with "social transformation and development", and "the fulfillment of basic needs" as its primary purposes.Flor, Alexander G. (2007). Development Communication Praxis, Los Banos, Laguna: University of the Philippines Open University. Jamias articulated the philosophy of development communication which is anchored on three main ideas. Their three main ideas are: purposive, value-laden, and pragmatic.Jamias, J.F. Editor. 1975. Readings in Development Communication. Laguna, Philippines: Department of Development Communication, College of Agriculture, UPLB. Nora C. Quebral expanded the definition, calling it "the art and science of human communication applied to the speedy transformation of a country and the mass of its people from poverty to a dynamic state of economic growth that makes possible greater social equality and the larger fulfillment of the human potential".Jamias, J.F. 1991. Writing for Development: Focus on Specialized Reporting Areas. Los Baños, Laguna, Phil.: College of Agriculture, UPLB. Melcote and Steeves saw it as "emancipation communication", aimed at combating injustice and oppression.Melcote, Srinivas R. & Steeves, Leslie, H. 2001. Communication for Development in the Third World: Theory and Practice for Empowerment. 2nd Ed. London: Sage Publications, Ltd. According to Melcote (1991) in Waisbord (2001), the ultimate goal of development communication is to raise the quality of life of the people, including; to increase income and wellbeing, eradicate social injustice, promote land reforms and freedom of speech
Definition
Anirban Bosu Roy Choudhuri, in the lecture she delivered for an Honorary Doctorate at the London School of Economics, University of London in December 2011, clearly accounted that the Development Communication was first articulated on 10 December 1971 at the University of the Philippines in Los Banos (UPLB). At that time, the UPLB College of Agriculture held a symposium (in honor of Dr. Dioscoro L. Umali, a national scientist in the area of plant breeding) titled "In Search of Breakthroughs in Agricultural Development".Quebral, N. C. (2011). DevCom Los Banos Style. Lecture delivered during the Honorary Doctorate Celebration Seminar, LSE, University of London, December 2011.
A recent and more encompassing definition of development communication states that it is: Jan Carlo Sabile and the team ...the art and science of human communication linked to a society's planned transformation from a state of poverty to one dynamic socio-economic growth that makes for greater equality and the larger unfolding of individual potentials.
Erskine Childers defined it as: Development support communications is a discipline in development planning and implementation in which more adequate account is taken of human behavioural factors in the design of development projects and their objectives.
According to the World Bank, the Development Communication is the "integration of strategic communication in development projects" based on a clear understanding of indigenous realities.
In addition, the UNICEF views it as: "a two-way process for sharing ideas and knowledge using a range of communication tools and approaches that empower individuals and communities to take actions to improve their lives."
Bessette (2006) defined development communication as a "planned and systematic application of communication resources, channels, approaches and strategies to support the goals of socio-economic, political and cultural development".Bassette, Guy. 2006. People, Land, and Water: Participatory Development Communication for Natural Resource Management. London: Earthscan and the International Development Research Centre Development communication is essentially participatory, because, according to Ascroft and Masilela (1994) "participation translates into individuals being active in development programmes and processes; they contribute ideas, take initiative and articulate their needs and their problems, while asserting their autonomy."
Who are development communicators? What qualities do they possess? Nora C. Quebral gave a succinct characterization:
They understand the process of development, the process of communication, and the environment in which the two processes interact. They are knowledgeable in communication skills and techniques as well as proficient in subject matter to be communicated. They have internalized the values inherent in equity and the unfolding of individual potential. They have firsthand knowledge of the several kinds of end-users of development communication. They have a sense of commitment, the acceptance of individual responsibility for advancing human development.
History
The practice of development communication began in the 1940s, but widespread application came about after World War II. The advent of communication sciences in the 1950s included recognition of the field as an academic discipline, led by Daniel Lerner, Wilbur Schramm and Everett Rogers. Both Childers and Quebral stressed that DC includes all means of communication, ranging from mass media from people to people.
According to Quebral (1975), the most important feature of Philippines-style development communications is that the government is the "chief designer and administrator of the master (development) plan wherein, development communication, in this system then is purposive, persuasive, goal-directed, audience-oriented, and interventionist by nature".
