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Human resources development for communications in the Third World
TELEMATICS and INFOR MATICS
Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 141-146, 1984 Copyright © 1984 Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in the USA 0736-5853/84 83.00+ .00
HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT FOR C O M M U N I C A T I O N S IN THE THIRD WORLD Drew McDaniel Abstract--This article summarizes Third World prospects for the development of human resources in communication programs. The discussion examines the structural causes of high demand for development of human resources. Also studied are pressures that stem from the defise populations in the regions, the cultural and linguistic diversity faced by their peoples, and the global media explosion. The shortage of suitable staff for communication programs has become chronic in most non-industrialized regions, making human resource development a high priority for media and other information services. In industrialized nations, Third World communication programs are often thought of as greatly underdeveloped and lacking in sophistication. This conception is partly true, but the situation is vastly more complex than most Westerners imagine. Living conditions in those areas are generally well known to most outside the regions. Poverty, sickness, poor education, and resource shortages, so common in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, are familiar to anyone who follows global events. However, communication programs are not always underdeveloped in the same sense among these nations. On the contrary, the formal communication institutions are often highly organized and enjoy the benefits of substantial investment. The following is a brief collection of notes on Third World prospects for the development of a critical element in communication programs--the human resources. Specifically, this account will review the findings of a survey of communication training programs, particularly those involved in broadcasting, in the Asia-Pacific region. The information and observations were collected by the author while attached to the AsiaPacific Institute for Broadcasting Development in Malaysia during 1981-1983. S C O P E OF T H E NEED Perhaps the needs for communication training in non-industrial nations are so well recognized by professionals that the point hardly has to be made. What most people outside these regions may not appreciate is the acuteness of the need, the immense size of the task, or the complications inherent in the undertaking. The difficulties in this effort go far beyond a shortage of capital or other economic resources. The following discussion will examine the structural causes of the high demand for
Dr. Drew McDaniel is the Director of the School of Telecommunications at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.
141
142
Drew McDaniel
development of human resources. Also, pressures that stem from the dense populations in the regions, the cultural and linguistic diversity faced by their peoples, and the ongoing worldwide media explosion will be considered. O R G A N I Z A T I O N A L FACTORS First, a few comments on structural patterns for communication media in the Third World may be useful. In a way, the organization of communication agencies themselves encourage some of the problems in staffing and training. Except in the Latin American region, most Third World communication services tend to be provided as a governmental function. Typically, ministerial-level officials have ultimate responsibility for communication and information activities. Even in countries which have delegated information responsibilities to public corporations, independence from government may not be very great. Of course, this governmental involvement is a source of philosophical conflict between East and West. But there are persuasive justifications for a structure in which communication is a service of a national government. An argument is sometimes made that Westerners have unintentionally encouraged this structure. It is entirely possible that government management of communication channels is an inheritance of colonialism which the industrial countries have fostered. That is to say, the authoritarian and paternalistic political traditions of colonizing nations may have provided a pattern which newly independent nations unwittingly emulated in organizing their social institutions. Governmental management of mass communication is often justified on the basis of requirements for a consistent and coherent national development scheme. Of course, developmental planning in the non-industrialized world is widespread, and nearly everywhere effective communication is regarded as essential to the success of these programs. From a financial perspective, many nations may have no alternative to government management of communication, especially broadcasting, for no other domestic institution has the capacity to fund the service. Throughout much of the Third World, advertising is not a viable means of media support, though there are exceptions to this general rule. While broadcasting in a majority of nations may rely on advertising, it rarely is more than a supplement to the funds provided by license fees and governmental subsidies. The consumer economy upon which advertising is based is too feeble in many non-industrialized nations to singlehandedly support radio and television. Whatever the basis for governmental involvement in communications, it brings numerous implications for utilization of human resources. For example, apart from the promotion of certain inefficiencies, the link between government and communication agencies gives rise to political pressures in staffing and operation of the services. Generally, communication personnel are part of the civil service in the Third World. While this practice affords many advantages, it also subjects workers to the many institutional constraints of public employment : These constraints are low pay, frequently sluggish decision-making and limited opportunity for self-expression. In general, staff turnover is very high in some non-industrial nations. In technical fields this is especially troublesome. Too often, staff members remain employed in the public sector only long enough to gain sufficient experience and knowledge to shift to higher paying positions in the private sector. Even where this does not occur, the low salaries lead to low levels of motivation and a disinterest in professional development. 1 Competency-based advancement within these organizations is by no means universal.
