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THE RELEVANCE OF COMMUNITY JOURNALISM IN POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAM

ABSTRACT

With the development of new communication technology, the power of mass media has gained greater importance. The media is pivotal in defining what we think, how we look and our social place and issues in the society. The study investigated essentially the use of rural broadcasting in reducing poverty in South-East, Nigeria. The objective of embarking on this study is to evaluate

the relevance of community journalism in poverty alleviation program. In conducting this study, survey method was used to generate both quantitative and qualitative data. The population of the study; the five South-Eastern States was 16, 381,729 while the sample size was 400. The sampling technique used was multi-stage sampling technique. In the study, an extensive review of literature was carried on to analyze and get a good understanding on the use of rural broadcasting in rural development. From the research work, it was revealed that factors like lack of research, corruption, wrong policies among others contribute to the failure of radio in addressing issues that concerns poverty. Therefore, if the use of rural broadcasting to reduce poverty is to be achieved successfully, it is recommended that the people whom the programme is directed to should participate in the programme from the conception to the execution of the programme.

Title page………………………………………………………………………………………i

Certification……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ii

Dedication……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… iii

Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………… iv………………. v

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. vi

Table of contents……………………………………………………………………………vii………….. ix

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study……………………………………………………………1 – 7

1.2 Statement of the problem……………………………………………………………7 – 8

1.3 Objectives of the study………………………………………………………………8

1.4 Research questions………………………………………………………………..…9

1.5 Significance of the study………………………………………………………………9

1.6 Scope of study………………………………………………………………………..10

1.7 Definition of terms…………………………………………………………………..10 – 11

References…………………………………………………………………………….12

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Concept of Development and Communication………………………………….13 – 19

2.2 Poverty and human existence……………………………………………………19 – 24

2.3 Development Communication and Rural Broadcasting…………………………24 – 31

2.4 Theoretical framework……………………………………………………………31 – 33

References…………………………………………………………………………….34 – 36

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design…………………………………………………………………….37

3.2 Population of Study ………………………………………………………………..37

3.3 Sample Size Determination…………………………………………………………38 – 39

3.4 Sampling Techniques……………………………………………………….………..39 – 43

3.5 Measuring Instruments……………………………………………………….………43

3.6 Validity and Reliability of the Instruments…………………………………………….43

3.7 Method of Data Collection……………………………………………………………43 – 44

3.8 Method of Data Presentation and Analysis………………………………………….44

References………………………………………………………………………….…….45

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION

4.1 Presentation and Analysis of Data……………………………………………………46 – 78

4.2 Discussion of findings…………………………………………………………………78 – 83

References…………………………………………………………………………………84 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary…………………………………………………………………………..85

5.2 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….. 86

5.3 Recommendations…………………………………………………………………86 – 88

5.4 Limitations of study……………………………………………………………….88 – 89 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….90 – 94

Appendix………………………………………………………………………………………………………..95 – 98 Chapter One

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study:

Development is concerned with the quality and quantity of life. According to Muhi, Panopio and Salcedo (1993, p.2) in Anaeto and Anaeto (2010, p.4), ‘Quality of life refers to opportunities and availability of social, health and educational concerns. Quantity of life involves the amount of economic and political participation of the people’. From the point of view of Daniel Learner, development means modernization. Contrary to this, most scholars see development as the freedom of human beings to live the way it suits them (Obirieze, 2012, p.3).

Development is about man; and man is both the subject and recipient of development. Any definition that is not centred on man i.e. acquiring skills on human and capital development through attitudes, values, principles, ideas and techniques is of no help to man. If you don’t develop man, how can man develop infrastructure? Development can also be a function of communication. The mass media can generate these ideas, techniques or principles to influence people in achieving development. No scholar doubts the role of communication in the society (Anaeto and Anaeto, 2010, p.4).

Torado and Smith (2003, p.17) are of the opinion that development is conceived as a multidimensional process involving major changes in social structures, popular attitudes and national institutions, as well as the acceleration of economic growth, the reduction of inequality and eradication of poverty.

