Mass Media and Urban Youth in Nepal -- May 27, 2003

Mass Media: Good Way to Reach Urban Youth in Nepal

Arlington, VA — Great opportunities exist for mass media programs in Nepal to increase urban youths' awareness of important social and health issues there, a recently conducted analysis indicates.

The analysis, based on data from the Nepal Adolescents and Young Adults (NAYA) Survey conducted in 2000, involved some 2,800 respondents from urban areas. It examined and compared exposure to the mass media by specific groups of youth: single women, married women, single men, and married men.

Television was the most commonly used mass medium among urban Nepalese youth: 72 percent of urban youth watch television, 35 percent listen to radio, and 25 percent read a newspaper or magazine at least once a day. In total, four of every five urban youth are exposed each day to at least one of these media sources. "This fact provides tremendous opportunities for mass media programs aimed at promoting youth awareness about important social and health issues," noted the authors of an article describing the analysis. Co-authors of the article, published in the March 2003 issue of the Asia-Pacific Population Journal, were Dr. Shyam Thapa of Family Health International in Arlington, VA, and Dr. Vinod Mishra, of the Population and Health Studies Program, East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii.

The study also found that exposure to the mass media varies greatly by youths' gender and marital status. For example:

More females than males watched television each day. "The finding that television is the most commonly used mass medium, and that more females than males are regularly exposed to it, suggests that television can be used to educate urban female youth about major social and health issues," the authors noted.

Fewer females than males are exposed to radio and the print media, and married youth have much less exposure to all forms of mass media than their single counterparts. This poses programmatic challenges: Although married youth are less exposed than single youth to the mass media, they may most need information on health issues, particularly reproductive health issues.

The analysis also indicated that mass media have effectively informed youth about such issues as drug addiction, HIV/AIDS, family planning, and domestic violence. Most respondents reported learning about these issues via mass media. Television, followed by radio, is the most common source of information about contraceptive methods and HIV/AIDS among urban youth.

The findings demonstrate the need to design appropriate and effective television and radio programs. They "also underscore the need for media-based interventions to reduce the wide gaps in the reproductive health knowledge that exist between single and married and between male and female Nepalese youth," the authors stated.

Source
Thapa S, Mishra V. Mass media exposure among urban youth in Nepal. Asia Pac Popul J 2003;18(1):5-28.