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The Power of Publics: Competing Imaginaries of the Radio Audience in Kenya and Zambia

Sharath Srinivasan, Stephanie Diepeveen

Cambridge: Centre of Governance and Human Rights, University of Cambridge (2016), 23 pp.

"With the liberalisation of the airwaves and the rising use of mobile phones since the 2000s, call- and text-in shows have become popular and lively features on broadcast media in Eastern Africa. Amidst expanding possibilities for listeners to speak and contribute to live radio broadcasts, new ways ... of imagining the position of the audience emerge. The audience is not simply comprised of passive listeners of publicly broadcast information, but actively engaged in contributing and reacting to what is aired. Yet the nature and political potential of the ‘audience-public’ is not straightforward. Interactive radio and TV shows are not just introducing specific audience members into the discussion, but who they are, what they represent, their influence and contribution to the space are uncertain. As audience members engage, those who manage and shape the broadcast must imagine, interpret and respond. Each participant in the discussion –whether listening, or involved in the station – producing, hosting, etc. – must come to terms with the nature of the interaction, Who is engaged? How should they respond? What are their reasons for being engaged and how might the introduction of this indeterminate audience-public relate to their intentions? Given the plurality of subjectivities, information, roles and intentions of those involved, the audience and why it matters can be imagined in multiple and competing ways. This paper interrogates how different actors involved in the radio broadcast imagine and respond to audience participation, and how these imaginaries become politically significant. This paper draws predominantly on interview and observation data on the perspectives of station hosts, guests and frequent callers of selected media houses and interactive broadcast shows in Zambia and Kenya. It examines the dynamic, plural and conflicting ways in which the audience is being reconstructed as an active ‘public’. In so doing, it shows the centrality of the imagined audience in the construction of the broadcast as a ‘public’, specifically how the indeterminate audience becomes the basis for competing imaginaries about power, authority and belonging. The political significance of the ‘audience-public’, it is argued, lies in the very fact that multiple and competing imaginaries are at play, which are invested in by actors pursuing diverse ends and thereby create tangible political effects." (Abstract) more

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Who Participates? Audience and Participants in Interactive Shows

Winnie V. Mittullah, Okoth Fred Mudhai, Sammy Mwangi

Cambridge: Centre of Governance and Human Rights (2016), 23 pp.

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Interactive Radio Program Report: An Integrated Approach to Addressing the Issue of Youth Depression in Malawi and Tanzania

Heather Gilberds, Adena Brown, Mark Leclair

Ottawa: Farm Radio International (2016), 23 pp.

"Here we discuss a unique and innovative radio-based approach to improving mental health literacy and creating a demand for mental health services—part of a larger project called 'An Integrated Approach to Addressing the Issue of Youth Depression in Malawi and Tanzania'. Grounded in theories of so ... cial and behavior change communication and edutainment, and leveraging participatory methodologies, Farm Radio International and partners Teen Mental Health and Farm Radio Trust in Malawi worked with local radio broadcasters in Malawi and Tanzania to design and deliver weekly, interactive youth radio shows about mental health. Ongoing engagement with the content, and deliberation over the messages, was facilitated through SMS feedback mechanisms, and mobile polls and quizzes delivered through the radio stations, along with school-based radio listening clubs that met weekly to listen to the programs and discuss the themes in a group. Over the course of the 45-month project, the radio shows gained immense popularity, in large part because they talked about issues that are important to youth, and incorporated the language youth use and music they prefer. The programs attracted an average of 500,000 listeners each week, and received tens of thousands of text messages and Facebook posts by young people giving feedback, telling the radio hosts about what topics they would like to hear about, and asking questions about mental health or requesting to be connected with a mental health expert. The impact of the radio was measured according to whether and to what extent the interactive media programs play a role in triggering or facilitating drivers of the process of change. These drivers include bringing about improvements in knowledge and attitudes, mobilizing a social movement, and facilitating greater social and public support to put mental health on the agenda as a topic of conversation, grounded in new understandings and new knowledge. Our findings demonstrate that an interactive radio campaign can have a marked effect on improving knowledge, decreasing stigma, and increasing demand for mental health services among youth in sub-Saharan Africa. Youth who listened to the radio programs fare better than their peers in understanding the signs and symptoms of mental health disorders and in knowing where to go if they or someone they know needs help. Further, interactive radio programs can have a direct impact on reducing stigmatizing attitudes, frequently recognized as a crucial element in promoting improved access to care." (Executive summary) more

