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Mass Media And Promotion Of The Benefit Of Exclusive Breastfeeding
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Many scholars have repeatedly stated
the power of the electronic media over all other communication media
.(Aniebona 1990:116) observed that the world has recognized the fact
that broadcasting is a powerful and effective tool for the spread of
education for both children and adults in order to achieve certain
prescribed goals.
According to Waterson (1969), the radio is a
veritable channel through which group behaviour can be directed in a
concerted way in order to bring about any social change. Radio stations
are important channels through which these development communications
can be transmitted because of its cost effectiveness and the fact that
it does not necessarily require electricity to operate. Again the radio
tends to identify more with the audience including the rural dwellers in
terms of programme content and language of delivery, because
information is also transmitted using the vernacular language.
However,
the use and effectiveness of these broadcast media by the women is also
not very clear. (Okenwa 2000: 42) states that “the worry of many
communication scholars is that, just as research has shown evidence that
broadcasting is a powerful rural development communication tool,
evidence also shows that broadcasting is yet to be effectively utilized
in the rural development communicationâ€. This buttresses the point by
(Oruamabo 2004:21):
It would appear therefore that information
packaging on breastfeeding campaign have been very much skewed in favour
of urban dwellers and I want to believe that these findings are not
unique. The 1999 NDAS figures on the time of initiation of
breast-feeding showed that 43% of the urban dwellers imitated
Breast-feeding within one hour to 36% of rural dwellers….
Thus there
exists a gap in knowledge about exclusive breast-feeding benefits and
methodology between the urban and the rural women. This results in the
campaigns not achieving the purpose for their design. This sets back the
process of development. Although the women in the rural areas may be
prone to do more exclusive breast-feeding than their urban counterparts,
information on the time of initiation of breast-feeding, duration for
the exclusive breast feeding and also the proper ways of breast feeding
the child may not be fully known to them. Hence the need to communicate
these messages to them, if holistic results are to be achieved.
Equally
important are the traditional media which include all kinds of verbal
and non-verbal communications designed for disseminating messages to the
people living within the locality.(Ndolo, 1998:12) defines traditional
communication as “a source of media indigenous, credible and acceptable
channels of communication utilized by rural dwellers for various
societal functions including dissemination of messagesâ€. These
traditional communication means are embedded in the culture and
social life of those in the rural areas, and are such that they cannot do without.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Even
though there are myriads of these campaigns on the mass media and all
other channels of communication, there is yet to be significant success
results accruing because of exclusive breast-feeding campaign. There are
still disparities in the results obtained between the rural areas and
the urban areas. Also the results obtained at the national level do not
tally with those at the state level especially in Uyo local government
area.
These disparities in the results could be because of a lot of
factors. These campaigns are done through the various mass media and
human media just as it is at the national level, yet the results are not
the same. This can be an implication of the ineffectiveness of the
media used. Again the perception of the women regarding the media and
even the cost of assessing some of the media used are issues that can
hinder the influence of these campaigns in order to achieve the desired
results.
The contents of the message and the programme type through
which the campaigns are publicized can also be a hindrance to achieving
the desired objectives of the campaign in the state.
It is the burden
of the researcher therefore to evaluate media campaigns on exclusive
breast-feeding, in order to analyze its influence on the women in Uyo
local government area. Also, to evaluate the available results in
comparison to the set objectives of the campaigns and to evaluate the
disparities in the use of the campaign between the rural and urban areas
in Uyo local government area on exclusive breastfeeding. The problem
statement of this research work thus is why media campaigns on exclusive
breast-feeding in Uyo local government area are ineffective.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]Media campaigns are often used to achieve audience mobilization and participation in the process of development. Often times, however, it fails to achieve the purpose for which it was designed owning to many factors. It is pertinent to ensure that such development communications are properly planned and designed so as to meet the target group and achieve the set objectives. This study examined the media campaigns on exclusive breastfeeding in Uyo local government area while analyzing the percept ... Continue reading---
