2506-2.doc

Course: Mass Communication (2506)
Semester: Autumn, 2020
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ASSIGNMENT No. 2
Q.1 Discuss the role of mass media in the changing behavior of forest growers in rural communities of
Pakistan.
Reforestation (occasionally, Reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of
existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation,[1] but also
after clearcutting.
Reforestation can be used to undo and rectify the effects of deforestation and improve the quality of human life
by absorbing pollution and dust from the air, rebuilding natural habitats and ecosystems, mitigating global
warming via biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide,[2] and harvesting for resources,
particularly timber, but also non-timber forest products. Since the beginning of the 21st century, significant
attention has been given to reforestation as a technique for mitigating climate change as one of the best methods
to do it.[3][4] To this end, the international community has agreed on Sustainable Development Goal 15, which
promotes implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, stop deforestation, restore degraded
forests and increase afforestation and reforestation.[5]
Though net loss of forest area has decreased substantially since 1990, the world is unlikely to achieve the target
set forth in the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests[6] to increase forest area by 3 percent by 2030. While
deforestation is taking place in some areas, new forests are being established through natural expansion or
deliberate efforts in others. As a result, the net loss of forest area is less than the rate of deforestation and it too
is decreasing: from 7.8 million hectares per year in the 1990s to 4.7 million hectares per year during 2010–
2020. In absolute terms, the global forest area decreased by 178 million hectares between 1990 and 2020, which
is an area about the size of Libya.[7]
A debated issue in managed reforestation is whether or not the succeeding forest will have the
same biodiversity as the original forest. If the forest is replaced with only one species of tree and all other
vegetation is prevented from growing back, a monoculture forest similar to agricultural crops would be the
result. However, most reforestation involves the planting of different selections of seedlings taken from the
area, often of multiple species.[8] Another important factor is the natural regeneration of a wide variety of plant
and animal species that can occur on a clear cut. In some areas the suppression of forest fires for hundreds of
years has resulted in large single aged and single species forest stands. The logging of small clear cuts and/or
prescribed burning actually increases the biodiversity in these areas by creating a greater variety of tree stand
ages and species.
Reforestation need not be only used for recovery of accidentally destroyed forests. In some countries, such
as Finland, many of the forests are managed by the wood products and pulp and paper industry. In such an
arrangement, like other crops, trees are planted to replace those that have been cut. The Finnish Forest Act from
1996 obliges the forest to be replanted after felling.[9] In such circumstances, the industry can cut the trees in a
way to allow easier reforestation. The wood products industry systematically replaces many of the trees it cuts,

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employing large numbers of summer workers for tree planting work. For example, in
2010, Weyerhaeuser reported planting 50 million seedlings.[10] However replanting an old-growth forest with
a plantation is not replacing the old with the same characteristics in the new.
In just 20 years, a teak plantation in Costa Rica can produce up to about 400 m³ of wood per hectare. As the
natural teak forests of Asia become more scarce or difficult to obtain, the prices commanded by plantation-
grown teak grows higher every year. Other species, such as mahogany, grow more slowly than teak in Tropical
America but are also extremely valuable. Faster growers include pine, eucalyptus, and Gmelina.[11]
Reforestation, if several indigenous species are used, can provide other benefits in addition to financial returns,
including restoration of the soil, rejuvenation of local flora and fauna, and the capturing and sequestering of
38 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare per year.[12]
The reestablishment of forests is not just simple tree planting. Forests are made up of a community of
species and they build dead organic matter into soils over time. A major tree-planting program could enhance
the local climate and reduce the demands of burning large amounts of fossil fuels for cooling in the summer.[13]
Forests are an important part of the global carbon cycle because trees and plants absorb carbon
dioxide through photosynthesis. By removing this greenhouse gas from the air, forests function as
terrestrial carbon sinks, meaning they store large amounts of carbon. At any time, forests account for as much as
double the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.[14]:1456 Forests remove around three billion tons of carbon every
year.[12] This amounts to about 30% of anthropogenic all carbon dioxide emissions.[15] Therefore, an increase in
the overall forest cover around the world would mitigate global warming.
At the beginning of the 21st century, interest in reforestation grew over its potential to mitigate climate change.
Even without displacing agriculture and cities, earth can sustain almost one billion hectares of new forests. This
would remove 25% of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reduce its concentration to levels that existed in
the early 20th century. A temperature rise of 1.5 degrees would reduce the area suitable for forests by 20% by
the year 2050, because some tropical areas will become too hot.[3] The countries that have the most forest-ready
land are: Russia, Canada, Brazil, Australia, United States and China.[4]
The four major strategies are:
 Increase the amount of forested land through reforestation
 Increase density of existing forests at a stand and landscape scale
 Expand the use of forest products that sustainably replace fossil-fuel emissions
 Reduce carbon emissions caused by deforestation and degradation[14]:1456
Implementing the first strategy is supported by many organizations around the world. For example, in China,
the Jane Goodall Institute, through their Shanghai Roots & Shoots division, launched the Million Tree Project in
Kulun Qi, Inner Mongolia to plant one million trees.[16][17] China used 24 million hectares of new forest to offset
21% of Chinese fossil fuel emissions in 2000.[14]:1456 In Java, Indonesia newlywed couples give whoever is
conducting their wedding 5 seedlings. Each divorcing couple gives 25 seedlings to whoever divorces

