Development Journalism

Janet Steele

Development journalism is a type of reporting and writing on topics related to the process of economic development. Its supporters define it as independent journalism that highlights news of development projects, provides critical coverage of development planning and programs, and informs readers of how the development process is affecting them. Although the concept of development journalism sounds simple, it has been highly politicized since it was first created in the 1960s. Much of the debate over development journalism has focused on the issue of press freedom, and whether or not a commitment to covering economic development from a positive and even “emancipatory” perspective is fundamentally at odds with freedom of the press. In its early days, development journalism was linked to theories of communication and development and was thus affected by the politics of the cold war. In an era of heightened rhetoric over modernization and the best way to ...

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