Africa Media Revi, w Vol. 1. No. I. 1966 
>African Council on Communication Education. 
Formulating Comprehensive National 
Communication Policy forl 
Development in African Countries: 
>y S.T. Kwame Boafo 
lbs tract 
A Framework 
lis article deals with the issue of communication policy-making as a 
Itrategy for development in Sub-Saharan African countries. The author 
lontends that the impact of communication systems and strategies on 
development efforts in Africa would only be minimal until African policylakers 
and planners undertake more serious efforts to incorporate 
[ommunication strategies and information utilization in overall national 
Hevelopment policies and programmes. The article discusses the 
lignificance of communication policies in national development, critically 
knalyses current approaches to communication policy-making in African 
countries and suggests an outline for a comprehensive approach to 
national communication policies in Africa.- 
te'sume' 
Cet article traite de la question I'utilisation d'une politique de la comnunication 
comme strategic de developpement en Afrique sub-sahariehne. 
,/auteur affirme que l'impact des systemes et des strategies de communication 
;ur les efforts de developpement send tres faible jusqu'au moment ou les 
iecideurs et les planificateurs africains prendront des efforts serieux en vue 
1'incorporer les strategies de communication et I'utilisation de l'infonnation 
lans l'ensemble des politique et programmes de developpement. 
L'article remet en cause l'importance des politiques nationales de comnunication 
pour le dfcveloppement; analyse de maniere critique les approches 
tctuelles en matiere de politique de la communication dans les pays africain, 
mis suggere une approche globale pour l'61aboration des politiques nationales 
le communication en Afrique. 
\S.T. Kwame Boafo is Lecturer at The School of Communication Studies, University of 
ihana, Legon. 
35
Introduction: 
The international communication scene during the 1950's and the 
1960's was characterized by euphoria over the functions and impact of 
communication systems and resources in developing the newly emerging 
nations of the Third World. Communication was expected to play a 
significant role in bringing about a rapid transformation of the nations in 
Africa and elsewhere in the developing world which achieved their 
political independence after the Second World War. Communication 
media and resources were seen as tools for social change and it was 
anticipated that development and "modernization" in the "backward" 
societies of the South would be concomitant with transfer and utilization 
of communication and other technologies from the North and with 
diffusion of innovation and messages through available communication 
systems. Communication was, indeed, assumed to be "the key that opens 
the door to change".1 
The decades of the 1970's and early 1980's have witnessed a gradual 
dissipation of much of the euphoria which marked early conceptualizations 
about communication and social change. Numerous "mass media and 
modernization" studies conducted in Latin America, Asia, the Middle East 
and Africa yielded empirical evidence which indicated that message 
transfer (or innovation-diffusion) by itself could not adequately effect 
development. Genuine development in most Third World societies would 
require fundamental changes in the political, economic and social 
structures both at the international and national levels.2 Communication 
resources per se would have only a minimal impact on development 
efforts in Africa and elsewhere, if development facilitators and resources 
do not accompany information provision and if communication systems 
and facilities are not well integrated into overall national development 
policies, plans and goals. 
This paper discusses the issue of communication policy-making as a 
strategy for development in Sub-Saharan countries. It presents a 
definitinal analysis and rationale and examines current approaches to 
communication policy in African countries, south of the Sahara, then suggests 
a framework for comprehensive national communication policy in 
these countries. 
Communication Policy: Definitional Analysis and Rationale: 
Since the early 1970's it has been increasingly recognized by 
communication scholars, communication practitioners and policy-makers 
36
alike that the challenges and complex problems which society faces from 
communication technologies need to be handled coherently and 
systematically through policy-making and planning. The growing 
recognition of the need for and crucial significance of communication 
policies in planning for development is partly reflected in the steadily 
accumulating work on the issue in international communication 
literature. This subject has attracted the attention of many scholars of 
communication systems, especially of communication systems in Third 
World societies.3 
Also reflective of the growing recognition of the importance of 
communication policy is the organization of international discussions and 
workshops on national communication policies and of regional intergovernmental 
conferences on communication policies under the auspices 
of UNESCO and other international agencies. Such conferences have 
been organized in Asia, Latin America, the Carribean and Africa.4 
A common element links most of the writings, discussions and 
workshops: that as much as other sectors of a country's life can be 
subjected to extensively deliberated policy formulation and implementation 
to guide development, so also can communication resources, 
activities and technologies of a nation be amenable to systematic policies 
and careful planning. 
