ajen - African Journalism Education Network
In spite of the many challenges community radio faces on the continent, the medium remains the media that many communities rely on for information, a mapping study conducted by Wits Journalism and the Fojo Media Institute covering the sector in sub-Saharan Africa has found.
The report of the mapping study was launched at the 12th annual Radio Days Africa conference, which was hosted last month by Wits Journalism.
Th report said the advent of community radio in sub-Saharan Africa had “heralded an era of far more participatory development communications in the region”. Democratisation, market liberalisation and the availability of affordable broadcasting technologies had facilitated the “explosion” of community radio, said the report.
“Much as (affordable) technologies are hailed as one of the factors contributing to the growth of community radio in the region, there are still technical challenges in that alternative energy sources are not that widespread (especially in predominantly rural communities). The unaffordability of the internet also adds to the challenges” the report argues.
Cell phones had revolutionised community radio broadcasting in terms of reporting, audience participation and the reception as many people listen on phones that have built-in FM receivers, the study found. The reported added: “The use of cell phones, together with web and online networking, as well as presence on the web and blogging, are positive trends in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
The report analyses the landscape of community radio in eSwatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania Zambia and Zimbabwe. There are about 2 000 community radio stations in sub-Saharan Africa, although the medium is inexistent in Zimbabwe, eSwatini and the Democratic Republic of Congo, among others. The absence is caused by governments in those countries, who have frustrated the development of the medium through the lack of enabling legislation and other measures. In Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Botswana and Somalia, community radio has operated under legal and regulatory frustration, said the report..
The report lamented the demise of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcaster (Amarc) Africa, which it said was an important networking platform. It recommended that the organisation should be revived “for the overall coordination and advocacy as well as to lobby support for the community radio sector in the region”.
"Mapping Community Radio
in Sub-Saharan Africa Jacob Sabelo Ntshangase":
Since the first African community radio station was established in
Homa Bay, Kenya, in 1982, they have spread widely across Africa.
According to an estimate in this report, there are around 2000 community radio stations in sub-Saharan Africa, though unevenly distributed. Some countries have large numbers, others have yet to
allow these stations to operate.
Millions of people now rely on community radio
for their information needs. Often it serves audiences
in remote rural areas and urban informal settlements
– those who are furthest outside the information
mainstream, and who as a result struggle to exercise their rights as citizens. If information is power,
community radio stations do a great deal to redress
imbalances of power.
And yet little is known about them. Even basic
information is hard to get, and it is often not even
certain how many stations are on air. Operations
collapse and others start, with hardly anybody
outside the immediate environment noticing. Even
the licensing authorities sometimes struggle to keep
accurate records. More specific detail around programming, income streams, staffing and other issues
are even harder to track.
As part of the Consortium to Promote Human
Rights, Civic Freedoms and Media Development in
Africa (Charm), Wits Journalism and the Fojo Media
Institute at Sweden’s Linnaeus University decided to pull together some information on community radio in Africa.
read the full report "Mapping Community Radio
in Sub-Saharan Africa - Jacob Sabelo Ntshangase:
