I asked two of the upper-class men close to me about development-oriented topics and what makes them one. Interestingly, they had similar responses . They told me about poverty, community building, the SDGs, and even as far as the 4 E’s of DevCom. After hearing from them, I came up with these three characteristics to describe a development-oriented topic:
1. poverty
They told me that a development-oriented topic must tackle all forms of poverty, may it be about the marginalized sectors or the minorities and oppression that these groups of people face daily, up to economic scarcity. As my prof in DevCom 10 said, poverty, in all its form, will always be present in our lives. It is our goal as future development communicators to eradicate if not lessen the rate of poverty in the Philippines.
2. small
The concern of a development-oriented topic are the small stories that mass media doesn’t cover. One of the upper-class man that I asked said, “innovative tapos di usually tinututukan ng mga media“. This means that we, as future development communicators, must focus on the stories of stakeholders in the baranggay or small communities, those who weren’t given spotlight by mass media.
3. the SDGs
Both of them told that a development-oriented topics answers or deals with the SDGs or the Sustainable Development Goals. Today, there are 17 SDGs set by the United Nations. They defined SDG as, “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs“. Additionally, NEDA who led the “AmBisyon Natin: 2040” campaign connects and relates the SDGs with what our Filipinos hope for for themselves and for the country.
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