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them.[18] Costa Rica doubled its forest cover in 30 years using its system of grants and other payments
for environmental services, including compensation for landowners. These payments are funded through
international donations and nationwide taxes.[19]
The second strategy has to do with selecting species for tree-planting. In theory, planting any kind of tree to
produce more forest cover would absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, a genetically
modified variant might grow much faster than unmodified specimens.[20]:93 Some of these cultivars are under
development. Such fast-growing trees would be planted for harvest and can absorb carbon dioxide faster than
slower-growing trees.[20]:93
Impacts on temperature are affected by the location of the forest. For example, reforestation in boreal
or subarctic regions has less impact on climate. This is because it substitutes a high-albedo, snow-dominated
region with a lower-albedo forest canopy. By contrast, tropical reforestation projects lead to a positive change
such as the formation of clouds. These clouds then reflect the sunlight, lowering temperatures.[14]:1457
Planting trees in tropical climates with wet seasons has another advantage. In such a setting, trees grow more
quickly (fixing more carbon) because they can grow year-round. Trees in tropical climates have, on average,
larger, brighter, and more abundant leaves than non-tropical climates. A study of the girth of 70,000 trees
across Africa has shown that tropical forests fix more carbon dioxide pollution than previously realized. The
research suggested almost one fifth of fossil fuel emissions are absorbed by forests
across Africa, Amazonia and Asia. Simon Lewis stated, "Tropical forest trees are absorbing about 18% of the
carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere each year from burning fossil fuels, substantially buffering the rate of
change."[21]
As of 2008 1.3 billion hectares of tropical regions were deforested every year. Reducing this would reduce the
amount of planting needed to achieve a given degree of mitigation.
Q.2 Discuss the contribution of television advertisement in the development of children abilities.
The marketing of unhealthy products, including unhealthy food as well as alcohol and tobacco, is linked to
various negative outcomes for youth. Research shows that food marketing increases children’s immediate and
future consumption, food brand preferences are influenced by product placements and advergames, and
childhood obesity is related to viewing commercial television (not viewing DVDs or public television
programming).4
Youth exposure to alcohol advertising also delivers unhealthy consequences. Alcohol advertising increases the
likelihood that adolescents will start to use alcohol and increases consumption among adolescents who already
drink alcohol.3 This is particularly concerning because early alcohol use increases the risk of future alcohol
dependence.8
Although tobacco marketing has been banned from television for more than 40 years, youth exposure to
television advertising for electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) doubled from 2011 to 2013.5 Contrary to the

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suggested positive aspects discussed by the manufacturers, research shows that e-cigarette use does not prevent
and may increase conventional cigarette use among adolescents.9
Harm may also be caused by the overwhelming exposure to all types of marketing, and the images within this
marketing, that children and adolescents experience. For example, a review of research found a consistent
relationship between advertising exposure, materialism, and parent-child conflict.6 Furthermore, a meta-analysis
found that advertising and other media portrayals depicting the thin-ideal for women are related to a negative
body image among women and girls.7 Therefore, there is concern not only for the negative effects associated
with the marketing of unhealthy products (ie, food, alcohol, and tobacco) but also for the negative effects
associated with the way marketing exposure in general may influence how youth view material possessions and
themselves.
Children’s Consumer Development
For decades, researchers have recognized children as a vulnerable consumer group because of their budding
developmental abilities. Relying on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, researchers in many studies have
reported that until children are >7 years old, they do not have the ability to detect persuasive intent in
advertising.2
Researchers in modern studies have moved beyond the age-stage theory of cognitive development and have
found other variables that play a role in enhancing consumer competencies among young children. For example,
research has shown that theory of mind (ie, the ability to think about the thoughts and feeling of others) predicts
elementary school-aged children’s ability to understand selling intent and the social symbolism of
brands.10,11 Similarly, preschool-aged children with developed theory of mind are better equipped to detect
persuasive intent.12 Furthermore, executive functioning (ie, the form of cognitive development that explains
impulse control, planned behavior, and categorization skills) has been linked to children’s ability to process
brand messages.11
What remains unknown is how children move from basic consumer competencies to being critical thinkers
capable of defending against persuasion. Children’s readiness to learn from their social world renders them
vulnerable until they develop skepticism.13 The protracted development of executive functions (which continues
into adolescence) may explain why this skepticism is slow to emerge.14 By late adolescence, children’s ability
to cope with advertising should surface.13 However, even as adults, we may be capable of skepticism but still
fail to use our critical-thinking skills at all times.13 Hence, further research is needed to understand what (if any)
individual differences characterize mindful child and adolescent consumers.
Marketing to Children in New Media Environments
As marketing to children has moved to new media platforms, researchers have struggled to keep up with these
changes. In the past, researchers could record a few hours of television to get a sense of how marketers were
selling to children. However, monitoring new media is fraught with logistical issues because Web sites can be

