media as a change agent: a study of three villages- urban, semi-urban and rural

- urban, semi-urban and rural

2010

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MASTER’S DEGREE IN MASS

COMMUNICATION

RESEARCH GUIDE:

DR MOHANMEET KHOSLA

SUBMITTED BY:

RADHE KRISHAN

(2009-2010)

Media as a change agent: a study of three villages

Media as a change agent: a study of three villages- urban,

semi-urban and rural

A dissertation

Submitted to: Dr. Mohanmeet Khosla

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the Master’s degree in

MASS COMMUNICATION

2010

Submitted by:Radhe Krishan

MMC-IISchool of Communication Studies

Panjab UniversityChandigarh

RESEARCH GUIDE:

DR MOHANMEET KHOSLA

SUBMITTED BY:

RADHE KRISHAN


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am highly indebted to my guide Dr. Mohanmeet Khosla, for the invaluable help

which she extended to me, without which my dissertation could not have been completed

successfully. It was her constant, patient guidance which motivated me and helped me

complete this study.

I am also grateful to all the respondents who participated in my research. I would also

like to thank God and my family and friends for their constant support and blessings, who

always been there, constantly encouraging me and helping me throughout the study.

Radhe Krishan


CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Radhe Krishan has worked on his dissertation on the topic –

‘Media as a change agent: a study of three villages’, under my supervision. This research is

his original work and has not been copied from anywhere.

Research Guide:

Dr. Mohanmeet Khosla

(Chairperson,

School of Communication Studies,

P.U. Chandigarh)


CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 6

CHAPTER 2 HYPOTHESIS 7

CHAPTER 3 INTRODUCTION 8

CHAPTER 4 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS 24

CHAPTER 5 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 31

CHAPTER 6 RATIONALE 37

CHAPTER 7 METHODOLOGY 38

CHAPTER 8 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS 39

CHAPTER 9 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES 40

CHAPTER 10 DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS 41

CHAPTER 11 CONCLUSION 67

CHAPTER 12 ANNEXURE 70

CHAPTER 13 BIBLIOGRAPHY 71

CHAPTER 14 QUESTIONNAIRE 72


AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

1. To identify the various parameters of change.

2. To identify primary change agent in different geographical settings.

3. To identify whether the primary change agent varies as per the change sector.

4. To identify the suitable media for a particular geographical area especially villages.

5. To understand the actual flow of communication at different levels at different types

of villages, i.e. rural, urban and semi urban villages.

6. To determine whether a particular media has comparatively more usage at different

places.


HYPOTHESIS

1. Media is the primary source of information regarding governmental schemes policies

and programs at villages.

2. The primary change agent varies as per the change sector.

3. Education and nature of change is associated.

4. Similar type of media cannot be suitable for all kind of villages (rural, semi-urban and

urban).

5. The flow of communication varies at different levels at different type of villages.

6. Television is the most popular medium regardless of geographical settings.


INTRODUCTION

Understanding the Concept of Change

Throughout our existence we keep putting in efforts to bring change in our lives.

Change in our status, change in our attitudes, change in our lifestyle, change in our thinking

and so many other changes we keep striving to bring in. These changes are commonly

known as development. To acquire these changes we act in a certain manner. We get

educated; we acquire information about what is happening around and act accordingly. We

use different media to acquire knowledge about plethora of things. It is almost impossible to

collate information without using any media. Rather doing things for the first time we do it

as specialists, scientists or theorists have stated after intensive research. Things which are

beneficial, theories which are proved, inventions which are recognized are taken up by the

media from the corners of the world and delivered at our doorsteps, thus changing our lives.

Everything in nature is bound to change and somehow change makes the survival

easier and convenient. There was a time when man used to live in caves. He did not know

agriculture. He lived on meat only. But due to the constant process of change in the nature he

learnt agriculture. The change brought in the concept of civilization. Today’s man has

stepped on the moon. The process of change is irresistible, thus every society must make sure

that it adopts the change in a positive manner. The mass media thus plays a very significant

role by providing the society with alternatives. Our environment, our habits, our customs, our

ways of living, must change with the time. Any society which adopts a stubborn attitude and

doesn’t accept change is bound to perish as a drastic change because change is the first law

of nature.Even good customs hamper progress and become positive hindrances, when they

are not allowed to change. Society then becomes conservative and orthodox. It fails to march

with others on the road to progress.

The process of natural changes and events never stops in this world. Similarly, the

concept of economic, socio, political and religious set ups of all countries are also subject to


constant changes. No state of affairs of any individual, place or of any country can remain

stable and permanent forever. We have seen in number of political-socio-economic changes

in countries like Russia, America, Britain, India, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and so many

other countries of the world. But, our efforts are, however, put to the fullest extent possible;

to retain the shape which we think is beneficial and favourable to our wishes. For that

purpose media works as change agent and ensures the process of change benefits the society

rather harming it.

Indian perspective

India is the second most populated country after China and eighty percent of its

people live in villages. There are more than six lakh villages in India. The key occupation is

agriculture thus we are an agrarian state. Since independence the conditions have changed,

whether these are political, economic or even geographical, the change is there.

There are some major events in the history of India which brought in positive

changes:-

o Green Revolution

o White Revolution

o Economic Reforms Of 1991

o Telecommunication Revolution

o Software Revolution

There are numerous factors which cause or bring change. Among them are – the

media primarily, then the government or more specifically its ideology and then the changing

geographical environment. The above stated events brought in the most one can expect but it

is not possible to initiate such campaigns without an active media. The media does the most

important functions which are prerequisite to any kind of growth. These are- information,

motivation, providing a platform for debate and discussion, entertainment and critical

evaluation of the government.


We have a unique kind of government system. Although we have democracy, but the

process of government formation is very unique in India. What matters the most here is that

who chooses the candidates who ultimately form the government. Apparently, it is the people

or more precisely the voters. In India eighty percent of the population lives in villages. The

percentage of voting in urban areas is less than it is in rural areas and literacy rate is very less

in villages if compared to urban areas. Now it is interesting to know how they choose the

candidate they vote for. Most of our politicians have the understanding of the psyche of

people living in the villages of India. Because of that there are people who are incapable,

unqualified, and corrupt and even criminals, but still are part of the government. This creates

a vicious circle and hampers the image and growth of the nation. And even here the change is

noticeable. We can check recent statistics and can figure out the change in the voting

behaviour of citizens of India. The credit goes to media up to a great extent as it helps people

form opinion about what is wrong and what is right. People have started sending their

children to school and even illiterate adults are motivated to get education. Who can forget

the famous “School Chalo” and “PadhnaLikhnaSeekho O MehnatKarneWalo”campaigns on

Doordarshan.

The media plays very important role in the social course. In fact it’s the media which

has the potential to alter the nature of change a society goes through. The history of media

proves it. The role of media before and during the freedom movement and even after the

independence, for instance during emergency, proves the potential of media.

Not only the corporate sector but the media itself is eying to capture this almost

unexplored market of rural India. Various permutations are being tried out by media

conglomerates. Thus the scenario is changing rapidly. There are so many studies carried out

in the past, which have shown varied results regarding the communication system in rural

India.


Understanding Mass Media

In general, "media" refers to various means of communication. The term can also be

used as a collective noun for the press or news reporting agencies. Media includes all the

channels of mass communication available. For instance, Newspapers, Magazines,

periodicals etc. comes under print media. Radio, Television and films come under broadcast

or electronic media.

Johannes Guttenberg invented the press in mid-15th century. The initial forerunners of

the present newspapers appeared soon after that. The first newspapers called “corantoes”

were single sheet newsletters. The “London Gazette” was the first English newspaper,

published for the first time in 1665. The circulation of daily newspapers started off. During

the times of Pulitzer the practice of yellow journalism started which gave rise to Sunday

Supplements coming with the newspaper every Sunday. These supplements coined the idea

of magazines. There were many more kinds of publications started, for instance, weekly

newspapers, Sunday magazines, fortnight publications, evening newspapers, and monthly

magazines etc.

