Photo: Brian Donkersley / travelblog.orgJournalists in eastern Ghana have been told to educate the rural population by the regional minister, according to this blog post from allAfrica.com.
The blogger cites the regional minister on that it is the "desire of the government to develop the rural areas, where the bulk of the country's wealth is produced . . . and that this effort "would be meaningless if personnel of the fourth estate of the realm (journalists) did not give much emphasis to rural reporting".
He continues:
"They (the journalists) should educate them (the people) on the importance of formal education, particularly that of the girl-child. The rural folks also need to know more about family planning and the need to abolish those outmoded socio-cultural practices that are inimical to their development". The quote is accredited to Mr. Mark Owen Woyongo, Upper East Regional Minister of Ghana, during an interactive meeting with journalists, radio programmers and TV-presenters "recently".
Abolish outmoded socio-cultural practices inimical to their development? I wish the author of the blogpost (or the regional minister) would be more specific in which "outmoded" socio-cultural practices he is referring to. Are we talking about hygiene or religion?
The blog post continues:
"He (Mr. Woyongo) urged practicing journalists in the region to give more emphasis on rural reporting, by using their pens to persuasively effect changes in the people's attitudes and habits. Mr. Woyongo, a journalist himself, said until the media informed and educated the people on these problems, diseases and squalour would continue to prevail in their lives. He asked journalists to consider themselves, not only as partners, but catalysts in the development agenda of the region".
- Pretty much the blueprint of modernisation theory, this. Just to explain the thoery a little bit:
According to Jan Servaes and his book Communication for development: One world, multiple cultures, the modernisation paradigm, the dominant development theory from around 1945 to 1965, aimed to transfer technology and socio-political culture of developed societies to "traditional" or "underdeveloped societies in order to facilitate transformation through mass media. It is deeply rooted in Western economic history, the central element being the metaphor of growth and the identification of growth as the central idea of development.
It was formulated under a different social, cultural, economic and political situaton to today, it was absoluted and intended to be transferred to the rest of the world. It aims to "bridge the gaps" by means of imitation between what is seen as traditional and modern, retarded and advanced cultures.
Daniel Lerner, another prominent modernisation theorist, identified two types of "mental structures" in his book The passing of traditional society: Modernizing the middle east.
One, the traditional and essentialy illiterate, was fixed and oriented towards stability and the past. It was embedded in a set of skills and pattern of emotions, which excluded the ability to imagine oneself as being in a different position from where one was now.
Lerner would say that the "modern person" would be capable of empathy, while "the traditonal person" outlined above would be fixed on status quo - and the past. Such societies were unable to develop because the population lacked not only technical skills, but also the future-oriented perspective that could lead them to work, save and plan for a better life.
Instead, they were satisfied to continue in the ways of their fathers and grandfathers. Like their forefathers, the inhabitants of such societies were content with various forms of dictatorial and traditional government. Contrasting this was the modern personality, which was literate, fluid, and open to change. It was mobile, in that it desired change, betterment and self-advancement.
During the Cold War, USA and USSR tried to expand their own interests to developing countries by means of development, The Marshall Plan and the Warsaw Pact being examples. The US was aiming for a replica of its own political-economic system, by doing so opening the way for transnational corporations.
Many developing countries saw the welfare state of the North Atlantic as the ultimate goal of development. They encouraged influence and support from IMF and other international bodies. They were interested in technology transfer, establishment of a centralised state with development bureaucracies for agriculture, education and health.
- Like Ghana does now.
2 comments:
Having travelled quite a few times in Western Africa, I must say I am deeply suspicious when governmental figures start instructing journalists in how they should work. Next step is often the killing of those who do not conform.
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now. Keep it up!
And according to this article, I totally agree with your opinion, but only this time! :)
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