"Like a towering lighthouse guiding sailors
towards the coast, 'development' stood as the idea which oriented emerging
nations in their journey through post-war history. No matter whether democracies
or dictatorships, the countries of the South proclaimed development as their
primary aspiration, after they had been freed from colonial domination".
(Sachs 1992:1 in Allen & Alan 2000)
Development:
Concise Oxford dictionary defines development as 'a
specified state of growth and advancement.
Development, a term, a plan or a phase carefully contemplated by Western
Capitalist countries, academics and think tanks to establish their control and
power over former colonies paving the way for and opening up new markets for
consumerist ambitions; or was it the actual need of the day? Was development a
purely philanthropic and idealist gesture on part of the North or was it
another form of colonialism deeply rooted in capitalist traditions and
entrenched in the Keynesian idea that investment in less developed
countries (LDCs) could be stimulated by injections of cash from overseas.
(Erixon 2005)
Here one needs to look closely at what actual
development means; is development a trait that is purely Westernized,
Americanized and capitalist, producing a modern society with modern
technological advancements or development can be traditional and indigenous
where societies follow ancient ways of farming, living and natural resources in
a sustainable manner but still are able to provide for and live comfortably
within their means without relying on aid from foreign benefactors but Gerald
Berthoud argues that societies rooted in long-established values and norms are
not able to develop economically while maintaining their traditions so economic
growth can only happen when traditions are put aside. (Sachs 1992:72)
To understand Development one has to look at the
different interpretations of development not only from the point of view of
Western leaders, scholars but also from the perspective of Southern academics
and people from the developing countries because development is a
advocated in the North and tested in the South.
...Development is growth plus change. Change, in turn,
is social and cultural as well as quantitative... the key concept must be
improved quality of people's life as defined in Proposals of Action for the 1st
UN Development Decade (1960-70). Johan Gultang defines it as 'the development
of a people's.' Paul Baran (1957) a prominent development economist defined
growth or development as the increase in the per capita
production of material goods. (Esteva, 1992:12,13,15)
Development from the Northern standpoint rises out
of the ashes of a world devastated by war and its subsequent development.
American President Harry Truman prescribes an antidote for the ailing economies
of the world, robbed of their grandeur and power by their colonial masters. A
Northern medication for the development ailments of the South. He drew a
Northern stylized development map.
"We must embark on a bold new program for
making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress
available for the improvement and growth of the underdeveloped areas.
The old imperialism - exploitation for foreign
profit - has no place in our plans. What we envisage is a program of
development based on the concepts of democratic fair dealing". (Truman
1949 in Esteva 1992:6)
This sort of development proposed was in actuality
a way to open up new markets for the capitalist products, and a technique used
for making inroads into the traditional societies, which in the minds of
Western nations were underdeveloped. Development thus implied pursuing the
social and cultural evolution of the industrialized countries (Senarcles
1997:192).They idealized a world in which the people would develop on
the pattern of Western societies and enjoy the benefits of modern development
and ultimately become beholden to the North for this enlightenment.
Here the question arises that why it is a
ubiquitous belief that societies which do not adhere to modern Western
development strategies are backward and labelled underdeveloped or developing.
The terms UDC's (Underdeveloped Countries) and LDC's (Least Developed
Countries) applied liberally to those nations which fail to come up to the
standards set by the Global Development Institutions led by the World Bank and
IMF. The 'Us' and 'Them' approach was and
still is all too evident in development theories, debates and policies articulated
in development literature produced without fail year in and year out.
Dr. Mahbub-ul-Haq, a prominent Pakistani economist
who was the chief architect of the United Nations Human Development Index says
that "The objective of development is to create an enabling environment
for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives".
Professor Amartya Sen, another academic from the
South, says that "[development] is advancing the richness of human life,
rather than the richness of the economy"
Development from the point of view of people from
the grassroots level is having two square meals a day, access to basic
healthcare and education. During research for my dissertation, the writer got
the opportunity to interview people who are marginalized and realized that the
'bottom billion' of the world just need enough to survive, they do not aspire
to become modern, developed and technologically advanced in the blink of an eye
rather want to adhere to their traditions while enjoying basic human
facilities.
Development in the context of Communication:
The evolution of development of the post colonial
world through communication channels i.e. mass media was an idea given in the
early sixties by Daniel Lerner and Wilber Schramm in their respective seminal
texts "The Passing of Traditional Society" and "Mass
Media and National Development". In 1972, Nora C. Quebral a
pioneer in the field of Development Communication, hugely influenced by
Schramm, paved the way for future development professionals, to effectively
merge the dynamic fields of development and communication to bring about change
at the grassroots level. (Cadiz 2005)
Professor Quebral (2005) states that that the job
of development communication is the process of development itself. (Dagron
& Tuft 2006:56) This approach has gained momentum as the evolution of media
technologies has made information dissemination a matter of a few nanoseconds.