Present societies in the world depend on media for all kinds of information and

entertainment. A major reason for this dependency is that we live in a society in which

networks of interpersonal ties are not as deeply established as they once were (McQuail,

1994). In modern societies most of our information is not received through family ties and

networks of friendships but rather through the mass media. Most people live in physical

proximity to one another but with extensive differences based on ethnicity, race, education,

income, religion, language, and other characteristics. Such social and cultural differences can

impede interpersonal communication. This tends to inhibit the free flow of information

between people and leads them to turn to other sources. As a result, the mass media, in

satisfying this need for information, create a condition of dependency (DeFleur and Ball

Rokeach, 1982). People come to depend more and more on the media and less on each other.


Communication models and media theories

Not only in India but around the globe researchers had worked in the field of

communication and came up with many communication models and theories which were

logical and practical enough to gain recognition around the world. Although these studies

were carried out by experts and had absolute validity in their times and conditions but as the

scenario kept changing, most of them were modified or changed completely by researchers.

For instance Bullet Theory or Hypodermic Needle Theory had validity and logic in its times

when dictatorship was in practice. But it is not applicable in democracies. Thus it is refuted

and SMCR model was introduced and the importance of feedback in communication process

had been understood.

It is argued that mass communication begins with the senders, professional

communicators who decide on the goals of the message to be produced in a form suitable to

be transmitted via a particular medium. The intended meanings are then encoded by

production specialists. This encoding process includes the selection of verbal and non-verbal

symbols, and the special effects that are possible with a particular medium. The message is

then transmitted through the use of specialized technologies characteristic of print, film, or

broadcasting to disseminate it as widely as possible.

The next stage centers on large and diverse audiences of individual receivers who

attend to the medium and perceive the incoming message. Next, individual receivers

construct interpretations of the message in such a way that they experience subjective

meanings, which are to at least some degree parallel to those intended by the professional

communicators. As a result of experiencing these meanings, receivers are influenced in their

feelings, thoughts, or actions; that is, the communication has some effect.

To bring change the prerequisite is a medium by which masses can be reached and

similar message can be delivered. Media does this job always. It would be wrong if said that

the media alone is capable of change. It requires a proper strategy to influence the masses.

There must be proper identification of the opinion leaders and then the most appropriate

media must be used to bring change in people’s attitude. For that purpose researchers always


put in efforts to define new theories in accordance with contemporary requirements of the

society.

Media theories deal with:-

the links between the media and other institutions of society.

effects of the media on society and institutions.

the links between media organizations and audience.

audience composition and behaviour.

how media organisations work.

formation and transmission of media messages etc.

Magic Bullet Theory

The magic bullet theory, or hypodermic needle theory, was much more common

among media researchers in the early 20th century. This theory suggests that media messages

impact people in direct, measurable, and immediate ways as if a bullet hit the body, or as if

the body was injected with a substance from a needle. Most researchers argue that these

kinds of effects are rare, or involve events of little consequence. For example, when someone

watches a pizza commercial and then orders the pizza seen on the TV, this is more or less a

magic bullet effect.

Cultivation Theory

Cultivation theory focuses more on how people's attitudes are impacted by the media,

rather than just behaviours. Although attitudes and behaviours are complexly related,

cultivation theorists focus on how people think more than what people do. Much of this

research involves comparing the attitudes of heavy media users, moderate media users, and

light media users.


One finding of this research is that when people are exposed to heavy media violence,

they seem to have an attitudinal misconception called mean world syndrome. This means that

they overestimate how much violence actually occurs in their communities and the rest of the

world. People who are exposed to less media violence have a more realistic sense of the

amount of violence in the real world.

The Two Step Flow Theory

‘The people’s Choice’, a 1944 study focused on the process of decision-making

during a Presidential election campaign, introduced the Two Step Flow of Communication

Theory by Bernard Berelson and Hazel Gaudet. These researchers expected to find the

influence of media messages on voting intentions. But to their utmost surprise, however, they

discovered that informal and personal contacts were mentioned far more frequently than

exposure to any mass media channel like newspaper, radio or television.

This theory asserts that information from the media moves in two distinct stages.

First, individuals (opinion leaders) who pay close attention to the mass media and its

messages receive the information. Opinion leaders pass on their own interpretations in

addition to the actual media content. The term ‘personal influence’ was coined to refer to the

process intervening between the media’s direct message and the audience’s ultimate reaction

to that message.

Opinion leaders are quite influential in getting people to change their attitudes and

behaviours and are quite similar to those they influence. The two-step flow theory has

improved our understanding of how the mass media influence decision making. The theory

refined the ability to predict the influence of media messages on audience behaviour, and it

helped explain why certain media campaigns may have failed to alter audience attitudes and

Mass Media

= Opinion Leaders= Individuals in social contact with an opinion leader


behaviour. The two-step flow theory gave way to the multi-step flow theory of mass

communication or diffusion of innovation theory.

Conceptual Model

Four ‘normative theories’ of mass media and society

Authoritarian theory

media should do nothing which could undermine established authority

media should always (or ultimately) be subordinate to established authority

Media should avoid offence to majority, or dominant, moral and political values

(NB! What was said about the dominant values in a class society?)

censorship can be justified to enforce these principles

Attacks on authority, deviations from official policy or offences against moral

codes should be criminal offences.


Free press theory

publishing should be free from any prior censorship

publication and distribution should be open to anybody without permit or

licence

attack through the media on any government, official or political party should

not be punishable, even after the event

there should be no compulsion to publish anything

in matters of opinion and belief publication of ‘error’ is protected equally with

that of truth

no legal restriction should be placed on the collection of information for

publication

there should be no restriction on export or import or sending or receiving

‘messages’ across national frontiers

Social responsibility theory

media should accept and fulfil certain obligations to society

the media should set high standards of informativeness, truth, accuracy,

objectivity and balance = professional standards;

the media should be self-regulating within the framework of law and

established insitutions

the media should avoid whatever should lead to crime, violance or civil

disorder or give offence to ethnic or religious minorities

the media should be pluralist and reflect the diversity of society

society and the public have a right to expect high standards of performance

intervention can be justified to secure public good


Soviet media theory

the media should serve the interests of, and be in control of, the working class

media should not be privately owned

media should serve positive functions for society by: socialization to desired

norms; education; information; motivation, mobilization

media should respond to wishes and needs of their audiences

society (the authorities) has a right to use censorship and other legal measures

to prevent, or punish after the event, ‘anti-societal’ publication

media should provide ‘a complete and objective view’ of society and the

world, according to marxist-leninist principles

media should support progressive movements at home and abroad

Complemented by McQuail in 1983 by

Democratic participant media theory

focuses on the needs, interests and aspirations of a ‘receiver’ in a political

society

the rights to relevant information, to answer back, to use the means of

communication for interaction in small scale settings

favours multiplicity, smallness of scale, locality, deinstitutionalization,

interchange of sender-receiver roles, interaction

media institutions are in control of their audiences


Development media theory

media should accept and carry out positive development tasks in line with

nationally established policy

freedom of the media should be open to restriction according to economic

priorities and development needs of society

media should give priority in their content to the national culture and language

media should give priority in news and information to links with other

developing countries

journalists and other media workers have both responsibilities and freedoms in

their information gathering and dissemination tasks

in the interests of development ends, the state has a right to restrict or

intervene in media operations

Media Scenario in India


As on 31st March 2006, there were 62,483 newspapers are registered with RNI. The

total circulation of newspapers increased from 156719209 copies in 2004-05 to 180738611

copies in 2005-06. (http://www.pib.nic.in/)

