El principio de Recuperación de Costes

Various criticisms have been levelled against the effective functioning of the mass media. Their view is that media cannot just be seen as having positive contributions to the society but that it also hinders development in many ways. For instance, Herbert Schiller (1976), Michel Foucault (1980) and Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky (1988) have criticised the mass media’s failure in their responsibilities to inform and engage the society in contrast to the views of Schramm (1964) and other media scholars about the effectiveness of the media. . Also, in his owm criticism, Herbert Schiller (1976) refers to the concept of cultural imperialism, which has also been supported by scholars like Ogan (1988), Sui-Nam Lee (1988) and Tom McPhail (2009) as they wrote on electronic colonialism and the dependency relationship established by the importation of communication resources from the western world.In addition, Herman

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and Chomsky (1988), Cromwell (2000) and Ian Hacking (2004) are of the view that, contrary to the general belief that the media functions effectively to inform, educate and entertain, it at times fails to fulfil these aims. Most of their views rest on Foucault’s (1980) argument on the role of surveillance mechanisms in society. Foucault questions the legitimacy of the media for being daubed by interference from government and other corporate surveillances, which is a form of censorship that hinders participation of the masses in their own development.

Looking at the four theories of the press and its analysis, I want to agree with McQuail McQuail (2000) when he notes that the pressures of commercialisation have made the contemporary mass media to fail in their responsibilities to inform the society and fulfil its normative role. This is obviously the case with public broadcasters like the South African Broadcasting Corporation and other related media houses. Some other theories of mass communication put forward on the role of the media in society have also been criticised as well. For instance, libertarian theory expects the media to present the truth, act as a public ‘watchdog’ over government activities, with the media generally seen as an agent of information and debate (Curran, 2000; Kanyegirire, 2002). The media is seen here as being able to provide a platform for communication and debate between the government and the governed and also functioning as the voice of the people.

However, critiques believe that the government controls the content of the media, which affects the effective functioning of the media.

Linked to the above, the media is also expected in this context to “facilitate expression, information and participation in debates for the functioning of a democratic society”

(Curran, 2000: 27; Kanyegirire, 2002: 7). However, as noted by McQuail (2000) and in contrast to these views, the Frankfurt School noted that the media serves as a distraction from reality and change in the society. For instance, Stuart Hall (1982) argued vehemently that the mass media cannot just be seen as positive contributors to societal development but that it actually has a powerful influence to prevent necessary change in the society. Literature in cultural studies have also stressed that the media constructs and reproduces values, ideology and meanings that originates from and fulfil

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the agenda of the ruling elite (Schudson, 2000; Hall, 1982). MakO’chieng (2000) citing the works of Siebert et al (1956) while writing on the ‘Making of an African Public Sphere’ notes the weaknesses and criticisms of the media and the four theories of the press. His normative media analysis from Siebert et al’s views suggests the rejection or reformulation of these theories. Other critiques such as Curran (2000), Gurevitch and Blumer (1990) and MakO’chieng (2000) are of the view these normative theories are unrealizable and that they can be placed within a liberal pluralist approach. Their views include the criticisms that these theories encourage ethnocentrism and also propounding American system as the model for democracy (MakO’chieng, 2000). It must however be noted that the social responsibility theory is not categories along the line of libertarian or authoritarian theories. Although, the theory is still categorised within the liberal practices, the social responsibility theory has indeed benefitted from the various criticisms of the libertarian theories, which has led to the theory being reformed accordingly. The functioning of this theory is seen as mere obligations in the social-responsibility framework (MakO’chieng, 2000: 65). In response to the supposed failure of the normative theories by critiques, McQuail (2000) notes that the development media theory and democratic-participant theory as being more suitable to ensure a participatory society where citizens are able to contribute to developmental processes.

McQuail also sees this as a response to UNESCO’s McBride Commission on Third World Communication. The normative positioning of the media is therefore to ensure development (McQuail, 2000).

2.2.1 THE ROLE OF MASS MEDIA AS A CATALYST FOR DEVELOPMENT

Having discussed the criticisms against the media, it is also important to highlight the important role of the media as a catalyst for development. While these views by the critiques are true to some extent, the positive contributions of the media particularly in emerging democracies far outweigh these criticisms. This is the premise of this study.

I want to argue from the onset in this discussion that the role of mass media in facilitating development cannot be over-emphasised as the media usually provide the

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needed platform for a well-informed populace and also act as a catalyst of development.

It should be assumed that people desire progress and positive developments in their lives and would not want to remain stagnant or unproductive. Radio therefore contributes a form of development to the people. This is also attested to by media scholars Ziegler and Asante (1992) and Bonin & Opoku-Mensah (1998) who argue that radio is an important tool for development. They further defined national (or social) development as an ongoing process that should afford any government the opportunity to meet the basic human needs of the majority of the people of a nation. This suggests that government activities and development plans are usually supported and strengthened by the participation of a properly informed and competent public. In addition, Marchant (1988: 24) states that “development takes place when there is an overall improvement in people’s living conditions”.

I want to point that despite the various criticisms put forward against the role of the media in the society, numerous scholarly texts have documented the role that the media and specifically community radio plays in helping people and communities at large to achieve common development such as the alleviation of poverty, malnutrition and other health problems, unemployment, illiteracy, promoting a stable economy and generally improving the lives of the masses (Rodney, 1972; Libiero, 1993; Olorunnisola, 2000;

Raufu, 2003; Rodriguez & Amparo, 2007; Murillo, 2009; Manyozo, Nassanga & Lopes, 2012). This therefore points to the important role of the media as agents of change and development. However, De Beer (1993), Oosthuizen (2001) and Moyo (2010) note that the government as the sole innovator of change in the community and country at large cannot achieve this alone. They assert the vital role of mass media (in this case community radio) as an agent of change and development. In addition, Teer-Tomaselli and De Villiers (1998), Bosch (2003) and Mhlanga (2010) also observe that community radio stations have a role to play in involving people at the grassroots level in national and community development as they are given opportunities to participate in their own development.

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Research has continuously shown globally that radio is very essential for disseminating development messages to the people. For instance, MacBride (1980), Teer-Tomaselli (1995), Masilela (1996), Marchant (1998), Jankowski & Prehn (2002), Banda and Fourie (2004), Alumuku (2006), Myers (2008), Moyo (2010) and Jallov (2012) have conducted research on the valuable role of the media in development processes. They all noted that the media, especially community radio stations, usually act as a link between government and citizens as the government tries to bring about the necessary development and provide basic services for its citizens. Significantly, Bosch (2003) and Manyozo (2012) emphasise that such developments can only take place when there is adequate and effective communication at all levels, thus stressing the valuable roles of community radio stations in getting their listeners engaged in meaningful discussions, which in turns facilitates change at all levels.

The advent of community radio in South Africa is reflected by a number of success stories as well as problematised by some failures across the South Africa, as community radio stations have in many ways ensured aspects of the development of the communities, improved service delivery and facilitated empowerment of the people (Olorunnisola, 2000). It should be noted that effective communication takes place specifically when the message is received by the receiver as intended by the sender, and when the communication channel through which it is received also provides opportunity for feedback, hence underlining the nature of communication as a two-way and interactive process. As noted by Kanyegirire (2002), this also means that both

‘access’ to and ‘participation in’ the communication process are important for effective communication to take place. The above discussions suggest that success stories of the media as catalyst for development in our society, are particularly evident when media outlets are able to provide listeners with platforms to interact among themselves as well as with policy makers to deliberate on real community development issues that affect them.

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