#developmentstudies

In development, it is important that opportunities are created according to what communities find essential. These, are in fact, their ideas and their stories. For collaborators working with such diverse perceptions, one must see communication as the vehicle towards affecting change that can include everyone, and at the same time evolve,.

 After I have read the terms and definitions presented in the field of Development Communication, I have concerns that put such lenses into context. 

 One would begin with the tools used to communicate such as different forms of communication media, and mass communication media. This would fall onto the the discourse of whether their effects either divide or diversify. When facilitating mass communication media, language is one of these issues. I think translation and empowerment are one of the ways that this can be effective. Especially if we look back at Chatterjee's assumption that information can move mountains for development, then it is important that the sound of ones voice and his/her language is included when information is disseminated. How effective can communication tools be when one who facilitates it does not understand neither represent someone who will benefit from the meat of their information nor how this information will benefit their idea of development. 

This is where the second issue or question is put on the table, about the security and speed of information in the digital age. Now, people can represent their own voice, but someone is still co-opting its exposure. That is why with these points I'd like to argue that institutions are still at the forefront of culture, whether it is a propaganda or not. If social change is the goal of development communication, then development workers should still reach out to strong and overseeing institutions.  Seeing that all three texts were written before the exponentially evolved digital age we all find ourselves now, there are are new issues that pervade contemporary communication media and leads me to think propaganda still has not ended. Private corporations have capitalized on information, and data is still being manipulated and distorted. With these points I argue that education initiatives may still be in the front line for social change. The readings have proposed wonderful platforms for this such as non-formal education and the endeavor of development journalism along side process based writing.

 On that note, I'd also like to argue that this 2020, development is sensational, although poverty porn is still an issue (and that is the root for wherein my personal distaste for the word resilience [not in DRRR] arises). And with the same technology that bigger guys are fighting us over with, to the exclusion of more marginalized communities, the results of communication of development can somehow be quantified already, especially through the numerous youth initiatives such as Greta Thunberg's and the like. With evolving tools, adapting to the quality of information passed over is key to progress. Then communication and education are the vehicles that move development forward.