THE PRESS IN INDIA IN 2005-06: AT A GLANCE

PeriodicityNum

berCirculation

Dailies 2,130 8,88,63,048

Tri/Bi-Weeklies 39 5,66,198

Weeklies 3,428 5,05,80,648

Fortnightlies 955 1,23,09,948

Monthlies 1,471 2,11,36,710

Quarterlies 219 15,52,138

Annuals 49 29,86,256

Others 221 27,43,665

TOTAL 8,51218,07,38,61

1

Miscellaneous Publications 126 71,69,952

(http://www.pib.nic.in/)

Electronic Media

The national television (Doordarshan) and radio (All India Radio, or Akashwani)

networks are state-owned and managed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Their news reporting customarily presents the government's point of view. For example,

coverage of the 1989 election campaign blatantly favoured the government of Rajiv Gandhi,


and autonomy of the electronic media became a political issue. V.P. Singh's National Front

government sponsored the PrasarBharati (Indian Broadcasting) Act, which Parliament

considered in 1990, to provide greater autonomy to Doordarshan and All India Radio. The

changes that resulted were limited. The bill provided for the establishment of an autonomous

corporation to run Doordarshan and All India Radio.

Since the 1980s, India has experienced a rapid proliferation of television broadcasting

that has helped shape popular culture and the course of politics. Although the first television

program was broadcast in 1959, the expansion of television did not begin in earnest until the

extremely popular telecast of the Ninth Asian Games, which were held in New Delhi in

1982. Realizing the popular appeal and consequent influence of television broadcasting, the

government undertook an expansion that by 1990 was planned to provide television access to

90 percent of the population. In 1993, about 169 million people were estimated to have

watched Indian television each week, and, by 1994, it was reported that there were some 47

million households with televisions. There also is a growing selection of satellite

transmission and cable services available.

According to PIB data, a total 241 private FM Channels are operational in 83 cities of

the country. As on date, Information and Broadcasting Ministry of India has permitted 381

private satellite TV channels to uplink from India as per uplinking guidelines, out of which,

201 are news & current affairs TV channels and 180 are non-news & current affairs TV

channels. Besides this, 67 private satellite TV channels, uplinked from abroad, have also

been permitted to downlink in India as per downlinking guidelines. Out of this, 14 are news

& current affairs TV channels and 53 are non-news & current affairs TV channels. As such,

total number of news and current affairs TV channels is 215 and number of non-news &

current affairs TV channels is 233 under uplinking and downlinking guidelines.

Internet-the new media


Internet has emerged as the new media for this century. It is getting strong and

popular day by day and surpassing all the mediums of information and communication. It has

the characteristics of all other mediums apart from its own unique features. Internet has the

potential to bring in change on its own. People use it for reading, listening, watching, surfing

and social networking, chatting and in so many other ways, which make it almost omniscient

and omnipotent medium. As shown in this chart issued by PIB, it is growing at a rapid pace.

As

on

ISP Licenses

issued

(A+B+C)

ISP

licenses terminated

(A+B+C)

ISP

licensees who have

given Internet

Service report

(A+B+C)

Interne

t Subscribers

(Lakh)

13.

3.99

85 (15+31+39) Nil 7 2.3

31.

3.2000

270(44+104+1

22)

3 65 9.43

31.

3.2001

456(83+184+1

89)

29 118 29.09

31.

3.2002

515(91+205+2

19)

73 161 32.39

31.

3.2003

587(94+230+2

63)

199(29+87

+83)

205(49+88

+68)

35

(http://www.pib.nic.in/)

Diversity in media at urban, semi-urban and rural villages


Media plays vital role in the development and growth in every sphere of society. But

the face of media or the medium differs at different levels of society and it keeps changing

with the time. For instance, at present internet is a very powerful medium but it has varied

impact on villages. In some villages it may have some impact, in some it may have least

impact and at some it may have none. To identify which media has most impact at what kind

of village area, we can classify them in three categories which can be – urban, semi-urban

and rural villages. These villages are diversified in terms of region, language they speak,

traditions they have, geographical patterns of their area and history of their region. We can

identify them in terms of regions like north, west, south or east India, and in terms of

languages like Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and many more, in terms of wide ranging geographical

patterns like Rajasthan has desert land, Himachal comprises hills etc.

Urban Village

Urban villages, in simple terms, are villages which are usually deliberately planned or

modified to make them comfortable to live in. The roads, dwellings, parks, markets etc. are

planned well according to the modern architecture. These villages usually situated at the

outskirts of a city. Literacy rate is higher and most of the residents work in city for their

living. Media consumption is higher and access of media is much more.

Everything which human beings need in daily life, like market, temples, other

services are within walking distances thus these are pleasure to live in. As a result these

villages enjoy less traffic and healthy environment. These places are getting popular as

people have had enough of urban traffic and lack of good urbanism. In these places one can

live without a car, as it is possible to get around on foot or by bicycle.

Urban villages are pedestrian oriented and ensure a better quality of life, a friendly

and pleasant environment. As these villages are situated at the outskirts of the city people

working in the city prefer these places to make their dwelling as the growing traffic of cities

irritates them and makes life miserable. Urban villages have a very good connectivity with


the cities with the public transport systems, thus daily commuting doesn’t create any

inconvenience.

Semi-urban village

These villages are usually old villages being modernized by incorporating advance

strategies of planning and architecture, but the process of modernization is incomplete. Most

of the basic amenities are available in such villages. These villages usually located far from

the cities. The geographical environment is different from the urban villages. Literacy rate in

such villages is not very high. People earn their living by agriculture and those, who are

educated, go out in cities to earn.

Rural villages

These are villages lacking even the basic amenities like transport, hospital and other

services etc. These are considered backward and most of the people make their living from

agriculture only. Literacy rate is very low and media access is least. In these areas urban

characteristics are absent. In developing countries like India there are villages which are not

too far from cities but still lack basic amenities thus considered rural villages. India is an

agrarian state and most of the population is involved in agriculture. India is number one in

milk production and the credit goes to villages. In India there are more than six lakh villages.

Most of the villages are rural villages. They have altogether different system of society in

comparison with the urban societies. Village panchayats enjoy powers of judiciary. Customs,

beliefs, and traditions are given much more importance. These villages have a certain kind of

design. For instance, a pond, usually in the middle of the village, a big old oak tree, also

called village tree, near the pond surrounded by a concrete platform on which old age men sit

and chat.


OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS

1. Media: The term refers to television, radio, newspaper, which are used by the

respondents as common sources of information.

2. Change agent: For the purpose of this study change agent is defined as a

source which brings about positive or negative changes in society. Here is change

defined as the transformation which is brought about in the people, their attitudes,

beliefs and ideologies as a result of use or exposure to Media sources like television,

radio, newspapers. This change could be in the social sphere, economical and political

sphere, wherein media makes the people aware and keeps them informed on the

goings on at local level, regional, national and even international levels, and also

helping them in formulating opinions. The nature of this change could be defined as

positive or negative when it hinders all round development and constructive growth in

the attitudes of the users.

3. Health sector: For the purpose of this study health sector has been defined as

the field which includes various issues the regarding the health of the society and

citizens. For instance, female foeticide, AIDS, treatment of diseases etc. It also

includes the interactions and communications between various members of society

regarding the treatment to be adopted for the cure of diseases.

