Vusi Sixhaso, a founding member of Radio Zibonele, conducts a program in his studio in Cape Town, South Africa. Radio Zibonele is one of 82 non-profit radio stations granted licenses this year. (AP Photo/Sasa Kralj)
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Helping Africa Find Its Voice: The African Media Development Initiative
By Gelsey Hughes
Today, sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the poorest, most troubled regions of the globe. Its share in world trade is declining, disease and malnutrition are wide-spread, and social unrest has led to civil war and violence throughout the area. Emerging democracies are hindered by corruption and economic stagnation. Fortunately, this crisis is not going unnoticed; international groups are increasingly focused on establishing aid programs for Africa, while numerous groups within Africa are working for reform. But for reform to last and sustainable peace to take hold, systems of governance must be accountable to their citizens and must have the capacity to deliver policies. To this end, the mass media play a critical role.
Mourners walk with candles in Kigali, Rwanda, Friday, April 7, 2000 to mourn the victims of the "ethnic cleansing" genocide that killed more than 800,000 people, most of them minority Tutsis. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
Rwanda's "Radio Machete"
By Alyssa Pankalla
Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) was a Rwandan radio station widely listened to by the general population. From July 1993 to 1994 the station broadcast racist rhetoric against Tutsis and other non-Hutus. It created an atmosphere of racial hostility that allowed the Rwandan genocide to occur. In the end, the radio station's propaganda offensive contributed to the massacre of an estimated 800,000 people during a year's span.
Many aid groups have recognized the role of the mass media in reversing the African crisis. Independent, pluralistic mass media have the ability to inform citizens about their rights, encourage popular participation in democratic processes, and mobilize people for political action. The media also have the potential to give voice to otherwise marginalized groups, holding governments accountable to the needs of all citizens. For this to happen, the media must have the resources to operate free of government interference. This is particularly problematic in sub-Saharan Africa because the majority of media are state-owned or state-funded. Numerous aid programs are aimed at lessening the media’s dependence on state resources, but are these programs working, and are they self-sustaining? The African Media Development Initiative is a response to these queries.
The African Media Development Initiative (AMDI) is an extensive independent survey, consisting of desk research and audio-taped interviews, conducted across seventeen sub-Saharan African countries. Prompted by a 2005 report of the Commission for Africa, AMDI seeks to determine how private donors, international organizations and foreign governments can best direct their resources to support sustainable growth of Africa’s media. Launched in 2006 by the BBC World Service Trust, AMDI has since produced a comprehensive report for each country, detailing the situation of local media institutions and opportunities for future media sector development.
AMDI recommendations vary across countries, but the study has also identified several common areas for reform. More needs to be done to support lobbyists and groups advocating for legislation to better protect journalists. More resources should be directed towards training and education for media practitioners, as ethical, professional and technical standards are still severely lacking in most areas. Finally, there was a consensus that a pan-African initiative is needed to complement national strategies for the development of mass media, and that external efforts must work collaboratively with African practitioners to make this initiative a reality. In response to these findings, a 2006 Media Development Forum brought private donors together with government agencies in South Africa to map out a new strategy for media development.
Although success of the new program has yet to be seen, AMDI has undoubtedly laid the groundwork for targeted improvement of Africa’s mass media. The insight provided by AMDI, once put in action, may mean a brighter future for all democracies south of the Sahara.