Archive for November, 2010


South Africa: More on “Hate Radio”

Filed Under: R4D by Sam Coley — 1 Comment
November 20, 2010

In this entry, Brenda Leonard, Managing Director of Bush Radio in Cape Town, talks about “Hate Radio”, the importance of community radio, and how South Africa uses strict regulations to try an curb offensive broadcasting. This posting follows on from an earlier blog about “Hate Radio” (Nov. 2nd) featuring Julius Lamaon, CEO KASS FM Kenya.

Bush Radio is Africa’s oldest community radio station project based in Cape Town, South Africa. It broadcasts on 89.5 MHz FM. For more information visit them online, here… (An audio slideshow about Bush Radio will be posted here shortly. )

Comment

Liberia: Radio & the Press Union of Liberia

Filed Under: international by Sam Coley — 1 Comment
November 13, 2010

This post and slideshow is a follow-up to an earlier article about the partnership between Birmingham City University and the Press Union of Liberia.

Peter Quaqua, the President of the Press Union, visited the University and met with myself and Liberian radio student Douglas Farngalo – and we had the chance to talk about the state of radio in Liberia and the media in general…

Douglas also discussed a scheme to send the University’s decommissioned portable audio recorders – along with new microphones / cables / batteries / training manuals etc. – to the Press Union in Liberia so they could be distributed to Community Radio Stations.

View full article »

Read More & Comment

Ethiopia: School of Journalism & Communication

Filed Under: international by Sam Coley — 2 Comments
November 7, 2010


Addis Ababa: Ethiopia
This entry features the Dean of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication, at Addis Ababa University.

The interview discusses the University’s various radio and media courses – as well as the Dean’s thoughts on Journalism in general in Ethiopia…

A country well known for its poor reputation for free press…
And for the Govts. harsh treatment of reporters.

Addis Ababa University is the oldest institution of higher education in Ethiopia – and their radio classes are proving to be very popular.

They aim to develop their radio courses in the future by establishing a “real world” community radio station on campus.

This interview was recorded in July, 2010.

Thanks to the British Council in Addis for their assistance in arranging the meeting.

Comment

Nigeria: Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria

Filed Under: international by Sam Coley — 1 Comment
November 6, 2010

The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) is Nigeria’s publicly-funded radio broadcaster.

Their subsidiaries include;

The Voice of Nigeria international service

Radio Nigeria domestic network.
In this clip, Philips Robinson Adefioye takes you on a tour of Radio Nigeria and Voice of Nigeria in Lagos, introducing staff behind the scenes and discussing various aspects of the FRCN operation.

Radio Nigeria is part of the FRCN’s mediumwave service. In 2007, FRCN began introducing FM transmitters in some locations, and plans to upgrade and modernise its shortwave and medium wave transmitters in the near future.

Comment

Kenya: Kass FM “Hate Radio?” (Election Violence, 2007)

Filed Under: R4D by Sam Coley — 2 Comments
November 2, 2010

In another posting about KASS FM Kenya – Julius Lamaon, the CEO, responds to criticisms that Kalenjin callers to the station made Incendiary comments that stirred the violence following the 2007 Kenyan elections. Some have called this controversial style of broadcasting – “Hate Radio”.

Although radio clearly has a responsibility to ensure a fair and balanced output – targeting Kass and other stations for the bloody aftermath of the elections seems to be a way of deflecting attention away from the real causes of the issue – years of ineffectual government and corruption amongst politicians.

I asked Julius about this sensitive issue in order to give some balance to the debate – which has “accused” several Kenyan stations without any real evidence being produced. It’s worth noting that following the elections Kass invited representatives from other Kenyan tribes to share their views on-air in talk shows designed to encourage unity.

Tags: , , , , ,
Comment