A study on how community participation in community radio stations can have a positive impact on the sustainability of community radio stations in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.

Abstract

This qualitative exploratory study examines the sustainability of community participation in community radio within two community radio stations located in Buffalo Community Metropolitan Municipality. The study is an in-depth exploration of the complexity of community participation in two community radio stations and the impact this has on their sustainability. The theoretical framework underpinning this study provides a theoretical foundation upon which the research is built. The study draws from normative theories, namely the Social Responsibility Theory and the Democratic-Participant Theory. The study employed semi-structured interviews and questionnaires as data collection techniques. The research problem that has prompted this study is that the instability often experienced by the community radio sector is habitual and a result of the exclusion of communities from the running of community radios. Instability often threatens the sector’s independence and ability to play a crucial role, as a broadcasting service, to fulfil its mandate. The conclusions drawn from the exploratory study of the two community radio stations, namely: Kumkani FM and Wild Coast FM reveal the almost non-existent relationship between the two sampled stations and their communities as the two stations lack clear policies that encourage community participation in the production of programmes. Precisely, the study reveals that the participants did not relate to the community radio stations. This has far-reaching consequences for the stations; for instance, the lack of social acceptance leads to dire straits for community radio stations based in poor and resource-constrained communities. Knipe (2003) emphatically states that once the relationship between a community radio station and its community ceases to exist, then the community radio station has no reason for continued existence. A comprehensive approach to the sustainability of community radio stations ought to be developed in order to create strategies or policies that encourage community participation in the production of programmes, governance and other key operations.