Source: The Herald – Breaking news.
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Senior Reporter
In a digital world where the need for information is high, radio continues to remain relevant in bringing news to the people at any given time.
But not all news is relevant to everyone.
Hence community radios play an important role in bridging information gaps that might exist and ensure that news is relevant to its targeted audience.
According to UNESCO, radio can shape a society’s experience of diversity and serve diverse communities by offering a wide variety of programmes.
This is the stone upon which the Second Republic has built on the concept of community and campus radio stations.
To ensure that everyone has access to information, the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe under the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services undertook to licence community radio stations from 2021.
Since then 14 community radio stations have been licenced and this has gone a long way in cementing the Government’s move to liberalise the airwaves, guided by the objective of re-centering the agency of news-making and information sharing from central government to the remotest communities.
This dovetails with the Devolution policy which seeks to empower local communities to decide on which development initiatives to prioritise.
Community radio stations play a pivotal role in relaying localised information, including news, sports, and weather forecasts that pertain to a particular area. Community radio helps disseminate local information to people in a clear and informative manner.
They enable people to enjoy their right to access information concerning socio-economic development and other issues of concern within their communities as it broadcasts in languages spoken within the communities they serve.
According to Information Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa, the community radio stations are intended for communities to create, share and consume content amongst themselves using their local language, in the process aiding the preservation and enhancement of community cultural and norms.
“The Second Republic has opened airwaves, engaged the communities for further inclusive development under devolution. This will ensure communities work together in unity for themselves and others to build the nation by harnessing the unique resource endowments reposed in each and every one of these communities, which taken together with the rest of the country becomes a real force to reckon with,” she said.
“Zimbabwe is the total sum of its unique parts, and is incomplete as a nation when any section of society is excluded from national discourse and development. The Community Radio Station has enabled us to bridge the gaps that have existed in our communication network and we are seeing the coming together of the moving parts as we work towards building a coherent and inclusive society that is built by, protected, prayed for and enjoyed by its citizens. This is the Zimbabwe we all want.”
When implementing the community radio concept, the Government took a deliberate position to follow the 16 official languages as one of the licensing criteria, and thus the geographic spread and target of the licenses followed communities with shared language and culture.
This is expected to ensure that the country attains greater coherence in societies, and that their heterogeneity becomes a point of pride and unity, not of division.
Once marginalised communities have broadcast services, no one and no place is left behind in national discourse.
Not only has the focus been on community radios, the concept has also embraced universities where eight institutions have been licensed to run campus radio stations.
These were rolled out as part of the Education 5.0 model, which seeks to infuse industry specific skills training in tertiary education, while also ensuring that universities as unique communities, maintain a platform for conversation which should enrich the campus experience.
This means that students from the Media and Communications studies are released into industry as finished products, not as half-baked theoreticians needing further practical training.
Of course, there is bound to be an inevitable spill over effect because of the broadcast range of these campus radios to surrounding communities but this can only be a positive effect.
Great Zimbabwe University was the first Campus Radio station to go on air while Avuxeni Community Radio in Chiredzi was the first community radio station to go live in 2021.
When the licensing of community radio stations began in 2021, the Zimbabwe Association of Community Radio Stations (ZACRAS) welcomed the initiative which it described as a positive step towards the achievement of broadcasting diversity and plurality.
“The existence of a three-tier broadcasting system consisting of public, commercial and community broadcasting will go a long way in widening citizens’ information choices. The licensing of community radio stations will therefore enhance citizens’ access to information on socio-economic developments including fostering accountable and responsive governance,” ZACRAS said in a statement then.
“As ZACRAS, we urge the Government to continue licensing more diverse players until each and every district in Zimbabwe has its own community radio station. This will not only promote access to information but also enhance free expression as envisioned in the Constitution of Zimbabwe.”
The Government maintains that there is room for more community radio stations to be licenced to cater for all the communities in need of them, and the ultimate aim is to cover the whole country.
“The first phase of the community radio stations was mainly language and geographically based. The next stage could be communities of interest and the concept is still to be sharpened to ensure inclusiveness. For campus radios we have reserved capacity and when more campuses are ready to apply for licenses they can do that,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
Community radio stations definitely give a voice to the voiceless. They can be used to offer a platform where under-represented groups such as women, youth and people with disability can be part of the development agenda.
As the Second Republic’s Vision 2030 seeks to leave no place and no one behind, community radios can allow for the participation of everyone towards the upper middle income economy envisaged by President Mnangagwa.
The impact of these radio stations cannot be denied.
There has been a clearly enhanced quality and volume of news, entertainment, development communication being shared among communities, and more interestingly the use of information to drive community initiatives that support national projects.
Community radio stations have become effective mobilisation tools in ensuring that communities keep in step with developments taking place in the country and this makes it easier for the Government to roll out projects as these find takers and are sustainable in the long run.
Of course, there has been a notable skills development for young journalists, producers, and presenters who man these stations as they sharpen their skills and grow in the broadcasting industry. That is a plus in the direction of employment creation.
An example of Nyangani FM, which has had a galvanising effect on projects in Nyanga, Mutasa, Makoni, Mrewa, and Mutoko. The radio station has a broadcasting range of up to 100km because of its altitude, hence it is servicing a large portion covering Mashonaland East and Manicaland.
The communities have leveraged on their comparative strengths and have been able to monetise them for their benefit.
The same can be said for Chimanimani FM, which is one of the stations that was fitted with an early warning system for disaster management.
Under the Zimbabwe Idai Recovery Project (ZIRP) which was funded by the World Bank and implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) radio stations in disaster prone areas such as Chimanimani and Chipinge were equipped with the early warning systems.
After the incident of Cyclone Idai and other disasters, it is only right that communities within the range of these radio stations are better placed to respond to disasters.
Community radios can also help preserve local languages and cultures.
Avuxeni in Chiredzi has been a marvellous demonstration of the uniting effect of language. The station broadcasts mainly in Shangani which is the dominant language and the Government is certain that with greater use, the language and the community that carries it will be preserved.
In Binga, Twasumpuka FM is coming up, and is expected to be central to supporting the development initiatives that President Mnangagwa has started there.
“Binga has a special place in the President’s heart as it has lagged behind other regions in terms of development. The Community radio station there will go a long way in galvanising the community for development as the Government works to ensure that it catches up and leverages on its economic potential,” added Minister Mutsvangwa.
Other stations that are doing well in promoting local languages include Lyeja FM in Hwange and Lotsha FM in Beitbridge that has ensured that the Venda community does not look beyond Limpopo for media products.
As the country moves towards the realisation of Vision 2030, it is evident that the Second Republic is not going back on its promise of leaving no place and no one behind.
And the community radios have allowed the marginalised to be part of this historic development trajectory.
COMMENTS