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altered in a matter of hours and social networks can privately reach out to young people with commercial
appeals.
What we do know about marketing appeals in newer media is that they are often qualitatively different from
traditional advertisements. Instead of receiving messages passively, online advertisements engage children
actively through advergaming platforms (ie, games featuring branded content) and/or through solicitation as
brand ambassadors (eg, encouraging children to reach out to friends about a product).15,16 These practices are
particularly problematic because evidence shows that children have more difficulty understanding that they are
being marketed to in these online settings.17
Research also shows that marketers reaching children in online settings are acting with little oversight and are
often more aggressive with their marketing strategies. For example, although companies are legally forbidden
from collecting data on children <13 years old in the United States, evidence suggests that marketers do engage
in this practice.16 Moreover, content analyses of food product Web sites show that many companies feature food
products that are substantially less beneficial to children.18
Mitigating Advertising Effects
Because of the concerns regarding the appropriateness and possibly harmful consequences of advertising
targeting youth, various initiatives have been taken to protect and empower them. On a policy level, advertising
regulations have been implemented to restrict certain types of advertising targeted at children. However, many
of these policies (such as those related to alcohol and food marketing) are self-regulated, and convincing
evidence for the efficacy of these policies is still lacking.19,20 Moreover, as noted above, the boundless and
simultaneously subtle nature of the online media landscape makes it increasingly difficult to implement and
control advertising policies.
In response to the difficulties related to advertising policies, there have been calls to invest in the development
of educational interventions to empower children by increasing their advertising knowledge. However, research
indicates that possessing advertising knowledge does not necessarily enable children to cope with advertising in
a conscious and critical manner.14 Because of the types of appeals used and children’s growing cognitive
abilities, young people may not be motivated or able to evaluate advertising and make well-informed consumer
decisions.14 Therefore, further investigation is needed to understand how best to use education interventions.
However, there is research that shows parents can play a key role in increasing their children’s comprehension
of advertising and counteract potentially undesirable advertising effects by actively talking with their children
about advertising.21 Yet, in the contemporary media landscape, it has become increasingly difficult for parents
to guide their children, particularly in online environments.22 This makes it far more difficult for parents to
recognize current advertising practices, which thereby restricts their ability to talk to their children about
them.23

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Using Marketing Insights to Help Children
Despite frequent criticism, child-targeted marketing has the potential to encourage positive behaviors. The
effectiveness of social marketing confirms that identical techniques used to sell commercial products can sell
positive attitudes, ideas, and behaviors.24 Still, whereas there is a vast research base looking at adults and
persuasion, little is known regarding the theoretical foundations of persuasion as applied to youth or the
potential to effectively market healthful commercial products to young audiences.
One reason is that few theoretical frameworks were developed with children in mind. For example, the Theory
of Planned Behavior presents a concise way to assess and then target precursors to behavior. Although it has
been used in research with youth ≥9 years old, these studies often suggest the need to adjust the model to
explain children’s behaviors.25 In addition, it is unclear how this and other theoretical models apply to younger
children.
Similarly, there is scant evidence regarding effective message design for young audiences. One example of this
gulf in the research surrounds message framing. Some research suggests that adults typically respond best to
gain-framed messages (ie, messages that highlight the advantages of performing a behavior), yet young children
respond equally favorably to both gain- and loss-framed content (ie, messages that emphasize the negative
repercussions of not taking action).26 Furthermore, adolescents may respond differently to message framing
because of developmental characteristics. For example, it is argued that adolescents are more influenced by
loss-framed messages because these messages enhance cognitive dissonance in youth, yet adults are likely to
experience this dissonance regardless of the message frame.27
Lastly, whereas social marketing has frequently been investigated from a public health perspective, little has
been done to assess how commercial media messages can have a positive impact on children. Certain marketing
tactics, such as the use of licensed characters, have been recognized as being particularly influential.28 A recent
review of research regarding the use of characters in child-targeted food marketing acknowledged that although
particularly effective at promoting unhealthy foods, children’s characters can encourage fruit and vegetable
consumption as well.29 In addition, children have been shown to find a vegetable dish more desirable when it is
named attractively, although this has not been investigated in mediated contexts.30 Nevertheless, to help
children and families, researchers need a better understanding of how persuasive theories and message design
apply to children to create effective messages for these audiences.
Q.3 How radio serves as an effective medium to disseminate improved farm technologies to farming
communities in rural areas? Discuss in detail.
The provision of information and skills has gained popularity in the quest to empower communities with
Community Radio as a unique and effective tool. Chapman et al (2003) reported that the growth of rural radio
stations reflects both the improvements in information technologies and the shifting of development paradigm
towards a more participatory style of information and knowledge transfer. Kumar (2004) identified radio as an
avenue for participatory communication and as a tool relevant in both economic and social development.

