THE ROLES OF RADIO AND TELEVISION IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT
ABSTRACT
Communication is central to all human activities. The claim that we cannot communicate receive scholarly applause. However, there are people who seem to be neglected when we began to discuss communication and information flow. Those in the urban cities are always better informed to the detriment of the ruralities. It is an irony that while the aim to reach out the grassroots and properly highlight the development problems of the people, remains the driving force for the rapid expansion of radio facilities, the medium has continued to be critized as being too urbanized in content and coverage. According to Moemaka (1981:34), The impact of radio diminishes as one gets away from the cities into the rural area, while the rural dwellers exist mainly as an eave – dropping audience.Fortunately, one of the outcome of seem Mac Bride, Commission of Enquiry (1980) on information flow, is that rural people who produce bulk of the food, thereby enhancing the growth of the economy, should be given urgent attention in information dissemination. Izuora (1993) notes that programmes have been designed and carried out to improve health conditions, promote non-informal education, ensure cultural promotion, civic education, and the improvement of agricultural production. According to him programme managers and policy makers admit that through single, drama, documentaries, news and talk programmes, radio is being effectively used to reach the grassroots. Our concept of the rural man is that person who is confined to his little community, he does not know what happens around him and the outside world. This researcher found out that an Nzam Man (In Anambra West L.G.A. Anambra State), is a typical rural man.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
This work is designed to study how rural dwellers utilize radio in comparison with television message to effect social change. Other communication channels, like the inter personal communication, traditional communication or what Frank Ugboajab called (Oramedia), newspaper and magazines are not quite effective as the radio and television especially in the much desired rural development. Those who found fault in the face – to – face communication and oramedia, did so due the lack of persuasion and inadequate coverage characteristics of them. For the newspaper and magazine, the high level of illiteracy prevalent in the rural areas constitute an impediment to the messages since the illiterate ruralite cannot read and even when the messages are coded or written in his own language.
To further establish the inadequacies of the oramedia, Ikechukwu E. Nwosu (1990) in his article “An overview of the Relationship Between Communication and Rural/National Development” in mass communication and National Development (ed), said that “The problem in employing these media of traditional communication as potent instrument of development communication lies more in the area of changing the attitude of the communicators, policy makers and researchers toward them. We also need to improve the level of massage storage, retrieval and replicability among these oramedia forms. It lies more in expanding our understanding of their functions, nature, content and uses, and may be coming up with standard technical vocabulary for describing its various forms in our various communities”.
The radio and television in this regard, are the most effective means of reaching the rural dwellers, and to effect social and development changes in these neglected or totally forgetten rural areas.To Nzam Community in Anambra West Local Government area, in Anambra state, radio set are more easily affordable – hence found in most homes. Even in the rice farm’s, yam farm, in the river fishing, an Nzam man is seen with his transistor radio, conscious to get the giot of the day from his favourite radio station who is ever-ready to broadcast in his language of understanding. Television sets, on the other hand, are owned by some well-to-do individuals, whet her literate or illiterate. Though Nzam community is characterized by non-availability of electricity those that own the television sets, make use of the electric generating plants, and chargeable batteries to operate the sets. Therefore, to this community, television ownership is not confined to literate class, as illiterate but well-to-do villagers own television as luxury, capable of providing relaxation from the stresses of the daily life. No doubt, in his “mass media organisation and management” lecture, Nnamdi Okewa of the development of mass communication E.S.U.T. Enugu, maintain that:
Most Yoruba purchase television sets not just for the luxury of it, but for the sake of Babasala’s drama, which provides an excellent comic relief to the Yoruba man after his activities during the day”. This study compares radio and television messages as agent of rural development of Nzam community in Anambra. Previous researchers in this field, confined themselves to the study of urban and rural dwellers in terms of media exposure. But this research aims at specifically finding out which of the two mass media of communication – radio or television is mostly used by the Nzam Community in Anambra, in obtaining development information. We also intend to study the two media in the daily life of this rural people. We also, will find out whether the community embarked on any rural development project, and what roles the radio played as against the audio – visional – television.
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