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Radio Redux: Audience Participation and the Reincarnation of Radio for Development in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Gilbert Tietaah

    (Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana)

  • Margaret Amoakohene

    (Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana)

  • Damasus Tuurusong

    (University for Development Studies, Wa Campus, Wa, Upper West Region)

Abstract

Along with the valorization of “beneficiary†participation in development praxis, contemporary communication scholarship has tended toward internet-enabled technologies and applications. This study breaks ranks with the implicit loss of faith in the capacity of the so-called legacy media, and radio in particular. It argues that precisely those advances in new technologies, together with the peculiar media ecology of Ghana and Africa generally, are the bases for prenotions about the enduring relevance of radio. To verify this claim, focus group discussions were conducted among radio audiences in Ghana. The findings suggest three factors for a renaissance of radio as a development communication medium: its contribution to democratic pluralism; the use of local languages that enables social inclusion; its appropriation of new technologies for audience participatory engagement. Radio has thus evolved from the powerful effects notions of a one-way transmitter of information to an increasingly more interactive, audience-centric medium.

Suggested Citation

  • Gilbert Tietaah & Margaret Amoakohene & Damasus Tuurusong, 2019. "Radio Redux: Audience Participation and the Reincarnation of Radio for Development in Africa," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 35(2), pages 282-302, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jodeso:v:35:y:2019:i:2:p:282-302
    DOI: 10.1177/0169796X19844916
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jenny C. Aker & Isaac M. Mbiti, 2010. "Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(3), pages 207-232, Summer.
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