Field survey in Brazil finds information value to be function of latitude of decision making and how well message aids in carrying out a course of action.b An assumption that runs through much of the development communication literature is that nearly all mass media content in some way aids modernization. If the content does not lead directly to some behavioral change, it is argued that it a t least adds some small increment to a modernized mentality. Accepting this, the crucial factor is availability, and the policy implication is to make development of a modern mass media system a high priority item.But availability doesn't guarantee use, and use isn't synonymous with benefits gained. Surely what is said must make some difference. Nevertheless measures of content are seldom included in research designs. Communication planning manuals devote most of their space to how to present messages-skills and techniques. They give little consideration I Marion Brown. 'CommunKation and A.gicultural Ikvclopmcnt: A Field Experiment." JOI'RMLISM Q i ' A R r t R l >. 47. 725-34 (Winter 1970). ?John Fcit. 'Contcnt and Situational Relcvancc of Agricultural News In Brazilian Papers.-Joi RSAI ISM Qt % a i t n i > , 49.505-1 I (Autumn 1972).
Field experiment results suggest media can diffuse development information directly. Little support found for two-stepflow.b Although it has generated and guided a good deal of communication research in the last 30 years, the two-step flow hypothesis stands as a n oversimplified and at times even erroneous model of how messages diffuse. For that matter, "multi-step," "two-cycle" and other variant models haven't proven much more successful as general predictors of message flows. People seek out, become exposed to, accept, modify and spread messages for a variety of reasons and in numerous ways.Rather than look for one simple model to describe all situations, it seems more fruitful to see how variations in the components of the communication process affect the quantity and quality of message flow. Researchers have already looked at many of these components. As a result, we now see mass media and personal sources as more apt to be complementary than competitive.1 Gatekeeping and influence functions, confounded in early studies, are now seen as distinctly different behaviors.2
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