Communication 160

Development
Communication

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 CHAPTER 2
DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION
Rationale
Chapter 2 will enable you to explain and elucidate on development
communication; it’s definition, it’s practices, issues, scope and uses.
Furthermore, this Chapter will discuss problems associated with the
communication process; specifically, on the elements of noise.

Learning Objectives
At the end of Chapter 3, the learner should:

a. be able to define and explain development communication concepts.

b. demonstrate familiarity in overcoming communication problems; and
c. be able to situate development communication with related fields.

General Objective
The learner should be able to apply development communication work.

Schedule of Class Discussion for Chapter 3

Date Covered Topic Output Task Deadline

September 29 Foundations of - -
Development
Communication
October 1 Quebral’s Definition - -
October 6 What DevCom is Not - -
October 8 Development - -
Communicators
October 13 Theories of The Press - -
October 15 Review - -
October 19-23 Midterms - -

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 Good day, learners!
Now, let’s discuss Development Communication.
The study of development communication will enable you to
appreciate this field of study as it is concentrated in improving the
quality of lives. It involves empowerment, and enables people to
cooperatively work towards “development”.

Foundations of Development Communication

Introduction to Development Communication: Its Philosophy

and Approach
by Fr. Cornelio Lagerwey, MSC
Founder of the CFA Media Group

Communication is not only advertisements, propaganda, entertainment, public

relations and image building. It is an instrument of servicing the needs of the
people to attain development.

The science which uses communication to change and motivate people through
education and inspiration towards development is development communication
or simply, DEVCOM.

• DEVCOM brings about a planned growth intended to promote human

development, reducing, if not eradicating poverty, unemployment and
other social inequalities.

• It is engaged not only in mere reporting of facts or opinions, but also in

teaching the people and leading them to action.

• It imparts and shares ideas to nurture and cultivate the proper attitudes,
skills and values that are needed to develop.

• In short, DEVCOM is a communication science that assists developmental

goals.

DEVCOM was born out of the need of people to be informed and educated. Social
inequalities, such as landlords oppressing tenants and poverty, became the focus
of political campaign platforms.

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After the elections, the people were left ignorant of the developments affecting
them. Most of them were not informed of the issues that concern them. The
result was severe poverty for most and affluence for the few.

To counteract the inequality, many resorted to force. Such was the cycle of events
that never benefited the people.

DEVCOM is meant to break the wall of ignorance, thus, breaking the bonds of
poverty and oppression.

• For any true development to happen, there must be an inner change of

people, for example from stagnation or opposition, to one of involvement
and support.

• People cannot be manipulated or coerced to grow and develop. The

impetus and desire for development must come from within themselves.

But how can this happen? Or putting it in another way: Why does this not
happen?

Is it because the process through which these programs have been developed
and implemented is not democratic, not participatory in nature?

A failure to understand this process and its concomitant instrument of

development communication can be very costly, like in India at the end of the
sixties. The government, in its efforts to control the population growth, received
substantial assistance from AID and the World Bank. A team of consultants and
technicians was sent to study the situation. Millions were spent. A program was
recommended. The recommendations were reviewed, the project was set up and
implemented. Health and family planning clinics were established throughout the
country. More millions were spent.

Just one problem: the women for whom the clinics were intended did not come
in. The government had to entice them with, for example, transistorized radios.
The program failed. Human rights were violated. Indira Gandhi lost the next
elections.

What was wrong? The failure to get the involvement of the women through the
process of development communication. The government wanted instant
involvement. People, however, are not coffee!

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And so what happens? From the point of view of the government or the NGO, an
ineffective program is tantamount to budgetary loss. On the side of the low-level
income groups to whom these programs are targeted, it means lost self-worth,
dehumanization.

Anyone who is keen enough can sense this feeling of the poor being displaced, of
being at the mercy of political and economic forces. They perceive that they do
not have a handle on what is happening to them. They do not feel that they are
the subjects of the development programs.

