Media mapping: understanding communication environments in Aceh

Abstract

This paper is a province-wide attempt to look at the ways in which communities receive and seek information. It presents quantitative data collected in 2006 from 410 rural and urban villages in 98 sub-districts throughout Aceh. Section 2 looks at mass media, channels that enable the (relatively) rapid and blanket dissemination of information to large numbers of people simultaneously. We look at levels of community access to newspapers, radios, television and telephones, examining their reach and distribution as well as how they are consumed. We also discuss the varying ways that different demographics engage with television and radio. Section 3 examines how information circulates at the village level, focusing on key information holders, village meetings and notice boards as the primary channels for intracommunity communication. Section 4 synthesises findings for tsunami-affected areas, conflict-affected areas, as well as for urban and rural locations. Section 5 offers conclusions and recommendations. This paper was presented at 'Conflict Prevention and Peaceful Development: Policies to Reduce Inequality and Exclusion', a CRISE policy conference held on July 9-10, 2007 at Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford