Lecture
3: Introduction to Community Journalism
Summary.
So
far we have discussed.
The Societal functions of the mass
media are many and varied.
1.How do people use the mass media?
2.And for what purpose?
1 Surveillance/inform
. Keeping people informed
2. Interpretation/educate . Explaining
complex issues in society
3. Socialization . Transmitting
values
4. Entertainment. Sports
We also discussed the
essentials of Community Journalism
Community journalism is a
term that is popularly applied to grassroots development.
It defines the role of
the journalist as that of being connected to, and working with, the community
in which the journalist lives and works.
The key question to be
addressed in community journalism is: How much do you know about the community
in which you live and work?
Community
journalism is developmental.
This
means it seeks to inform and educate the community about their government,
nation, communities, and all other relevant aspects of their lives.
An
important objective of community journalism is to help the community to find
solutions to their problems.
Community
journalism also mobilizes people into active participants in their social,
political, cultural, and developmental life.
Community
journalism promotes democracy and popular participation in governance,
policymaking, and development.
An
informed and educated community can be very instrumental in pushing the
nation’s development agenda.
An
informed and educated community can be an effective permanent lobby or vanguard
for democracy and transparent governance.
Community
journalism promotes a dialogue between the policymakers and the citizens.
Community
journalism provides a forum on which both the ruler and the governed meet on
equal terms to discuss and debate issues of common interest.
An
accountable government and an informed and educated community are
the indispensable foundation for democracy and development.
What
is Community journalism skills needed to undertake such a role?
Must
be professional.
Must
know your community, its history, culture and needs.
Please
remember the workbook for this course is on the
website.
Today
we will look at the legacy of colonialism environment for the African
journalist.
We
will look more specifically at the historical social, institutional, political
and cultural factors that affect the
practice of journalism in
We
will look at the different media – Radio, Television and the newspapers.
Legacy
of colonialism environment for the African journalist.
Now
let us look more closely at how colonialism created the conditions under which
journalists operate today.
Basically
colonialism was one of the causes of the
lack of national consciousness in many African countries today.
This
was because
When
people do not have a national consciousness they tend to be less receptive to the ideas of nation
building. This is not to say all of
There
are large population groups with divided loyalties and national identities n
This
means giving both urban and rural
populations equitable opportunities at expressing themselves and
participating in national programs.
Globalization
today means the creation of the global
markets, trade and businesses. This tends to work in the interests of countries
with strong economies.
For
most of
The
role of the journalist here is to write articles that encourage local
initiatives, like the cooperative movement.
Another
problem with the legacy of colonialism was the bureaucratization of the State
in
This
led to what is known as an overgrown
state with all those ministers, deputy ministers, permanent secretaries, deputy
permanent secretaries, and so on and so on . The result is this very expensive
to maintain.
The
mass media, newspapers , radio and TV were another of the colonial creations.
They existed mainly to serve the interests of the white colonial settlers.
Today
they serve mostly the interests of the
urban based ruling elites and residents who at best constitute
about 30 percent of the national
population.
The
broadcast media more than any other media are typically located in the capital
city. This shows the degree of the state control of broadcasting in post
colonial
Another
legacy of colonialism was banking system which was introduced to facilitate the
transfer of capital from the colonies to the metropolis.
To
summarize, colonialism created a new
social sector of indigenous people to help run the huge state bureaucracy.
However this urban class later became nationalist’s agitators for independence.
When
independence was gained beginning the
1960s the nationalists formed the new post colonial governments. The new post
colonial governments inherited the
colonial socio-economic structures of government and the economy.
To
this extent they became an economic dependency on the European countries that had colonized
them.
The
African rulers moved into the positions of privilege that were vacated by the
departing colonialists.
What
followed was a situation that former
President of
Let
us now turn to first, Broadcasting.
The
way the broadcast stations are managed determines how broadcast journalists
function.
Broadcasting
in
Today
broadcast stations are
1.State controlled
2.Heavily subsidized by the state
3.Based in urban areas.
It should be noted here that the liberalization era of the 1990s has seen
the emergence of independent broadcast stations in
But the mainstream broadcast networks
are still owned, run, controlled and subsidized by the state.
To understand the role of broadcast
journalism let us look at how broadcast station is managed:
There are three models for understanding the management
patterns of radio broadcasting.
Theory X – focuses on managing
broadcast staff through coercion , intimidation and sometimes physical force.
Theory Y – focuses on developing
and encouraging self-respect , personal
initiative, personal and professional growth and individual autonomy. What this
means is the broadcasting staff are
given the independence to self improve and innovate.
Theory V. deals with creating
innovation, creativity and self respect and encouraging the development of
professional relationships through a series of directives. It is a combination
of Theory X and Theory Y.
Broadcast management in
A broadcast journalist who left his
job recently complained that they were told what to broadcast and what not to
write for broadcast.
The control
was so intense that every single sentence they wrote came under very close scrutiny of the
Ministry of Information.
