The Role of Radio Broadcast in Rural Development: A Study of Ogboinbiri Community
Chapter One
Aim and Objectives of the Study
- To determine the impact of ESBS on Ogboinbiri community development.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of ESBS in communicating to the people of Ogboinbiri community
- To identify the factors that limit ESBS programme from achieving development in Ogboinbiri community
- To suggest ways through which ESBS programme can be improved.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Conceptual Framework
This study conceptualized a radio broadcasting model that has a host community at the core of its operations in terms of ownership and governance, programming and the language of communication as well as community participation in editorial content orientation and generation. This set up would give the community a platform to directly affect and influence their own socio-economic and political empowerment while at the same time preserving and fostering their own cultural identify. Members of such a community would then be well placed to identify challenges they face within and without their midst and move on to debate and develop appropriate potential solutions to the said challenges for the ultimate improvement of their own socio-economic wellbeing.
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical orientation of this study was mainly anchored in theories of development communication. The study and practice of development communication has over the years been driven by a number of schools of thought; among them the modernization theory, the authoritarian theory, the democratic-participant theory and the social responsibility theory.
The modernization theory posits that development in the underdeveloped countries can only be achieved through the dissemination and embracing of developmental models that brought success to the wealthy western world countries. This theory is grounded in the strong belief of the persuasive power of the mass media. In this school of thought, the role mass media is to persuade the masses to change their attitudes and way of thinking in order to set the stage for economic development.
In the Authoritarian theory, the media is considered to be in service to the state and ought to subordinate itself to the state. The media should not undermine the state in any way by its reporting of events and happenings. In fact the media is expected to be on the forefront of supporting the interests of the state above everything else. In this scenario, the media is used by the political elite as an instrument of social and political control as information dissemination is tightly censored by the state and its agents.
The democratic-participant theory in contrast holds the position that mass media ought to support the participation of masses in the process of initiation; planning and execution of interventions impact their lives. As Baran and Davis (2012; 127) argue, Media are to be used to stimulate and empower pluralistic groups‖ thereby supporting the growth of cultural pluralism at the grassroots level. Participation affords the masses the opportunity to get involved in the problem identification process as well as the fashioning of solutions to challenges facing them. Democratic participation theory calls for the development of small media that can effectively be controlled by members of grassroots groups.
The social responsibility theory that was first developed in the 1940s by Robert Maynard Hutchins, is yet another school of thought that examines the role of mass media in society. One key assertion of the social responsibility theory is that media professionals have certain obligations to their audience(s). These obligations include high standards of informativeness, truth, accuracy objectivity and balance. Discussing this theory, Baran and Davis (116) posit that media should be pluralistic and therefore reflect the diversity of the society, giving (equal) access to various points of view and rights to reply. Moreover, media should be self-regulating within the framework of the law and established institutions and should avoid whatever might lead to crime, violence or civil disorder or give offense to minority groups within the society. The social responsibility theory challenges media practitioners and professionals to constantly develop creative and new ways of serving their communities. In essence, media should exist to serve the interest of the masses and those who own or control media houses should constantly be identifying new and better ways of using their media houses to highlight and address the present and ever-changing challenges that confront humanity. This way, the media would be contributing positively towards the socio-economic improvement of their audience(s).
Development Communication
Wilkins (2008:1) defines development communication as a process of strategic intervention toward social change, initiated and engaged by organizations and communities. Wilkins goes on to emphasize that development itself encompasses participatory and intentional strategies designed to benefit the public good, whether in terms of material, political, or social needs. Wilkins however fails to give prominence to the role played by the communication component of the said strategic intervention process that should lead to desired social change. This aspect is aptly captured by The World Bank Group which defines Development Communication as the integration of strategic communication in development projects (in order) to improve the chances of success of (the) development projects. It strives for behavior change not just information dissemination, education, or awareness-raising‖. The Bank buttresses this definition by stating that:
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Research design is a plan of how the researcher intends to carry out the research in order to solve the research questions. (Babbie and Mouton 2001:74). This study employed both the qualitative and the quantitative approaches to determine the role of community radio in rural development. The research design employed a case study as approach. Case study is used here as a way of conceptualizing human behaviour and its value lies in its ability to draw attention to what can be learnt from the case study. The case under study provides the researcher the platform for understanding how participation at all levels of development programme can lead to empowering the audience into taking actions. By so doing, the audience rather than the media practitioners get to influence the message content since the essence of the programme is to create a platform for people especially the marginalized to be heard.
