"The Solomon Islands’ media industry is a fast-growing one. A unique feature of the media industry in Solomon Islands is youth employment. Solomon Islands has a population with 70 percent of people under the age of 29, and the media industry primarily comprises young people. While this is important for youth employment and contributes to a dynamic industry, 50 percent of media practitioners do not have a higher education qualification. The media industry often attracts people straight out of high school and the lack of formal education among most media practitioners in Solomon Islands is said to impact on the quality of media. There are several print newspapers. The government operates a national radio station, and subnational and private radio stations are also available. Subscription television services offer some local content in addition to foreign broadcasts. Solomon Islands has a number of public and private media broadcasters, and print outlets. The Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) is the state broadcaster and has a reach of over 90 percent of the population via radio. SIBC does not have a television station.
[...] Radio is the medium with the largest reach in Solomon Islands. The vast majority of the people (95 per cent) surveyed in the 2010 Audience Survey commissioned by the Solomon Islands Media Assistance Scheme (SOLMAS) stated that they have access to at least one radio station in their area, with SIBC having the greatest reach. SIBC runs Radio Hapi Isles, Wantok FM (commercial music station) and provincial stations, Radio HapiLagun and Radio Temotu. Paoa FM is the leading commercial radio station run by Solomon Star. ZFM 100, another commercial station, is owned by Commercial XJ6 Co Ltd. Gud Nius Redio, a semi-commercial station, broadcasts religious music and content but produces no local news.
[...] The development of community media in the Solomon Islands can be traced back to 2004. There was growing appreciation of the potential role of radio stations in supporting local governance and facilitating greater community participation and accountability. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Isabel Provincial Government (IPG) established eight low-power FM radio stations around the province as part of the Isabel Provincial Development Programme (IPDP).6 The aim was to support the growing role of governance institutions in provincial development planning and to improve communication between these institutions and the islanders. Poor infrastructure has been one of the main factors inhibiting effective two-way communication in the Solomon Islands. The problem is particularly acute in remote and mountainous areas such as Isabel. For that reason, the radio stations were set up in remote villages to allow greater sharing of information and the development of local content by host communities. The People First Network (PFnet) provided high-frequency radio email stations, co-located with the radio stations installed and managed by the IPDP. These facilities became known as community information centres. PFnet was involved in the operation of the email stations until the IPDP initiative ended in December 2007, after which the stations were operated by their local communities." (Pages 3-7)