Walter (1973, p.9) while putting development side by side with survival believes that development is universal because the conditions leading each economic expansion are universal.

Everywhere, man was faced with the task of survival by meeting fundamental material needs; and better tools were a consequence of the interplay between human beings and nature, on the part of the struggle for survival. Stressing more on this, he adds that;

Of course, human history is not a record of advances and nothing else. There were periods in every part of the world when there were temporary setbacks and actual reduction of the capacity to produce basic necessities and other services for the population. But the overall tendency was towards increased production, at given points of time the increase in the quantity of goods was associated with a change in the quality or character of society.

According to ‘Communication for Development: United Nations system network on rural development and food security’, more than 850 million people in developing countries are excluded from a wide range of information and knowledge, with the rural poor in particular remaining isolated from both traditional media and new information and communication technologies which would improve their livelihoods. In support of this, the then United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, in an address to the World Bank conference on ‘Global Knowledge’ (1997) says that, “if information and knowledge are central to democracy, they are the conditions of development”. Therefore, the media is the yardstick of measuring development of any nation

A critical appraisal of the socio-economic development of the world indicates that there exists a spectrum of levels of development among the nation states and that, within a given nation; there also exist a spectrum of levels of affluence cum poverty. The development spectrum of the nations according to Aniebona (1991, p.111) is demonstrably correlated with the amount of natural resources, indigenous technology and political stability, whereas the affluence or poverty of individuals within a nation may be correlated with family background, ethnic origin, educational attainment et cetera, depending on the character of the nation in question.

In common language, the development spectrum is conveniently segmented into a few discrete “worlds”. But a typical developing country today has a citizenry with a multiplicity of ethnic groups, languages, dialects, cultural patterns, religious beliefs and traditional institutions that tend to defy the best of intention in national integration. Usually, only a small percentage of the people – ten percent or less in the worst cases – are literate in any language, indigenous or foreign.

Asemah (2011, p.314) in support of this says that development is changing process of knowledge, attitudes and practices. He further said that development is a widely participatory process of social change in a society, intended to bring about, both social and material advancement, including greater equality, freedom and other valued qualities for the majority of people through their gaining greater control over the environment.

It is on this note that developing nations including Nigeria adopted the new philosophy of development communication through the use of modern media. Development communication is corrective, integrative and revolutionary in nature. It is primarily communication for planned change which is intended to promote human development consciously. In the context of development, the term means a planned process of using a form of action or communication intended to transform the environment, institutions and attitudes of rural people to alleviate poverty and improve their way of life. It stresses the idea that the rural people must share fully in the development process through equitable access to resources, inputs and services and participation in the design and implementation of the development programmes (Anaeto and

Anaeto, 2010, pp.2-3)

The world is complex – made up of events, issues, ideas, people, institutions and organisations that are complex. The media lie between us and this complex world. According to McQuail (1987) cited in Ndolo (2005, p.20), the media have a mediating role between objective social reality and personal experience, thus:

the media connect us to reality as; a window on experience, which extends our vision, enable us to see what is going on for ourselves without interference or bias; a mirror which reflects back an image of society to itself – usually with some distortion by accentuating what people want to see of their own society or sometimes what they want to punish or suppress.

The media is only one of the knowledge producing institutions that make up society. The mass media serve very many functions for the society as well as for individuals; from providing information, escapism, entertainment to giving us self worth and linking us with other nations. According to Nwankwo et al (1984) as cited by Ndolo (2011, p.3), every society is made up of five major sectors. One of these sectors is the communication sector which shares the activities of each sector with not only itself but with other sectors for the overall world benefit of the society.

The communication phenomenon which is transmitted through a medium or group of media has not only remained a critical component of society but continues to constitute the very fulcrum on which society revolves. As a dynamic, ongoing, transactional process of

understanding and sharing ideas and feelings, it plays a central role in our lives.