These approaches therefore are aimed at understanding the phenomena under study on their own terms and provide a description as well as statistical information about human experiences.
Study Population
Population is the entire group or individuals that share the same characteristics. It is the aggregate or collection about people one intends to make references through the study of the sample. Bello and Ajayi, (2005) refer to it as a set of all possible cases of interest in a given research activity.
The population of the study is restricted to Ogboinbiri community of Bayelsa State, because they are active listeners of ESBS programme. As at the 2006 National Population Census, the population of Ogboinbiri community were 14,869 and 6164 respectively.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
Table 4.1: Demographic Information of Respondents Selected from the Study Areas
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
Thus far, this research analyzed the radio programme ESBS, and focuses on rural development especially to listeners within Bayelsa State and its environs. The study also attempted to assess the effectiveness of the programme on the basis of audiences’ level of participation in generating topics to be discussed in the programme, the effectiveness of the programme in rural development as well as the lapses of the programme. The background to this study reflects the link between communication, participation in relation to empowerment as well as the place of radio as a powerful tool in communicating rural development. The study also reviewed the revolving phase of mass media from its inception, radio and development in Africa and also the place of radio programme evaluation in effective communication and communicating empowerment. Effectiveness of sustainable development lies in the messages being carefully designed using findings from formative research on the audience so that these messages can be carefully tailored not only to meet the needs of the audience, but also to achieve the desired effects. Information derived from the Library and Internet sources were of tremendous help especially in the aspect of Literature review.
In carrying out this study, the researcher employed the use of questionnaire, Focus Group Discussion (FGD), Documentary Observation and Key Informant Interview (KII) as a tool of data collection. An interview was conducted with the producer and presenter of ESBS as well as the administrator to generate data for the study. Some selected episodes were listened to and examined which helped in strengthening this study. Also, four FGDs were conducted in the communities selected. In analyzing the results, the objectives of the study were used as yardsticks. To this end, the study revealed how ESBS team generates topics to be discussed in the programme, it also revealed how the programme empowers its audience. The result from the study revealed the lapses and ways of improving the programme for lasting impacts on the audience.
Key Findings
Based on the data generated from the field using the instruments of questionnaire, Focus Group Discussions, Key Informant Interview and Observation method in order to achieve the objectives of the study, the following key findings emerged:
Audience do not partake in designing and selecting topics for ESBS programme
The programme involves variety of topics ranging from health, socio-economic and environmental issues
Audience participation in the programme is limited to only sending of SMS
The timing, poor feedback and poor consultation are the major factors hindering the effectiveness of ESBS programme in engendering rural development
Conclusion
This study was carried out to evaluate audience participation in all processes of designing of messages on ESBS programme for their own development. Programme geared towards rural development requires the active participation of the target audience from the inception to the evaluation stage. This will enable listeners to own the programme and thereby impacting positively on them.
Media houses should not be too profit-minded but always bearing in mind that when target audiences are at the fore front of designing content of empowerment programme in the atmosphere of equality and love, the aim of the programme will be achieved. Therefore, there is need for media practitioners to understand and evaluate radio programmes with respect to audience as this can influence better reception of developmental messages, create positive public awareness and as well help listeners to make efforts in making decisions that will aid positive behaviours. ESBS programme will achieve its aim in sustaining rural development when the target audiences are at the centre of initiating and taking decisions about the programmme
Recommendations
Based on the findings in this study, the following recommendations are made:
Producers should make ESBS radio programme debatable by sampling opinions through vox pop on the topic to be discussed in the programme. It will enable audience to participate fully in the programme.
Topics to be discussed should align with the contemporary needs of the people
Phone-in should be included in the programme apart from SMS. This will give room for more participation.
Recorded version of the programme should be made available so that it can be replayed for the benefits of audience who missed out in the programme when it was aired live.
The feedback mechanism employed by ESBS team should be improved so as to know whether the programme is having the desired impact on the audience. Also, ESBS Facebook platform should be updated regularly as this will connect audiences from different parts of the world to interact among themselves in the programme and also sharing vital information on improving their lives.
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