Human resources development for communications in the Third World
143
All too often, those named to positions or sent for training lack appropriate experience or aptitude for their work. In some nations a lack of adequate job descriptions means that needs for training are impossible to identify. Low motivation discourages efforts for training and makes staffdevelopment programs less effective. The confusion over job descriptions and training needs also acts as a negative factor in staff development. At the same time, civil service opportunities for training and development are frequently better than in the fragmented private sector.
LABOR UTILIZATION Possibly the most powerful factor influencing training requirements in so-called transitional societies is the very high level of staffing needed to accomplish any given communications task. Visitors from the West are often astonished at the number of people employed by communication media in Third World nations. Where in North America a job might require the efforts of a small staff, a number perhaps twice as large might be needed in non-industrialized nations. Beyond this, these organizations often retain individuals for positions that are seldom seen in the West : drivers, maids, messengers, and SO o n .
The Westerner tends to see this employment pattern as wasteful, extravagant and selfindulgent. But in Asia, at least, worker productivity is far less important than increasing levels of employment. Every Third World worker given employment within a public institution may represent an individual taken from a life in which he or she makes little social or economic contribution. As a matter of public policy in many nations, maximizing the number of persons within the productive economy is better than increasing productivity, even if this means the efficiency of the work force is reduced. This is the modern manifestation of a labor-intensive society. Another widespread policy provides employees, particularly those working in the public sector, with retirement from service much earlier than their Western counterparts. Commonly this occurs at 55 years of age. The reason for the difference is partly attributable to life expectancies in these regions; people in the Third World do not live as long as in Europe or North America. But more significantly, by shortening the careers of its public employees, a nation can spread work opportunities to more individuals. In densely populated areas this is desirable for both social and economic reasons. These labor policies create a much greater demand for human resources development than is faced by Western organizations. With more staff and shorter productive lives for employees, Third World agencies must train more personnel and advance them more quickly in order to obtain results equivalent to industrialized nations.
TECHNICAL FACTORS
One misconception widely held in the West is that because the Third World is impoverished, the media facilities are technically backward. This is definitely not always the case. Thanks to the centralization and financial power afforded by government operation, great economies of scale can be realized so that national communication centers can be equipped at a level close to state-of-the-art. Also, prestige factors frequently seem to encourage construction of facilities as technical showpieces. In the situation just described, the requirement for skill and knowledge among personnel is just as high as it would be in any "developed" nation. But such technology is never the product of a Third World society. It is highly unlikely that domestic resources
144
Drew McDaniel
adequate to train personnel for the operation and maintenance of sophisticated facilities will exist. So unless special training programs are provided, the communication system will find itself dependent upon Western organizations to prepare its staff for positions using Western equipment.
MEDIA
EXPANSION
Despite the costs, a development explosion is occurring in Third World media. Perhaps this is most evident in television. In 1982, Sri Lanka began operation of its new national television service. Similar services are being planned or considered in Belize, Fiji and New Guinea. By the end of the decade perhaps as many as another dozen such services may be created among the shrinking number of nations without television. Elsewhere, the opening of new stations, conversions to color broadcasting, or the initiation of new or second or third national services are underway or are being contemplated. Naturally, it will take more than hardware to develop these new services; a massive investment in manpower will be required. Presently, the pace of media expansion is stretching thin the small resevoir of trained personnel in non-industrialized areas.
