DevComToday

Layout and packaging of print materials can reflect the culture and society in which the materials are produced... After news articles are written and edited and necessary visuals are prepared, development communicators are tasked to choose the appropriate layout and packaging to make print materials stand out.  Layout is what brings the written and visual elements together. Layout is the way all the elements such as texts, graphics, photos or illustrations are arranged in print materials to serve a particular purpose. . A well organized layout  can make reading much easier. Layout is vital in any type of print materials because it determines its utility to the target readers. It is not enough that a specific document is well-written. An eye-catcher type of layout can attract the attention of readers and may entice them to read the document.  Layout makes print materials stand from all the rest. An organized and well-conceived layout can make reading much easier. For this reason, la

  Science writing aims to communicate information based on scientific evidence. And, as such, this information should be the main focus of the content... For many decades, development communication practitioners have acted as ‘alternative’ science communicators’ to foster change among people, to promote political and economic change and to encourage civic action.  For this reason,  development communication practitioners have the need to learn and master science writing to communicate research results, innovations and new technologies to promote change to the target audience.  Science writing is diverse from other types of writing such as creative writing, journalism, copywriting and even personal communication and the likes. For example, the main objective of creative writing is to describe a story focusing on the narrative craft and character development, using a succession of words to enrich the development of the story. Science writing, on the other hand, aims to communicate inf

Culture is formed, continuously modified, shared and learned via the communication process.. . Culture and communication  are directly intertwined. Their relationship is a very complicated one. This is because culture is formed by means of communication and communication practices are formed and maintained by means of culture. Human interaction takes place via the communication process and this also facilitates the creation, maintenance and sharing of beliefs, practices, rules, norms, roles and other cultural patterns. When  people interact  with each other, in groups or in organizations, they use verbal and non verbal types of communication to understand each other and to understand the context in which they live. As a result of this human interaction, culture is formed. So, in a way or another, we can say that culture is the "natural outcome" of human interaction and communication. Without communication and channels of communication, it would not be feasible to ma

Hypertext is text visible on the computer screen or any sort of electronic device while hypermedia evolved as an extension of the hypertext and multimedia... Hypertext Hypertext  is a term coined by Ted Nelson around 1965. Hypertext is text visible on the computer screen or any sort of electronic device. It is the first thing that users usually see and can immediately access.  Hypertext gathers together information in the form of nodes, which are then associated together by means of links. Hypertext pages are commonly interconnected via hyperlinks that are easily activated by means of a mouse click or by just touching the screen. Hypermedia  evolved as an extension of the hypertext and multimedia. It is based on the concept of hypertext that involves nodes and links in the structuring of information in the whole application.  As a non-linear multimedia content, hypermedia allows end-users to go through the entire multimedia application by facilitating access in an associativ

Nowadays, multimedia may denote a synergy of content forms... The term  "multimedia"  was first introduced by singer and artist Bob Goldstein to promote the opening of his show called "Lightworks at L'Oursin" on July 1966 at Southampton, Long Island. Since then, the term and context of multimedia has taken on various meanings, including presentations that consist of multi-projector slide shows, timed to an audio track.  Nowadays, multimedia can be defined as the synergy of  content forms  such as texts, audio, animation, video and others: a combination of different forms of content into a single presentation and is delivered electronically. Multimedia differs a lot from media that utilizes only basic computer displays like static content, wherein texts are only displayed, or the traditional printed material such as newspapers or books.   Types of Multimedia   Linear - content that is displayed without any navigational or interactive functions like a

A radio magazine program features a variety of topics and forms but it can also focus on a specific topic for a particular type of audience...   A radio magazine program features a variety of topics and formats. However, while the term may imply a mixture, this does not necessarily mean that a radio magazine may contain a mixture of topics, but can also focus on a particular topic or area.  A radio magazine i s often designed to cater to a specific audience. It is usually aired as a regular series, daily, weekly or several times a week. Lots of developmental programs have a magazine format. Types of Magazine Programs: . Variety Magazine - this is a type that deals with unrelated topics. For example a 30 minute program may tackle topics such as nutrition, environmental protection, farming techniques or child care. . News Magazine - this is a type that contains news items organized in different forms such as interviews, feature, trivia, dramatization, etc.  . Special Audience Magazine

