Douglas Farngalo, a graduate student from Birmingham City University and a previous contributor to RD4 , talks about the use of radio in his homeland of Liberia.
Topics of discussion include; Douglas’s personal story as a radio journalist/presenter/producer, along with his thoughts on the democratic ability of radio, religious stations in Liberia, how radio manages to reach remote regions of Africa – and how radio promotes the popularity UK’s Premiere Football League in Africa.
Well, R4D got a bit of a shock to see the Youtube clip about Joshua Arap Sang (Sept. 26 post) receiving over 8,000 views overnight.
No doubt in response to the International Criminal Court allegations that Sang, along with William Samoei Ruto and Henry Kiprono Kosgey, bears;
“Criminal responsibility under Article 25 of the Rome Statute for murder, torture, deportation or forcible transfer, and persecution based on political affiliation as crimes against humanity.”
It’s hard to reconcile the guy in the video with the crimes he’s supposed to have committed. My first reaction was – where is the evidence? As Julius Lamaon, the CEO of Kass said (Nov. 2 post) where is the “scientific data”?
I’m not for a second discounting the seriousness of the allegations – “hate radio” is of course a very dangerous thing – and it will be good to have the issue given public discussion via the impending Hague trial. It will be very interesting to see what eventuates. Click “View Full Article” below to see sections taken from the official charges relating to Sang;
(For the full article visit; Mashada)
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. )
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.
Kass FM in Kenya not only broadcast on traditional FM radio frequencies across Kenya…. The station can also be heard locally and across the world online.
In this clip – the online content manager for the station discusses how the internet is becoming increasingly important to Kass FM’s output – and revenue stream – as well as how they are utilsing web technologies like facebook and youtube etc.
Visit the station online at: www.kassfm.co.ke
Kass FM broadcasts in the Kalenjin language – and reaches an audience of about 4.5 million listeners across Kenya daily.
Kass Lene Emet is the station’s breakfast show – and in this clip, the presenter Joshua arap Sang discusses programme content, as well as audience interaction and Kenyan radio in general.
The station broadcasts in the following regions; Nairobi and its environs including Machakos, Thika, Kiambu and Limuru – in the Rift Valley, which includes Nakuru, Eldoret, Kitale, Baringo, Kapenguria, Timboroa, Gilgill, Naivasha, Bomet, Litein and Kericho – in coastal regions of Kenya including Mombasa, Malindi, Mtwapa, Changamwe, Ukunda and Kilifi – and also in parts of Western Kenya and Nyanza which include Kakamega, Kisumu and Kisii. The station also broadcasts across the world online…
Visit Kass FM online at; www.kassfm.co.ke
I opened yesterday’s (13.5.10) Guardian newspaper to find another bout of Bono-bashing – this time slagging off his skills as a financial analist.
I’ll come clean straight off – and confess to being a U2 fan (even ‘though John Peel loathed them).
I grew up with U2 and saw them as “my band” – distinct from my older brothers musical tastes. Although they may have strayed from the path from time to time –they least managed to stick around in their original form (a miracle of inter-band relations) and still produce some interesting tracks.
But back to the bashing… I’ve been meaning to conclude this series of postings about celebrity / aid with a reference to St. Bono – and reading the Guardian article prompted me to get around to it. View full article »
Poor bastard… First, Craig David’s singing career is turned into a joke by “Bo Selecta” – and then, when he tries to turn things around by signing up as a UN Ambassador, Russell Howard comes along and sticks the boot in…
Funny though…
News just in: Seems David’s had the last laugh – having just been named in the UK.s top “rich list”. Read on…
According to the Sunday Times;
“Charlotte Church, Leona Lewis and Katherine Jenkins are joint number one, with an estimated £11 million in the bank.
The list was dominated by women with Joss Stone and Cheryl’s Girls Aloud bandmates also making the top 10. Craig David also made the cut with a reported £8 million in the bank”.
It’s well known that fame and stardom attract attention. So it’s not surprising that many aid organisations utilise celebrity to promote their cause. Gerry Halliwell as UN Ambassador, Geldof’s Live Aid, U2 and friends on Amnesty’s Conspiracy Of Hope tour in 1986 (more about St. Bono later) – and more recently… Lindsay Lohan travelling to India to film an expose of child labour and trafficking of women – which broadcast in April ’10 on BBC3.
What, if anything, can the world of development learn from western advertising? Are there parallels between the two that can be exploited by NGO’s to help create more effective ways of reaching listeners?
Ever since the world’s first radio commercial was broadcast in 1922, broadcasters have searched for innovative techniques to successfully deliver sales messages to carefully defined target audiences. In order to try and define the various strengths and weaknesses of radio advertising – and whether they could be harnessed for development broadcasting – I investigated a cross section of advertising related literature.