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Community radio is a type of radio service that offers a model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial and
public service. Community radio broadcasting serves geographic communities and communities’ interest. The
content of broadcasting is largely popular and relevant to a local/specific audience but which may often be
overlooked by commercial or mass-media broadcasters. Community radio stations are operated, owned, and
driven by the communities they serve. Community radio is not-for profit and provides a mechanism for
facilitating individuals, groups, and communities to tell their own diverse stories, to share experiences, and in a
media rich world to become active creators and contributors of media. In many parts of the world today,
community radio acts as a vehicle for the community and voluntary sector, civil society, agencies, NGOs and
citizens to work in partnership to promote community development. By the core aims and objectives of this
model of broadcasting, community radio stations often serve their listeners by offering a variety of content that
is not necessarily provided by the larger commercial radio stations. Community radio can play a significant role
at the grass roots level for rural development. For instance, issues of poverty, agriculture, gender inequality,
education, social problems among others could be the focus for programming. In exploring the importance of
sharing information locally and the opening up of wider information networks for farmers in Northern Ghana
with reference to vernacular radio programmes, Chapman et al (2003) found that rural radio is effective in
improving the sharing of agricultural information by remote rural farming communities. Radio in this regard
provides a set of participatory communication techniques that support agricultural extension efforts by using
local languages to communicate directly with farmers and listeners’ groups. Using the Most Significant Change
(MSC) process, Walters et al (2011) assessed the impact of community radio in Indonesia and concluded that
effective radio activities can make a significant change in a community’s life. The MSC methodology has its
origins in community health development debates. It has recently been applied to community radio impact
evaluation. By the MSC process, community members provide feedback in the form of stories describing the
desirable change in their life as a result of the activities of the radio. Through media skills training and access to
the airwaves, a community radio facilitates a number of capacity building activities. The exchange of
information, networking of groups, the provision of skills and training and these undoubtedly are key elements
of developing a community. Again, a radio facility for a community facilitates the promotion of awareness of
community groups and facilities in the area as well as providing the avenue for the empowerment of these
groups to use radio to promote themselves and to speak directly to the community. For its proximate location to
its clients a Community Radio serves a local community of its interest. It is accessible to the community in
terms of ownership, decision making and programme output. In majority of cases, programming is produced by
the community, with focus on local concerns and issues. Unlike in the case of the mainstream media, rather than
merely talking about the community, the people themselves make the programmes. This strengthens local
culture with the recognition that this is their station; it becomes a forum for a wide diversity of local opinions
and views. Sterling el at (2007) provided evidence that female community radio listeners are given a voice with
which to respond to programming and to create programming content. The authors estimated the cost of

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excluding women from ICT for development and explored how community radio represents an opportunity for
inclusion. By employing the principles of Participatory Action Research (PAR), the authors found that women
will be more likely to benefit from technology-mediated opportunities for development if they themselves
produce information that contributes to their advancement, rather than simply consuming information provided
by others (Sterling et al 2007). Simli Radio is a community radio station located in a small rural community,
Dalun, within the Tolon-Kumbungu District of the Northern Region of Ghana. It was established in 1996 under
the Ghanaian Danish Community Programme (GDCP), an integrated rural development programme. The
overall strategy of GDCP has been to promote integrated rural development that will create an enabling
environment for constructive dialoguing between duty bearers and rights holders; thus giving voice to the
vulnerable and excluded to demand for and claim their rights. Simli Radio was established to complement the
efforts of the first three sectors (Community Projects, Dagbon Ninneesim Karim Zong (DNK), and Simli Pong
(SP)) by giving more information on the activities of the GDCP, recording the gains made, and performing the
role of an extension education unit. The Radio is located about 37 km away from Tamale, the capital of the
Northern Region, in Dalun. The sector was also funded by Danida till the end of December 2008 when it
became totally independent (Simli Radio, 2010). Livelihood is defined to include capabilities, assets (including
both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of living (OECD, 2001). Economic
theory postulates that Community Radio, to a large extent, if effectively organized, performs three main
significant functions at the grass root level for rural development. Firstly, it promotes issues of agriculture,
gender equality, education, trade and commerce, disaster, weather, natural calamities, poverty and social
problems. Community radio is usually for the people, run by the people and owned by the people. Secondly, it
enhances the capacities of local people to work together to tackle a range of social problems, including poverty
and exclusion through radio. Lastly, it contributes to nurturing of the creative talents of the community and
providing a forum for a diversity of opinions and information. The extent to which Simli Radio contributes to
improving the livelihood situation of its listeners is not well documented. This study examines the role of Simli
Radio in livelihood change. Another objective of the paper is to analyze the challenges facing Simli Radio as
well as lessons to be derived from its operations over the last six years. The rest of the paper presents the
conceptual framework of the relationship between communication and rural development, the study
methodology, findings, challenges and lessons. The last part deals with conclusions and recommendations. The
activities of Simli Radio have given further meaning to decentralization and local governance. An appropriate
medium has been created to facilitate an interface between duty bearers and rights holders, especially for the
people in the two operational districts of Simli Radio. The interactive sessions provided by the station for local
authorities to explain government policies and programmes is a clear case of the promotion of accountability
and transparency. The people get the opportunity to question certain actions and commissions of the authorities
through the “listeners’ comments” sessions, a means of collating feedback from listeners. For instance,
Parliamentarians and other leaders in those communities are now put on their toes because of radio

