Among development specialists, extension workers, and community leaders, it has been argued for some time that the poor themselves have to be involved in conscious action to tackle the problems of underdevelopment. In this way, the very process of development becomes an enabling and empowering one. This concept has led to participatory development communication, a form of communication which gives the underprivileged access not only to information but also to the use of media.
Media represents an immense power with enormous potential reach. Opening up opportunities for the intended beneficiaries of development to participate in the utilisation of this powerful tool, will enable them to participate in evolving a development agenda which can appropriately and adequately respond to their needs and aspirations. Access to media is access only to information. But access to the power of media is access to life.
In order to be truly of service to the underprivileged and rural poor, mass media must therefore create conditions and mechanisms that can provide people with genuine access to media. Such mechanisms will offer ways in which people can express their sentiments, opinions, views, dreams and aspirations, their fears and insecurities, their strengths and capabilities, as well as their potential for development.
By, with, for and of the people is the credo of present-day development communication or, as it is currently called, community communication. In this context, community broadcasting represents the development of two-way communication within a mass process as a means to achieve change and holistic human development. The community-based radio approach, rather than isolating its audience, seeks to build relationships between the broadcaster and the people listening on the other side. The concept of community broadcasting thus embraces a mission, an orientation, a commitment and a stand for the people with development needs.
Experts in community broadcasting are merely facilitators of learning. Their role is to evoke and provoke the expression of what others know. Only towards the end of programmes do facilitators summarise, add, or modify the expression of the learners' experience. This way of looking at expertise can also be extended to include other development professionals: government extension workers; NGO animators; and those who work together with communities to improve the people's living conditions and uplift their status in society.
Within the framework of distance education, two of the most important elements of the community-based approach to radio broadcasting include:
for the people
of the people
It is essential that the audience of community-based radio (CBR) feel that:
the medium is being used for their welfare;
they are not mere receivers of information;
the medium is within their reach and at their disposal; and
there is support beyond the sound.
When people are able to express themselves through media and when their concerns are heard, considered, and acted upon, their dignity and self-confidence increases. When this occurs, people develop an appreciation of the medium as an important resource for their own development. This realisation, in itself, involves an essential change towards development.
This concept establishes that the clientele, through the process of participatory broadcasting, has identified itself with both the programme and the medium. Once this occurs, the medium has been demassified and demystified. People will have experienced that they are part and parcel of the medium. They will have gained ownership of it through identification.
Community-based radio broadcasting is achieved once a community identifies itself with a radio station and its programming. At first, it is generally very difficult for people in a community to identify themselves with a radio station given their lack of ownership of the medium. However, when people's needs are adequately addressed, they usually seek to get involved and being to take part in programmes. When people see that a radio programme is meant for them and speaks about them, they come to identify themselves with the radio station. In this context, the radio has become community-based, although not necessarily community-owned.
In community-based radio broadcasting, listeners begin to identify with the medium or the source. In one sense, the radio programme can no longer be referred to as the source given that the people are actually both the resource and the receiver. This type of relationship between the audience and the medium goes beyond that of a two-way communication model. It is the start of a budding sense of community.
Experience has shown that five basic principles should be at the core of any effort to promote community-based radio. In particular, it is essential to:
Start where the people are. Research is usually necessary to gain knowledge about the target audience and the surrounding environment. However, there is no substitute for the knowledge acquired through a broadcaster's visibility and sensitivity developed through extensive exposure to the community itself. This implies the absence of presumptive and fixed programme ideas about development as one enters a community through the broadcast media. Development should consider the people's conciousness and context. It is thus important for the broadcaster to be immersed with the community itself. It is necessary to start with people's needs, desires, aspirations, and dreams, whether expressed or unexpressed, conscious or thematic. It is necessary to begin from the client's knowledge base. Education should spring from the specific contextual situation in which people are located.
Ensure maximum participation of the people being served. To maintain the participatory process of development, it is vital for the broadcaster to always ensure the existence of two-way communication. The broadcaster and audience must always be in a level of continuous interaction.
Be sensitive. Strict attention to the needs and culture of the target audience should be uppermost in the producer's mind. The needs and aspirations of the community should take primacy, not the goals of the producer. Alienating the community and manipulating their culture are two of the greatest dangers in broadcasting.
Encourage creativity among participants. Creativity can be encouraged through the use of multimedia techniques such as recorded group discussions and debates. Group processes can evoke and provoke participation and involvement that leads to concrete action. The use of area folk media can also make programmes more interesting and locally specific. The creativity of participants further encourages radio producers to be more creative in responding and attuning themselves to people's needs.
Base programmes on issues. Issue-based programming is of greatest interest to target audiences. When the issues covered represent people's own concerns, the programme can trigger collective action for change. People become conscious of the need for action. Provocative and evocative questions about issues of interest become very effective learning techniques for participants. People sense the relevance of what they are learning when they see how the issues touch them in their immediate lives.
