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                 AFRICAN RADIO IS ON THE RISE

The spoken word is everything
It can do anything
It cuts, bites, grates
It molds and modulates
It can make you happy, unhappy
It can make you crazy
It can produce radical cures or kill you
It amplifies or diminishes depending on its charge.
    - Excerpt from a song by Komo Dibi da Koulbours, from Mali

The audiovisual scene is changing quickly in Africa, particularly
where radio is concerned.  A boom is on: new radio stations on the
air, projects in the making - the situation is reminiscent of that
in Europe in the early 1980s.  Creativity, taking the floor,
national languages assuming their rightful place.  Things are
humming in Africa: people are talking and listening in this world
of oral expression and discourse.

Radio broadcasters in West African countries do things their way,
according to their own timetable and with the same conviction: that
pluralist expression is a gauge of real democracy.

At a conference on pluralism of information held in Bissau, October
25-29, 1994, some observers said they were surprised to see so
much progress.  Thanks to the determination of radio broadcasters
who put such a lot of effort into their work and thanks to support
from different organizations, a new generation is now being heard
in radio.  Taking advantage of the legal framework that is now more
conducive to pluralism, new independent media are appearing every
day.

These purely African experiences now serve as reference points.
Western models are fading into the background, leaving African
experience in the forefront.  Mali is at present in the vanguard
with its many community radio stations scattered across the
country, its legislation and its recent regulations.  Niger has
also modified its legislation following the Etats generaux de la
communication.  Senegal, meanwhile, authorized its first
independent radio station just a short time ago and now Sud-FM is
the station most listened to in the whole country.

In the light of the Bissau meeting, it is now possible to define
the conditions that will facilitate the rapid development and
consolidation of pluralism in information.  First, the subject of
pluralism in information should be expanded to encompass pluralism
of the spoken word, songs and music.  Some of the conditions
required in consolidating recent African experiences are: a legal
framework adapted to the context, which is forever evolving;
rooting of experience in the setting to be served, which is the
only way to ensure cultural, gender and ethnic pluralism; quality
work by radio broadcasters and regularity of programming, which
allow credibility to build in the eyes of the population; and media
networking at the national, regional and international levels.

Participants at the Bissau meeting also raised the importance of
training radio broadcasters and access to better adapted and more
economical technical equipment.

- Michel Delorme

                    ..........................
   This article is from InteRadio, Vol. 6, No.3., the newsletter
  of AMARC, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters.
      InteRadio is published in English, French and Spanish.

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                      Email: amarc@web.apc.org
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