Communication policies have been defined as a set of "principles and 
norms established to guide the behaviour of communication systems. 
Their orientation is fundamental and long-range, although they have 
implications of short-range significance. They are shaped in the context of 
society's general approach to communication."5 A national 
communication policy enunciates the goals, objectives and functions of 
communication systems and aims at dovetailing these with the overall 
socio-economic, political and cultural development goals of the society. It 
is carried out within the national environment and shaped by the socioeconomic, 
cultural and political climate of the society. Alan Hancock has 
observed that a national communication policy determines the context 
and objective of communication planning; planning articulates and 
embodies policies.6 
In essence, the principal purpose of a national communication policy 
is to provide a favourable framework within which communication 
systems and technologies can be developed and utilized in a coordinated, 
consistent and systematic manner for the benefit of society. It provides a 
way of preparing society to deal effectively and systematically with the 
complex problems and issues generated by developments in 
37
communication technology at both the national and the international 
levels. A UNESCO-sponsored meeting of experts on communication 
policies and planning in 1972 noted: 
To master the impact of modern communication technology, to make 
the fullest use of the potential of communication for the benefit of 
society and the satisfaction of personal needs, to give a wide scope to 
the creative expression of the human mind, that is the challenge which 
can only be met through deliberate communication policies and 
through careful communication planning.7 
Noreene Janus observed that "a comprehensive national policy that 
integrates and rationalizes the various communication activities is 
essential if the nation is to deal successfully with their development 
problems and confront the monopoly control over information exercised 
at the international level by the industrialized countries."8 Such a 
coordinated and comprehensive handling mechanism enables a nation to 
develop and strengthen its own communication systems and to safeguard 
its indigenous cultures against the constant intrusion, through 
information channels, of undesirable alien cultural values and traits. Altaf 
Gauhar seems to agree with this point when be remarks that a "weak and 
suppressed information system invites foreign cultural infiltration."9 
A clearly articulated and well-defined communication policy also 
offers a rational basis for planning the development of communication 
infrastructure as well as for an equitable and efficient utilization of 
existing communication resources and facilities to meet a nation's 
development goals. Participants in the Intergovernmental Conference 
on Communication Policies in Africa held in Yaounde, Cameroon, in July 
1980, underlined the need for communication policies in national 
development and recommended that each African country formulate and 
implement a national communication policy. A3 the conference report 
puts it, "in the absence of an overall communication policy, the various 
sectors and activities of communication in Africa are seldom coordinated 
and often at variance with national development goals."10 The Yaounde 
conference suggested a number of guidelines for communication policy 
formulation and planning in African countries. These include:11 
1. Communication needs to be recognized as essential to economic, 
social, education and cultural development. 
2. Such reiA gnitiOn would entitle communication to its rightful place 
in overall national development plans alongside other vital sectors of 
many important ways while being a developmental sector in its own 
right. 
38
3. Communication's ultimate goal should be seen as the betterment of 
man, not only as an economic and social unit, but as a cultural entity 
and with the potential for contributing in many ways to the enrichment 
of the community of which he is a part. To reach that potential, 
he needs to be informed and educated and given opportunity to participate 
fully in socio-cultural activities, including communication 
itself. 
4. Such participation would only be possible if he is provided with the 
necessary facilities such as access to communication media, the right 
to self-expression and the right to make his opinions known. 
A 1972 meeting on communication policies and planning observed 
that a comprehensive and holistic view of the many diverse components of 
a nation's communication system and activities and a projection into "the 
future against the needs of society and the individual, are worth the effort, 
vital and urgent."12 
Current Approaches to Communication Policy in Africa: 
No African country has, to date, evolved or implemented a 
comprehensive, integrated and holistic communication policy. The 
general approach to communication policy in Africa has been partial and 
based on component-by-component consideration. Different kinds of 
explicit and implicit communication policies have been drawn up or 
verbally pronounced to govern and regulate the operations and 
"behaviour" of various communication components in such countries as 
Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zaire and others.13 
Each African country, South of the Sahara, has separate sets of 
regulations and guidelines on the print media, the electronic media, film, 
news agency, telecommunications, communication training and 
government information. Communication policies in African countries 
are often embodied in speeches of national leaders, government official 
pronouncements and directives, decrees, legislation, and in some 
instances enshrined in national constitutions. Existing policies relate, 
inter alia, to the perceived functions of communication systems in the 
society, "press freedom responsibilities/'telecommunication services, the 
management of the predominantly state-owned national mass media 
(especially ! adio and television stations) and to the importation and 
distributior of communication materials, books and films. 