4. Area of work: For the purpose of this study, the economic sphere includes

occupations of the respondents from the urban village, rural village, and semi-urban

village, which comprise of basically agriculture in the rural village, agriculture,

business and other professions at semi-urban village and business and other

professions like, law, medical and teaching etc. at urban village. The role which

media plays in terms of helping the respondents in their deriving more out of their

profession/occupation by giving them new ideas, solutions. For instance, agricultural


programmes shown on television, were watched by the farmers, so the way in which

they utilize the information available in these programmes to improve their crop

productivity, avail new facilities given by the government, get reasonably priced

fertilizers, seeds etc. would affect their economic conditions. Similarly for the urban

villages where most of the people involved in business and occupations, there

business news and programmes etc. were watched and also read which suggested

useful inputs. All this helped ultimately in improving the economic conditions and

aspects related to the respondent’s economic development. Thus, all these factors

have been broadly put together to comprise the economic sphere.

5. Cultural traditions: for the purpose of this study, cultural traditions included

the religious beliefs and practices followed by the respondents. For instance, marriage

practices, interpersonal relationships, celebration of festivals, rituals and other rights

etc.

6. Age: This variable can be defined by dividing it into groups of

20-30

30-40

40-50

50-60

60-70

70-80


Introduction: Himachal, Punjab and Chandigarh

Himachal

Location: North West, Himalayas

Capital: Shimla

Population: 6.08 mil (2001)

Area: 55,673 sq km

Population density: 110 persons per sq km

Urban: less than 10%

Languages: Hindi, Pahari (incl 60 dialects)

Religion: 95.9% Hindu, 1.7% Muslim, 1.2% Buddhist (1991)

Literacy rate: 76.5% (male 85.3%, fem 67.4%) (2001)

Gender ratio: 968 fem to 1000 male (2001)

Number of districts: 12

Number of villages: 20,118 (2001)

Main income: tourism, agriculture

The state of Himachal Pradesh is mostly hilly and hence the use of any other media

except for the print media; that is newspaper dailies and weeklies, was very difficult even

two decades earlier. But now-a-days, mass media and the technical development in the field

of satellites and transmissions have simply burgeoned, and its rippling effects are amply

evident even in the secluded hilly climes of Himachal Pradesh. Now more and more people

of Himachal Pradesh are turning to the electronic media to be up-to-date with the global,

national and local news and views. The latest addition to this information boom is in the

shape of Internet, which have enabled even remote areas of Himachal Pradesh to get

connected with the world.

The most common and widely used language by the media in Himachal Pradesh is

Hindi. Most newspapers and many of the regional channels broadcast their content in the


Hindi language. Even then the media in Himachal Pradesh has a number of news dailies and

channels that broadcast their content in other languages also. The Telegraph, Hindustan

Times, The Times of India and Punjab Kesari are some of the important newspapers which

have their presence in the state. Vernacular newspapers in Punjabi and Nepali also attract

selective readership. However, due to the mountainous terrain of the region, the television

mostly operates with the help of the broadcasting of the satellites. Television has emerged as

a popular medium for the infotainment of Himachal Pradesh people.

With the popularizing of radio and television, the number of broadcasters has also

increased. Apart from the traditional Doordarshan channel, a number of regional channels

that broadcast their content in the languages that are spoken in the state have opened their

shops. Even the English and Nepali channels, along with the Hindi channels, are provided by

the broadcasters, and the broadcasting is decoded by the local cable operators and the

transmitted to the people.

However, even today, the radio is the only means of communication and

entertainment in the most interior parts of the state. For the information and entertainment of

the people who cannot afford television or are located at a place where the television signals

cannot reach, there are a number of FM stations in Himachal Pradesh. The city of Shimla has

its own FM radio station, which has been started while keeping in mind the tastes of the local

people as well as the tourists. The radio helps people in remote areas to connect with the rest

of the world. Also special programs are conducted during festivals. The radio channels are

now negotiating with the government to allow them to broadcast even the international

channels.

Seran village of district Kasauli was chosen as the semi-urban village as it is near to

Baddi and Barotiwala, the industrial hub of Himachal Pradesh. The village is yet to see the

original phase of development but a considerable part of the respondents from this village


Chandigarh

Status: state capital of Punjab and Haryana; Union

Territory

Location: North India

Built: 1953

Town planner and architect: Le Corbusier

Altitude: 1150 ft

Population: 900,635 (2001)

Area: 114 sq km

Population density: 7,900 persons per sq km (2001)

Number of sectors: 57

Languages: Hindi (61.1%); Punjabi (34.7%) (1991)

Religion: 75.8% Hindu; 20.3% Sikh; 2.7% Muslim (1991)

Literacy rate: 81.9% (male: 86.1%; fem: 76.5%)

Gender ratio: 777 fem to 1000 male (2001)

Chandigarh is one of the most well planned cities in India. It serves as the joint capital of

both Punjab and Haryana States. It is bounded on North and West by Punjab and on the East

and South by Haryana. It was designed by the French Architect, Le Corbusier.

The media in Chandigarh, which is also called city of retirees, is not as much

vigorous as it is in other cities. Reason may be any but it is true that Chandigarh is yet to

make it big in terms of status among states of India. As far as media is concerned all big

media organizations have their branches or bureau offices in the city.

Newspapers like Times of India, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, The Tribune in

English and Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, Punjab Kesari and many more have their Hindi

and Punjabi editions. There are many villages at the outskirts of the city like, Daddumajra,

Kansal, Dhanas, Manimajra, Naya Gaon etc. These villages are well maintained by the

administration. Villages, like Dhanas, are very well planned and examples of urban villages.


During the recent times the city beautiful has experienced a boom in

telecommunications and the impact is visible on these villages too. There are a good number

of employment opportunities generated in the communications sector. The penetration of

media is on a rise constantly. Dhanas was chosen as the urban village for the purpose of this

study. It is just a half kilometre away from the Panjab University. The majority of the

population is in service industry. The total population of the village is between 3800 to 1000.

Village Dhanas Consists of newly build houses in these colonies of middle class residents

who due to escalation of real state value in Chandigarh could not able to build their houses in

sectoral area but there all concerns and working in city beautiful Chandigarh.


Punjab

Location: North India

Capital: Chandigarh

Area: 50,362 Sq. Km.

Total Population: 243.59 Lakh

Rural Population: 160.96 Lakh

Literacy: 69.7 %

Female per 1000 Male: 876

Inhabited villages: 12413 (census 2001)

(india.gov.in/statesofindia/)

Punjab is leading state in the field of agriculture and with only 1.5 per cent

geographical area of country produces 22 per cent of Wheat 12 per cent of Rice and 12 per

cent of Cotton in the country, which makes it one of the most prosperous states. The state has

experienced a constant change in all the sectors of growth. The achievements of the state

were only possible due to the open heart attitude of the natives towards new technologies

introduced in areas of work. For instance, the farmers in the state are using latest techniques

of farming and have manifolded their productions. The media played a very important role in

this rapid growth of the state. Since the independence and even before that, media had a great

impact on the people of Punjab. Prominent leaders, during freedom movement used media

for the struggle for attainment of freedom. Newspapers like Hindustan Times, started by

Akalis, and many vernacular publications have played a crucial role. Present day Punjab has

many regional channels like PTC, Alfa Punjabi, ETC. Punjabi etc.

Naggal village is around 15 kilometers from Chandigarh and belongs to district

Roopnagar. The total population of the village is between 800 and 1000. The prime

occupation is agriculture and literacy rate is very poor. The village lack basic amenities like,

education system, dispensary or health centre, sanitation etc.


REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Malhan, P. N. (1977). Radio and television: change agents in rural areas. In

AMIC- SMANIA-ICCSR Asian Regional Seminar on Rural Communication:

Hyderabad, Dec 8-20, 1977. Hyderabad: ICSSR.

Professor P.N. Malhan in this book wrote, “With the immense vastness of India and

the low literacy level of her people, no communication channels are more effective relevant

to her rural masses than radio and television. They are timely and can speak in the language

or dialect of the listeners.”