In line with this, the need for role of broadcasting cannot be over emphasized. Ndolo (2005, p.48) considering the enormous role played by radio broadcasting since its birth in Nigeria, on December 19, 1932 says that broadcast media acts as an intervening variable. In development equation, broadcasting is central – both to the government and individual objective.

Supporting this view, Nwosu (1990, p.119) further stressed that the role of broadcasters and the broadcast media as agents of rural and national development, especially at the information dissemination level, is now generally recognised and accepted by experts and policy makers alike. What seems quite unresolved in many developing countries is how best to utilize the potentials of the broadcasters and their media to achieve developmental objectives especially poverty reduction. Udoakah (1998, p.22) states that the press is a product of technological advancement, made possible by governments for the good of the people. So the press is a creation of the governments for the purpose of facilitating government’s work for the state. The press no matter who owns it is in the last instance, subject to the government just as government is subject to the state.

Rural broadcasting occupies a strategic position in the process of communication for reducing poverty in the third world countries. Oyero (2003, p.199) in Anaeto and Anaeto (2010, p.126) explains that broadcasting is an ideal means of communication in the third world countries because it provides access to communication for a large number of people – both literate and non-literate, and it is very cheap to own and maintain without dependency on electricity supply. In disseminating information, the rural broadcast widens its horizon to many societal challenges like poverty alleviation, agriculture, health, nutrition, forestry conservation, agrarian reforms and many of such issues that concern the rural areas. Asemah (2011, p.344) says that many writers have appraised the significance of radio for national development. The UNESCO report on Indian’s rural forum observe thus:

In the developing countries, the greater part of the people live on the land, they are frequently isolated by illiteracy and lack of transport. Effective communication with rural people and their active participation in the life of their country is essential for developing societies. Thus, radio broadcasts, when skilfully used, have proven to be the most effective medium of communication with the population.

The idea of the rural broadcast is to achieve rural development through social mobilisation. Anaeto and Anaeto (2010, p.168) say this involves the planned actions and processes to reach, influence, and involve all relevant segments of society, across all sectors from the national to the community level, in order to create an enabling environment and effect positive behaviour and social change. The media in performing this role creates awareness regarding the developmental goals for community members and keep them constantly informed of progress of the programme. The editorial of the New Nigerian newspaper of October 9, 1984 as cited by Ndolo (2005, p.240) stated that: “broadcasting has immense potential in a developing nation. Its effect on social mobilization is limitless. But for greater effect, its services must go deeper; extend beyond the cities, beyond the educated elite”.

Similarly, rural broadcast serves as a means for helping influence and change attitudes and behaviours towards development ends. It instructs and monitors behaviour change in people. It reaches a large number of people with the message, thus making for widespread change. Radio programmes can be produced in the local language of the people to make for easy understanding of its message, assimilation and message recall. Moreso, listening to radio is convenient, radio does not interfere with the listener’s activity it can be listened to while doing some other things. Bordchart (1977) cited in Anaeto and Anaeto (2010, p.10) buttressing on the need for rural broadcasting services declares that;

None of the thousand of projects in the developing countries can be executed without the fundamental condition of the establishment of a literate and numerate (rural)society, and a system for continuous provision of exchange of ideas, thought and knowledge on which the (rural) society, can feed and use with suitable modifications to constructing their own cultural and industrial destiny.

1.2 Statement of the Problem:

African countries and other developing nations today are marked by poverty and other development challenges. They are confronted with the problems of high population, malnutrition, low infrastructure, unemployment and many more. Hence, the urgent need for change and improvement. One of the elements that can help create conditions and accelerate development of these countries is the provision of information and knowledge. Anaeto and Anaeto (2010, p.2) appreciates the fact that knowledge and information are essential for people to successfully respond to opportunities and challenges; social, economic and technological changes. But to be useful, knowledge and information must be effectively communicated to people.