Development scholars, think tanks and academics are trying to find new avenues
through which these new media technologies can aid and abet the development of
the still millions of marginalized populations of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
David Morley (1992:1) points out that the media are essential 'in articulating
the public and private spheres, and in the social organization of space, time
and community'. (Raboy et al. 2010:67)
Implications for the formulation of communication
policy for development:
Formulation of a specific communication policy for
development through mass communication channels in regional contexts is the
need of the day. Keeping in mind the implications of development projects which
are started without a proper communication policy in place one can see that the
results are chaos, failure and a waste of precious time and money.
Policy making in the field of
communication is considered to be a measured intervention by the government in
the structural designs and business plans of companies offering media and
communication services. (Aufderheide 2007, Jensen 1998 in Rasool
and McDowell 2012)
If development of the underdeveloped is the actual
target of development professionals, organizations and donor countries; then a
proper communication policy has to be formulated well before the actual project
is initiated on-ground. A few important areas that have to be covered are:
(a)accurate identification of the social problems, (b) its characteristics,
(c)the specific target audience, (d)the role of the media in its coverage, (e)
expert opinion, (f) policy agenda, and (g) suitable role of communication in
the broader perspective etc. (Bales and Gilliam 2004:6)
A development communication policy has to be the
amalgamation of largely local, national and to some extent international
(donor) interests. A policy framework missing even one of these key components
is a recipe for disaster. Many a times a technological advancement is tried and
tested in modern societies and it is thought that it can be applied as it is in
the developing areas of the world but eventually this approach faces failure
because the dynamics and on ground realities are totally different from what
was imagined and experienced in modern societies. (Dudley 1993)
The "multiplicity of players in the policy
making process like the governments, quasi non-governments and private
interests (Braman 2010:31) makes policy making a difficult task. Keeping in
mind the interests of all these groups is a difficult task but in the end the
goals of effective communication for development are met without major glitches
if all these groups realize the benefits of an successful communication and
development policy.
Development policy is shaped by development
practices which are in turn are fashioned by preparation for development which
is the by product of development theories that eventually mirror how actual
progress is supposed to be; and this is the philosophy of development. (Potter et
al. 2008:4)
The telecommunications sector is
the backbone of the communications infrastructure in any country. Proper and
adequate telecommunications policy has to be in place for this sector to
flourish which in turn can further grassroots development. The vitality of
important industries and social activities - such as banking, healthcare,
information services, transportation, and education - is extremely dependent on
adequate telecom infrastructure and service. (Bande in Mody et al.
1995:viii)
In today's world dominated by
media technologies, an approach which incorporates and exploits the full
potential of these media channels is a development- centric approach.
Purposefully integrating entertainment and education in media products can be a
step in the right direction. People are addicted to their technological media
devices and this lends an opportunity to individuals focusing on development to
exploit this potential area in formulating specific entertainment-educational
content to disseminate through these technologies. Entertainment-education is
the process of purposefully designing and implementing a media message both to
entertain and educate, in order to increase audience members' knowledge about
an educational issue and create favorable attitudes, and change overt behavior.
(Singhal and Rogers 1999:9). This approach can further the process of
development by using entertainment as the platform to get the message of
grassroots development across to the people at the bottom rung of the modern
technological and development revolution. Harnessing the capabilities of mobile
media technologies can help in achieving the MDGs (Millennium Development
Goals) because whatever the economic advancement of a particular country,
mobile phones have made their way into the most inaccessible regions and can
facilitate development aspirations of agencies which work for progress and
change at the grassroots level.
Internet is another means to
promote development but this technology is still not available to millions
around the world and where it is accessible the regulatory systems of
respective governments vary . (May et al. 2004:18)
PEMRA (Country Specific Example):
PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory
Authority), was an ordinance promulgated in 2002 by the government of President
General Pervaiz Musharaff to regulate the growth of cross-media ownership and
the mushroom growth of numerous television channels due to investment in
this sector. An important point to be noted here is that this regulatory body
was the step taken by a military government and also that this initiative was heuristically significant since Pakistan is the first
country in the South Asian region to introduce a regulatory regime for the
electronic media (Rasool and McDowell 2012).
The PEMRA website maintains its
mandate as:
- Improve
the standards of information, education and entertainment ;
- Enlarge
the choice available to the people of Pakistan in the media for news,
current affairs, religious knowledge, art, culture, science, technology,
economic development, social sector concerns, music, sports, drama and
other subjects of public and national interest ;
- Facilitate
the devolution of responsibility and power to the grass roots by improving
the access of the people to mass media at the local and community level ;
- Ensure
accountability, transparency and good governance by optimization the free
flow of information.