CULTURAL FACTORS
The majority of non-industrialized nations have populations drawn from more than one ethnic group. Cultural, linguistic and racial sensitivities are often high, making parity in development of language services for communication politically essential. In Malaysian broadcasting, as an example, there are four language services in radio: Bahasa Malaysia, English, Tamil, and Chinese (mainly Hokkien dialect). In radio, each language service except English has its own network--tactfully identified by color rather than ethnic label--providing a complete program service. There are, in effect, four separate and parallel radio staffs within Radio-Television Malaysia, one for each language service. In television, the first channel provides programs mostly in the national language, Bahasa, while the other language services share the second network. 2 The staffing model commonly employed in Asia is one in which there is vertical rather than horizontal integration of staff. That is, each language tends to have its own complete staff for each language service. The resulting duplication of function and responsibility necessitates more training for more people.
HUMAN
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMS
The chronic shortage of suitable staff for communication programs in most of the nonindustrialized regions has made human resources development a high priority for media and other information services. Three basic options for communication training now exist : college or university study, commercial and private training academies, or internal staff development programs. To these may be added the emerging regional training institutions. Staff training units within communication agencies have been organized in many nations over the last decade. In Asia this model is widely used. For example, the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation has its own Staff Training School and Malaysian RTM relies on its highly developed national broadcast training program, IPTAR. It would seem that these vehicles have certain limitations. For one thing, they do not
Human resources development for communications in the Third World
145
appear to be well equipped to prepare personnel for all activities, as they rely mainly on their own staff to serve as trainers. This "inbreeding" has both good and bad points. Such persons will not likely have the experience necessary for any totally new projects, as they will be the products of existing practices. The chief advantage of this approach is that conditions peculiar to the organization will be familiar to the trainers, who can tailor their instructions to the precise needs of the service. Professional media training at universities or colleges is not widely available. Many former colonies employ European models of higher education which seldom provide for professional instruction in communications. In other nations, the institutions of higher education are ill-equipped to provide education in such a specialized field. Furthermore, the nations which have the greatest needs are least likely to have educational institutions with the capability of training communication professionals. This situation imposes a burden of training on the communication organizations not faced by U.S. agencies, which can draw from a large pool of college-educated professionals. 3 In any case, college graduates in the Third World are people on whom the society depends heavily for its development. Highly educated people must be placed in positions where their knowledge and skills can be fully exploited, but only a relatively small proportion of the positions in a communication service can make adequate use of people so highly educated. Employees can be sent abroad for training. This is an approach that has the possibility of providing the most up-to-date training available, but also, has the major disadvantages of very great cost (if the subjects are sent to Japan, the U.S., or Europe) and, frequently, a lack of cultural relevancy. 4 There are at least three choices when employees are sent abroad for training: university education, proprietary instruction (e.g., the Thompson Institute in Great Britain), or technical training offered by equipment manufacturers. Finally, an alternative that appears to have a combination of the benefits of local training with those of instruction in Europe or North America is the multi-national regional training program. This option has only recently become available. The primary advantage of regional training is that leading experts can be brought to the region for training and consultation that serves many nations simultaneously. This is much more cost efficient than sending staff to an industrialized nation and it is easier for recognizing and preserving the social and cultural conditions common to nations in the region. An example of this approach is provided by the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD). AIBD offers training courses as well as research and consultation services to communications organizations which affiliate with it. The AIBD was chartered as an intergovernmental organization by the United Nations in 1979, after a period of informal operation within Radio-Television Malaysia's training institute. AIBD has its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and still shares facilities with IPTAR. Today there are sixteen member nations representing a diverse political spectrum, including the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Bangladesh, Western Samoa, Nepal and Korea. 5 Non-member nations can also participate in many AIBD activities. Over 50 countries have been involved in training courses over the last nine years. 6 AIBD gets general financial assistance as direct grants-in-aid from funding agencies such as the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Specific projects or courses often receive special funding from UNDP, UNESCO, and many other sources. 7 The regional training program is an approach that has attracted much interest among Third World broadcasters. There are institutes similar to AIBD now beginning operation in Latin America and among the Arab states. And other centers may soon be organized elsewhere.
