ABSTRACT
Literature suggests that in many developing countries, communication among planners, media persons, and people at the grassroots level is not fully mobilized for sharing information and facilitating dialogues. This study assesses the effectiveness of development communication with a focus on models used and challenges faced in the context of Nepal since the turn of the century. We found that the potential of development communication, including development journalism, has not been practically achieved in the country, failing to engage stakeholders to address the key development issues from the grassroots level. In fact, particular stakeholders do not identify and act effectively upon grassroots development issues; broken connections and scanty dialogue among stakeholders cause this problem and exacerbate it. Using a critical review of scholarly literature on development communication and analyzing research reports published by government and development agencies, we discuss new approaches and models that could help Nepalese development communication create synergies among stakeholders, engage communities, and bring key issues to the level of policy making and implementation. We posit that dialogic communication can promote both horizontal and vertical communication among stakeholders.