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broadcasting. In response to a question on how duty bearers relate with the masses, a woman leader, Asheitu
explained as follows: “We can now talk to our Members of Parliament (MPs) through the radio. We now know
that the MPs are there for development; they can no more cheat and have to bring development to our
communities. Hither to, they went to Accra and would not remember we voted them but now Simli Radio calls
on them and bring them closer”. The traditional decision making process at the family level in the study area
(Dagbon) has limited room for female voices. As the incomes of women engaged in Income Generating
Activities (IGA) have been enhanced with the help of the promotional activities of Simli Radio, there is
increasing acceptance of women’s views in matters that affect not only the family but the community as well.
The daily programmes aired on Simli Radio have helped to “soften” the grounds for female voices to be head in
and across the Dagbon state on some topical issues that affect the family and community generally. The radio
has established itself as an important cultural and educational institution in the Dagbon traditional area. The
reputation is still growing due to the improvement of the reception around Karaga, Gushegu and Yendi (Simli
Radio, 2010). The attraction is particularly strong in the rural areas where the vast majority of the population
has no other media that they are able to understand. More than 90 percent of the population, including children,
listens to radio even though they do not necessarily have their own radio receivers. Programmes such as Yung
Dema Saha (Community Entertainment) and Salima Saha (Story Telling) are so indigenous in their design and
broadcast. Due to modernity the traditional storytelling and communal entertainments are fast being replaced by
modern forms of entertainment for the youth. Within the catchment area therefore, the station is reinvigorating
these forms of traditional entertainments that held the people together. In describing the relevance of the radio, a
community youth leader, Zakaria Yehuza, participating in a group level discussion observed that “what makes
Simli Radio unique is that it has made life better and meaningful than before. Everybody likes it and becomes
worried whenever the station is not operating. Simli Radio is a station without equal”. The radio broadcasts
mainly in local language (Dagbani). This is serving the interest of majority of the listening public because it
promotes culture. Another advantage is that it encourages high level participation given the high illiteracy rate
in the catchment area. However, the use of local language denies students who claim to learn English
vocabulary from radio discussions. The activities of Simli Radio have promoted the economic activities of its
clients in and around the catchment area. It has promoted Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) development.
The station has provided a forum for SMEs to reach out to the larger population by undertaking advertisements
at very affordable fees. The station’s business promotion segment is aired for two hours daily between the hours
of 10:00 and 12:00 mid-day from Monday to Thursday. This business promotion time is time reserved for
general business advertisements and promotional activities for SMEs and artisans who have trained at the DNK
to explain their products and services. Business owners said they use the radio to advertise their goods and
services leading to increased sales and revenue. This phenomenon in the area is a novelty as small business
operators hither to had to commute door to door in order to reach out to customers and clients. A herbalist, Mba
Alaasani who has benefited in this regard testified that it was now easy to create awareness of his products as he

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simply needs to contact the Community Based Producer (CBP) within his community. He asserted that “the
message travels far and wide as soon as Simli Radio gets it. The radio has changed my life and my business
fortunes; I have been able to advertise my services as a herbalist which has raised my daily sales by 90%. I used
to spend about 3 days to get messages to some villages but now it is a matter of seconds. Simli Radio has
brought to me improved living condition”. Programmes designed on topical issues have further endeared Simli
Radio to the people. The station engages experts/resource persons as guests on these programmes and they
(resource persons) are able to explain and make clear issues in their areas of expertise. Major areas include
family life, moral education, gender and social inclusion, domestic violence, conflicts and conflict resolution,
peace building, etc. On the programme guide of the station, Tehisuma Saha (Morality Talk Show) and Ti-Bom-
Yem (Lets’ Seek Knowledge) are programmes designed to promote social cohesion. Resource persons chosen
from within the area are used to discuss these issues in the local language. A listener at Zoggu, Ibrahim Musa
heaped a lot of praises for what the station was doing and narrated his satisfaction for the moral education
sessions of the programme as follows: “Through the moral education programme the Assemblyman educates us
so well; it brings peace to the family. Most woman who were misbehaving have changed from bad to good as
result of listening to Simli Radio. The programme gives us advice and how to live a happy life together at home
and in the community. As married men we have a responsibility and Simli Radio keeps telling us the adults, our
roles”. Also, Dawuda Wumbei in a discussion said that, “the family life session talks about women issues which
make us behave well at home and the Friday Islamic programmes make me morally good. Simli Radio through
its sports programmes has also contributed to peace building and conflict resolution in the study area.
Respondents said they have benefited immensely from the sports activities of the station. A participant in a
focus group discussion summarized this point by saying that, “the sports programme has unified us. Before
now, we were fighting during football matches, but no more. Simli Radio has enlightened us and this will bring
development. Football is very useful for the youth; it unifies us and engages us in the dry season” (Shahadu,
Dalun Community). This level of appreciation by the people is in line with view of Walters et al (2011) that
effective radio activities can make a significant change in a community’s life. Of course the Northern Region is
noted for its instability due to frequent occurrence of inter-ethnic and religious conflicts. Through the activities
of Simli Radio, the people are encouraged to peacefully coexist at the family and community levels. People are
now able to go about their daily social and economic activities in an atmosphere of peace and happiness.The
wider nature of the operational area of Simli Radio poses the challenge of effective coordination of activities.
The station’s local agents, CBPs serve as liaisons between listeners and the station but most communities are
yet to have their own CBPs. The absence of these CBPs in these communities makes it costly for the people to
send their views and announcements to the station. The radio has faced leadership difficulties. It has remained a
big challenge to get a Station Manager (SIMLI RADIO). The absence of such a figure has negatively affected
service delivery and management of the station. Also, there is a high tendency of disappearance of radio
programmes after individual presenters leave the organisation. This is a result of the error of building