The broadcast journalist in
How is this control exercised?
Let us look at the management
structure of a broadcast station.
A broadcast station is typically
headed by a Managing Director (MD) or
Director General (DG).
The MD or DG spends more time interacting
with the ruling Party’s politicians,
government officials, diplomats, representatives of the international
organizations, etc.
The MD or DG interacts less with the
staff in the broadcast station.
This deprives him of the opportunity
to understand and appreciate the professional role of the broadcast journalists
especially when it comes to covering
issue of public interest and
relevance.
Below the DG is the General Manager (GM) who heads the day to day activities and
operations.
Next is the Manager for News and
Public Information.
Next is the Manager of Programs and
Production.
Next is the Comptroller for Finance
and Administration.
Next are the Technical Manager and
Chief Engineer.
There are two ways senior managers of
the broadcast station are appointed.
1.Direct appointment
through patronage.
Here the Director General and general manage as well as Manager of News and
Public Information appointed by either the head of state, the minister of
information or top party officials. Qualifications for such appointments are usually based on the position of the individual within the
Party structures or government.
2.Appointment through the
civil service.
People appointed to technical and specialty
positions for finance, engineering and production are usually appointed
through the civil service.
In terms of promotion, there are two
forms.
1.Lateral transfer. Individual move from other ministries to manage broadcasting. For
example, a permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance may be moved to the
position of the Director General (DG).
2.Internal. A broadcast journalist may be given the responsibility of managing the
station.
In general people promoted internally have a more
commitment to the station that those from outside.
Example of Theory X of
management.
From the above structures of management the Theory X of management is
evident.
Heads of broadcast station regularly
and routinely hold meetings with
government and party officials especially in the Ministry of
Information. It is here that editorial policies and what journalists should cover or not cover
are discussed.
Here are some examples of questions
that may be discussed.
Should the station broadcast that people living in
such area are starving considering that is where the Minister of information
comes from?
Should the picture of the head of
state meeting with say the
Is a story about crime involving an
individual related to a government or
Party official be broadcast just
before elections?
There are many other examples of decisions that have to be taken.
Any decisions made are filtered down
as coercive policy and journalists have to comply or loose their jobs.
Journalists are not consulted on
these decisions. They are merely handed a fiat
accompli from managers who are not traditionally journalists.
The impact of this broadcast
management style under Theory X is that
managers loose focus on professional journalism.
They are more concerned with
preserving the image of the government or Party official than publishing what is in the public interest as
determined by a professional journalist.
IN
Lack of audience research is another
consequence of management under Theory X. as a result broadcast
journalists does not have up-to-date and
accurate and truthful information about what the public wants at any given
time.
Broadcasters end up publishing what
they want people to hear rather than what people want to hear.
However in the 1990s the new African
generations are becoming more vociferous and demanding. Broadcast journalists
are being forced to provide people with what they need.
Some studies have shown that urban
masses in particular do not care that much about politicians’ speeches.
In rural
In many situations broadcast
journalists have only gone to rural areas when they are accompanying government
ministers and party officials.
It is not usual for broadcast
journalists to go to the rural people and listen to their concerns and
broadcast them.
Now let us look at the historical
factors that created this legacy of colonialism environment.
Radio
broadcasting
Was
introduced by colonial powers.
In
1920 First radio broadcast started in the then
1927.
BBC relay station for settlers was started in Nairobi,
1930.
Empire Service of the BBC was started to serve colonial interests in colonies
and dominions in Canada, Australia, India, and Anglophone
Relay
services were established in
The
French also started radio broadcasts in
1937.
Radio broadcasting began in
Patterns
of colonial broadcasting policy :
1.State ownership
2.Private ownership in some cases like
Use
of local indigenous languages in
Purpose
was to build an interest among the indigenous African people.
Central
African Broadcasting Service established by the British in
It was famous for its introduction. This is
British
broadcasting policy was to prepare colonies for indirect rule in east and
central and southern
To
serve as a public service for indigenous African populations
In
By
1956 there were 163 African managers and
445 technicians at
In
The
French broadcast policy was for direct
rather than indirect rule.
Policy
was to use French as the language for
radio broadcast in order to assimilate
colonies into French culture.
Established
Societe de la France d’Outremer
(SORAFOM) to manage radio stations in
francophone
Later
SORAFAM was replaced by Office de
Coopersation Radiophonique (OCORA) and later Organisation de la Radio et la television Francaise (ORTF). In any
case strong ties with
Summary
of broadcasting models during colonialism.
British
colonial model. Reflected public or local participation in radio
broadcasting as a public service to
indigenous peoples as part of preparation for indirect rule.
French
Colonial model. Reflect strict
centralized control and influence of French culture, reflected in heavy use of
French as language.
Post
independence radio broadcasting in Africa
When
Jomo
Kenyatta (
Restructured
ownership patters to bring broadcasting
under state control. Usually under the
Ministry of Information.
