- Development agency/NGO workers: They can publicize their projects to donors and the public. They can broadcast public service messages and educate the community members about new approaches and innovations.
- International donor agencies: They can find out how their funded projects are unfolding. They can get direct feedback from community members.
- Community members: They can get information about development projects in their area, and give feedback to the donors. They can broadcast public service messages.
- Activists: Supporters of public service broadcasting and non-commercial media including filmmakers, journalists, human rights activists, charity workers etc.
- General: People who are dissatisfied with traditional media and want television to be meaningful and representative.
Hypothesis
- Prospective audience of NDTV (development practitioners, non-commercial media advocates, development fund donors, community members) will be willing to pay a monthly membership fee to view the channel in return for quality programming which is also constructive and participatory.
- It is possible to run a channel in Pakistan dedicated to non-commercial, community-based, DSC-related programming
Research Objectives
- To take input from stakeholders on how to make NDTV a reality and how to make it useful and participatory for the audience.
- To establish if the prospective audience is willing to pay a membership fee to keep the content of the channel independent and unbiased.
- To study emerging media technologies and sociological shifts that are making this kind of a channel a need and a possibility. (Media convergence, audience fragmentation, declining costs of video production etc.)
Research Questions
- What are the needs of development practitioners regarding electronic media, and how can NDTV address these?
- Can NDTV sustain its costs without government subsidies and paid advertising?
- In what ways can NDTV support sustainable development in Pakistan?
Scope and Significance of the Study
Media can support the development and democratization of a country if the media organization is run non-commercially with this motive in mind. Traditional media (commercial private channels) and state-run PTV network are currently not exploiting the potential of electronic media to support the development of the country. Their main motive is to sell advertising (commercial media) or be the media tool of the government (PTV).
Development practitioners have always been using the media as an integral tool in their projects. The aim of this study is to come up with a model for a new kind of television that caters to all the media needs of the development world, and get the community members to participate in the whole process instead of being marginalized like in the traditional media
There are interesting changes taking place in the media at the moment. Media of this new century is going to be significantly different than the last. Firstly, cost of video production is rapidly declining. Secondly, the internet and television formats are being converged. All media content these days is in digital format or easily convertible. So normal people can become producers and journalists without specialized training. Thirdly, the trend is towards specialized programming for special interest groups. There are channels for religious content, fashion, music, news, cooking etc. Why not a channel for development support when the development sector is such a large, wealthy and resourceful one in Pakistan? Fourthly, the internet has shown that if there is a participatory structure, people are keen to make themselves heard and do a lot of things for public service. E.g. people contribute to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia to help inform others. They write blogs about newsworthy events like May 12 killings in Karachi, murder of Benazir Bhutto etc. People write software and put it up for free downloading to help other software developers, or compose free online tutorials for the benefits of others. If there was a participatory television structure in place, maybe people will have the same spirit of public service as seen on the internet.
The study will try to suggest a model for NDTV and explore the prospects of such a channel, by taking input from development workers, communities, donors and media strategists. It will explore if NDTV can work as a paid membership channel. The idea is that media consumers do subscribe to specialized content if they feel there is a benefit for them. e.g. subscribers of academic and scientific journals, computer magazines etc. So the same concept might apply for a specialized television for development, which will help keep its content independent.
Limitations
Since a channel of this nature does not exist in reality, the study will be primarily speculative in nature and it cannot be guaranteed that the claims and predictions for the viability of such a channel will actually come true.
Research Methodology
Research Design
- Panel discussion with experts
A panel discussion will be held with experts and stakeholders including:
– Representatives from non-commercial media and development support communication practitioners
– Representatives from development agencies/NGOs
– Media strategists and experts
- Prospective Audience survey
Survey method will be used to test-pilot the concept of NDTV with potential audiences and ask for their input on how to structure NDTV.
Sample size: The sample size will be 100
Sampling technique: The method of stratified quota sampling will be employed, with strata being:
- graduate students and teachers of development studies,
- non-commercial media journalists and practitioners,
- development agency workers
- normal community members.
Research setting: Islamabad/Rawalpindi
Research instrument: A questionnaire having mostly close-ended and some open-ended questions will be used for strata (a) – (c). For community members a simple questionnaire in Urdu will query what the people’s needs and expectations from such a channel are, and take their suggestions on how they can be involved and participate constructively.