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programmes around single individuals (e.g., Nafisah’s programme on women issues ended soon after she left
the radio). Happenings in the external environment have influenced Simli Radio tremendously. The station
could not meet its target of the social programmes because of power outages. In 2008 the station was closed
down due to political reasons. The mast was also brought down by storm leading to the closure of the station.
The bad nature of the road network also affect accessibility of radio services in terms of sending announcements
to the station. This is worsened by the absence of the CBPs in most parts of the area. Radio FM stations that try
to remain a-political and non-partisan, especially in conflict prone areas have greater impact in delivery of
services. Effective management and leadership are critical in ensuring the performance of every organization,
particularly those involving radio stations such as Simli Radio. Leadership is key for mobilizing resources,
directing programme activities and evaluation of programme impact. Simli Radio has really served as one of the
communication channels in Ghana that has encouraged target communities to participate in programme
activities and replicate skills acquired. Simli Radio should continue to play its role well by encouraging its
listening communities in Tolon-Kumbungu and Savelugu-Nanton Districts to keep faith and support to the
station. The Radio has had social, economical, political and cultural impact in the programme districts. The
station has largely been used as a tool for integrated rural development. The station has operated within its
mandate as a community radio with a social responsibility of providing community news bulletins, current
affairs, sporting, culture and health programmes. There is a very high degree of listener participation in the
programmes, and the rural audience likes to hear themselves and their neighbours. Although listeners in Tolon-
Kumbungu District said they have limited choice of radio services Simli Radio has become a popular radio FM
station for many people in the Northern Region. The radio is highly praised. Started as a small radio
programmes production unit in the GDCP, today Simli Radio has achieved the goal of becoming a community
radio. In terms of ownership community members feel they are part of the ownership because their suggestions
or recommendations have been heeded to by staff of the station. They also participate in the programmes by
way of making announcements and advertisement. Regular feedback from the listening public is essential in
order to identify listeners’ preferences. The taste of various listeners (youth, women, men, aged, etc) should be
taken into consideration. Programmes should be designed to include environmental issues. The listening public
needs education on environmental protection. Particularly, programmes related to environmental issues should
stress on land degradation, indiscriminate tree felling, waste management, soil erosion, desertification and
climate change and how all these impact on peoples’ livelihood. Missed out programmes should be brought
back. Listeners do not like interruptions in programmes they term as very entertaining and educative. There
should be less interruption by radio presenters so as to improve upon programme quality. News or
announcement must be properly edited before they are broadcast. There is the need to re-organize the listeners
clubs and strengthen CBPs. The network of these community groups is a reflection of the character of a
community radio by its legal status (Simli Radio Report, 2010). For Community Radio to be able to play this

