What Is Development News - Essay Example

of the of the Concerned Journalism, Mass Media and Communication September Development News Well, in a pragmatic context, any kind of news needs to be envisaged in a societal and political context. The same stands to be true of development news. However, in the arena of development news there exists a deep North-South schism. Hence, the concept of development news needs to be understood and defined in a historical context. Since years, it has been evinced by the editorial authorities governing the Western media that they do not have any model editorial policies and per se they do not issue any policy directives to their correspondents (Aggarwala 180). However, any type of media is eventually aimed at a particular reader pool, and the Western media being primarily consumed by the Western readers, it would not be wrong to believe that the Western scribe cover and shape a news story, even if it originates from the underdeveloped or developing world, keeping the Western readers in mind (Aggarwala 180). Hence, any discussion or attempt aimed at understanding the concept of development news must subscribe to the ambit of the incumbent North-South divide. Ideally speaking, development news is the news that tends to cover development issues affiliated to macro or macro origins, which reports, assesses and examines the impact of varied development activities and programs with regards to domestic and national development objectives and needs, the parities that exist as to how a development program is envisaged and its pragmatic outcomes, and the variance between its net impact on human welfare and what a government claims to be its achievements (Cottle 107). Yet, going by the fact that in its conceptualization and treatment, the development news does not much differ from the regular news, hence, it is open to accruing different interpretations at local and international level (Cottle 107). As already said that development news in its treatment and conceptualization does not differ much from the mainstream news, hence as is practically evident from the mainstream news, the development news can certainly evince a marked ideological and political tilt, depending on the geo-political origins of the scribes and publishing institutions covering a development news story. Also, a natural premise flowing out from such credentials of the concept of development news is that it is always subject to a normatively influenced interpretation and criticism (Cottle 108). Generally speaking, in the past, and particularly in the contemporary age open to new media, there exist wide imbalances between the flows of information in varied parts of the world. So development news by its very nature will always stand to be a controversial concept in journalism, going by the shifting academic and political stances pertaining to the notions of ‘development’ (Cottle 108). Hence, the local and global biases that the journalists associated with the coverage of mainstream new, could also infiltrate and seep in into the coverage of development news. Once this fact is accepted that the mainstream scribes and the journalists that cover the development news are almost open to very similar biases, opinions, temptations and tilts, it will be apt to agree that there exist varied types of development news journalism. In journalistic context, development news pertains to investigative reporting with its focus on the international and national projects and programs initiated in the developing nations and their influence on the quality of life and socio-economic well being of the masses (Aggarwala 181). Hence, like mainstream journalism, development journalism is subject to very similar ethical and professional ideals and constraints. Development journalists like mainstream journalists need to be unbiased, factual and rational in the coverage of development news. However, this pertains to an ideal scenario. In a practical context, quite like mainstream journalism, many development journalists are required to give in to the target audience preferences, the national priorities and pulls and pressures from the influential and powerful corporations and institutions. The journalistic landscape today as ever is marked by uncertainty. Courtesy the IT revolution, it is further burdened by information overload. Corporations and supranational organizations are evincing a more than larger interest in the way development stories are covered. Corporations and vested interests have a more than ever augmented say in the political system and media houses. Under such circumstances, many development journalists like mainstream journalists may not afford to rethink their attitude towards news coverage or revive their youthful sense of mission, and may succumb to the pressures engineered by the North-South divide, which is to a part influenced by the vested commercial interests. This, but natural, gives way to variations in the way development news is covered by the scribes affiliated to different nations. For instance, say the awarding of a particular infrastructure project in the war torn Afghanistan to a Chinese firm, or the resistance evinced by the Indian political leadership to the US entry in the nation’s retail sector may not evince a similar response from the Western development journalists and the Asian development journalists. Hence in the real world development news like the mainstream news is open to outside pressures and interventions and development journalists are also greatly influenced by the preferences of their target audience (Ogan 121). Not always such variations could be attributed to vested influences. They also occur owing to a difference of the vantage point from which a journalist interprets development news. A journalist from the US will certainly not interpret news the same way a journalist from South Africa will do. Once concluded that development news is open to diverse treatments and influences, it does need to be mentioned that all these differences and the ensuing resentment should not be attributed to the notorious North-South divide. Once again, the development journalists, very many like mainstream journalists are also susceptible to local influences and pressures also. Many a times the development news originating from a country is also susceptible to the influence from the local and national governments (Gaunt 136). Certainly, if taken in an ideal and positive context, such type of development news could certainly prove to be a potent empowerment and educational tool, furthering accountability and transparency in a nation. However, such development news is also many a time used as a tool to suppress information and to manipulate facts. This usage of development news as a propaganda ploy by a regime or a corporation could prove to be really damaging in the long run. Again, as in the mainstream news, the local variations in the development news may also occur owing to a variation in the vantage points from which the associated scribes tend to treat, interpret and analyze a development story. For instance, the development projects initiated and managed by the Robert Mugabe government in Zimbabwe may be presented differently by the pro-government and pro-opposition development journalists. Hence, realistically speaking, mainstream journalism and development journalism are not two different schools of journalism. Both the mainstream journalism and development journalism should be subservient to the same ethical and professional ideals and are required to pursue more or less similar routines, techniques and practices. As already said, development journalists are also susceptible to the same pulls and pressures as experienced by mainstream journalists. Development news, like the mainstream news is a multifaceted tool that could be used to achieve different purposes like achieving social justice, furthering the national economic and political agenda, catering to the preferences of the select audience or furthering the vested interests of specific corporations or organizations. Hence, the quality and ethical credentials of development news, like mainstream news, to a great extent is subservient to the scribe covering that news. Works Cited Aggarwala, Narinder K. “What is Development News?’. Journal of Communication 29.2 (1979): 180-185. Print. Cottle, Simon. Mediatized Conflict. Maidenhead England: Open University Press, 2006. Print. Gaunt, Philip. Making the Newsmakers. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992, Print. Ogan, Crhstine L. “Transnational Media and Third World Development: The Structure and Impact of Imperialism”. Journalism Quarterly 66.2 (1989): 120-123. Read More