In addition, women who faced mobility problems or cultural constraints to travel were virtually cut off from information. Information can be successfully disseminated to stakeholders in a number of ways. In the Gambia Public Works and Employment project, a community participation program is being developed that uses newspapers, radio, talk shows, leaflets, posters, and stickers to disseminate information. The Gambia experience reveals that taking into account literacy, language, scope, timing, and selection of themes sensitive to gender, age, and ethnicity is critical to channeling information flows to target audiences. But sometimes newspapers, radio, television, and other forms of mass communication are not the most effective means of reaching the general public.
Information can flow vigorously through local communication systems.
This includes traditional entertainment such as song, dance, and community theater. The exchange of information can also be facilitated at traditional gathering places, such as village markets, religious meeting places, police stations, or marriage celebrations. If, on the other hand, these modes are ignored, such indigenous communication systems can transmit messages that oppose and undermine development efforts. In South Asia, such communication channels have in the past frequently carried negative rumors about the side effects of family planning methods, sometimes leading to the outright rejection of the contraceptives being introduced. In the Ethiopian Social and Rehabilitation Development Fund project, a number of village-level workshops were held.