146
Drew McDaniel
CONCLUSIONS It is certain that the demand for qualified staffing will exceed the capacities of both local and regional training programs for the foreseeable future, and many people will be sent to Western nations for training. This is not necessarily undesirable. There is quite possibly an appropriate role for training abroad for some who will work in communications. The problem seems to be that neither communications administrators in the Third World nor Western communications trainers and educators understand the other's requirements or objectives. In the past, this has resulted in programs that seem to reinforce distortions created by the colonial heritage of non-industrial nations. Regional training institutions offer promise, but the barriers created by politics among nations can threaten participation by all who need assistance. Moreover, the financial ability to create these programs is enjoyed by a relatively few developing countries. What appears to be necessary is an effort to define and integrate all of the training alternatives that exist for broadcasters in non-Western societies. In an era when the debate over information policies in the Third World has heightened global consciousness of these issues, it does not seem too much to ask the growing number of communication institutions to concentrate their energies on the most basic of development needs: the human resources. REFERENCES 1. D'Cruz, D. Problems and perspectives in broadcast-training in the ASEAN countries. Media Asia, 7, 30-36 (November 1980). 2. See Adhikarya, R. Broadcasting in Peninsular Malaysia, pp. 47-77. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London (1977). 3. For a survey of college training in communications in Asia, see Lyle, J. (ed.) Communication]Journalism Education in Asia: Background and Status in Seven Asian Areas. East-West Center, Honolulu (1971). 4. Biu, A. A. and Narag, J. S., Needs of Third World students. Feedback, 10, 7-9 (August 1978). Training institutes from the developed nations often sent their staff abroad for training Third World Personnel. See, for example, Epskamp, C. P. Training and Research with regard to the Application of the Mass Media for Education and Information in Latin America and the Caribbean. Gazette, 24, No. 3, 189-196 (1982). 5. Minutes of the Seventh Meetin9 of the Governing Council, Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development, A1BD, Kuala Lumpur (1981). 6. Progress of Training Activities, 1972-1980, Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development. AIBD, Kuala Lumpur (1981). 7. UNESCO is particularly active in sponsoring and co-production of materials. See, for instance, Dance, F. R. Broadcasting Training Techniques, UNESCO, Paris (1981).
Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 141-146, 1984 Copyright © 1984 Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in the USA 0736-5853/84 83.00+ .00
HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT FOR C O M M U N I C A T I O N S IN THE THIRD WORLD Drew McDaniel Abstract--This article summarizes Third World prospects for the development of human resources in communication programs. The discussion examines the structural causes of high demand for development of human resources. Also studied are pressures that stem from the defise populations in the regions, the cultural and linguistic diversity faced by their peoples, and the global media explosion. The shortage of suitable staff for communication programs has become chronic in most non-industrialized regions, making human resource development a high priority for media and other information services. In industrialized nations, Third World communication programs are often thought of as greatly underdeveloped and lacking in sophistication. This conception is partly true, but the situation is vastly more complex than most Westerners imagine. Living conditions in those areas are generally well known to most outside the regions. Poverty, sickness, poor education, and resource shortages, so common in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, are familiar to anyone who follows global events. However, communication programs are not always underdeveloped in the same sense among these nations. On the contrary, the formal communication institutions are often highly organized and enjoy the benefits of substantial investment. The following is a brief collection of notes on Third World prospects for the development of a critical element in communication programs--the human resources. Specifically, this account will review the findings of a survey of communication training programs, particularly those involved in broadcasting, in the Asia-Pacific region. The information and observations were collected by the author while attached to the AsiaPacific Institute for Broadcasting Development in Malaysia during 1981-1983. S C O P E OF T H E NEED Perhaps the needs for communication training in non-industrial nations are so well recognized by professionals that the point hardly has to be made. What most people outside these regions may not appreciate is the acuteness of the need, the immense size of the task, or the complications inherent in the undertaking. The difficulties in this effort go far beyond a shortage of capital or other economic resources. The following discussion will examine the structural causes of the high demand for
Dr. Drew McDaniel is the Director of the School of Telecommunications at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.