Consistent with the oral traditions among the rural folk, the spoken word in India

often has the authority of an oracle, provided the media enjoy the credibility of the people.

Of the two, radio is more widespread and cheaper. With the network of 83 stations spread

over the length and breadth of the country, All India Radio is one of the major broadcasting

networks in the world and its broadcasts cover nearly ninety per cent of the people and 77

percent of the area. Comparatively, television, known as Doordarshan in India, has a

periphery rural reach, the SITE experiment of 1975-76 however created history and the

television system of India by linking up viewers in 2400 villages situated comparatively

backward clusters of six states.

The successful operation of broadcasting system in the Phillippines, Malaysia and

Indonesia proved that the electronic media have the potentiality of serving as good

development communicators or educators. Planned, innovative or participatory programmes,

creative voice organized group listening, visuals and integrate and flavour of words can add

to their usefulness as motivators and change agents. Despite the forebodings of the ‘idiot

box’ and the political overtone of the media being government operated, both the electronic

media to the extent of their professionally meaningful operation, have served well in the

sphere of agriculture, education, health, nutrition and family welfare. Some of the innovative


programmes or experiments that have been evolved during the recent times account for this

success.

Cassirer R. Henry, Rural Development and the Flow of Communication.

(International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems (49), A

UNESCO document)

Rural communication is predominantly personal; in a traditional setting it takes place

within the family, at the well, market place or under the village tree. Event influences from

the outside are carried largely by persons: communications (transport) are a major factor in

the communication of information and ideas. Deliberate agents of expression and

communication like folk media, modern media, political agents etc., require to be closely

interlocked with different forms of interpersonal communication which prolong the impact of

media and are a source of themes and information.

Under these conditions, effective social communication in the rural areas will have to

proceed simultaneously in three directions:

- Communication from the top to down, from authorities to people, from

experts to peasants, from broadcasters to audience, from the capital to the

countryside.

- Communication from the bottom up, from villagers to administrations,

from citizens to political leaders.

- Communication across society horizontally, from person to person,

village to village, one member of a professional group, religious community or

cultural entity to another, from people on the land to those in the cities.

Television and the press are primarily urban phenomena. Without a television

network which covers the national territory or the equivalent of satellite transmissions, the

rural areas are deprived of television, yet only relatively few countries of the Third World

have assured such national coverage. The press, especially when financed on a commercial


basis, tends to be available where there is a relatively dense and commercially rewarding

literate public. Press and printed publications cannot play a major role in rural areas and in

the fight against illiteracy unless efforts are made to facilitate publication in vernacular

languages, preferably elsewhere than in the capital. To facilitate the distribution of

publications beyond the cities in the rural areas requires additional support.

Bostian, Lloyd R. (1974). Mass Communication Differences Between Urban,

Suburban and Rural Areas: Cross-cultural Comparisons

The history of mass media development shows striking geographic patterns, and the

development and use of mass media differs greatly among urban, suburban and rural people.

Although we might expect the pattern of mass media development to differ on a national

level, say for example between a developing African nation and an earlier developed

European country, basically the media development pattern is similar no matter what the

cultural heritage involved. Generally it is the stage of media development which varies, not

the pattern of that development. The way we talk about areas often reflects their stage of

modernization. Rural is associated with tradition, urban with modernization. Suburban is

either ultra-modern or transitional, depending on the country’s stage of development.

As a country modernizes, media spread from larger urban centres to smaller towns

and into rural areas. This spread is not uniform if development is not uniform among rural

areas.

Research has produced a plethora of data to back generalizations concerning the

relation of mass media to modernization and urbanization. In fact one author sees mass

communication as a part of all social science approaches to explaining modernization.

Urbanization and modernization are seen as concomitant, mutual and reciprocal, with mass

media an integral aspect.


Farace and Donohew utilized data from 115 countries to examine the relationship of

43 variables to mass media. Of the 43 factors, the variables most representative of

urbanization were the percent of the urban population. The authors found a high correlation

(.68) between percent urban population and newspaper circulation, and almost as high (.63)

urbanization and the number of radio receivers per 100 people. These urbanization-mass

media linkages were among the highest correlations found. From the point of view of social

science methodology, we should place considerable value on this regression analysis which

examined data from so many countries with different experiences in modernization.

Ramachandran Rajeswari, Jaggarajamma K, Muniyandi M, Balasubramanian

Rani. (2006). identifying effective communication channels in a rural Community: a

field report from south India

The salient finding of this study was that more than 80% of the villages had

community TV and cable connections in the study area. Also this study clearly shows that in

rural South India, television (100%) is the main source of information and this channel of

communication may meet the challenge of reaching the “interior pockets” of rural India.

This is contrary to that expressed in an earlier report that for rural populations there is a need

to have separate communication plans9. In the current series we also found that 53% of

villagers were getting information through local panchayats, 55% through wall posters, 3%

through dandora and 18% through announcement by loud speakers. Therefore, multiple

approaches are likely to achieve the goals of any health communication programme,

especially in rural areas with limited availability of communication channels. Among the

different types of mass media available in rural areas, television has the greatest reach.

However, exposure to mass media like television varies from place to place and from time to

time. National Family Health Survey-II conducted by International Institute for Population

Sciences Mumbai described that regular exposure to television was the highest in Delhi

(90%) and the lowest in Bihar (17%) in the year 1998-99. In an earlier study from our centre

in the year 1995, among urban educated persons the source of information on tuberculosis

appeared to be mainly from books, magazines and television (65%). However, it appears that

within a decade, more than 80% of rural villages have access to television and all


information including health were through mass media as shown in this study. In Revised

National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) phase I, TV spots on TB were

telecasted in regional channels and cable networks generated awareness about TB. This

strategy continues to be an important component of advocacy and social mobilization to

create demand for services and increase utilization of services in phase II as well. The focus

in RNTCP phase II is on a combination of centrally produced core messages with

appropriate state and district specific strategies, with local innovations to reach all possible

groups through the most appropriate channels, material and activities.

Annual Report, (2008-09). Department of School Education and Literacy &

Department of Higher Education Ministry of Human Resource Development

Government of India

Electronic Media in Educational Programmes of IGNOU

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is utilizing electronic media to

impart education across the country successfully. It has taken a number of initiatives to reach

out to the audiences in most cohesive ways. Gyan Darshan and Gyan Vani are broadcasting

channels, through which it is imparting quality education at the door steps of students.

Gyan Darshan: IGNOU coordinates the functioning of exclusive 24 hour satellite

based Educational TV channels, which are collectively known as Gyan Darshan (GD). It is a

collaborative venture of various Government agencies. It has potential to offer bouquet of 6

channels. Under this, Gyan Darshan-1 is the 24 hours exclusive Educational TV channel.

Prasar Bharti in 2005 put this channel on Direct to Home (DTH) mode. Gyan darshan-2 is

being utilized as interactive channel for tele-counselling, tele-lecturing and tele-training of

coordinators counsellors. Gyan Darshan-3, commonly known as ‘Eklavya Channel’ is

devoted to technical education for the benefit of engineering students in the country. Gyan

Darshan-4 is known as “Vyas” Channel and is dedicated to curriculum based higher

education.

