ABSTRACT

Rural development of my kind in any place can only be meaningfully achieved through a well – planned and executed complex interaction of many economic and non economic variables.

          In the course of this study, the press here is faced with the obligation of bettering the lives of the rural communities though the packaging of information on how to do something which their in exposure hinders them from acquiring basic knowledge.

          The major aim of this study is to highlight, and examine problem and issue that need to be understood and tackled to achieve rural development or implore the quality of life for the rural dwellers, using the press.

          It would also help to maintain the much needed regular two way communications between the poor or marginalized rural dweller and the urban cities especially the government or those holding political power.

 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1            BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

This study, the role of broadcasting in rural development is however concerned with an attempt to examine how, rural development programmes can be effectively organized and implemented at the local government or grassroots level in any, communities in Enugu state and Nigerian using Enugu state media as a case study.

          However, an in – depth research reveal that within Enugu state media, there is an intensive use of amplitude modulation and frequency modulation, station, of Enugu state broadcasting service to create awareness for the rural development programme under broadcasting media.

The under – development of our Amoli communities here called for a great concern of the press. The timidity and ignorance often exhibited by the rural dwellers have liken the press concern as to how adequately they should educate inform, emancipate, enlighten, mobilize, sensitize and disseminate adequate dosage of information in order to revitalize the regrettable trend in our rural communities. Most rural dwellers do not know the innumerable opportunities.

Available to them. They still flourish I the previous delusion and dogmetric belief that cannot march contemporaries in the urban setting.

The press here are faced with the obligation of battering the lives of rural information through the packaging of information on who to do something which their in – exposure hinders them from acquiring basic knowledge. Educating them through programmes, which can sharpen their intellect, providing job opportunities forever increasing population re – orientation of our rural dwellers through sensitization enlightenment, mobilization, emancipation and motivation.

Rural development of any kind in any places can only be meaning activated through a well – planned and executed complex interaction of many economic and non – economic  variable. The major role of press (Enugu state media) is usually to highlight and examine problem and issued that need to be understood and tackled to achieve rural development or improve the quality of life for the rural dwellers. The Enugu state media should also help maintain the much needed regular two way communication between the poor or marginalized rural dwellers and thru urban cities especially the government or those who hold political power.

It is no longer contestable that when media is properly approved, communication can work together with a netus of other social variable to facilitate social charge. That includes rural development experts or practitioners in African Asia Latin American and other developing areas who have for long been engaged in the search for method approaches, device, techniques and of course strategies which help them to put communication to the fullest and most effective use in achieving their various development objectives.

The crucial area that engaged the attention of these experts in the area of preparing the necessary and tantamount information, education and communication materials that can be usually utilized for the effective application of communication in rural development.

Enugu state media’s news, feature and so on have so long be recognized as efficacious packaged for rural development especially when they are well prepared and the press writers should know how to prepare them. The press should focus more specially on how we can better develop and use rural (RADIO) for development and for the mobilization of the much neglected and discard rural dwellers in the primitive and interior part of Enugu state.

We are convinced that it will be quite unreasonable for us to expect to achieve any meaningful, realistic and actualized rural development in this Amoli communities without careful and systematic mobilization and participation of the rural dwellers, which of course can be achieved through the press using the Enugu state media as a case of study.

1.2            PROBLEM STATEMENT

In stating the problem statement of this role of press in Amoli, using Enugu state media, as a case study, we observe very unfortunately that many problems exist.

          However, in a case of many change agents, rural development officers, public relation officers, information officers and other officers that are involved in preparing news, or officials and features for Amoli dwellers are participant in rural development project, do not do them well enough to achieve the required and desired result.

          Besides, the problem is ignorance, but most of the time the problem is either lack of or insufficient orientation or sensitization of those officers to the special philosophies, needs, techniques and approaches for preparing news, article and features towards achieving rural development objectives.

          Furthermore, the other problem of the role of press in achieving its aim in rural development at Amoli is because of the high illiterates factor among the rural dwellers and the problems of overcoming geographical and language barriers.

          Again, the rural dwellers major weakness to develop arise from the low read ship due to the low literacy rate of the rural targeted audience, of course the rural dwellers inability to read and understand the rural newspapers how continued not to all them develop in spite of the role of press in Enugu state.

1.3            OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The objective of this research is to find out the means through which press can develop the rural dwellers in the communities in Enugu state, using Amoili media as a case study.

          Therefore, press should indulge in its traditional communities style through which it must, for instance be preceded by an extensive research effort that will, among many other things, identify the information of the rural dwellers their social – cultural and economic characteristic, literacy level, historical religion biases and readership patterns.

          More so, the press for the rural dwellers, must also be preceded by the formulation of a clean cut, additional policy that is dominantly guided by a sound realist philosophy with a broad out look.

          Meanwhile, for the press to achieve its objective of developing the rural communities, it is good that it adopts what is called ruralism concentric circle philosophy (RCCP).

          This is a journalistic model that stresses, among other things the problem of rural community ideas, balanced development cultural integrity, self reliance consciousness unity and generally improved quality of life for the rural dwellers in Enugu state.

Additionally, the objective of this study is to evaluate how far the press, Enugu state media have gone to maintaining. Communication between the rural communities and the state government.

1.4            SIGNIFICATION OF THE STUDY

The significance of this project is to provide a reliable panacea through which press, Enugu state media should ensure in alleviating about 80% rural dwellers that have been seriously neglected in the government affairs.

The project will also be very important to the researcher academics and also Enugu state broadcasting service and rural dwellers.

          It will be either helpful guiding the press in netting and connecting such issues as health, agriculture, education, culture, family planning, government, and religion.

1.5            RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

 H.1:  broadcast media activities transformed the lives of the rural dwellers by their changes of life style.

H.0:  broadcast media do not activities transformed the lives of the rural dwellers by their changes of life style.

H.2: the use of radio programme broadcast hastens the passage of message from government to the rural people.

H.0: the use of radio programme broadcast do not hastens the passage of message from government to the rural people.

H.3: rural broadcast officers have direct contact with rural people when they chart and interview the rural dwellers.

H.0: rural broadcast officers do not have direct contact with rural people when they chart and interview the rural dwellers.

H.4: the E.S.B.S media are aware of the rate of illiteracy in the rural area.

H.0: the E.S.B.S media are not aware of the rate of illiteracy in the rural area.

H.5: rural broadcast media are aware of the difference between the local traditional process of disseminating information through town criers and the radio information broadcasting.

H.0: rural broadcast media are not aware of the difference between the local traditional process of disseminating information through town criers and the radio information broadcasting.

H.6: the rural broadcasters bring government thinking and policies nearer to the rural people on hourly bases.

H.0: the rural broadcasters do not bring government thinking and policies nearer to the rural people on hourly bases.

1.6            DEFINITION OF TERMS

vPress

It includes the prints and electric media tools such as the radio, newspaper, television, magazine and periodical usually done by the journalist.

vDevelopment

It means developing or being developed. The process of encouraging new mentions and industries to create jobs for the people.

vCase

It means the instance or example of occurrence of something the action state of occurrence of situation.

vStudy

Process of gaining knowledge of a subject that needs investigation.

vMedia:  the means of communication such as television, newspaper, magazine and radio.

1.8            LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This research certainly has some limitation or handicaps due to its nature. It is not likely that I can cover the scope of the study because of time factor; I limit my work to Enugu state media which is star printing and publishing company and Enugu state broadcasting service (ESBS) and also among the dwellers at Eziobodo village and amoli town and Enugu state. There are encounters in this cause of carrying out the work.

---

---