141
142
Drew McDaniel
development of human resources. Also, pressures that stem from the dense populations in the regions, the cultural and linguistic diversity faced by their peoples, and the ongoing worldwide media explosion will be considered. O R G A N I Z A T I O N A L FACTORS First, a few comments on structural patterns for communication media in the Third World may be useful. In a way, the organization of communication agencies themselves encourage some of the problems in staffing and training. Except in the Latin American region, most Third World communication services tend to be provided as a governmental function. Typically, ministerial-level officials have ultimate responsibility for communication and information activities. Even in countries which have delegated information responsibilities to public corporations, independence from government may not be very great. Of course, this governmental involvement is a source of philosophical conflict between East and West. But there are persuasive justifications for a structure in which communication is a service of a national government. An argument is sometimes made that Westerners have unintentionally encouraged this structure. It is entirely possible that government management of communication channels is an inheritance of colonialism which the industrial countries have fostered. That is to say, the authoritarian and paternalistic political traditions of colonizing nations may have provided a pattern which newly independent nations unwittingly emulated in organizing their social institutions. Governmental management of mass communication is often justified on the basis of requirements for a consistent and coherent national development scheme. Of course, developmental planning in the non-industrialized world is widespread, and nearly everywhere effective communication is regarded as essential to the success of these programs. From a financial perspective, many nations may have no alternative to government management of communication, especially broadcasting, for no other domestic institution has the capacity to fund the service. Throughout much of the Third World, advertising is not a viable means of media support, though there are exceptions to this general rule. While broadcasting in a majority of nations may rely on advertising, it rarely is more than a supplement to the funds provided by license fees and governmental subsidies. The consumer economy upon which advertising is based is too feeble in many non-industrialized nations to singlehandedly support radio and television. Whatever the basis for governmental involvement in communications, it brings numerous implications for utilization of human resources. For example, apart from the promotion of certain inefficiencies, the link between government and communication agencies gives rise to political pressures in staffing and operation of the services. Generally, communication personnel are part of the civil service in the Third World. While this practice affords many advantages, it also subjects workers to the many institutional constraints of public employment : These constraints are low pay, frequently sluggish decision-making and limited opportunity for self-expression. In general, staff turnover is very high in some non-industrial nations. In technical fields this is especially troublesome. Too often, staff members remain employed in the public sector only long enough to gain sufficient experience and knowledge to shift to higher paying positions in the private sector. Even where this does not occur, the low salaries lead to low levels of motivation and a disinterest in professional development. 1 Competency-based advancement within these organizations is by no means universal.
Human resources development for communications in the Third World
143
All too often, those named to positions or sent for training lack appropriate experience or aptitude for their work. In some nations a lack of adequate job descriptions means that needs for training are impossible to identify. Low motivation discourages efforts for training and makes staffdevelopment programs less effective. The confusion over job descriptions and training needs also acts as a negative factor in staff development. At the same time, civil service opportunities for training and development are frequently better than in the fragmented private sector.
LABOR UTILIZATION Possibly the most powerful factor influencing training requirements in so-called transitional societies is the very high level of staffing needed to accomplish any given communications task. Visitors from the West are often astonished at the number of people employed by communication media in Third World nations. Where in North America a job might require the efforts of a small staff, a number perhaps twice as large might be needed in non-industrialized nations. Beyond this, these organizations often retain individuals for positions that are seldom seen in the West : drivers, maids, messengers, and SO o n .
The Westerner tends to see this employment pattern as wasteful, extravagant and selfindulgent. But in Asia, at least, worker productivity is far less important than increasing levels of employment. Every Third World worker given employment within a public institution may represent an individual taken from a life in which he or she makes little social or economic contribution. As a matter of public policy in many nations, maximizing the number of persons within the productive economy is better than increasing productivity, even if this means the efficiency of the work force is reduced. This is the modern manifestation of a labor-intensive society. Another widespread policy provides employees, particularly those working in the public sector, with retirement from service much earlier than their Western counterparts. Commonly this occurs at 55 years of age. The reason for the difference is partly attributable to life expectancies in these regions; people in the Third World do not live as long as in Europe or North America. But more significantly, by shortening the careers of its public employees, a nation can spread work opportunities to more individuals. In densely populated areas this is desirable for both social and economic reasons. These labor policies create a much greater demand for human resources development than is faced by Western organizations. With more staff and shorter productive lives for employees, Third World agencies must train more personnel and advance them more quickly in order to obtain results equivalent to industrialized nations.
