COMMUNITY RADIOS FOR
DEVELOPMENT
Communities in rural areas and in
impoverished districts of cities are almost always excluded from decisions due
to lack of awareness. Uninformed or under informed individuals are usually
rendered voiceless due to lack of awareness. They cannot participate in the
management of their land, their region, and their country, until they are able
to understand precisely what is happening in their environment. Therefore it
goes without saying that community radio can make a valuable contribution to
community preparedness to actively participate in community development and
decision making by offering access to information and knowledge development.
Community radio is not meant to be
a project of individuals or a group of people to serve their own interests. The ownership and control of community
media is often shared by local residents, government, community-based
organisations, youth associations, empowerment groups, social leaders, a
variety of religious, traditional, cultural and sports associations. Since they
have a strong affiliation with the community and are recognized for their
principles, it allows them to speak on behalf of the community, as they have faithfully
done in the past, in areas such as sports, business, health, finance, culture,
the economy, and others.
THE BENEFITS
Community radio contributes
to local development and decision making .In communities individuals have
different opinions about different situations, however for decisions to be made
there is need for collective opinion. Collective perception can be achieved
through internal discussions to analyse specific problems, identify possible
solutions, and mobilize the appropriate people or groups for action. Community
radio provides the perfect platform for this internal discussion. Community radio is non-commercial, and its overall
budget maybe financed by corporate sponsorship, fund raising schemes, advertising
and government sponsorship.
To run and serve
the people, community radios require varied personnel. Some of which are
producers, scriptwriters, news gatherers, announcers, hosts, technicians and administrative
personnel. Given the high youth unemployment rates in developing countries with
Botswana included community radios could provide both work and experience to
graduates in their respective fields.
THE SOCIAL BENEFITS OF COMMUNITY RADIO
Social
benefits generated by community radio, that have been observed amongst
established community radio stations include:
- Community radio generates a sense of connection, engagement within the community. Therefore through continues engagement, communities in Botswana that are clearly not part and close to the capital city openly view out their opinions on the air through its openness to participation. Hence community issues such as high rates of crime, alcohol and drug abuse can be discussed instead of having campaign projects that start in the capital city and take a long time to be established and integrated in towns and villages. Members of such a community would then be well placed to identify challenges they face within their midst and move on to debate and develop appropriate potential solutions to the said challenges for the ultimate improvement of their own socio-economic wellbeing.
- Community radio provides a localised and relevant information and news service for the community. Localised content is very necessary for a developing nation like Botswana because to be able to grow and develop there is need for even the least developed parts to understand what is happening financially, politically and socially and have changes needed in order to develop and grow. Taking Botswana it is evident that some of the programs and developments happening in the country are not purely understood by communities. If community radio was available, they would be greater developments in the fight against HIV/AIDS, diversification of the economy and the revival of the agricultural sector.
- Community radio provides a publicity service for community groups, through pro-active engagement with groups, by engaging with groups and listeners outside of the studio, by publicising events and by generating an awareness of activities.
It is important to
reflect and promote local identity, character and culture by focusing
principally on local content. Culture is how the people of a community talk
about their past and their future. It is what they care about. Like life
itself, culture is infinitely variable and constantly evolving. Community culture
is also artistic expression through local music, dance, poetry, theatre and storytelling.
With community radio local performers are encouraged to go on air uninhibited
by considerations of the ‘professional standards’ they may have acquired from
mainstream media. Culture is also language, so programming includes the
languages of any minority groups in the community.