DevComToday

Communication models and approaches facilitate the work of practitioners... Communication models are conceptual models used to explain and describe the human communication . Communication models, approaches and theories are the foundation around which development communication practitioners build ideas on how to effectively transmit the message they would like to convey to the target audience. Communication models and approaches facilitate the work of practitioners because they provide ideas on how individuals react to different types of communication stimulus, the possible consequences that may result when participants in a communication process employ a communication style or shift to another communication style. In addition, communication models and approaches provide practitioners an idea on how to obtain engagement, collaboration and participation from the target audience in order to achieve communication goals. Communication models, approaches and theories are v

The C4D involves understanding the context in which people live... The Communication for Development (C4D) model aims to deal with the imperative problem of  lack of participation of the poor in their own development. The C4D involves comprehending  the  culture and beliefs that shape the life of people, their values and immediate surroundings. The C4D approach also involves engaging communities and its members as they identify problems, propose solutions and participate in undertaking development projects that may improve their life and the community as a whole [1]. In most developing countries, this lack of participation is mainly due to a combination of factors, one of which is the inadequate flow of information on problems that affect the poor. Lack of information, caused by inadequate Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) infrastructures specially in remote areas of developing countries, which may lead to lack of capacity and chance to express the people and

Meaning and interaction are closely intertwined in the communication process... Meaning and interaction constitute the  communication  process. All types of communication are grounded on meaning and interaction, which, at the same time, are closely intertwined. The  Interpretative and Interaction theories  consider communication as a process of dynamic interchange through which individuals interact with other individuals, interpreting, sharing  and defining  their perception of reality by means of this interaction. The Interpretative and Interaction theories also consider the relationship of individuals with media channels. The Interactional approach of Paul Watzlawick is involved in an interpersonal type of communication. Watzlawick's theory is grounded on the following 5 suppositions: 1. People are always communicating. This means that even if we remain silent or we prefer not to utter a  word , or not do anything, we are still and always communicating. We never sto

Editing is something that communicators should have the patience to do a number of times... As a communicator, I believe that editing is one of the most important tasks that can influence the quality of any type of written communication. Editing is something that communicators should always have the patience to do a number of times to effectively relay the desired information to the target audience.  When I think of editing, I remember a story that my Italian husband shared to me some years ago while visiting the Louvre Museum, in the city of Paris, to admire Mona Lisa , the famous masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. Mona Lisa is considered as the best known and the most visited work of art in the world. It is also considered by many observers as perfect in all its elements. Every element in da Vinci’s painting is so harmonious that it leaves no space for criticism. But in order to achieve that perfection, da Vinci (my husband told me) took

Air pollution is one of the most pressing challenges that Metro-Manila is facing today... Statement of the Issue Air pollution is one of the most pressing challenges that Metro-Manila is facing today. According to the report released by the Department of Environment and Natural  Resources’ Environment and Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), the air quality situation in the National Capital Region in the first quarter of 2015 was even worse than that of the end of 2014 (as cited in Metro-Manila’s Air…, 2015). While the maximum safe level of total suspended particulates (TSP) of air pollutant concentration was 90 micrograms per normal cubic meter (ug/NCM), monitoring data revealed that the total TSP reached 130 ug/NCM, higher than the 106 per normal cubic meter recorded at the end of 2014.   The World Health Organization 2006 Report showed that, pollution, especially from airborne particulate matter (PM), has serious adverse health effects which are being experienced by urban

The uses and gratification theory marked a perspective shift in the study of mass communication... Framed by Elihu Katz, Jay Blumler, and Michael Gurevitch in the 1970’s, the uses and gratification theory marked a perspective shift in the study of mass communication by turning its attention away from media sources and message and how they affect the audience [1].  Blumler and Katz’s uses and gratification theory considers, instead, the audience not a passive but an active player in their  media choices, and that these choices depend largely on media users’ apparent needs, wishes or motives [2], and that audiences are thereby formed based on their similarities of wishes, needs and motives.   E lihu Katz [3] first introduced the uses and gratification perspective when he came up with the idea that individuals make use of media to their advantage.   This perspective surfaced in the 1970’s when Blumler and Gurevitch persisted in expanding the idea.   Blumler and Katz

Social changes can be fostered by addressing the pervasive social problems that impede development... Social problems are conditions that are deemed negative, conditions in which individuals, communities and societies are affected. Social changes denote modification or transformation from a specific condition to another condition. In other words, social change is an ongoing process that can be unprompted (a result of the evolving times) or planned. Development is a goal that societies would like to achieve. Since it is a goal, then planned and collective actions and initiatives are implemented to foster development. At the same time, these planned and collective actions have also their own respective objectives, the primary of which to promote positive social changes that may eventually lead to development. But how can social changes be fostered ? Social changes in communities or societies as a whole can be fostered by addressing the pervasive and interrelated social pro

The onset of ICTs has opened new horizons for more engaging communication tools and outlets... If throughout the twentieth century people were used to access information and news from radio and TV broadcasters or publishers of newspapers, books or magazines, the onset of the information and communication technologies (ICTs) has opened new horizons for more engaging communication tools and information outlets [1], radically transforming the media landscape [2]. Definition of Media and ICT The term ‘media’ refers to “communication channels through which news, information, entertainment and promotional messages are disseminated” [3] while ICT refers to the new generation of information technology brought out by the convergence of three technologies: (1) computer, (2) telecommunications, and (3) media [4]. This convergence process points towards a common content that is interactive, easily-accessible and much more appealing. In the communication process, content is the mate

 Media  attributes its own meaning to the content being channeled to its target audience... Over the years, the  mass media  have assumed a prevailing role in the global society by becoming the key source of regular and incessant flow of data, images and information.  People have become heavily dependent on the media, receiving big quantities of news and all kinds of information. When people access information by means of the mass media (or through the eyes of the mass media) the media attribute its own meaning or logic to the content itself, generating in the process its interpretation of the issue involved.  As it channels the specific content to the public/audience, it obviously imposes that kind of logic to them.   Thus, reality constructed and imposed by the media to its audience does not necessarily mean the real one, since media content is the result of the work of reporters and opinionists, who are also being influenced by their respective convictions an