Transcript Social Media

The Key Role the Media Ought
to Play in Social, Political and
Economic Development in
Uganda
By
John Matovu
At
Busoga Media Network Retreat
28th February 2015
Mt. Galilee Prayer Mountain, Vision Africa
Jinja – Uganda
About the Presentation
• Not exhaustive of the subject but attempts to
highlight the key issues
• Avoids academic jargon as much as possible
• Runs away from academic writing
• Mixes practical experiences with academic
work and literature
• I would like to encourage participation,
validation and correction where need arises
History of Media Importance
• A 1962 UNESCO survey found that over 70% of
the world lacked access to adequate information.
• The UN called on all countries to include a media
development strategy within their economic
development plans.
• In addition to securing this fundamental right,
they said, “information media have an important
role to play in education, social, and economic
progress.”
Media
• Distinction between storage and
communication media
• Newspapers
• Radio
• Television
• Social Media – Internet (convergence)
• Media are forms of mass communication i.e.
communication to whom it may concern
Concept of Development
• Involves changes or advancement in a nation
aimed at improving the political, economic
and social lives of people
Why talk about Development
• Poverty
• Poor education and health
• Inadequate agricultural practices, lack of
adequate infrastructure
• Poor social services
• Lack of political maturity & accountability
• Conflicts
• Gender inequality, etc.
Media Influence
Depends on:
• Media themselves
• Societies in which they operate
• The audience they reach
• These factors aren’t the same everywhere, at
all times or under all conditions
• Other factors – technology, target audience
and message
Common Factors
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Message
Target audience
Influencing change
Influencing attitudes
Perceptions
Decision making
Influencing behaviour
Traditional Roles of Media
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Surveillance
Enrichment
Diversion
Mirroring society
Agenda setting
Watchdog
Social
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Citizen participation in decision making
Propagating “dynamic” culture
Socialization
Critiquing social trends
Popularizing talent and creative cultural work
Platform for expression for the marginalised
Political
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Championing democracy
Improving voters’ knowledge of issues
Motivators of national cohesion and unity
Articulators of national identity
Ensuring political accountability
Analysing political processes
Economic
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Consumer protection
Market information
Monitor resource allocation vis-à-vis priorities
Marketing goods and services
Scrutinize economic policy
Analysis of new production tools and
technologies
• Highlight opportunities depending on
comparative advantages
Role of the Journalist
• Link policy makers and the people
• Facilitate two-way communication necessary for
effective development
• Give a voice to the least heard
• Empower people with information
• Link policies, processes and actions with events,
happenings, outcomes and consequences
• Highlight innovation and success stories to
motivate people and inspire change
• Does this happen in actual practice?
Role of Media House
• Strive to remain independent
• Facilitate journalists to do their job
• Be interested and invest in knowing your
audiences and their development needs
• Create platforms for the marginalised (know
your social responsibility)
Reflections
Does the news you carry enable:
• People make informed choices
• Exercise their options
• Take the right decisions
• Take advantage of opportunities
• Discharge their responsibilities
• Does it give a voice to the powerless or to the
powerful?
• Does it cloud or illuminate issues
• What picture do we give the audience – fragmented,
fuzzy or full?
Development Journalism
• A development journalist must give the facts,
interpret them and draw conclusions which
must be promoted i.e. brought home to the
people in a way they will understand
• Critically examine, evaluate and report the
relevance of a development project to
national and local needs
• Not reporting about events but processes
• Not about personalities but issues
Challenges 1
• Do you at the individual and media house
level understand these issues
• Do you reach out to people most affected by
the issues/development processes
• Do you focus on the needs and aspirations of
the rural and urban poor
• Do you have clarity of purpose
• Integrity (are you or can you be trusted)
Challenges 2
• Ownership models – do we really have pluralism
or just high media house numbers
• Media as profitable business
• Management of media houses
• Quality of journalists
• Media regulation and policy
• State of media freedom
• Level of independence
• Deliberate management of media content
Social Media
• Where is the first place you get your news
Television, Newspapers, BlackBerry, Internet
(social media) , Radio?
• In an audience of city dwelling young adults,
I’d expect about 80 per cent of them to pick
twitter. That for me is where the news breaks.
Importance in our Daily Lives
• I haven’t been to the US but have friends
there
• I have taught classes at Pacific Lutheran
University
• People know about Uganda better than we
the locals
• President has recruited a special assistant for
online communication (twitter & facebook)
Importance in our Daily Lives
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How do you feel when “the server is down”
Think of mobile money-Real time transactions
Job vacancy adverts
Instant feedback
Skype – (do you have a post office box)
The break down of physical infrastructure
limitations
• The possibility of the global village
Social Media Challenges
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Are we using social media productively
Are we not just making noise
Have we mastered the tools
Gate-keeping in terms of content
Information verification
Fairness and Balance
Regulation
In Conclusion
• "By making one part of a country aware of other parts,
their people, arts, customs, and politics; by permitting the
national leaders to talk to the people, and people to the
leaders and to each other; by making possible a nationwide dialogue on national policy; by keeping the national
goals and national accomplishments always before the
public--thus modern communication, widely used, can help
weld together isolated communities, disparate (unequal)
subcultures, self-centered individuals and groups, and
separate developments into a truly national development."
- “Father of Communication Studies”, Wilbur Schramm -
Thank you
References
1. http://www.mdif.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/08/Media-Developments-Role-inSocial-Economic-and-Political-Progress-LiteratureReview.pdf
2. http://indianstrategicknowledgeonline.com/web/43abdul.pdf
3. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0003/000370/037073
eb.pdf
4. http://www.gamji.com/article6000/NEWS7617.htm
5. http://www.criterion-quarterly.com/role-of-media-innational-development-in-the-21st-century/
6. http://omojuwa.com/2012/03/internet-social-media-astools-for-development-in-nigeria/