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Traditional Media concept
Traditional media means the mediums through which the cultural traits passed from generation to generation. It is born and expressed in the idiom of people’s culture and has always seemed to entertain, educate and propagate the existing ideas and attitudes. Keeping in view their intimacy with the people at the local levels, folk media channels prove to be powerful tools of communication in the rural society.
Concept of Folk
‘Folk’ means race of people.
‘Folk Music’ – Music passed on from generation to generation. Any music composed on this idiom is folk song. A folk song is a song handed down to people.
Traditional Folk Media
Traditional folk media have no grammar or literature but they are surviving through oral and functional sources. It provides channels for expressing social, cultural, regular, moral, religious and emotional needs of a particular society or community; hence, they are the media of people unlike the modern media that are for the people. Folk media channels are powerful tools of communication, which play a crucial role in the dissemination of information in the rural areas catalyzing socioeconomic development, say the authors. These folk forms of media have proved to be the agents of change in rural societies. They are passed from generation to generation by word of mouth or orally. Now they are dying in developing countries. Traditional folk media are mostly used during religious or festive occasions. They are very specific in nature. These low cost media besides being credible in rural areas have potential for persuasive communication and get instant feed back.
Scope and importance of Traditional Folk Media
The folk art forms satisfy the innate desire for self- expression and also satisfy man’s need for moral instruction combined with entertainment as well as for dramatic and the lyrical. In contrast with the electronic media, it preserves and disseminates in a lively manner the traditions and culture of our forefathers. Indian folk forms have a generous mix of dialogue, dance, songs, clowning, etc. So it is a very important method for communicating agriculture technology to the farmers and for the benefit of rural development programmes.
Experiences of researchers on traditional folk media proved that there is a great scope for imaginative use of traditional reforms. There is a need to narrow the gap that exists between the source and the receiver. This gap can be bridged ably by a coordinating agency at regional level with intended messages in their existing folk forms without disturbing the important characters and structures of traditional folk media. The agency should be composed of traditional folk artists, scriptwriters possessing essential knowledge of target audience, the traditional media and competency to transform the intended messages. People who are involved in this should be aware of folkways, dialect, mores and taboos of our rural and tribal communities for desired results.
The traditional media has always been used for moral, religious, agricultural and also for rural development. Rarely has it been resorted to for pure entertainment. It played an important role in many cultures. Some forms are dying out for lack of support and the onslaught of the modern mass media or as a result of disruptions in the society. The traditional media is personal, familiar and more credible with which the majority of literate and illiterate people in the villages identify easily. However, these forms need to be used with understanding and sensitivity.
Folk entertainments can provide fresh and interesting programme material for the mass media making them, more acceptable to both the rural and urban audiences. The folk media can be usefully employed to educate the non-school masses. In sum, the role of the traditional media in a country like ours is of paramount importance in enriching our culture and tradition as also disseminating information and educating our rural folk.
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Participants