Project Chhatera –an experiment in development journalism

Abstract

Communication specialists have often poured out a load of empirically tested findings to prove that the press in Asia is urban-based, elite-oriented and that it suffers from a serious lack of relevance to meet the urgent demands of rural development. To establish the feasibility of an urban-based and elite oriented newspaper effectively work for rural development, Hindustan Times of India launched a unique experiment in spotlighting the background, the people, the problems and prospects of a distant village, week after week. The project is seven years old. B. George Verghese, former Editor of Hindustan Times, Magsasay award winner for journalism and the man who conceived the experiment, gives Media Asia readers the story behind project Chhatera.