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Media Practitioners and Public Opinions on Interactive Broadcast TV Shows in Africa: Citizen TV (Kenya) and Muvi TV (Zambia)

Okoth Fred Mudhai

University of Cambridge, Centre of Governance and Human Rights (2016), 25 pp.

"Interactive TV and radio shows are popular phenomena in Kenya and Zambia. Drawing primarily from interview- and observation based research in TV stations in Kenya and Zambia, this paper examines the role of media practitioners in shaping interactive broadcast programmes, and the nature and possibil ... more

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Hearing Community Radio Listeners: A Storytelling Approach for Community Media Audience Research

Gretchen King

Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, volume 12, issue 2 (2015), pp. 121-146

"This article draws on the first extensive study of community radio audiences in the Middle East to contribute new insights about documenting the impacts of community radio, and the evaluative mechanisms that should be in place for non-profit, community media to better fulfill their mission to serve ... more

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Radio Active! The Story of Interactive Radio in Africa

Politics and Interactive Media in Africa (PiMA) (2015), 19 pp.

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La participación de la audiencia en la televisión: De la audiencia activa a la social

Natalia Quintas Froufe, Ana González Neira (coord.)

Madrid: Asociación para la Investigación de Medios de Comunicación (AIMC) (2015), 166 pp.

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Radio Listening Clubs in Malawi as Alternative Public Spheres

Peter Mhagama

Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, volume 13, issue 1-2 (2015), pp. 105-120

"Many people in rural areas in Malawi lack access to information due to illiteracy and the unavailability of reliable sources of information. There is also an absence of a proper forum where rural ordinary people can express their views and have their voices heard. However, in communities where ther ... more

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Background Paper: Politics and Interactive Media in Zambia

Nalkui Milano, Neo Simutanyi, Alastair Fraser

Cambridge: Centre of Governance and Human Rights, University of Cambridge (2015), 15 pp.

"This background paper provides an overview of the history and context of interactive media and public opinion in Zambia. It is prepared as part of Politics and Interactive Media in Africa (PiMA) - a collaborative study involving the University of Cambridge, University of Nairobi and University of Z ... more

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Dimitra Newsletter, Nr. 25

Brussels: FAO Dimitra (2014), 24 pp.

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Digitale Leuchtturmprojekte des lokalen und regionalen Hörfunks und Fernsehens: Social-Media-Programmfeedback in Deutschland, Großbritannien und den USA

Rüdiger Steinmetz, Anna Zöllner, Stephan Lax, Kevin Grieves, Gregory Newton

Berlin: Vistas (2014), 285 pp.

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Programa sobre el derecho de las personas a ser escuchadas: Guía de aprendizaje

Adrienne Hopkins, Stephanie Debere et al.

Oxfam (2014), 120 pp.

"Por su propia naturaleza, trabajar eficazmente por el derecho de las personas a ser escuchadas es una tarea compleja y multidimensional, y requiere acciones a diferentes niveles y sectores, valiéndonos de diversas estrategias. El objetivo de esta guía es orientar nuestro trabajo y hacer hincapié ... more

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Interactive Media Audiences in Africa: A Comparison of Four Constituencies in Kenya and Zambia

Nalukui Milapo, Neo Simutanyi, Alastair Fraser

Cambridge: Centre of Governance and Human Rights, University of Cambridge (2014), 89 pp.