With their characteristic meekness in front of the affluent and the influential, it is
not hasty to conclude that they paradoxically see themselves as objects of the
programs geared towards their development.

The science which uses communication to educate, change and motivate

people’s attitudes and values leading to developmental goals is development
communication or DEVCOM.

In the Philippines, as in other developing countries like India, the budget set aside
for communication is usually just enough to do some public relations or image-
building for the government or the agency concerned.

The practice hardly reaches the people for whom the information services are
intended. It is cheaper to have a picture and an article in the papers or a spot on
radio or television than to make the common people understand fully the issues
that affect their way of life. This superficial use of media is more often a deterrent
to development than its instrument since it excludes participation from the target
audience, the people.

DEVCOM was meant to tear down the wall of ignorance and so break the bonds
of poverty and oppression. In contrast with those who wanted to counteract the
inequality with force.

To understand the issues that affect their way of life, there was a need to provide
a communication tool. A tool that would do more than image building, more than
saying how good a government department performs! A tool that will get the
people involved in their own life and destiny. A revolutionary use of
communication: the use of communication for development; for true people
power.

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Defining Development Communication

“Development Communication is communication with a social conscience.”

~ UPLB Chancellor Abelardo G. Samonte (1974)

Development Communication is 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 (Quebral, N, 2001).

Keywords in development communication:

1. purposive
2. social transformation
3. science and art

Values of Development Communication (Ongkiko & Flor, 2006):

a. Purposive Communication
DevCom is focused on a specific goal. It is concentrated in
empowering the community for them to make rational and well-
thought of decisions.

b. Pragmatic
DevCom deals with things sensibly and realistically in a way
that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.

This is having to do with the affairs of a state or community or

concerned with actual practice, everyday affairs, etc., not with
theory or speculation.

Pragmatic deals with historical facts, esp. in their causal

relationship.

c. Value-laden
DevCom is a practice where the initiator has strong personal
belief on the cause. Value-laden means that development
communication as an agent of change is geared towards
promoting positivity, resiliency, and works for common good.

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Development Communicators

Who are development communicators?

What qualities do they possess?

Nora C. Quebral (2001) gave a succinct characterization:

1. They understand the process of development, the process of

communication, and the environment in which the two processes interact.

2. They are knowledgeable in communication skills and techniques as well as

proficient in subject matter to be communicated.

3. They have internalized the values inherent in equity and the unfolding of
individual potential.

4. They have firsthand knowledge of the several kinds of end-users of

development communication.

5. They have a sense of commitment, the acceptance of individual

responsibility for advancing human development.

Social Mobilization in Development Communication

Social mobilization is a process that raises awareness and motivates people

to demand change or a particular development.

It is mostly used by social movements in grassroots groups, governments

and political organizations to achieve a particular goal, and in most cases,
the process of social mobilization takes place in large gatherings, such as
processions, demonstrations, marches and mass meetings. Social
mobilization is also used by organizations to facilitate change (Unicef.org.).

Elements of Social Mobilization (Ongkiko & Flor, 2006)

1. Advocacy
2. Information, education and communication strategies
3. Community organizing
4. Capacity development
5. Networking and alliance building
6. Monitoring and evaluation

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Social Marketing Mix

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Scheduled Google Meet

I shall schedule a Google Meetings for our class.

This is for me to explain further the topics covered in this module.

However, it is expected that you have read the topics covered here
before joining the Google meeting.

Schedule for Google meeting:

Session 1: Date _______________ Time __________

Chapter 2: Long Exam

You shall be given a link to the online examination which is done via _______.

The following guidelines shall be in-effect for the Long Exam:

1. Please be reminded that you can only access ONCE the online examination.
Once you log-in, you cannot anymore log-out or pause it, otherwise, you
lose the chance to complete the examination. Make sure you are ready
before taking the examination.

I will not entertain any excuses on this rule. In my 8 years as an online

student, I have not had any problems with taking online examinations.

2. The exam has a time limit. As soon as you log-in, the time will automatically
start.