Gyan Vani: IGNOU is the nodal agency for the implementation of radio cooperative

of 40 FM channels dedicated to education and development. In addition, radio counselling is


also provided from 14 FM Stations under Gyan Vani programme of Ahmedabad, Allahabad,

Bhopal, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Kanpur, Patna, panaji, Lucknow, Delhi, Kolkatta, Jaipur,

Raipur and Shillong Stations to learners. Under Gyan Vani Programme, toll free

conferencing facility is available to the learners who interact freely with the experts. 202

Annual Report 2008-09 during the year 2008-09, a number of audio and video programmes

were produced. These include30 Audio programmes and 204 Video programmes (includes

49-Curriculum based, 16- Edusat ased, 06-Urdu enrichment, 35-Other enrichment

programmes including Open Channel & n Focus and 01 acquired audio programme). In

addition to these, a total of 2996 video and 7906 Audio programmes have been produced by

the University. Further, in order to strengthen the regional network services, the University

has set up 340 new study centres and 4 Regional Centres in 2008, making it a total of 2300

Study Centres and 59 Regional centres.


RATIONALE

Media is considered the fourth pillar of democracy. In today’s scenario it is playing a

significant role in the development process of the country.

With so many new TV channels coming up daily, increasing newspaper circulation

figures, emergence of market driven journalism etc, media seems to be going strong. But

when the researcher observed closely, there still existed a difference in media penetration

levels in the villages according to their geographical setting and nature. While in the urban

villages, having a daily newspaper and cable television or dish TV was very easy; getting a

newspaper in other villages(rural and semi-urban), was difficult. For instance, in the sample

rural village Naggal none of the resident subscribed to a newspaper.

Television, which arrived late in the rural area as compared to the surrounding urban

area, seemingly was the most popular media source in the villages. Also, since a lot of

change had taken place in the sample village in terms of social, political, economical aspects,

the researcher was interested in finding the main reasons behind them. This motivated the

researcher to take up this study to find out and compare the spheres of the change at the three

villages and also to have an idea of people’s attitude and perception of media.


METHODOLOGY

Research Method: The research is a cross sectional analytical survey.

Population: The population comprised of male and female residents of three villages, a rural

village, an urban village and a semi urban village. Naggal village of district Mohali in Punjab

was chosen as rural village. Seran village of district Solan in Himachal Pradesh was chosen

as semi urban village and Dhanas village in Chandigarh as urban village. The reason for

choosing these villages for the purpose of this study was the difference in the level of

development or change that the researcher had observed in the villages. Following this

observation, the researcher, was motivated to look further into the reason which finally

resulted in her taking up this study.

Sample size: The sample size comprised of 105 respondents, 35 from each village.

Sampling technique: Area sampling procedure was used. The number of dwelling units was

counted. These were numbered and then out of them, using chits, thirty five dwelling units

were selected randomly, then one individual from each dwelling unit were questioned.

Unit of data collection: An individual

Data collection tool: The questionnaire comprised of both close ended and multiple choice

questions. The questionnaire was administered personally because it had to be translated into

the local language.

Data analysis and presentation: The data has been presented in tabular and graphical form.

For the open ended questions, interpretative and descriptive analysis has been done,


qualitative and quantitative analysis has been done for open ended and close ended questions

respectively.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

Scope: The scope of the study was to study and compare the role of media as an agent

of change in different rural areas. The study helped to understand the primary source of

information at villages and also to understand the flow of communication at different levels

at villages.

The study was carried out taking three different kinds of villages, one rural, one urban

and one semi urban, which helped to find out the functioning of different media at different

rural settings. Associations between the demographic variables and the capacity of their

effects on the nature of media usage or vice versa have been found. Efforts have been made

through the study to find out factors which prevented media from being an agent of change

in the sample villages.

Limitations:

More villages could have been taken up to conduct the study but only

three villages could be taken up because of budgetary and time constraint.

The samples size was limited to only a hundred and five respondents,

thirty five from each village, because of time constraints and also due to the distance

that the researcher had to cover in order to get the questionnaires filled from each

respondent personally.

More associations could have been shown but due to time constraint

only a few have been included.


SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES

The research could be useful to study media and issues related to it by

taking a bigger sample size and a bigger area of sampling.

The study could be used as the basis to initiate bigger and

comprehensive research to individually study the good and bad effects of media

sources on the people.

The scope of media’s role in the development of the rural areas could

be studied on a much broader level.

A detailed study could be conducted to find out the reasons behind the

lack of infrastructure facilities in the rural areas which was a major problem in

proportional dissemination of media sources. For instance since television was the

most commonly used media source in the village, reason for inability of newspapers

be a common and regular media source like television could be researched.

A separate study could be conducted to find out the least popularity of

other media, like magazine, at villages.


DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

Hypothesis:

1. Media is the primary source of information regarding governmental schemes policies and programs at villages.

panchayat govt. official media neighbors TotalValid

54

13

35

3

105

source of information about govt. policies and programmes Frequency

Analysis: The table shows that, in villages, the primary source of information, regarding

governmental schemes, policies and programs, is panchayats rather than media. Out of the

total sample majority of the respondents (54) considered panchayats as primary source of

information regarding governmental schemes, policies and programs. Media was considered

primary source of information by 35 respondents. These schemes, policies and programs

included (as cited by them during the personal administration of the questionnaire) the

awareness regarding National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, seeds distribution

policies and information about new facilities in agriculture sector.


As the table shows the respondents considered government officials less accessible than

panchayat or media. Although some of the respondents agreed that government officials do

inform programs such as polio vaccination day.

Media lacked here in the sense that although most of the respondents use it to get

information about new methods of farming, new seeds, fertilizers etc. but it was the

panchayat who inform them how government is helping them accessing these.

Although the overall result shows that media is not the primary source of information

regarding governmental schemes, policies and programs at villages, but the results vary

according to the nature of village and media access. Tables below prove that the nature of the

village and media access determine the primary source of information about governmental

policies, programs and schemes.

Urban Village

Analysis: At Dhanas (Urban village), out of the total 35 of respondents 26 said that media is

the primary source of information regarding governmental schemes, policies and programs,

while eight said its government officials and surprisingly none of the respondent named

panchayat here.

govt. official media neighbors TotalValid

8

26

1

35



Rural Village


31

1 2 1

35


Analysis: At Naggal (rural village), out of the total 35 of respondents 31 said that panchayat

is the primary source of information regarding governmental schemes, policies and

programs, while only one said its government officials and surprisingly only one of the

respondent named media here.


Semi Urban Village


23

47

1

35


Analysis: At Seran (semi-urban village), out of the total 35 of respondents 23 said that

panchayat is the primary source of information regarding governmental schemes, policies

and programs, while seven said its media and surprisingly none of the respondent named

panchayat here.


Overall media used

t.v. newspaper TotalValid

1619

35


Analysis: Among all those respondents, who said that media is the primary source of

information, regarding governmental schemes, policies and programs, majority of the

respondents said newspaper is the primary source among all media.


Hypothesis:

2. The primary change agent varies as per the change sector.

For the purpose of this study the researcher considered various sectors where change was

noticeable. This included the health, area of work and culture.

Health:

media panchayat govt. official neighbors others TotalValid

73

2 3

22

5

105

what is primary change agent for changes in treatment of diseases Frequency


Analysis: All the respondents from all three villages accepted that there is a change in

medication and treatment of diseases practices. Among them 73 said that media is the

primary change agent for this change.

Cultural Traditions:

no change media neighbors others TotalValid

20

78

3 4

105

what is primary change agent for changes in cultural traditions


Analysis: 85 of all the respondents from all three villages accepted that there is a change in

cultural traditions. Among them 78 said that media is the primary change agent for this

change.

Work:


panchayat govt. official media neighbors others none TotalValid

22

7

56

16

1 3

105

from where got inspiration to adopt new techniques at work

Analysis: 56 of the total respondents from all three villages accepted that they got inspiration

from media to adopt new changes at workplace.

Among them 22 said that panchayat inspired them to adopt the new technology.

16 of the respondents agreed that it is neighbours who inspired them to adopt new

technologies introduced in various trades and area of work. There were three who said they

didn’t adopt any new technology and still practising the old traditional ways.

