Community radio and community representation : a case study of Highway Radio.

Abstract

The community broadcasting in South Africa has been accredited with a different

mandate from public and commercial broadcasting. This mandate of 'difference' has

been stimulated by socio-political conditions under which this sector has been instituted

since the early 1990s. During this period, conferences and discussions were held around

the liberation of media and airwaves, which directly led to the recognition of the

importance and the role that could be played by the community broadcasting sector. This

sector of broadcasting is still a new concept in South Africa. Ten years post apartheid; it

is no longer defined as a voice for political activism, as it was during its inception.

Firstly, its development stages have bent towards a focus in the development of

previously disadvantaged communities. Secondly, community radio has been regarded as

a way of democratising media, by making it accessible to marginalised and

underrepresented communities. It becomes a tool through which they voice out 'who they

are' (identity) and also an instrument with which they initiate their own development and

empowerment, socially and culturally.

The research paper traces the development stages of this sector in South Africa,

chronologically from its conception in the 1990s, to its mushrooming from 1994 and its

functioning in the late 1990s to the early 21st century. The paper explores the sociopolitical

roots of community radio in the face of change from democracy to technocracy.

The responsibility of the community media sector includes the fulfillment of participation

and media democratisation themes. The theoretical framework discussed by Dennis

McQuail (1987, 1994, 2000) under normative theories of the media and development

communication theories anaysed by Srinivas Melkote (1991), Jan Servaes (1991), Fred

Casmir (1991), also form part of this paper.

This paper, with an understanding of the demand for the democratization of the media

and airwaves during this period in our country's history, explores how a chosen

community radio becomes a public and community representative in the media industry.

It focuses on representation of the community by the radio station in its management and functioning. It takes as a case study Highway Radio station. Highway Radio defines itself

as a Christian radio station, which broadcasts from Pinetown and reaches Durban and

surrounding urban and township areas.

The general objective of this paper is to discover a set of indicators that provide a

background to which Highway Radio has been able to fulfill its mandate as a community

service. This study aims at exploring the active application of the notion of community

participation in management and running of the radio station. The democratic-participant

media theory stipulates that media must be spearheaded by active participation while the

NCRF (National Community Radio Forum) also stipulates that community radio is

characterized by active participation in all the structure of its organization. This research,

therefore, has been conducted to explore the possibility and applicability of these

prerequisites.