Culture and social interaction are important factors on how people construct reality... The study of communication has always been a dynamic process. Over the years, various ideas, perspectives and frameworks have been developed and introduced to maximize its potentials and to adapt itself to the evolving global society. The mainstream view is that culture and social interaction via verbal and non-verbal communication are influential factors on how people construct knowledge and reality. This blog explores the theories that show the driving forces that link together culture and communication.  1.  The Symbolic Interaction Perspective The Symbolic Interaction Perspective, also known as symbolic interactionism,    is an important framework that came from the sociological theory. This is based on the assumption that symbolic meanings that people develop and (depend upon)    are the end-results of the process of social interaction. It was George Herbert Mead (1863-1931)

Five centuries after Johannes Gutenburg invented the first movable printing press, the advent of the ICTs has permitted the printing method to change connotations,   paving the way for the computerization, mechanization, and automation of the whole printing process.  (Image from:  pixabay.com ) The impacts of the development of the  Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)  are visible in many different aspects of the print  media as a whole.    In the past, printing was a laborious process.     It was the end-result of the work of a number of skilled operators.    It was a world of    craftsman and very expensive machines.    Printing a communication material was focused on the ability of each skilled worker to do their respective jobs in order to complete the whole cycle of the printing process. So, if you were to print a communication material containing some images and type  in a piece of paper, first, the editorial staff would have to type set the clean copy,

Memes facilitate message dissemination.  They are just like commercial spots that attract the attention of people... A meme is an idea, a behavior or style that stays in the minds of individuals and, eventually, modifies it. This tiny piece of information can take the form of a picture, an action, a sequence of words or an expression (e.g. Pres. Barrack Obama’s, “yes, we can!”). Memes are self-replicating patterns within a culture.  It makes use of our minds to be emulated.   It was the evolutionary biologist  Richard Dawkins  who introduced the term “meme.” In the book,  The Selfish Gene  (1976), he asserted that memes could spread like a virus, influencing people’s behavior. In the field of  Development Communication , a message/information that has been conceptualized to take the form of a meme may have the following advantages: . A meme facilitates message dissemination.    A meme is similar to a commercial spot, the refrain of a song, an echo in a canyon. It grabs

Development is usually synonymous to improvements in some of the elements of the composition or the composition as a whole. The Oxford Dictionaries defines ‘development’ as “ an event constituting a new stage in a changing situation or the process of change per se.” It is implicitly understood that it is a positive or wanted change. Although the term usually connotes economic prosperity, it is argued that the economic development theory is normally used to explain a transformation in a country’s economy that involves both qualitative and quantitative improvements. When it comes to societies or socio-economic compositions, development is usually synonymous to improvements in some of the elements of the composition or the composition as a whole. Bellu, 2011 emphasized that this may happen as a consequence of some focused actions carried out by simple agents or as a consequence of policies, projects or programs that are planned and performed both by the public and private authorities

When Antonio Gramsci talks about hegemony, he refers to the hegemony of a specific “dominant social group or groups” over the whole society.. . It was the Italian Marxist philosopher  Antonio Gramsci  who introduced the concept of “cultural hegemony”. In the  Selections from the Prison Notebooks  (1999), Gramsci argued that power is based on the presence of two elements: force and consensus.  If force triumphs over consensus, dominion is obtained.  On the other hand, if consensus prevails, hegemony exists. Thus, for Gramsci, hegemony is grounded essentially on consensus.  And this consensus is achieved by means of persuasion.   Persuasion  in all its forms is thereby used to convince that a specific political or cultural idea is better than the others or is “the only way” to view the world.  It is noteworthy to emphasize that   hegemony,  for Gramsci, is the hegemony of a specific “dominant social group or groups” over the whole society, applied  through the various st