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important and significant role in community development, it must keep out of politics and religion and highlight
on gender issues.
Q.4 Discuss the functions and stages of mass communication channels in the distribution of news and
information with your own words.
Mass communication doesn’t exist for a single purpose. With its evolution, more and more uses have developed
and the role it plays in our lives has increased greatly. Wright characterizes seven functions of mass
communication that offer insight into its role in our lives.
 Surveillance. The first function of mass communication is to serve as the eyes and ears for those
seeking information about the world. The internet, televisions, and newspapers are the main sources for
finding out what’s going around you. Society relies on mass communication for news and information
about our daily lives, it reports the weather, current issues, the latest celebrity gossip and even start times
for games. Do you remember the Boston Marathon Bombing that happened in 2013? How did you hear
about it? Thanks to the internet and smart phones instant access to information is at the users fingertips.
News apps have made mass communication surveillance instantly accessible by sending notifications to
smartphones with the latest news.
 Correlation. Correlation addresses how the media presents facts that we use to move through the world.
The information received through mass communication is not objective and without bias. People
ironically state “it must be true if it’s on the internet.” However, we don’t think that in generations past
people must have without a doubt stated it “has to be true” because it was on the radio. This statement
begs the question, how credible are the media? Can we consume media without questioning motive and
agenda? Someone selects, arranges, interprets, edits, and critiques the information used in the media. If
you ask anyone who works for a major reality TV show if what we see if a fair representation of what
really happens, the person would probably tell you “no.”
 Sensationalization. There is an old saying in the news industry “if it bleeds, it leads,” which highlights
the idea of Sensationalization. Sensationalization is when the media puts forward the most sensational
messages to titillate consumers. Elliot observes, “Media managers think in terms of consumers rather than
citizens. Good journalism sells, but unfortunately, bad journalism sells as well. And, bad journalism-
stories that simply repeat government claims or that reinforce what the public wants to hear instead of
offering independent reporting -is cheaper and easier to produce” (35).
 Entertainment. Media outlets such as People Magazine, TMZ, and entertainment blogs such as Perez
Hilton keep us up to date on the daily comings and goings of our favorite celebrities. We use technology
to watch sports, go to the movies, play video games, watch YouTube videos, and listen to iPods on a
daily basis. Most mass communication simultaneously entertains and informs. People often turn to media
during our leisure time to provide an escape from boredom and relief from the predictability of our
everyday lives. We rely on media to take us places we could not afford to go or imagine, acquaints us

13
with bits of culture, and make us laugh, think or cry. Entertainment can have the secondary effect of
providing companionship and/or catharsis through the media we consume.
 Transmission. Mass media is a vehicle to transmit cultural norms, values, rules, and habits. Consider
how you learned about what’s fashionable in clothes or music. Mass media plays a significant role in the
socialization process. We look for role models to display appropriate cultural norms, but all too often, not
recognizing their inappropriate or stereotypical behavior. Mainstream society starts shopping, dressing,
smelling, walking, and talking like the person in the music video, commercial, or movies. Why would
soft drink companies pay Kim Kardashian or Taylor Swift millions of dollars to sell their products? Have
you ever bought a pair of shoes or changed your hairstyle because of something you encountered in the
media? Obviously, culture, age, type of media, and other cultural variables factor into how mass
communication influences how we learn and perceive our culture.
 Mobilization. Mass communication functions to mobilize people during times of crisis (McQuail,
1994). Think back to the Boston Marathon Bombing. Regardless of your association to the incident,
Americans felt the attack as a nation and people followed the news until they found the perpetrators. With
instant access to media and information, we can collectively witness the same events taking place in real
time somewhere else, thus mobilizing a large population of people around a particular event. The online
community Reddit.com is a key example of the internet’s proactivity. While the FBI was investigating the
bombing, the Reddit community was posting witness’s photos and trying to help identify the culprits.
People felt they were making a difference.
 Validation. Mass communication functions to validate the status and norms of particular individuals,
movements, organizations, or products. The validation of particular people or groups serves to enforce
social norms (Lazarsfeld & Merton). If you think about most television dramas and sitcoms, who are the
primary characters? What gender and ethnicity are the majority of the stars? What gender and ethnicity
are those that play criminals or those considered abnormal? The media validates particular cultural norms
while diminishing differences and variations from those norms. A great deal of criticism focuses on how
certain groups are promoted, and others marginalized by how they are portrayed in mass media.
Q.5 How satellite, media and computer can play effective role in forestry extension for the diffusion of
innovations? Give views to justify your comments.
Innovations, the new practices, programs, and policies that we try and test and try again, enter the social work
profession and social work academic training and research communities from all directions and sources. We are
acculturated early to welcome innovations and to believe that the new should replace the old. In college, the
student who wishes to learn how to design and test new social work programs has hundreds of academic units
from which to choose. Yet, what of the student who wishes to learn how to replicate effective social work
programs? She is alone. For example, in the U.S., not one American school of social work has translation,
diffusion, or dissemination of effective practices, programs, or policies as its forte. Not one. When a social work

