Transcript Health check-ups of community radio

Content of community radio
Ullamaija Kivikuru
Vision
(Michael Delorme, AMARCH president, 1990)
• Community radio implies a democratic dimension,
popular participation in the management of the station as
well as the production of its programmes. For us
community radio is accessible. It is neither the
expression of political power nor the expression of
capital. It is the expression of the population. It is the
third voice between state radio and private commercial
radio.It is controlled democratically by the population it
serves[…] It informs, motivates discussion and
entertains while broadcasting music and poetry that
regenerate the collective soul.
Mission
• Creation and reinforcement of an informed citizen, willing
to take challenges and to act
BUT
• The scenario easily becomes a ”mixed grill” of
contradictory elements (e.g. representative, deliberative
and participatory democracy theories). Their perceptions
of an active citizen differ considerably
• National/local dimension constantly problematic
• Acommunity medium cannot fulfil its task alone
• What is meant by participation? More than phone-ins…
Potential
• Radio is easily accessible
• Radio production is not expensive
• Radio is intimate
BUT
• Community radio is easily taken over by too
much/little professionalism
• Community radio still easily repeats a top/down
attitudes
• The border to commercial broadcasting is diffuse
(as such not dangerous, but a problem for
station governance & relations to authorities)
Strategy
• Professionalism in production
• Participation by the community in all levels
• Relevant thmes discussed
• Proximity dimension emphasized
• Entertainment, culture strengthened
BUT
• Is it possible to combine these aspects?
• The locality aspect becomes easily quite
technical (local expert talking about national
affairs, etc.)
Community
• In general, a community medium operates
well if the community operates well (local
governance OK, numerous advocacy
units, gender equality discussed, etc.)
• Unfortunately, so far community media
have not been able to bring change in a
poorly-functioning community
• Sharing, uniformity leads easily avoidance
of conflicts in coverage
Volunteer base
• As such, a sound principle, indicates
commitment
• Operates fairly well in communities with strong
advocacy activity, civic organisations, etc.
• In the long run, impossible in community radio
activity (most stations have combinations of a
few professionals plus volunteers)
• Fits badly with the present 24/7 ideology
• Leads to a continuous need for training
personnel (cooperation of stations, interns, etc.)
Aspects to be considered
• Professional sub-providers (production training
circles, programme archives) & local updating
• No regular dependence on outside sources &
donors. All have their own agendas, but if these
are useful, they could be used with care
• Re-appraisal of radio forums from the 1970s?
• Not too heavy programming (South Africa: twothirds of community radio stations’ programming
focuses on politics or delivery, while listeners
tend to be tired of politics)
Civic mapping
(Pew Center for Civic Journalism, US)
• Profound acquaintance with the community
(surveys, meetings, focus groups, internet
discussions)
• All social, economic and cultural groups (also
children, the youth, the umemployed, senior
citizens) included
• Based on these discussions, an agenda is
developed and based on it, a programme
schedule for 3-4 months (not more). The radio
should adjust itself to the living mode of the
receivers
• Then again, a new mapping round
Democracy Radio, South Africa
(Idasa)
Year
Nat.politics Delivery
Other
1998
4%
52%
44%
1999
33%
38%
29%
2000
12%
42%
46%
2001
7%
52%
41%
2002
28%
44%
28%
2003
26%
51%
23%
2004
42%
43%
13%
Community radio rarely
independent from national agenda
•
•
•
•
National politics
National educational/developmental politics
National strategies for culture and media
Conflicts of opinion on national level rarely
openly discussed in community radio
• The potential of live programming mainly used
for focusing on local issues
• Impression of a campaign often embedded in
the programming
• Experts not trained for radio presentation
(”educational” top/down focus)
Linkage to the national: news
• Natural to talk about big national themes
(elections, etc), but the perspective not always
much developed (local authorities talk about
national issues)
• International news? Commedia: village people
knew surprisingly much about international
themes via conventional media and opinion
leaders, but wanted to discuss them on village
level (does the c.m. expertice meet the level?)
• Participation not easily brought in to current
affairs programmes
News?
• Current issues, but how much
international, national, regional, local?
• News collection? Sources used?
• News narratives & style & language? The
inverted pyramid is not an answer
• From news to views?
Own scoops?
• Though resources limited, finding ”own” stories
is possible via community linkages (better than
in conventional media), but rarely used
• Scandals, sensations a rarity in the community
media
• Considerably more process reporting (via life
discussions mainly) than in the conventional
media
• Community contacts crucial for support and
sources
• Civil courage quite rare
Edutainment, infotainment
• Radio soaps for social change (not very
common), found among public &
commercial broadcasters
• Soul City (SA) on TV tells about a
community radio station
• Women’s groups talking about health,
education, politics, marriage, women’s
status (Latin America)
Format transfer from conventional
media to community media
•
•
•
•
News & current affairs
Studio discussions
Music programmes
Use of sources (the higher the better,
chairpersons of associations, etc.)
NOT
• Civic/citizen/public journalism formats
• Citizen-run programmes (too much respect for
professionalism?)
Format for a national issue
presentation, Democracy Radio
• Topical round-up (5 minutes)
• Highlighting the core of the problem (15
minutes)
• Citizen action, short narratives (5 minutes)
• Advice for advocacy, lobbying (5 minutes)
• Always two presenters
• Frequently phone-ins in advocacy section
• Special attention to the language used (no
abstract words, explanation for concepts)
Music
• Proportion of music tends to grow in the
long run
• National focus stronger than among
commercial stations
• DJs frequent also in community media
programmes
• Royalties? Support for own music?