However, most of the development communication programmes in the south-east is not target oriented. In support of this fact, Nwosu (1990, p.65) says that organized, systematic and effective utilization of broadcasting for rural development has remained topical in policy, practice and scholarly circles and will probably remain so for many more years to come. The reason is simple. There has not emerged a reliable body of knowledge and tested practical strategies on this issue that can be applied to most rural development situations with relatively high degrees of assurance for success. There is also need to find out whether the problems on this question arise more at the level of conceptualization and policy formulation or at the level of implementation.

On the other hand, poverty is one of the major human factors militating against the teeming population of the world. The south-east Nigeria (Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo) is not excluded from this mystifying dilemma.

In South-East Nigeria, despite some of these poverty alleviation programme broadcasts like ‘Nsukka Alua’, ‘Aku na Uba anyi’, ‘The Way Forward’, ‘Ulo Obibi’, to mention but a few, the level of poverty in the South-East seem not to have changed significantly. For instance; the National Bureau of Statistics observed that between year 2005 and 2010, 112.47m Nigerians live in abject poverty. It’s on this note that the study intends to assess the contribution of the use of rural broadcasting in reducing poverty in South-East, Nigeria.

1.3 Objectives of the Study:

Generally, the study aims at assessing the use of rural broadcasting in reducing poverty in South-

East, Nigeria. Specifically, the study will be guided by the following objectives:-

Find out, to what extent, the broadcasting media are involved in communicating poverty alleviation programmes to the rural people.
Ascertain the type of poverty alleviation programmes targeted to reduce poverty in rural communities.
Ascertain how broadcast programmes have contributed in people’s awareness and action towards the poverty alleviation programmes put across through rural broadcasting.
Examine the factors contributing to the failure of poverty alleviation broadcast programmes in the South East.

1.4 Research Questions:

The study will provide answers to the following research questions:

To what extent are the broadcasting media involved in communicating poverty alleviation programmes to the rural people?
What type of programmes are targeted at reducing poverty in rural communities?
How have broadcast programmes contributed to people’s awareness and action towards the poverty alleviation programmes put across through rural broadcasting?
What are the factors contributing to the failure of poverty alleviation broadcast programmes in the South East?
1. Significance of the Study:

This research work will provide tips on how the different professional bodies or organisations which employ communication strategies can improve the economic and social sectors respectively.

This study will help the media industry to build their credibility towards their audiences, which will also increase participation in development communication issues.

Theoretically, this study will help in the development of the third world countries through the right application of the development media theories of Dennis McQuail.

This research will contribute to the body of knowledge with reference to Mass

Communication nationwide and communication experts.

Scope of study:

South –East geo-political zone is one of the six geo-political zones in Nigeria. It has five states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo with an area of 1330sq. km and a population of about 16,381729, people comprising of 8,184,951 males and 8,210,604 females. This figure is based on the census conducted by the National Population Commission (NPC) in 2006 (2006 Final Census Result, 2009, p. B20). The important nature of the zone is anchored on the fact that it houses two of the biggest commercial cities in Nigeria (Aba in Abia State and Onitsha in Anambra State) and the homeland of the Igbo

race.

The scope of the research is Nigeria as a whole but the researcher concentrated on three states in the south-east, namely; Anambra, Enugu and Imo States respectively; which were obtained through simple random sampling.

Definition of Terms:

Assessment: – The process of evaluating an ongoing exercise or an executed programme to find out if the aims/ objectives/target of establishing such a programme is achieved or not.

Rural: – The geographical hinterland with settlers who are predominantly farmers or unskilled labourers. It is associated with acres of bushy land with scattered/sparsely buildings.

Broadcasting: – It is a system of using a combination of motion pictures and sound or sound only to reach out to a heterogeneous audience; to educate, inform or entertain them through radio or television or cinema.

Poverty: – It is a temporary (manmade) state of life whereby one lacks the power to provide or have access to some basic life necessities, thereby incapacitating the person from meeting up with the demands of daily living.

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