"The title of this book raises expectations that are hardly fulfilled. One wonders again and again which target group the author had in mind when writing his work: it seems too impractical for practitioners and too unsound for theorists. For example, many of the names and authors cited lack bibliographical information, which is also missing from the summarised bibliography (e.g. Levin, Hruschka). Important works that would appeal to practitioners in particular, such as Ralph Milton's Broadcasting Handbook (cf. CS 2:1969,182), are completely absent, not to mention books on fundamental considerations such as the works of Paulo Freire. The use of the so-called mass media in the development process is not as simple and unproblematic as the author suggests in his introduction. Broadcasting is hardly the miracle cure that people would like to make it out to be, and especially in the case of the frequently cited German projects of this kind, some questions must be asked about the consideration of existing indigenous, cultural, social and communicative values, which must also be taken into account when introducing modern means of communication. For example, is the role of the "change agent" really so important or is two-way communication not much more decisive for the development process (page 39 ff)? Some questions need to be asked. One has the impression that the whole book is too "German", which is probably also due to the fact that some passages have obviously been translated from German into English. Perhaps some of the unevenness is also due to the fact that various radio stations were asked to contribute to the book (e.g. Deutsche Welle, Südfunk, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Some aid organisations would be happy if the ACPO (- Sutatenza) radio school in Colombia could finance itself "mostly from advertising" (Page 56). But why are there no bibliographical references here either, such as to Musto's work (Berlin 1968) or to publications on such experiments in other continents (e.g. Neurath for India)? Bibliographical references to the Indonesian model by Salmon Padmanagara (page 87) would be welcome, as they are to many others. Maletzke's clear contribution (from page 105) on the evaluation of projects is a pleasant surprise. Some would have liked this section to be more detailed and the entire book to have some of its clarity." (translation from a review by Franz Josef Eilers in: Communicatio Socialis, vol. 12, 1979, nr. 1, pages 83-84)
1 Rural communication facing old and new problems, 9
2 Rural communication - integrated rural development, 11
3 Innovation - Diffusion - Change, 17
4 Stages of development in rural broadcasting, 43
5 Change towards new apporaches, 73
6 Four models in practice, 87
7 Evaluation of change through communication / G. Maletzke, 105
8 Problem oriented research, 109
9 Some radio techniques, 111
10 Radio glossary, 131