Media and Development (Development Matters) – Martin Scott

Media matters. From encouraging charitable donations and delivering public health messages to promoting democratic participation and state accountability, the media can play a crucial role in development. Yet the influence of the media is not always welcome. It can also be used as a mechanism of surveillance and control or to disseminate hate speech and propaganda.

How then should we respond to the growing importance of the media – including journalism, radio, television, community media and social media – for poverty and inequality? The first step is to acquire an informed and critical understanding of the multiple roles that the media can have in development. To help achieve this, this book provides concise and original introductions to the study and practice of communication for development (C4D), media development and media representations of development. In doing so it highlights the increasing importance of the media, whilst at the same time emphasising the varieties, complexities and contingencies of its role in social change.

The broad and interdisciplinary focus of this book will make it attractive to anyone with an interest in media, communication, development, politics and social change.