In the Zimbabwean elections of 2005, various international donors distributed solar powered and wind-up radios through domestic organisations, together with radio station information cards. These radio stations were broadcasting into Zimbabwe from other countries, carrying news and educational information, as well as giving voice to opposition parties which could not access the state-owned broadcaster.
After some years of limited take up, widespread availability of digital satellite radio receivers have been given a boost by a consumer market in the United States of America, and programming is starting to emerge. Distributors of satellite television have also been making available radio stations. Broad band Internet access also enables streaming of live and recorded radio material on personal computers.
This ability to make use of relatively cheaply prepared and broadcast audio material, using technology which is highly mobile and unobtrusive has meant that documentary and reality radio, news and talk are all available to the educator under increasingly flexible conditions, even where there is control of state broadcasters or commercially owned and inflexible formats such as news and music.
Educators may consider the following opportunities:
Talk radio
Talk radio formats have a bad name in certain societies, where they have become colonized by highly reactionary and eccentric presenters and niche audiences. In other countries, talk radio has provided a service which includes community services, public education and mobilization, and access to political leaders by ordinary citizens with access to a telephone. Educators can assist such stations, whether they are the larger more commercial stations or smaller community stations, by providing them with studio guests, suggesting topics for public debate, and offering briefings for presenters and producers.
Magazine shows
There is some overlap between the talk format and the magazine format stations, but the latter tend to rely on more pre-packaged materials and interviews, short documentaries, and occasionally more extensive public education or public interest shows. Educators can either work with such stations to develop programmes – such as a series introducing the constitution or bill of rights - or to showcase particular issues or political processes; or may develop their own programmes in house and distribute these to the various stations through a web portal or by digital disk.
It is important that such production is be based on pre-production conversations with the stations to ensure that they are of the right broadcast quality, of the appropriate format and timing, and that space will be made in the broadcast schedule.
News
Media communications and the development of events and media opportunities to promote educational objectives, or to obtain support for such objectives, require planning and media awareness. This is covered in a separate file National Impact Media.
Advertising
For further information on the use of advertising, including radio, see: Commercial Advertising.