Analysis according to the nature of the village:

Rural village:

Change agent for cultural traditions


media neighbors others none TotalValid

19

1 2

13

35


Health:

media govt. official neighbors others TotalValid

16

1

15

3

35

what is primary change agent for changes in treatment of diseases

Work:


panchayat govt. official media neighbors none TotalValid

14

6

2

10

3

35

if yes from where got inspiration to adopt new techniques at work

Analysis: There is much of variation in responses for these three sectors of change at rural

areas. At work sectors majority of the respondents from rural area accepted that it is

panchayat which is the primary change agent and inspire them to adopt new technologies.

Semi-urban village:



media neighbors others none TotalValid

24

2 2

7

35


Health:

media panchayat govt. official neighbors others TotalValid

23

2 1

7

2

35


Work:


panchayat govt. official media neighbors others TotalValid

8

1

19

6

1

35

if yes from where got inspiration to adopt new techniques at work

Analysis: There is much of variation in responses for these three sectors of change at semi

urban village. At all sectors majority of the respondents accepted that media is the primary

change agent and inspire them to adopt new technologies in area of work. Other inspirational

forces are panchayat and neighbours.

Urban village:



Frequency0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40


media

Health:

media govt. official TotalValid

34

1

35



Work:

35

from where got inspiration to adopt new techniques at work

media

Analysis: At urban village, the results were totally different and all the respondents accepted

that media is the primary change agent in these three sectors. Only one respondent said that

in health sector it is the government official who is responsible for change.

Conclusion: After analysing the charts it was found that the primary change agent at villages

in all sectors is media. Although there are variations in the number of respondents who

accepted that the media is the primary change agent with regard to different sectors. For

instance, regarding change in health sector, 73 accepted that media is the primary change

agent, regarding cultural traditions 78 accepted that media is the primary change agent,


whereas at work media as the primary change agent accepted by 56 of the respondents. But

in all sectors, it was found that media was regarded as primary change agent by majority,

thus the hypothesis is disapproved.

If we analyse this data by the nature of village we can have more specific results regarding

the question that who is the primary change agent at one particular sector at particular kind

of village. For instance we can analyse what is the primary change agent at health sector in

rural village or urban village or semi urban village. Tables shown below fulfil this

requirement by providing such data.


Hypothesis:

3. Education and nature of change adopted is associated.

Chi-Square Tests

1.239a 2 .538

2.056 2 .358

1.003 1 .317

105

Pearson Chi-Square

Likel ihood Ratio

Linear-by -LinearAssoc iation

N of Val id Cases

Value dfAsymp. Sig.

(2-s ided)

3 cel ls (50.0%) have expec ted count less than 5. Theminimum expec ted count is .74.

a.

Analysis: as shown in the tables below the nature of change adopted and level of education

are negatively associated. These results indicate that there is no statistically significant

relationship between the level of education and nature of change adopted (chi-square with

two degree of freedom = 1.239, p = 0.538).

e d u c a tio n * a d o p te d a d v a n c e d te c h n iq u e s in a re a o f wo rk Cro s s ta b u la tio n

Co u n t

4 7 2 4 9

2 5 1 2 6

3 0 3 0

1 0 2 3 1 0 5

b e l o w me t ri c

me tri c to s e n i o r s e c o n d ry

g ra d u a te o r a b o v e

e d u c a t i o n

T o ta l

y e s n o

a d o p te d a d v a n c e dte c h n i q u e s i n a re a o f

wo rk

T o ta l

Analysis: There were 49 respondents having education level below metric and 47 of them

said that they have adopted advanced techniques in area of work. The next level consisted of

26 respondents and 25 of them said they adopted new techniques, only one denied.


Hypothesis:

4. Similar type of media cannot be suitable for all kind of villages.

Following charts are showing the most credible source of information, according to the

respondents, at villages according to the nature of the village.

Rural village

friends colleagues media panchayat TotalValid

1210 9

4

35

most credible source of information

At rural village majority of the respondents considered friends as most credible source of

information. Out of 35 respondents 10 considered colleagues as most credible source of

information.


none t.v. newspaper TotalValid

26

7

2

35


Majority of those who said, media is the primary source of information, ranked TV most

credible type of media.

Semi-urban village

friends colleagues media panchayat others TotalValid

96

16

31

35

most credible source of information Frequency

At semi-urban village majority of the respondents considered media as most credible source

of information. Out of 35 respondents 7 considered friends most credible.



19

14

2

35


Here also the most credible type of media is television and out of 16, who regarded media as

most credible source of information, 14 said TV is the most credible type of media.

Urban village

friends colleagues media TotalValid

74

24

35

most credible source of information Frequency

At urban village majority of the respondents considered media as most credible source of

information.



10

5

20

35


Those who said that media is the most credible source of information, ranked newspaper as

the most credible type of media.

Analysis: It was found that at different type of village setting different type of media and

different channel of communication is suitable. For instance at rural village only 9

respondents considered media as most credible source of information and only two

respondents ranked newspaper more credible than other media while at urban village 24

respondents regarded media most credible source of information and 20 respondents

regarded newspaper as most credible source of information. Thus it is evident that the level

of acceptance of different media is different at different geographical settings, i.e. at rural,

urban and semi-urban levels. Hence the hypothesis is proved.


Hypothesis:

5. The flow of communication varies at different levels at different type of villages.

Communication flows according to the situation and with respect to the type of village. For

instance at interpersonal level people make decision through discussions with family

members or on the basis of information provided by media, depending on the nature of

village they are living in and on the level they are communicating. For instance when

respondents from different type of villages were asked how they form opinion about a

political group the results shows that there is variation in the responses with respect to the

nature of the village. The following charts show this variation and hence the hypothesis is

proved.

Rural village:

by th

e in

form

ation

pro

vide

d by

med

ia

thro

ugh

disc

ussio

ns w

ith fa

mily

and

fr

iend

s

Tota

l

Valid

3

32 35form opinion about a political group

At rural village majority of the respondents said that they form opinion about a political

group through discussions with family and friends. Out of the total 35 respondents 32 said

they form opinion about a political group through discussions with family and friends.


Semi-urban village:

by th

e in

form

ation

pro

vide

d by

med

ia

thro

ugh

disc

ussio

ns w

ith fa

mily

and

fr

iend

s

Tota

l

Valid

11

24

35form opinion about a political group Frequency

At semi-urban village majority of the respondents said that they form opinion about a

political group through discussions with family and friends. Out of the total 35 respondents

24 said they form opinion about a political group through discussions with family and

friends. 11 said they form opinion by the information provided by media.


Urban village:

by th

e in

form

ation

pro

vide

d by

med

ia

thro

ugh

disc

ussio

ns w

ith fa

mily

and

fr

iend

s

Tota

l

Valid

23

12

35form opinion about a political group Frequency

At urban village the results were totally different as 23 respondents said they form opinion

by the information provided by the media. 12 respondents said through discussions with

family and friends they form opinion about a political group.


Hypothesis:

6. Television is the most popular medium regardless of geographical settings.

At villages, it was found that irrespective of the geographical settings TV is the most popular

medium and it has the capacity to modify the behaviours and attitudes of the people. The

tables below show the responses from the respondents about primary change agent

responsible for the change in behaviour of the people. Hence the hypothesis is proved.

Rural village:

none t.v. TotalValid

10

25

35

what is primary change agent for change in behaviour of people

At rural village 25 of the respondents regarded TV as the primary change agent for the

changes in the behaviour of the people. They agreed that it has immense power of attraction

and attention capturing.


