Communication
for development (C4D)
Communication for Development (C4D)
is a praxis oriented aspect of global communication studies that approaches global
development with a focus on action and participation for social change enacted
through communication systems. C4D underlines "voice, citizenship and
collective action" as central values that promote citizen-led development
where the visiting party provides guidance rather than direction within the
host community.C4D often incorporates bottom-up theories of social change with
the aim to create sustainable change which is believed to be more likely to
occur if the efforts are planned, implemented, and sustained by community
members themselves. Some development workers and academics suggest that a
shared definition of communication for development should be clarified, because
disagreement within the field can detract from the characteristics that most
scholars view as central to current development, including participatory action researchMany C4D projects
revolve around media systems as a central site for social change, which
differentiates C4D from other approaches to development. Theories behind C4D
highlight that development projects should be contextually situated and that
communication technology will affect different types of social change
accordingly.
Global
media studies
Global media studies is a field of
media study in a global scope. Media study deals with the content, history and
effects of medias. Media study often draws on theories and methods from the
disciplines of culture studies, rhetoric, philosophy, communication studies,
feminist theory, political economy and sociology. Among these study approaches,
political economic analysis is non-ignorable in understanding the current media
and communication developments. But the political economic research has become
more resilient because of stronger empirical studies, and the potential
connections to policy making and alternative praxis.
Each country has its own media
feature because of various conditions of a country. The media of mainland China
is state-run, so the political subjects are under the strict regulations set by
the government while other areas such as sports, finance, and increasingly
lucrative entertainment industry face less regulation from government. Canada
has a well-developed media sector, but the mass media in Canada is threatened
by the direct outcome of American economic and cultural imperialism which
hinder the form of Canada’s media identity.Many of the media in America are
controlled by large for-profit corporations who reap revenues from
advertisings, subscriptions and the sale of copyrighted materials. Currently,
six corporations (Comcast, The Walt Disney Company, News Corporation, Time
Warner, Viacom and CBS Corporation) have controlled roughly 90% of the America
media Such successes come from the policies of the federal government or the
tendency to natural monopolies in the industry.
