This study specifies the components of development communication and, having done so, proceeds to evaluate the various approaches to this conceptual formulation. Thus, it discusses the extension and community development approach, the ideological and mass mobilization method, the centralized mass media method, the localized mass media method, and the integrated approach. It concludes that since development communication is not simply concerned with the mere provision of information on development activities, it should not stop with conventional mass media. Rather, it must involve strong components of social organization and interpersonal and traditional modes and media if it is to succeed. 'This title represents the present stage in the evolution of an appropriate name for 'those communication actions geared towards enlisting full human participation and understanding of development activities'. One of the earliest names was communication in support of development (IB11975). The IBI was followed by UNICEF in 1976 which called it 'project support communication'. The most popular name among social scientists and especially aid agencies has been 'development support communication'. But today, communication specialists working in the area of development, for obvious conceptual and operational reasons, prefer the name 'development communication'.
Read