Semi-urban village:


4

29

2

35


At semi-urban village 29 of the respondents accepted television as the primary change agent

for the changes in behaviour of people. There were two respondents only who said that

newspaper is the change agent for the changes


Urban village:

t.v. newspaper TotalValid

34

1

35


At urban village all the respondents, except one, said that TV is the primary change agent for

the changes in the behaviour of the people. One respondent said it was newspaper who is

primary change agent. Overall out of the total 105 respondent at all three villages, 91 said it

is media who is the primary change agent for the behaviour of people as the table shown

below.

none friend colleague media panchayat others TotalValid

1 3 3

91

3 4

105



CONCLUSION

From the analysis and comparison of data collected from the rural, urban and semi-

urban villages and the acceptance of hypothesis which had also been proven, it can be

concluded that media did act as an agent of change at villages. The change brought about by

it was in all the sectors but the degree varied.

When compared to each other, there was a difference in the perceptions of the

respondents from all three types of villages, regarding the nature and extent to which media

was an agent of change and also in which sector; health, work or cultural. The hypothesis

pertaining to this although had been disapproved but through the analysis of data we can

conclude that although media is not an agent of change at every sector of growth at different

types of villages (rural, urban, Semi-urban) but still results have shown that there is a strong

impact of media on the behaviour of people living at all three type of villages.

In urban village Dhanas, majority of the respondents said that the primary source of

information regarding governmental schemes, policies and programs is media, while at rural

village Naggal, majority of the respondents replied that they receive information regarding

governmental schemes, policies and programs primarily from panchayat. There is apparent

difference between the responses due to the nature of the village. Dhanas enjoys more access

of media and majority of the respondents agreed that they have high access to media like

news papers, internet etc, for instance at this urban village from all 35 respondents 34 had

subscription to newspapers. Whereas at Naggal and Seran, media penetration is less and

there were none of the respondents at Naggal and only five of the respondents at Seran said

that they have newspaper subscription. At the urban village Dhanas, more than 50 percent of

the resident had internet connection whereas at rural and semi-urban villages none of the

respondents had internet connection. Through these data it can be concluded that the access

of media is certainly much better at urban villages and at rural villages it is very less.

There are some more interesting findings which were revealed during the study. For

instance the level of confidence among people at rural and semi-urban villages is very less as


compared to the people living in urban villages. While talking to the respondents the

researcher noticed that at rural and semi-urban villages people had least willingness and

many of the respondents initially wished to escape. Also the gender determines the level of

confidence at rural and urban villages, up to a great extent; this is evident if we compare the

gender of the respondents. At rural and semi-urban villages, females were least interested in

being respondent. They either denied to respond, or called in male member of the family to

respond. At rural village 28 of the respondents were male and only seven were females,

whereas at semi-urban village 26 of the respondents were male and only nine were females.

At the urban village 25 of the respondents were male and 10 were females, also the level of

confidence among females at urban village was higher than that of females at rural and semi-

urban village.

It can also be concluded that the age of respondents at villages also affect their

credibility in different type of sources of information. For instance 31 of the total 105

respondents belonged to the age group of 30 to 40 years and out of them 18 said that media is

most credible source of information for them, whereas 25 of the respondents belonged to the

age group of 40-50 years and out of them only 12 respondents said that the media is most

credible source of information.

Thus the perceptions and opinions of the respondents differ according to the nature of

the village they were living in, age group they belong to and access to media. It can also be

concluded that the nature of village also determine the level of education of the respondents

belonging to a particular type of village. For instance, at rural village 27 of the respondents

had educational qualifications below matriculation and rest of the eight respondents had

qualifications between matriculation and senior secondary, at semi-urban village there were

18 respondents who had qualifications below matriculation and 13 of them had education

level between matriculation and senior secondary, rest of four were graduates or above. At

urban village the level of education was higher. Only four of the 35 respondents were below

matriculation and five of them were between matriculation and senior secondary and

majority of the respondents i.e. 26 of them were graduates and above. There is a clear

difference between the education levels at different type of villages.


It can also be concluded that people living at villages wish to have more access to

media and they also have this opinion that media should have more access at villages and

there must be more types of media available like internet, newspapers, and magazine etc.

This study showed the media as playing much more progressive role in the rural

areas. It has brought in positive changes among people at rural areas and they are now more

exposed to the world due to the media efforts. People have their attitudes changed for

developmental and educational programs. It can also be concluded that it is the media which

brings in positive changed in the behaviour of people and plays the role of an agent of

change in rural areas. This study also showed that there are different channels of

communication working at different levels at villages. Schemes, policies and programs

should be promoted using these channels for most effective communication. Also the level of

education determines the type of media consumption thus the education level of the target

audience must be taken care of. This study also showed that regardless of geographical

settings TV is the most popular medium of information, thus TV can be used for better

communication at villages for the promotion of governmental programs and policies.


ANNEXURE

1. Bibliography

2. Questionnaire


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Malhan, P. N. (1977) “Radio and television: change agents in rural areas”. Dec

8-20, (available at - http://hdl.handle.net/10220/284)

Cassirer R. Henry. “Rural Development and the Flow of Communication”.

(International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems (49), A

UNESCO document).

Bostian, Lloyd R. (1974). “Mass Communication Differences between Urban,

Suburban and Rural Areas: Cross-cultural Comparisons”.

Ramachandran Rajeswari, Jaggarajamma K, Muniyandi M, Balasubramanian

Rani. (2006). “Identifying effective communication channels in a rural Community: a

field report from south India”.

Annual Report, (2008-09). Department of School Education and Literacy &

Department of Higher Education Ministry of Human Resource Development

Government of India

Bhatnagar, Gurnam S.; Singh, Raghu N. (August 1972) “The two step flow of

communication in rural India”. Paper prepared for third world congress of rural

sociology, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

http://www.google.com

http://ijoc.org

http://gaz.sagepub.com

http://gaz.sagepub.com/

http://ijoc.org/

http://www.google.com/

http://hdl.handle.net/10220/284


QUESTIONNAIRE

DETAILS OF THE RESPONDENT:-

Age – _______________________

Sex – □ Male □ Female

Educational Qualifications – _______________________ Occupation – _______________________ Monthly Income – _______________________

Marital Status – □ Married □ Unmarried

1. Do you subscribe to news paper?

Yes No

2. Do you own television?

Yes No

3. If yes please specify the connection?

Cable Dish None

4. Do you listen to radio?

Yes No

5. Do you have internet connection?

Yes No

6. Are there any changes in cultural traditions like marriage practices, customs or festivals etc.

occurred during recent past?

Yes No

7. If yes, what according to you is the primary agent for this change?

Government officials


Panchayat

Media (□ TV, □ Radio, □ Newspaper, □ Magazine, □ Internet)

Neighbors

Others

8. Which source of information you perceive to be most credible?

Friends

Colleagues (fellow farmers)


Panchayats

Others

9. Are there any changes in medication or treatment of diseases during recent past?

Yes No

10. If yes, what is the primary change agent for these changes?


Panchayat


Neighbors

Others

11. Through which source you get information about new policies and programmes of the

government?

Panchayat



Neighbors

Others


12. Did you adopt any new techniques introduced in your area of work? (E.g. agriculture, business or

service etc.)

Yes No

13. If yes, who motivated you to adopt these techniques?

Panchayat



Neighbors

Others

14. What source you use to verify information before making decisions?

Friends



Panchayats

others

15. Which source of information is most convenient to access?

Friends



Panchayats

Others

16. Do media help you making decision, by providing relevant information, in your daily life?

Yes No


17. How do you form opinion about a political group?

By the information provided by media

Through discussions with family and friends

Through the canvassing by parties

18. Do you think there is a change in the behavior of people during recent times?

Yes

No

19. If there is some change, who is primarily responsible for it?

Friends



Panchayats

Others

20. Do you think media should have more access to the people?

Yes

No