Development Communication: Latin America

Abstract

A universally valid and widely accepted definition of the field does not exist, but three conceptualizations have prevailed in the western world, the first two emanating from the US and the third from Latin America. The first, development communication, is the notion that mass media are capable of creating a public atmosphere favorable to change, which is assumed to be indispensable for modernizing traditional societies through technological advancement and economic growth. The second is → “development support communication,” i.e., the idea that planned and organized communication – massive, interpersonal, and mixed – is a key instrument for the accomplishment of the practical goals of national development‐seeking institutions (→ Planned Social Change through Communication). The third is the concept of alternative communication for democratic development. This assumes that, by expanding and balancing people's access to, and participation in, the communication process – at both mass media and interpersonal grassroots levels – development should secure, in addition to material gains, social justice, freedom for all, and the majority's rule (→ Communication Strategies for Empowerment).