Even
where radio broadcasting was a corporation it was under very tight and strict
control and influence from the
Government
Under
the pan Africanist vision, Kwame Nkrumah and Gamel Abdul Nasser started external radio broadcasts. Julius Nyerere
established the external radio
broadcast as part of the struggle for liberation in southern Africa
Today
several countries like
Cheap
radio sets were distributed to help spread to government information through
radio. In
Objective
was to Forge national awareness and
consciousness
Formation
of radio listening clubs
Radio
broadcasting and national development.
Promoted
by Unesco. Used model which equated literacy with
with national development
If
people were given opportunity to be literate they would need newspapers to give
information that would help them to seek
new opportunities, and be active agents of development.
Unesco
launched education radio broadcasts around Africa, for example, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Farso, ,
Congo, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda.
Ideally
radio broadcast model was intended to give people an opportunity to interact
with government.
But
centralized control of radio by
government turned the projects into one way channels of communications aimed at
giving people information about government without an opportunity to talk back
to government.
Radio
listening clubs lost popularity because many people could now afford their own
radios and were not keen on group listenership
for radios.
Many
radio managers were western trained and they brought in western models of radio broadcasting…
One of the key elements of community journalism is that
journalists must give people a voice.
They must allow people to discuss their concerns and problems as well as how
they have overcome some problems.
There are some indications that
things are beginning to change in broadcasting in
Some stations have started major
reforms in the way they publish news.
Newspapers.
Let
us now turn to newspapers.
Newspapers
in African in general have historically
enjoyed relatively less government
control compared to radio broadcasting.
In
the 1990s
African
newspapers trace their history to
The
first known African newspaper was published in
It
was called The Royal Gazette and
In
neighboring Gold Coast, now
Charles
Force also established the Liberia Herald
in
In
1855 Charles Bannerman published the
Other
newspapers that followed were:
The
The
Nigerian Times
The
The
Gold Coast Spectator in
The
Daily Mail
Early
Newspapers in this region had a tradition of being
more free and more outspoken than in other parts of
There
were three reasons for this.
1. The freed negroes who settled in
2. Missionaries were also involved in
producing publications to educate the indigenous society.
3. There were relatively few settlers
from European colonial powers in west Africa, compared to the rest of the
continent
In
the early 20th Century newspapers in
One
very notable journalist was Nmamdi
Azikiwe. He was educated in the
When
he returned to
In
1937 he went to
Soon
Nationalists
saw the independent newspapers as a vehicle for supporting their cause.
Another
notable journalist was Kwame Nkrumah of
West
African newspapers were also influenced by the British style of flashy newspapers.
The
newspapers tended to also portray the leadership of the emergent independent
African countries in a very positive light especially for consumption abroad.
In
other parts of
One
such paper was the
Rhodes
also bought, as part of his expansion into
central Africa, the Mashonaland Herald.
In 1892. The paper was renamed the
White
settlers like Rhodes also established papers expressly for indigenous
populations, especially those who lived in urban areas. The papers were
intended to keep people entertained in
the hope they would not feel the oppression and start on activities for
freedom.
The
Bantu press was established for this purpose.
It owned and controlled over 10
newspapers and magazines like the Bantu
Mirror, African Weekly.
Meanwhile
the Argus Group had six newspapers and two Sunday papers. Its subsidiary, the
Rhodesia Printing and Publishing Company controlled all daily newspapers in
central
Some
of the newspapers under the control of the Argus Group were:
The
Chronicle
Sunday
Mail
Sunday
News
Northern
News
A
rival newspaper, The Daily News in then
Another
liberal paper was the Central African Mail, later called the Mail, in then
After
independence The Northern News in
The
Zambian government purchased the African Mail and renamed it the
In
east
The
East African Standard was published in
1902 by an Asian A.M. Jeevanjee in
Jeevanje
also published the
An
Asian The Aga Khan established the Daily Nation and Sunday Nation and Taifa
Leo. In
Editors
for The Nation were George Githii and Hilary Ng’weno.
One
indigenous paper Muigwithania (Work
and Play) edited Johnstone Kamau who later
changed his name to Jomo Kenyatta. The paper started agitating for independence
after Kenyatta formed the
In
In
In
Francophone
Only
French citizens deemed to be in good standing with the government were allowed
to start newspapers. But papers that were published in
The
colonial papers served white interests: Le Reveil du Senegal, Le petit
Senegalais and L’Union Africaine.
However
two indigenous papers emerged in
Other
papers that were later established
included Paris-Dakar in Senegal, France-Afrique in Ivory Coast, La Presse du
Guinee, L’Echo du Cameroun and Bingo in Cameroun.
Notable
politicians Leopold Senghor of
The
media – both broadcast and press - in post colonial
With
the impending independence the newspapers attempted to publish more stories
about Africans.
Early
newspapers focused on education and entertainment. But with the struggle for independence
they became the nationalist press agitating for independence.
After