As educators and politicians have become aware of the need to provide more educational opportunities to rural areas, mass media has become more important. Focusing upon the developing nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, this article discusses the past and continuing use of mass media in rural education. Topics are: an overview of mass media in rural development and education; formal and informal education; projects using media forms in formal educational settings; mass media in informal education; and the organization of the media for rural education. Among the recommendations are: (1) when implementing a media-based instruction, reforms of non-media components of the educational system (curricula, complementary written materials, and classroom utilization) must not be neglected; (2) countries planning new media systems for rural education cannot ignore the needs of local personnel such as teachers and community development workers; and (3) the media's effectiveness is enhanced when integrated within organizations which are strong and flexible enough to carry out complementary educational reforms. (NQ)