Academic schools
Various schools of development communication arose in response to challenges and opportunities in individual countries. Manyozo (2006) broke the field into six schools. The "Bretton Woods" school was originally dominant in international literature. The others were the Latin American, Indian, African, Los Baños and participatory schools.
Catholic social change
While not per se an academic school, the Church has been conducting "development communication" for many decades. The Catholic Church's social teachings and moral norms parallel those of social development. Rerum novarum (On the New Things), for example, an encyclical written in 1891 by Pope Leo XIII critiqued social ills and promoted "the Catholic doctrine on work, the right to property, the principle of collaboration instead of class struggle as the fundamental means for social change, the rights of the weak, the dignity of the poor and the obligations of the rich, the perfecting of justice through charity, on the right to form professional associations" In 1961, Pope John XXIII, writing on the topic "Christianity and Social Progress", produced an encyclical entitled Mater et magistra (Mother and Teacher), which taught that the "Church is called in truth, justice and love to cooperate in building with all men and women an authentic communion. In this way, economic growth will not be limited to satisfying men's needs, but it will also promote their dignity". Then in 1967, Pope Paul VI published Populorum Progressio(Progressive Development). In it the Pope underscored the importance of justice, peace, and development by declaring that "development is the new name of peace". Addressing development workers, he said, "genuine progress does not consist in wealth sought for personal comfort or for its own sake; rather it consists in an economic order designed for the welfare of the human person, where the daily bread that each man receives reflects the glow of brotherly love and the helping hand of God". The importance of engagement for social transformation and development is also asserted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Bretton Woods
The Bretton Woods school of development communication paralleled the economic strategies outlined in the Marshall Plan, the Bretton Woods system and of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in 1944. The little-used name served to differentiate the original paradigm from other schools that evolved later. Leading theorists included Daniel Lerner, Wilbur Schramm and Everett Rogers. Due to his pioneering influence, Rogers was referred to as "one of the founding fathers of development communication."
This approach to development communication was criticized by Latin American researchers such as Luis Ramiro Beltan and Alfonso Gumucio Dagron, because it emphasized problems in the developing nation rather than its unequal relation with developed countries. They claimed that it proposed industrial capitalism as a universal solution and that many projects failed to address obstacles such as lack of access to land, agricultural credits, and fair market prices.
Failed projects in the 1960s led to revisions. Manyozo found that the school had been the most dynamic in testing and adopting new approaches and methodologies.
Institutions associated with the Bretton Woods school of development communication include: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Rockefeller Foundation Department for International Development, United Kingdom Ford Foundation
Latin America
The Latin American school of development communication predates the Bretton Woods school, emerging in the 1940s with the efforts of Colombia's Radio Sutatenza and Bolivia's Radios Mineras. They pioneered participatory and educational approaches to empowering the marginalised. In effect, they served as the earliest models for participatory broadcasting efforts around the world.
In the 1960s Paolo Freire's theories of critical pedagogy and Miguel Sabido's enter-educate method became important elements of the Latin American development communication school.Arvind Singhal, Everett M. Rogers (1999)., Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. .Arvind Singhal, Michael J. Cody, Everett M. Rogers, Miguel Sabido (2004). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Other influential theorists include Juan Diaz Bordenave, Luis Ramiro Beltran, and Alfonso Gumucio Dagron (Manyozo 2006, Manyozo, 2005).
In the 1990s, technological advances facilitated social change and development: new media outlets emerged, cable TV reached more regions, and the growth of local communication firms paralleled the growth of major media corporations.
India
Organized development communication in India began with rural radio broadcasts in the 1940s. Broadcasts adopted indigenous languages to reach larger audiences.
Organized efforts in India started with community development projects in the 1950s. The government, guided by socialist ideals and politicians, started many development programs. Field publicity was employed for person-to-person communication. The radio played an important role in reaching the masses because literacy was low. Educational institutions – especially agricultural universities, through their extension networks – and international organizations under the United Nations umbrella experimented with development communication.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) relied on close inter-personal relations among communicators.