Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

Community radio stations across
Africa offer audiences <strong>the</strong> possibility
of creating alternate public spheres
through <strong>the</strong>ir engagement with
local audiences. Radio is still <strong>the</strong>
cheapest and most widespread
medium on <strong>the</strong> continent, with <strong>the</strong>
ability to reach remote and rural
areas in indigenous languages.
The primary challenges for community
radio are financial and social
sustainability. Financial sustainability
presents a problem for stations
that target <strong>the</strong> lower income groups
and as a result do not attract advertising.
This inability to attract
big advertisers is also linked to a
perception of <strong>the</strong> product being of
poorer quality than o<strong>the</strong>r sectors of
broadcasting. In South Africa, this
has led to many community stations
becoming more music-driven in an
attempt to sound more ‘professional’,
but losing <strong>the</strong>ir distinctiveness in
<strong>the</strong> process.
A few stations still attract considerable
amounts of donor funding,
though international resourcing
generally dwindled in <strong>the</strong> postapar<strong>the</strong>id
era. More commonly, local
stations now rely heavily on
Section 2: Pluralism
Community radio continues to provide
an alternative
By Tanja Bosch
Dr Tanja Bosch works in <strong>the</strong> Centre
for Film and Media Studies at <strong>the</strong>
University of Cape Town. She is a
former station manager of Bush
Radio, and has also worked as a
trainer for UNESCO community
radio stations in Jamaica and
Trinidad; and for Open Society
Foundation stations in South Africa.
She is a board member of <strong>the</strong> Media
Diversity and Development Agency
in South Africa, and has published
in <strong>the</strong> following areas: community
radio, talk radio and citizenship,
health communication, youth and
mobile media, identity and social
networking.
government funding, in <strong>the</strong> form
of subsidies for outside broadcasts
or interviews with local municipal
governments, which in turn raises
issues in terms of control and editorial
independence.
Financial sustainability is closely
linked to social sustainability, which
refers to stations’ ability to generate
vested interests from <strong>the</strong>ir social
networks, which might in some
cases lead to advertising from local
businesses. Social sustainability
usually means that <strong>the</strong> community
sees <strong>the</strong> need for a station and
feels a strong sense of affinity for,
or ownership of, <strong>the</strong> station. This
may result in financial contributions
even from poor individuals.
This has been difficult for stations
in urban areas where <strong>the</strong>y compete
with commercial stations for listenership.
However, religious community
radio stations have been successful
in creating this kind of social
sustainability as listeners coalesce
around a common religious ideal.
On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, geographicbased
stations often target such
diverse communities that fostering
a sense of shared group identity is
difficult.
Community radio is still often
seen as being a ‘stepping stone’ to
employment at bigger stations. This
is a big obstacle to sustainability
and is frequently linked to stations’
reliance on volunteers, who often
come with no broadcasting, media
or even organisational experience.
In South Africa, a few successful
stations like Jozi FM pay presenters
and staff a stipend, but even this
salary cannot compete with <strong>the</strong>
salaries available at bigger stations.
Talented presenters are often
Media in Africa - 2011 | 93