A criti< al analysis of existing policies on communication systems in 
African cc antries indicates a number of disquieting elements. First, many 
39
of the policies made through official directives, legislations, decrees or 
through pronouncements of national leaders do not seem to have been 
based on any comprehensive research and analysis of communication 
systems in the countries. No systematically gathered data on the 
implications, possible manifest and latent long-term impact of communication 
policies on the social fabric or on development of communication 
systems underlie much of the policy-making process in many of these countries. 
Very often communication policies and regulations seem to have been 
hurriedly drawn up or announced as a reaction to some events or response 
to one problem or another generated by a particular use of communication 
technology in the society. The general approach to communication 
policies and regulations in Africa is piecemeal, compartmentalized and 
sometimes conflicting with professed goals of society. 
Secondly, many communication policies in the region do not seem to 
have emanated or resulted from extensive deliberations and broad 
consultation with individuals and agencies expected to implement the 
policies, or who, in one way or the other, may be affected by the policies. 
There is high centralization and concentration of communication policy 
and regulation-making capacity among a few government officials and 
national leaders. Participation of individuals and institutions in 
discussions over what kinds of policies to draw up or how the policies 
should be implemented in each African country is often minor and 
superficial. 
Thirdly, very often, the professed general policies in African countries 
of harnessing available communication systems, expecially the mass 
media, for national socio-economic, cultural and political development 
have, in reality, been translated into using available communication 
facilities to project the image, policies, ideology and programmes of the 
government of the day. Simultaneously, attempts are made to suppress 
criticisms of government policies and programmes and expression of 
diverse views and opinions on national issues. There are numerous 
instances when communication facilities, power and channels in most 
African countries have been consciously utilized by the ruling elite, in the 
words of Twumasi, "as instruments for building personality cults, an 
enterprise which does not necessarily promote development."14 
Moreover, although in their speeches and pronouncements national 
leaders and government officials in Africa make reference to the 
significance of communication systems in the nation's development, little 
efforts have been made by political leaders and planners of national 
development programmes to incorporate communication strategies and 
processes into national development planning. Most 10-year or 5-year 
40
development plans in African countries give only minimal or no 
attention to communication systems. Information utilization is yet to be 
recognized as a priority area in development planning. Among national 
policy and decision makers there seems to be low awareness of the need for a 
comprehensive policy to incorporate communication processes and 
strategies and utilization of information in planning for development.15 
Communication and telecommunications systems in most African 
countries largely serve the needs of the 25 per cent of the people who live 
in the urban centres while neglecting those of 75 per cent who live in the 
rural areas. Africa's communication and telecommunications infrastructure 
is predominantly marked by high centralization and 
concentration in the few urbanized areas, inadequate communication 
facilities and resources and limited accessibility to available facilities for 
most people living in the rural areas. On the whole, modern communication 
technology in African countries provides service mainly to the rich - 
the political, administrative, military and business elite and to multinational 
corporations and their local affiliates. 
These dominant characteristics of the communication and 
telecommunications infrastructure, coupled with the essentially 
synchronic communication patterns and processes in African societies, 
hinder'the effective participation of the population in discussing and 
making decisions on significant national issues. The gaps and disparities 
in the distribution of communication facilities and systems are 
detrimental for national development since they could create, among 
people cut off from the .nainstream of information flow, severe 
disagreement or ignorance of national development objectives and 
strategies. Such conditions can frustrate or retard development efforts in 
the continent.16 Yet policies have not been systematically evolved or 
consistently implemented in most African countries to develop communication 
and telecommunication facilities in the rural areas or to 
decentralize and transform the existing system into one which will better 
serve the entire population. 
Further, oral and traditional communication methods such as 
interpersonal networks, drama or folk theatres, drums, games, linguists 
and towncriers predominantly feature in the communication 
environment of African rural communities.17 The bulk of the population 
living in rural areas depend extensively on those traditional media rather 
than on modern technologies for information transmission and reception. 
Nevertheless, hardly any policies have been devised in any African 
country to systematically integrate the traditional with the modern 
communication and telecommunications systems or to consciously use 
41
and encourage sustained utilization of the widespread traditional 
communication media for Africa's development. 