"To better understand who participates in media-driven public discussion and opinion-making, this working paper presents the results of a randomised household survey implemented in four constituencies in Kenya and Zambia, one urban and one rural constituency in each country. The survey was conducted ... as part of Politics and Interactive Media in Africa (PiMA), a collaborative research project analysing the nature and political implications of expressions of public opinion in broadcast media in Kenya and Zambia, via new information and communication technologies (ICT) such as mobile phones. This paper presents descriptive survey results that are the basis of a deeper comparative analysis of drivers of listenership and participation in interactive broadcast media shows, also published in the PiMA Working Paper series. Nevertheless, a few results are highlighted here. The survey reveals that level of radio listenership of interactive shows in the two Kenyan constituencies is high, particularly in Kenya, ranging between 80-90%, whereas in Zambia listenership levels range between 40-60%, contrasting with listenership to radio shows generally (70-85%). Radio listeners tend to listen to all types of shows, from politics and development shows to social/cultural and music/entertainment shows. Yet country differences in interactive show listenership are not reflected in the levels of participation in interactive radio shows. Both in Kenya and in Zambia, roughly 20% of the total population have participated at one time or another in interactive shows. However, contrasting with listenership, participation tends to be more segmented across types of shows. Rural and urban constituencies show an inverse pattern of participation in Kenya and Zambia, with higher levels of participation in the urban sample from Zambia (21% versus 12% in the rural), and the rural sample from Kenya (21% versus 19% in the urban). Across the four sites, male and more educated listeners are more likely to engage interactive shows. Three to four times more men engage in interactive shows than women. Of the women who participate in interactive shows, they tend to be younger, single, more educated and wealthier compared with those who do not participate. Calling in to the studio is the most frequent form of engagement in radio shows, especially in rural areas. SMS is more popular in urban constituencies, particularly in Kenya. Only 10% of those who have participated in interactive media shows have ever used social media to communicate with stations. Across all sites, the main barriers to participation identified are cost and expectations of not getting through." (Abstract and introduction, page 4) more

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Interactive Radio for Development Projects: A Toolkit for Practitioners

FHI 360 (2014), 149 pp.

"The primary audience of this toolkit is anyone using or planning to use radio to enhance the impact of their development programs. It does not assume any level of prior knowledge of interactive radio from the reader. It will primarily appeal to practitioners who are planning to work through establi ... more

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Participatory Media for a Non-Participating Community: Western Media for Southern Communities

Brian Semujju

International Communication Gazette, volume 76, issue 2 (2014), pp. 197-208

"This paper draws on the contrast between community media and the nature of its communities in Africa that are not participatory but use participatory media. The general contention is that participatory media in Africa preside over non-participatory communities. The paper uses data collected at one ... more

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Listeners' Clubs: New Partnerships

Dimitra Newsletter, issue 23 (2013), pp. 3-7

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Dimitra Newsletter, Nr. 24

Brussels: FAO Dimitra (2013), 24 pp.

"For several years now, the FAO-Dimitra project has been supporting community listeners’ clubs (CLC), which facilitate a process for strengthening rural communities, with a special focus on women’s leadership. At this stage in the project’s progress, we think it is necessary to take the time t ... more

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Online Comment Moderation: Emerging Best Practices

Federica Cherubini, Alexandra Waldhorn

Darmstadt: World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) (2013), 77 pp.

"The news organisations that we spoke to could be broadly divided into two camps with regards to their attitudes to online comments: there are those who embrace comments from users, often as part of a wider strategy of involving their readers in their publication, and there are those who see them as ... more

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Audience Participation in the Production of Online News: Towards a Typology

Aske Kammer

Nordicom Review, volume 34, issue Special Issue (2013), pp. 113-126

"The potential of audience participation constitutes a most important characteristic of digital journalism. This article presents an inductive study of audience participation in the production of online news in a Danish context, analysing how audiences participate, and what relationships between jou ... more

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Desde la experiencia al saber: Sistematización de las experiencias en investigación de audiencias de ALER

María Cristina Mata (ed.)

Quito: Asociación Latinoamericana de Educación Radiofónica (ALER) (2012), 45 pp.

"Analiza el diseño, los métodos de investigación aplicados y la relevancia práctica de 23 encuestas de audiencia y estudios de evaluación realizados por la ALER entre 1981 y 2008." (commbox)