TECHNICAL FACTORS
One misconception widely held in the West is that because the Third World is impoverished, the media facilities are technically backward. This is definitely not always the case. Thanks to the centralization and financial power afforded by government operation, great economies of scale can be realized so that national communication centers can be equipped at a level close to state-of-the-art. Also, prestige factors frequently seem to encourage construction of facilities as technical showpieces. In the situation just described, the requirement for skill and knowledge among personnel is just as high as it would be in any "developed" nation. But such technology is never the product of a Third World society. It is highly unlikely that domestic resources
144
Drew McDaniel
adequate to train personnel for the operation and maintenance of sophisticated facilities will exist. So unless special training programs are provided, the communication system will find itself dependent upon Western organizations to prepare its staff for positions using Western equipment.
MEDIA
EXPANSION
Despite the costs, a development explosion is occurring in Third World media. Perhaps this is most evident in television. In 1982, Sri Lanka began operation of its new national television service. Similar services are being planned or considered in Belize, Fiji and New Guinea. By the end of the decade perhaps as many as another dozen such services may be created among the shrinking number of nations without television. Elsewhere, the opening of new stations, conversions to color broadcasting, or the initiation of new or second or third national services are underway or are being contemplated. Naturally, it will take more than hardware to develop these new services; a massive investment in manpower will be required. Presently, the pace of media expansion is stretching thin the small resevoir of trained personnel in non-industrialized areas.
CULTURAL FACTORS
The majority of non-industrialized nations have populations drawn from more than one ethnic group. Cultural, linguistic and racial sensitivities are often high, making parity in development of language services for communication politically essential. In Malaysian broadcasting, as an example, there are four language services in radio: Bahasa Malaysia, English, Tamil, and Chinese (mainly Hokkien dialect). In radio, each language service except English has its own network--tactfully identified by color rather than ethnic label--providing a complete program service. There are, in effect, four separate and parallel radio staffs within Radio-Television Malaysia, one for each language service. In television, the first channel provides programs mostly in the national language, Bahasa, while the other language services share the second network. 2 The staffing model commonly employed in Asia is one in which there is vertical rather than horizontal integration of staff. That is, each language tends to have its own complete staff for each language service. The resulting duplication of function and responsibility necessitates more training for more people.
HUMAN
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMS
The chronic shortage of suitable staff for communication programs in most of the nonindustrialized regions has made human resources development a high priority for media and other information services. Three basic options for communication training now exist : college or university study, commercial and private training academies, or internal staff development programs. To these may be added the emerging regional training institutions. Staff training units within communication agencies have been organized in many nations over the last decade. In Asia this model is widely used. For example, the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation has its own Staff Training School and Malaysian RTM relies on its highly developed national broadcast training program, IPTAR. It would seem that these vehicles have certain limitations. For one thing, they do not
Human resources development for communications in the Third World
145
appear to be well equipped to prepare personnel for all activities, as they rely mainly on their own staff to serve as trainers. This "inbreeding" has both good and bad points. Such persons will not likely have the experience necessary for any totally new projects, as they will be the products of existing practices. The chief advantage of this approach is that conditions peculiar to the organization will be familiar to the trainers, who can tailor their instructions to the precise needs of the service. Professional media training at universities or colleges is not widely available. Many former colonies employ European models of higher education which seldom provide for professional instruction in communications. In other nations, the institutions of higher education are ill-equipped to provide education in such a specialized field. Furthermore, the nations which have the greatest needs are least likely to have educational institutions with the capability of training communication professionals. This situation imposes a burden of training on the communication organizations not faced by U.S. agencies, which can draw from a large pool of college-educated professionals. 