National Communication Policy: 
A Comprehensive Approach: 
Thus far, this paper has presented a definitional analysis of and a rationale 
for a national communication policy in Sub-Saharan African 
countries. It has also examined current approaches to communication 
policies in countries in the region and discussed several factors which 
vitiate those policies and limit their adequacy for national development. We 
will now discuss an approach For formulating a more comprehensive, 
coordinated and coherent national communication policy in African 
countries. 
A strategy for formulating and implementing a national 
communication policy in each African country requires, first, the establishment 
of a communication policy-making structure. This structure may be 
composed of an overall body, such as a national council on communication 
policy, under which may be several committees or sub-committees which 
will deal with different aspects of the policy. Membership of the policymaking 
structure should be inter-ministerial, inter-sectoral, broadly-based 
and representative of all sections of the society. 
A national communication policy council would undertake all the steps 
required for formulating and implementing a national communication 
policy which will be compatible with the socio-economic and political 
context of the country and respond to its development needs. The council 
would undertake broad consultations on the policy to be formulated, 
commission policy research and analysis, identify policy issues and suggest 
policy measures as well as monitor the implementation of the policy. Other 
functions of the council would be: 
(a) To sponsor and support national and regional research efforts in developing 
communication technologies at the local levels; 
(b) To promote, plan and coordinate assessment of new communication 
(c) To promote, support, coordinate and provide guidelines for communi- 
(d) To develop ways of ensuring adequate manpower, financial and 
(e) To streamline communication activities in various sectors in order to 
technology which is to be introduced; 
cation education and training; 
technical input into the communication systems; 
avoid duplication of resources and efforts.18 
42
The creation of a national body on communication policy is a necessary 
step in the systematic evolution of a comprehensive national communication 
policy in African countries. 
A communication policy council would provide a forum for discussion, 
research, could identify priority areas and key positions and could clear 
the way for eventual implementation. Such a council would likely be 
the first opportunity for a meeting of minds among all concerned as well 
as for the gathering of information from the many fields.19 
v A national council on communication policy, if established, would need 
to be given the necessary political support, financial and technical 
resources as well as some amount of legal authority to function effectively. 
The.strategy for formulating a comprehensive national communication 
policy in Africa requires a survey of existing communication infrastructure 
and an inventory of regulations governing communication and 
telecommunications systems and of all international agreements relating to 
information and communication to which the country is a signatory. Also 
required is an inventory of the financial, human and physical resources 
involved in communication and telecommunications in each country. The 
knowledge acquired from the survey and inventory will be needed to guide 
the policy-making process. 
A national communication policy formulated in each African country 
would specify measures which would aim at: 
(a) Adapting both imported communication technologies and traditional 
media to the peculiar development needs and goals and cultural values 
of the society; 
(b) Encouraging the growth and development of a more decentralized and 
participatory communication systems in the country; 
(c) Effecting greater geographical spread in the distribution of communication 
and telecommunications facilities; 
(d) Generating a national recognition of information as a prime national 
resource to be produced, processed, managed and distributed for the 
benefit of the entire population; and 
(e) Making communication strategies and processes integral components 
of "all socio-economic, political and cultural development 
programmes in the country. 
A national communication policy in Sub-Saharan African countries 
needs to spell out clearly ano comprehensively the roles, social functions 
and goals of communication and telecommunications systems in the 
society. These would include: 
1. To support national socio-economic and cultural development efforts 
and to facilitate popular participation in decision-making on national 
issues. 
43
2. To facilitate acces to information on social, economic and political 
issues of public importance. 
3. To pursue the public's right to know about significant events in their 
environment which affect their life. 
4. To provide a diversity of opinions and viewpoints on national issues. 
5. To foster national unity and consciousness. 
6. To safeguard the sovereignty of the nation. 
Communication technology processes and strategies are vital components 
in attaining such development goals in African countries as increased 
agricultural production, increased industrial output, increased literacy 
levels, better health among the population and political stability and 
credibility in national leaders. Thus it is important to integrate any national 
communication formulated in Africa into the economic, political, cultural 
and educational goals of the society. Such a policy must both be based on 
and aim at preserving nationally recognized fundamental values which 
underline the socio-cultural life of the people in each African country. 
Information has become a powerful intrument in international trade 
and diplomacy and also an important tool for cultural domination. 
