New Media for Development

Communication for Development (C4D)

Understanding latent needs of people and communicating
solutions that aims at overcoming specific challenges.
It plays two primary roles including a transformative role
wherein a development communications approach looks at
social change for improving quality of life of people, and a
normative role that looks at maintaining a social value
framework.
The process of transferring development information to
the masses has undergone rapid change since the advent
of “new media,”
The immediate coverage of mobile technology, and the
penetration of the internet even in remote areas.
TRAI(336.60 million, January 2022)
Success-framework that is responsive, allows feedback,
fosters innovation and creativity, and is a continuous
and iterative process.
New Media: An integral part of communication planning
India tops the world in data consumption.
The fibre-optic network has connected over one lakh
panchayats across the country, and the figure keeps increasing.
The affordability of data and the exponential growth in 4G
smartphones across the country has led to a digital revolution.
Smartphones provide a click-away interface to a multitude of
features offering day-to-day functional utility.
Mobile broadband penetration has spread to more than 50
percent of the population.
This transformation -India to new realms of possibility.
Information and communication technology is being
used increasingly in development through service
delivery of public schemes, direct benefit transfer for
incentives, banking, financial transactions, etc.,
delivered digitally through the web.
In remote areas, applications within the field of
agriculture, health, education, weather prediction, etc.,
are finding increased usage and acceptance.
The advantages that new media:
• Instant information availability is for all
• New experiences offered through a combination of
video and text, and use of artificial intelligence for
social good,
• Dissemination of information that becomes interactive
across the world.
• Creation, development, and maintenance of
relationships between people, among the communities
consumers, markets, and authorities, and
• Analysis and impact assessment on stakeholders
through available metrics.
Community media
Community media is participative in nature and content
is audience driven.
Community participation decides on the content within
a collective and participatory role.
Community media is a powerful tool that offers the
independence to express and empowers users.
The power of community media is seen in community
radio/video that engages the audience much more than
conventional media because the content is localised and
focused on the community culture, livelihood,
traditions, and experiences.
Community radio/video allows for a type of
participatory communication that creates an impact,
because people can relate to local issues and identify
with the participants.
Community media is a potent tool to communicate
their needs and ideas to decision-makers.
The use of integrated voice recording systems and
mobile phones in live shows connects listeners with
the programmer and the experts in the studio and
provides an on-the-call facility to its listeners,
making this unique type of new media a highly
effective tool to engage and mobilise marginalised
people.