3 In any case, college graduates in the Third World are people on whom the society depends heavily for its development. Highly educated people must be placed in positions where their knowledge and skills can be fully exploited, but only a relatively small proportion of the positions in a communication service can make adequate use of people so highly educated. Employees can be sent abroad for training. This is an approach that has the possibility of providing the most up-to-date training available, but also, has the major disadvantages of very great cost (if the subjects are sent to Japan, the U.S., or Europe) and, frequently, a lack of cultural relevancy. 4 There are at least three choices when employees are sent abroad for training: university education, proprietary instruction (e.g., the Thompson Institute in Great Britain), or technical training offered by equipment manufacturers. Finally, an alternative that appears to have a combination of the benefits of local training with those of instruction in Europe or North America is the multi-national regional training program. This option has only recently become available. The primary advantage of regional training is that leading experts can be brought to the region for training and consultation that serves many nations simultaneously. This is much more cost efficient than sending staff to an industrialized nation and it is easier for recognizing and preserving the social and cultural conditions common to nations in the region. An example of this approach is provided by the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD). AIBD offers training courses as well as research and consultation services to communications organizations which affiliate with it. The AIBD was chartered as an intergovernmental organization by the United Nations in 1979, after a period of informal operation within Radio-Television Malaysia's training institute. AIBD has its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and still shares facilities with IPTAR. Today there are sixteen member nations representing a diverse political spectrum, including the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Bangladesh, Western Samoa, Nepal and Korea. 5 Non-member nations can also participate in many AIBD activities. Over 50 countries have been involved in training courses over the last nine years. 6 AIBD gets general financial assistance as direct grants-in-aid from funding agencies such as the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Specific projects or courses often receive special funding from UNDP, UNESCO, and many other sources. 7 The regional training program is an approach that has attracted much interest among Third World broadcasters. There are institutes similar to AIBD now beginning operation in Latin America and among the Arab states. And other centers may soon be organized elsewhere.
146
Drew McDaniel
CONCLUSIONS It is certain that the demand for qualified staffing will exceed the capacities of both local and regional training programs for the foreseeable future, and many people will be sent to Western nations for training. This is not necessarily undesirable. There is quite possibly an appropriate role for training abroad for some who will work in communications. The problem seems to be that neither communications administrators in the Third World nor Western communications trainers and educators understand the other's requirements or objectives. In the past, this has resulted in programs that seem to reinforce distortions created by the colonial heritage of non-industrial nations. Regional training institutions offer promise, but the barriers created by politics among nations can threaten participation by all who need assistance. Moreover, the financial ability to create these programs is enjoyed by a relatively few developing countries. What appears to be necessary is an effort to define and integrate all of the training alternatives that exist for broadcasters in non-Western societies. In an era when the debate over information policies in the Third World has heightened global consciousness of these issues, it does not seem too much to ask the growing number of communication institutions to concentrate their energies on the most basic of development needs: the human resources. REFERENCES 1. D'Cruz, D. Problems and perspectives in broadcast-training in the ASEAN countries. Media Asia, 7, 30-36 (November 1980). 2. See Adhikarya, R. Broadcasting in Peninsular Malaysia, pp. 47-77. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London (1977). 3. For a survey of college training in communications in Asia, see Lyle, J. (ed.) Communication]Journalism Education in Asia: Background and Status in Seven Asian Areas. East-West Center, Honolulu (1971). 4. Biu, A. A. and Narag, J. S., Needs of Third World students. Feedback, 10, 7-9 (August 1978). Training institutes from the developed nations often sent their staff abroad for training Third World Personnel. See, for example, Epskamp, C. P. Training and Research with regard to the Application of the Mass Media for Education and Information in Latin America and the Caribbean. Gazette, 24, No. 3, 189-196 (1982). 5. Minutes of the Seventh Meetin9 of the Governing Council, Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development, A1BD, Kuala Lumpur (1981). 6. Progress of Training Activities, 1972-1980, Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development. AIBD, Kuala Lumpur (1981). 7. UNESCO is particularly active in sponsoring and co-production of materials. See, for instance, Dance, F. R. Broadcasting Training Techniques, UNESCO, Paris (1981).