Gilberds Outlines Diverse Radio Landscape in Africa

“The African media landscape has diversified greatly in recent years,” Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS) Fellow Heather Gilberds said during a talk on May 3. Radio is one of the most popular forms of media in Africa for several reasons including relatively low levels of internet penetration across the continent and limited access to energy, particularly in rural areas. “Radio is uniquely suited to the African context,” she said, “and it even reaches the end of the development road where there is no cell signal or electricity.”

Gilberds noted that community radio is a particularly good source of information in countries in which press freedom is limited. The number of community radio stations in Africa has grown dramatically from fewer than 10 independent radio stations in 1985 to thousands today. The success of community radio varies across countries, she highlighted. Some countries have a strong number of community radio stations, like Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo, while other countries have legal restrictions preventing the operation of community radio stations like Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

International organizations and NGOs have pushed community radio as a way of improving governance and encouraging democratic environments. “But the correlation between media liberalization and deepening democracy is questionable,” explained Gilberds. A liberalized media can unleash polarized voices that strengthen ethnic and religious divides, “an extreme case being the role of radio station RTLMC in Rwanda leading up to the genocide in 1994.”

Community radio is “a powerful alternative” to commercial radio. It is not-for-profit, owned and operated by the community. Community radio allows its members to become planners, producers, and performers of the information, education, and entertainment that they want, Gilberds elaborated. It also involves participatory development, which focuses on grassroots level change and “allows communities self-determination.”

Gilberds highlighted a number of benefits of community radio. It airs local voices in local languages, opens up processes of knowledge production to even the illiterate, and allows horizontal communication rather than top-down communication. It has also embraced mobile and SMS platforms to allow listeners to participate in public affairs discussions on air.

But community radio also has a number of downsides, Gilberds noted. A lack of journalistic training can lead to the dissemination of incorrect information, and there are few checks and balances on the accuracy of content. These stations are also dependent on financial support from development organizations, and this leads to similar programs across community stations. Since revenue comes from NGO-commissioned content and most radio station staff are underpaid or volunteers, “the staff have no motive to become development journalists.”

“Is paid-for NGO content really for communities?” asked Gilberds. Radio for development programs don’t fit into the participatory development model intended for community radio, she emphasized. “We need a greater focus on media development, and not media for development,” concluded Gilberds.