14
student takes a Master’s level course in the evaluation of social work programs, the emphasis is on the
establishment of internal validity, the answering of the important question, “Does the program work, and if so,
why?” The emphasis is never on how to design programs so that they will be robust and thus exhibit external
validity, or broadly be adopted by many social work organizations. So while some analysts may characterize
our professions and academic training systems as percolating with potential with a thousand blooming flowers,
a sober analysis based in the realities of imperfect communication, information overload, and bounded
rationality is more suggestive of systems where innovations rapidly blossom and die in an insidious redundant
cycle without much accumulated system-level learning. Much goes in, but little comes out.
Ironically, Archie Cochrane contributed to this structural imbalance with publication of his influential
monograph, Effectiveness and Efficiency. His was an eloquent and timely call for better evidence of
intervention effect to improve the British National Health Service, an objective interpreted by his many
followers to require rigorous study of intervention efficacy. The subsequent focus on establishing the effects of
new treatments, protocols, and programs meant that questions of how to spread the relatively few effective
health services interventions were not the object of much study.
Tests of our ability to purposively diffuse evidence-based practices, programs, and policies by expanding them
or multiplying them has been identified as the single most valuable contribution that change agencies such as
private foundations and government agencies can make to society (Porter & Kramer, 1999). The topic is one of
increasing dedicated interest by social science researchers. And while we do need to know more about how to
use diffusion concepts—the sometimes idiosyncratic “tricks of the trade”—collectively we have been amassing
a treasure trove of strategic uses of these concepts from empirical studies of such interventions over 40 years
conducted in a number of countries concerning a variety of innovations (Rogers, 1973).
The present task is to clarify, albeit in brief form, diffusion of innovation concepts that have been used to affect
rates of adoption of voluntary-choice interventions, along with those concepts that have not been the object of
many tests but which I believe to be promising for intervention development. This challenge is not one of basic
science, nor applied science, but of dissemination science.
A worldwide science of dissemination is emerging, driven by new communication technologies, the interests of
philanthropies and the needs of government agencies, and the persistent and growing applied problems that
have been addressed but not solved by the dominant research paradigms in disciplines such as psychology,
sociology, and political science. Dissemination science is being shaped by researchers in the professional and
applied fields of study, including public health, health services, communication, marketing, resource
development, forestry and fisheries, education, criminal justice, and social work. Nursing Research,
the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, AIDS Education and Prevention, the Journal of Health
Communication, and Metropolitan Universities have since 2005 devoted entire issues to the topic of
dissemination of evidence-based practices.

15
Research about dissemination is a response to a general acknowledgment that successful, effective practices,
programs, and policies resulting from clinical and community trials, demonstration projects, and community-
based research as conducted by academicians very often do not affect the services that clinical staff, community
service providers, and other practitioners fashion and provide to residents, clients, patients, and populations at
risk. In any one societal sector (populated, for example, by food-based micro-entrepreneurs, or city-level
transportation and parkway planners, or nursing home owners and staff), the state of the science (what
researchers collectively know) and the state of the art (what practitioners collectively do) coexist more or less
autonomously, each realm of activity having little effect on the other. In the United States, this situation has
been referred to as a “quality chasm” by the U.S. Institute of Medicine.
Dissemination science is the study of how evidence-based practices, programs, and policies can best be
communicated to an interorganizational societal sector of potential adopters and implementers to produce
effective results. This definition means that dissemination embeds the objectives of both external validity, the
replication of positive effects across dissimilar settings and conditions, and scale-up, the replication of positive
effects across similar settings and conditions (Moffitt, 2007). A potential adopter is someone targeted for
making a decision about whether to invest resources in an innovation. An implementer is someone who will
actually change his or her behavior to put an innovation into use. Often in complex organizations, the users are
not the choosers of innovations. Implementers often subvert or contradict the intentions of adopters. Moreover,
in complex organizations for the consideration of consequential innovations, adopters are usually higher than
implementers in formal authority and thus not very accurate in knowing about the extent or quality of
implementation or of the response by clients or constituents to what is implemented. Thus for dissemination,
unlike for diffusion in which broad-based adoption is the main dependent variable, the extent and quality of
implementation and client or constituent responses to it become additional dependent variables of study just as
important as adoption. Dissemination science merges the study and objectives of diffusion intervention with
implementation intervention. Many adopters are targeted, with implementation quality a key objective. It can be
argued that dissemination science represents the most important type of diffusion study.
As it has increasingly been applied to agricultural, international development, public health, and educational
interventions, classical diffusion of innovation theory is evolving into a science of dissemination. I have
highlighted seven concepts from the diffusion literature that have been used or have the potential to be used to
affect the rate at which social work interventions spread:
1. The perceptions of social work interventions can be shaped through formative evaluation assessments
of attribute categories that in turn can be used to design and redesign interventions and communication
messages about them.
2. Effective interventions can be combined and communicated to potential adopters in delimited clusters to
encourage choice and responsible adaptation.

16
3. Effective interventions can be demonstrated to heighten their visibility and observability, with both
demonstration hosts and visitors sociometrically chosen to enhance diffusion.
4. Potential adopters and implementers can be conceptualized interorganizationally as members of societal
sectors, which leads to efficiencies in communication and the potential for broad spread.
5. The framing and timing of intervention efforts can be matched to reinforcing contextual conditions to
increase the likelihood that potential adopters will perceive social work interventions as relevant and
opportune.
6. Opinion leaders among potential adopters can be identified and recruited to help in dissemination efforts
by being encouraged to know about the interventions, talk about them with their colleagues, and know
where to send followers for more information.
7. Interventions can be designed to invite productive process adaptations so that fidelity of outcomes is
heightened, not lessened.
Social work interventions range from innovations in human resource management to client counseling to
technology deployment. The field exhibits a varied terrain for which narrow prescriptions for change may prove
inadequate. Diffusion theory, with validated concepts that concern different aspects of personal, organizational,
and social change, offers social work researchers a menu of concept combinations that may be quite adaptive to
different social work innovations, different types of service providers and clients, and varied settings.

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