AUDIENCE PERCEPTION OF THE INFLUENCE OF AFRICAN COMMUNICATION CHANNEL IN DISSEMINATION OF DEVELOPMENT MESSAGES TO RURAL RESIDENTS
ABSTRACT
The role of traditional  media communication have been very significant in rural development since the turn of this century, and with the advent of new media, the forms and ways of communication have become more specialized. Every human society has developed its traditional modes and channels of communication which characterize its existence, organization and development. These communication modes and channels form the basis upon which the communities, especially the rural community, progress (Orewere,1991).Communication, that is, transmission of information from a point called origin or source to another called destination or receiver (audience), is the life wire of every society. No wonder people continue to marvel at the continued relevance of the African indigenous media; otherwise, known as African traditional folk media, in the contemporary world despite the manifestation of Marshall McLuhan’s theory of Global Village in the contemporary world. To the rural people, the mass media proved only to be glamorous, impersonal and unbelievable in comparison with the familiar performance of traditional artist whom the villagers could see and hear and even touch emotionally. Obviously, the traditional media is the right choice of media to carry messages to the rural community for the purpose, and process of change and development (Stichele, 2000). It is also viewed that dialogue is the essence of any work in communication for development. As a matter of fact, traditional media have a remarkable impact on rural areas because of their acceptable idioms, functional significance and entertainment component. It can overcome language difficulty, speech, words and other barriers of communication like interest, understanding, interpretation, attitude and perception. Folk media are the most important vehicle of social change. It is used for educational purposes and as a tool to reform society. It helps to convey educational messages through entertainment, costume, music, dance etc.