Communication technology such as the telephone, telex and satellites are 
employed in virtually all African countries to transmit and receive 
information across national borders. Transnational corporations and their 
local affiliates, banks, oil companies and airlines carry out their daily 
operations in many African countries mainly through information flows. 
Also African countries are signatories to a number of international 
agreements which, in many ways, relate to information and 
communication. African countries have formed such continent-wide 
organizations as the Pan African News Agency, the Pan-African 
Telecommunications Network, the Union of Radio and Television 
Networks in Africa and the Pan-African Federation of Film Makers. African 
countries also belong to such international groups as the Non-Aligned News 
Agencies Pool, the International Telecommunication Union, UNESCO and 
the Inter-governmental Bureau for Informatics, all of which deal with 
communication and information. 
Thus, any comprehensive national communication policy formulated in 
Africa must have an international dimension. It must seek to support and 
maintain the positive aspects of each country's relationship with all 
international agencies which work in information and communication; it 
must seek to further cooperative efforts in communication and telecommunications 
among nations in the Africa region in particular and in the 
Third World in general; and it must seek to support and encourage regional 
collaborative research efforts to develop communication technology in 
44
Africa to meet local needs and conditions, and to reduce the continents's 
dependence on imported communication hardware and software. 
To be comprehensive and overall, a national communication policy 
should encompass all components of communication systems. It must 
cover the print media, radio and television broadcasting, film, news agency, 
telecommunication services, traditional media, and new communication 
technology such as videocassette recorders. It must also deal with 
communication education, training and research, informatics and 
transborder data flow as well as with advertising and public relations. A 
national communication policy formulated in Africa should be flexible and 
future-oriented to allow for changes, whenever necessary, to deal with 
problems and issues which future developments in communication 
technology may bring up. 
Conclusion 
Communication and information play an important role in national 
development. They can aid and enhance the process of socio-economic, 
political and cultural change. Most development programmes and activities 
are information-related or information-dependent in one way or another.20 
Communication facilities, systems and processes could be, as Katz has 
remarked, powerful allies of development forces in society.21 
A principal position of this paper is that communication is a crucial 
resource in the development process in Africa. The effectiveness and 
contribution of communication in societal change and development depend 
on the extent to which communication strategies, facilities and processes 
are systematically and consciously integrated into overall planning for 
national development. A prerequisite for such integration is the 
formulation of a comprehensive national communication policy that would 
effect a more equitable development of communication facilities and 
resources in Africa, and facilitate a more effective contribution of 
communication technology to development efforts. 
This paper has attempted to identify certain general factors which have 
to be considered in formulating comprehensive national communication 
policy for development in Africa. A variable that could be most strongly 
determinant of the evolution and implementation of such a policy is 
political will and commitment on the part of national leaders, to initiate and 
sustain the process. As Rosario-Braid has aptly observed, a comprehensive, 
systematic and coherent national communication policy "is going to rock a 
few boats but formulating one is essential in the long run if a society is to 
survive in a world that is being increasingly run by those who control 
communication."22 
45
REFERENCES 
1. Everett M. Rogers, Modernization Among Peasants: The Impact of Communication. 
(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Wiston, 1969) p.9. For a review of the classical 
work and conceptualizations on communication and development, see, for 
example, Daniel Lerner, The Passing of Traditional Society: Modernizing the 
Middle East. (New York: The Free Press, 1958); Lucien Pye, Ed., Communication 
and Political Development. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963); and 
Wilbur Schramm and Daniel Lerner, eds., Communication and Change in the 
Developing Countries: Ten Years After. (Honolulu: East-West Communication 
Centre, 1976). 
2. See, for example Luis R. Beltran, "Alien Premises, Objects and Methods in Latin 
American Communication Research," Communication Research, 3, 1976, pp. 107- 
134; H. Felstehausen, "Conceptual Limits of Development Communication Theory," 
Rural Sociology, 38, 1973, pp. 39-54; Juan Dias Bordenave, Communication and 
Rural Development. (Paris: UNESCO, 1977); and James Grunig, "Communication 
and the Economic Decision-Making Processes of Columbian Peasants," Economic- 
Development and Cultural Change, 19, 1971, pp. 580-597. 
3. See, for example, Herbert Schiller, "The App. arance of National Communication 
Policies: A New Arena lor Sorial Struggle," Gazette, 21, 1975, pp. 82-94; John A-RLee, 
Towards Realistic Communication Policies, Reports and Papers on Mass 
Communication, No. 76. (Paris: Unesco, 1976); MajidTeharanian,et. al. eds., Communications 
Policy for National Development: A Comparative Perspective. 
