The importance of participation in development through community radio: a case study of Nkhotakota community radio station in Malawi

Abstract

This article examines the role of participation in development through community radio. Ordinary people participate in community radio through programme production, financing, management and the daily operations of the station. This enables them to define the development problems faced by their communities, and to find solutions to those problems -they therefore participate in development through community radio. As such, the term 'participation' is presented as an empowering factor for ordinary people and as a potential solution to the many development problems faced by the community. Using Nkhotakota community radio station in Malawi as a case study, the article employs Sherry Arnstein's ladder of participation to evaluate various forms of participation in the media and in development. The article finds that ordinary people's participation in the media is low or reduced. The argument is made that while some development goals require the full involvement of the people (e.g., access to media technology, participation in programme production, management and daily operations of the station), others do not require full-blown engagement for development to be realised. Therefore, community radio can encourage development even when members of the community do not participate fully in the activities of the radio through other means such as promoting development initiatives started by non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Communicating Sustainability: Using Community Media to Influence Rural People’s Intention to Adopt Sustainable Behaviour

“…Researchers of communication theories claim that interpersonal interaction and relationships play a vital role in increasing positive feelings towards adopting recommendations in joint decisions regarding an issue needing a solution [79]. As the communications aired by community radios are self-generated, they are accepted by the people of the community without any doubt [103,111,112], and thus influence the affective component of attitude (i.e., feelings about an object). Also, as the real beneficiaries are engaged and empowered in the decisions to communicate [103,[111][112][113], this can increase their commitment to implement them (i.e., the behavioural component of attitude).…”

“…As the communications aired by community radios are self-generated, they are accepted by the people of the community without any doubt [103,111,112], and thus influence the affective component of attitude (i.e., feelings about an object). Also, as the real beneficiaries are engaged and empowered in the decisions to communicate [103,[111][112][113], this can increase their commitment to implement them (i.e., the behavioural component of attitude). Moreover, as the discussions in the joint decisions regarding an issue are recorded from the beginning to end and broadcast in the same form, this increases the ability of both the participants and the general audience to evaluate the messages, information and knowledge (i.e., the cognitive component of attitude).…”

“…Community radios organize participatory programs in different forms [122], where the community's people can take part physically, mentally and emotionally [103,111,112], along with outside experts, to critically analyse a community's multiple problems and solutions from different socio-economic and socio-cultural perspectives at the grassroots level [24,25,85,122]. This process of participation may provide psychological feedback to the participants.…”

Komunikasi kebencanaan Radio Bunut sebagai radio komunitas di Sukabumi

“…Radio Bunut sebagai radio komunitas berperan sebagai media komunikasi dalam menyuarakan informasi pada masyarakat dan menyuarakan suara masyarakat secara luas (Mhagama, 2016;Kent & Ellis, 2015). Tentu saja, masyarakat memerlukan informasi kebencanaan di wilayah tempat tinggalnya.…”

“…Radio Bunut berperan penting dalam membantu rumah sakit R. Syamsudin dalam menghadapi bencana. Berdasarkan penelitiannya, Mhagama mengatakan bahwa radio komunitas berperan membantu masyarakat dalam menyelesaikan persoalan di lingkungan, termasuk kebencanaan (Mhagama, 2016). Komunitas radio Nkhota di Kota Malawi bertugas mengenali permasalahan di masyarakat, membantu memberikan solusi dan ikut brepartisipasi di dalamnya Radio Bunut menjadi media komunikasi bagi masyarakat dalam belajar kebencanaan di wilayahnya.…”