Looking at these points from the point of view of a
lay man one would see that this recipe has all the ingredients in place to
promote development, freedom of information and speech and broadening the
choice of all the people of Pakistan not just the rich and the famous.
Ambitious nonetheless but these policy initiatives are there in place even if
on a piece of paper or on the website for all to see, it is a very significant
step in a country like Pakistan where democracy is in shambles, corruption
rules and development seems like an oasis in a desert of natural and man-made
disasters.
An interesting anecdote to be quoted over here is
that; one member of the committee entrusted with the formulation of this
communication policy for the regulation of electronic media in Pakistan, tells
a very interesting story that "while formulation of this policy was
underway, they (the committee members) studied the FCC (Federal Communications
Commission, USA) and the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Telecommunications
Commission) to derive a communication policy for Pakistan. This presents an
attention-grabbing question that here a policy was being formulated for a
developing Third World nation on the lines of Western guidelines. Political systems and policy processes are influenced
more and more from abroad, meaning that old orthodoxies about boundaries of the
state as a country need re-examining. (Papathanassopoulos and Negrine
2010:16)
As Walter Rostow so aptly explains
it that international development policy should pertain to each society's
particular characteristics. (1990:xxii) This one size fits all approach
was and is still not appropriate for a developing nation in the midst of a sudden
increase in electronic media outlets which are granted licences if they pledge
to uphold the PEMRA mandate.
Communication for development and participation of
the common man through the electronic media is an effective and successful
approach if it is applied without the end goal of maximizing profits. Mushroom
growth of media outlets has paved the way for cross-media owners to rake in big
bucks without sparing any thoughts for the common good. The good old days of
Pakistan Television Drama are now a mere memory in the minds of the old guard
who remember how drama was the pioneer of social change through electronic
media in Pakistan. (Pervaiz 1998)
Policy making and regulating media outlets is
always a very important measure but somehow down the lane the actual
achievement of these Communication for Development goals get mixed up with
advertising dollars in the capitalist tradition.
PEMRA, too has suffered its own nemesis in the form
of profit making by the ever-increasing media outlets and nepotism on part of
the regulatory body.
Corporate manipulation,
profit-mongering, irresponsible journalism, concentration of ownership, and
cartelization are the logical outcomes of regulatory inertia resulting in a
weakening of democratic institutions and pluralism in the country. (Rasool
and McDowell 2012)
Conclusion:
Communication is the connection between the people
of a community and a nation. If there is a dearth of knowledge and
communication then effective development is not possible.
Development is not the inheritance of the Western
Nations nor their sole property. J.W. Drapper in his book "The
History of the Intellectual Development of Europe" clearly
makes a case that many inventions by Muslim scientists were the precursors of
the technological and ideological revolution in Europe and because these
innovations were not patented in those times and ages; are now attributed to
Western scientists and philosophers. So it is not fair to say the development
is purely a Western Ideological and technological revolution but that its
foundations are buried deep in the traditional and indigenous societies of the
world which were far ahead in their times but were robbed of their rightful
place in the world by the colonial powers in their pursuit to conquer the globe
for their own advancement. What makes Third World development both an
interesting and immensely difficult field is that all facets of life are
involved. It deals with the growth and change of a civilization in all its
aspects; economy, politics, technology and culture. (Dudley 1993:10)
In a world driven by the political economy of
communication and conglomeration, development through mass communication
channels remains a policy debate confined to the chambers of World Bank and IMF
(International Monetary Fund) economists who define Third World development in
terms of the overall economic (income) growth of a particular country and classification by income does not necessarily reflect
development status.
In today's day and times
formulation and implications of communication policy are thought to be deeply
rooted in the concepts of communication for development. Policy structure is
not the sole dominion of a few economists who think that they have the answer
to all the development woes of the world. Goran Hedebro (1982:10) argues that
communication and change in society is a general problem all over the world not
just confined to Third World countries. (in Servaes 1999:6)
Development and communication
policy debates should not just adorn research papers and make for excellent
thesis topics for academics but is the need of the hour. At a time when
majority of the world's population is deprived of basic human needs and the MDG's
are nowhere near materializing into actuality; what is that is actually
hindering the process of development communication? Millions of 'development
dollars' are being squandered in the name of foreign aid for development but
actual progress and change seems like a distant dream.
Current prevalent natural and
man-made disasters in developing countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq
etc. call for policy interventions in areas of conflict and development and
require that development is carried out side by side within a conflict prone
zone. This major shift in development agenda has major implications for
development professionals and also military actors because the lines between
these two are slowly being blurred. These new trends give birth to new
frontiers in international communication policy formulation.
Policy making are the guiding
principles which keep the development projects focused and achievable. These
policy interventions create a road map for people in the field and in the
offices of development organisations and the common people on the same
wavelength and the same direction i.e development of the 'bottom billion'.