(London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1977); Raquel Salinas, Communication Policies: 
The Case of Latin America. (Stockholm: Institute of Latin America Studies, 
1978) Cees J. Hamelink, Cultural Autonomy in Global Communications. (New 
York: Longman, 1983); Robert A. White and James M. McDonnell, "Priorities for 
National Communication Policy in the Third World", The Information Society, 2, 
1983, pp. 5-33. 
4. Examples here are, Communication Policy W orkshops, ICODES, Bogota,(Columbia,) 
Feb. 23-28, 1975; Intergovernmental Conference on Communication Policies in Latin 
America and the Carribean, San Jose (Costa Rica), July 12-21,1976; UNESCO, Meeting 
of Experts on Communication Policies and Planning in Asia, Manila (Philippines), 
Oct. 4.8,1976; UNESCO, Intergovernmental Conference on Communication Policies 
in Africa, Yaounde (Cameroun), July 22-31, 1980; the Institute of Social Studies, The 
Hague (Netherlands) organized programmes in communication policy and planning 
for development in the Hague in 1982 and in Nairobi in 1983, 1984 and 1985. 
5. UNESCO, Report of the Meeting of Experts on Communication Policies and 
Planning. (Paris: Unesco, 1972), p.8. 
6. Alan Hancock, Communication Planning for Development: An Operational 
Framework. (Paris: Unesco, 1981), p.20. 
7. UNESCO, op. cit., 1972, p.6. 
8. Noreene Janus, "National Policies Concerning Communication and Informatics: the 
Case of a Unified Approach", ILET, Mexico, September 1979 (Mimeo), p.2. 
46
9. Altaf Gauhar, "Free Flow of Information: Myths and Shibbolets", Third World 
Quarterly 1, 3, 1979, p.66. 
10. UNESCO, Intergovernmental Conference on Communication Policies in 
Africa: Final Report. (Paris: Unesco, 1981), p. 27. 
11. Ibid, p.ll. 
12. UNESCO, op. cit., 1972, p.4. 
13. For descriptive analyses of general communication policies in Nigeria, Kenya and 
Zaire, see Frank Ugboajah, Communication Policies in Nigeria. (Paris: UNESCO, 
1980); Peter Mwaura Communication Policies in Kenya. (Paris: UNESCO, 
1980); and B.I. Bokonga, Communication Policies in Zaire. (Paris: UNESCO, 
1980). 
14. Yaw Twumasi, "The Newspaper Press and Political Leadership in Developing Nations: 
The Case of Ghana: 1964-1978," Gazette, 26, 1980, p.13. 
15: S.T. Kwame Boafo, "Utilizing Development Communication Strategies in African 
Societies: A Critical Perspective," Gazette, 35, 1985, pp. 83-92. 
16. Ibid. 
17. Kwabena Bame, "Comic Plays in Ghana: An Indigenous Art Form for Rural Social 
Change," Rural Africana, 27, 1975, pp. 25-41; Ferdinand O. Fiofori, "Traditional 
Media, Modern Messages: A Nigerian Study," Rural Africana, 27, 1975, pp. 43-52; 
and Frank 0 . Ugboajai i, "Oramedia in Africa," in Frank O. Ugboajah, ed, Mass Communication 
Culture and Society in West Africa. (London: Hans Zell Publishers, 
1985), pp. 165-176. 
18. For a more detailed discussion of the functions of national communication policy 
councils, see, for example, UNESCO op. cit., 1972, p. 19; and Marco A.R. Dias el al, 
National Communication Policy Councils: Principles and Experiences. 
Reports and Papers on Mass Communication, No. 83. (Paris: UNESCO, 1979). 
19. Dias, el. al, op. cit., p. 9. 
20. Emile G. McAnany "Communicating with the Rural Poor: Does Information Make a 
Difference?" Paper Presented at the Joint Annual Meeting of the African Studies 
Association and Latin American Studies Association, Houston, Texas, Nov. 2-5,1977. 
21. Elihu Katz, "Can Authentic Cultures Survive New Media?" Journal of Communication, 
27, 1977, pp. 113-121. 
22. Florangel Rosario-Braid, "Some Considerations in Communication Policy Development," 
Media Asia, 11, 1984, pp. 136-139. 
47