06 local issues Community development and Church-Based Radio Broadcasting in Papua new Guinea

eleven This paper presents the results of an extensive study on the potential of church-based media in contributing to community development in Papua New Guinea. This topic is of great significance to com-munication development and research in PNG because of the extensive role the churches play in the country, as service providers. Papua New Guinea faces serious development challenges, most notably a weak institutional environment with poor control of government spending and a serious law-and-order problem. The majority of the population, esti-mated at five million, lives in rural areas, largely dependent on subsistence agriculture. Half of the adult population is illiterate and the many disadvan-taged communities do not speak English, the main language of education and administration. Difficult geographical terrain and weak transportation services isolate whole regions with little access to basic services such as education and health. The churches, through their extensive missionary station networks, provide invaluable services to these communities. There is currently a tren