FOLK MEDIA IN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION

Ninety percent of the world's population lives in developing countries and 70% of them live in rural areas. Mass media such as newspapers, television, and the internet still do not effectively reach these people. Moreover, many research studies show that these media do not have the required impact in terms of motivating change and development. In addition, high rate of illiteracy impedes the development of almost 80% of India's population who reside in the rural areas. However, folk arts and traditional media have proved their excellence in bonding and creating affinity in the community as demonstrated by community festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra and Lohri in Punjab. In traditional societies, art is an integral part of the process of living in the community. Thus, Folk media can play a vital role in communicating to and with the people, particularly, in rural areas, including the modern messages. They can be effective mass media for preventing the tribals and the illiterates from continuous exploitation, as they do not understand, the language of modern communication. In India folk forms have special significance as mass media. People in remote rural and tribal areas do not have an access to the modern media and it does not reach these target groups. Here, folk forms of communication can help immensely in dissemination of the messages emitted by the electronic media.