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Interactive Radio Shows and the Role of New Information Brokers in the Republic of Benin

Tilo Grätz

Global Media Journal - German Edition, volume 14, issue 2 (2024), 21 pp.

"This study investigates interactive forms of public communication in the Republic of Benin (West Africa) with a specific focus on the emergence of new media actors. Benin’s media landscape features a variety of media formats, which are constantly incorporating interactive elements. These developm ... more

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Strengthening Citizens’ Participation in Decision-Making Through Interactive Radio Dialogue in Kitui, Machakos and Makueni Counties

Nairobi; Cambridge (UK): Africa’s Voices Foundation (2023), 43 pp.

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How to Foster Constructive Dialogue as Part of Media Development? Lessons from a Case Study on Interactive Radio Formats in Niger

Ines Drefs, Lamine Soleymane

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2023), 22 pp.

"This case study shows that media development endeavors to foster constructive dialogue require concerted effort. They have to be in closely interwoven with local realities and needs — be it at the country, community or individual level. The example of interactive radio formats in Niger illustrate ... more

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Deploying the Common Social Accountability Platform (CSAP) to Support the Strength Through Tolerance Project That Aims at Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) in Somalia

Nairobi: Africa’s Voices Foundation (2022), vi, 20 pp.

"The following are the key insights identified across all three weeks of the radio dialogue: In week one of radio dialogue, 36.2% of the participants (n=125) and week 3 55.1% (n=266) of participants agreed that there should be unity and cooperation among all members of the community. They stated tha ... more

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Media and Digital Technologies for Mixed Methods Research in Public Health Emergencies Such as COVID-19: Lessons Learned from Using Interactive Radio–SMS for Social Research in Somalia

Johanna Riha, Claudia Abreu Lopes, Naima Abdi Ibrahim, Sharath Srinivasan

Journal of Mixed Methods Research, volume 15, issue 3 (2021), pp. 304-326

"Radio shows which invite audience participation via short message service (SMS)—interactive radio–SMS—can be designed as a mixed methods approach for applied social research during COVID-19 and other crises in low and middle income countries. In the aftermath of a cholera outbreak in Somalia, ... more

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Co-designing convivial tools to support participation in community radio

Roberto Cibin et al.

Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, volume 18, issue 1 (2020), pp. 43-61

"In this article, we draw on experiences from the Grassroot Wavelengths project that introduces an innovative peer-to-peer platform to support the creation and management of community radio stations. We offer insight into the practices of participation in community media, where the users influence d ... more

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Community Driven Governance and Service Delivery Audits in Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi: Africa’s Voices Foundation (2020), 60 pp.

"There is a strong consensus within the governance space that citizen engagement is integral in supporting social accountability and strengthening democracy. The impact of the modalities through which citizens make demands on the degree to which citizens feel empowered to trigger recognition and act ... ion from the duty holders remains an open question, more so in the Kenyan context where citizen engagement and social accountability align to the Constitution’s provisions on “public participation”. To this end, Africa’s Voices bridges this gap by deploying its innovative approach to civic engagement through the ‘Common Social Accountability Platform’ (CSAP) which uses interactive radio shows to achieve meaningful spaces of mediated public discussion between citizens and authorities that are valued by both and strengthens relations between them. The approach also provides evidence of citizen opinions in a form that supports policy action by authorities. In the Strengthening Public Accountability and Integrity Systems (SPAIS) pilot project, AVF focused the intervention on the urban poor settlements of Nairobi through a series of weekly interactive radio shows in three popular radio stations over a period of 2 months (8 shows per station for a total of 24 broadcasts over 8 weeks). While the shows explored a range of issues relevant to corruption, transparency, public participation and accountability, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the content of the discussions was largely focused on health governance and healthcare service delivery. The topics of discussion included overall citizen experience and satisfaction in healthcare service provision; appropriate utilisation of resources allocated to healthcare for COVID-19; and citizen perceptions of their role in ensuring and monitoring appropriate resource allocation for healthcare. The intervention also served as a mechanism for citizens to air concerns and grievances related to potential corruption incidents in the healthcare sector and beyond. This SPAIS project convenes large-scale, plural and inclusive accountability dialogues between authorities and citizens in urban poor settlements of Nairobi with a view to promote and uphold public accountability and the role that citizens can play in countering corruption, to enhance citizen perceptions of voice and efficacy, government recognition of and engagement with citizens, and ultimately the forging of trust between citizens and authorities. Moreover, this project aims to strengthen citizen engagement in the monitoring of healthcare service delivery in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide trusted spaces for an exchange on matters related to the provision and quality of healthcare services. It envisions to draw rich insights from citizen voices and recommend programme options for UNDP and SPAIS partners to adapt future programming to the needs and opinions of citizens regarding tackling corruption in the health sector." (Introduction, page 7-8) more

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Awareness Creation and Feedback Collection Through Interactive Radio Shows in Kitui and Makueni: Final Project Report

Nairobi; Cambridge: Africa’s Voices Foundation (2020), 49 pp.

"Using interactive radio dialogues, AVF aims to contribute towards the achievement of World Vision Kenya’s (WVK) Emergency Response in Kitui and Makueni counties project (July-December 2020). More specifically, Africa’s Voices deployed its interactive radio methodology to achieve the following o ... more

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COPE y las nuevas audiencias sociales: Claves para el uso de Twitter, Facebook e Instagram en una radio interactiva

Javier Burguera Ruiz

Madrid: CEU Ediciones; Fundación COPE (2019), 187 pp.

"A partir de ejemplos extraídos de COPE y de otras emisoras nacionales e internacionales se ha querido realizar una fotografía de la situación actual de la radio en el contexto de las redes sociales queriendo arrojar también algo de luz con el análisis de un caso práctico al que cualquier peri ... more

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Public participation and social accountability in Kenyan counties: A pilot study using interactive radio in Siaya

Sharath Srinivasan, Stephanie Diepeveen, Khadija Mohammed, Edgar Otieno

Nairobi; Cambridge: Africa's Voices Foundation; Urban Institute (2019), 34 pp.

"[...] this pilot study in Siaya County sought to assess what makes for more effective public participation in Kenya. In contributing to a timely policy concern about how to best meet the imperatives/aspirations of devolution, it sought also to address the limited empirical evidence in scholarship a ... more

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Social Accountability on Durable Solutions: Perception Survey in Bossaso and Baidoa

Nairobi: Africa's Voices Foundation (2019), 65 pp.

"Somalia is facing a protracted displacement crisis. Since the new wave of displacement as a result of the 2016/2017 drought, 2.6 million people - one in six Somalis - have been forced to flee their homes.1 Displaced groups in Somalia are extremely vulnerable - lacking in sustainable livelihoods, pe ... more

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La presse en ligne en Afrique, un nouvel espace pour l'information religieuse. Analyse du site "La Croix Africa" et perspectives pour l'Eglise d'Afrique

Colette Labaki

Abidjan: Licenciate Thesis Université Catholique de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (2018), 70 pp.

"Tout au long de l’analyse sou - tendue par la théorie des usages et gratifications, nous nous sommes rendus compte que le site présente bien des avantages, mais à des potentialités qu’il n’exploite pas et a donc encore du chemin à faire. Les Nouvelles Technologies de Communication et de ... more

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Building an Ecosystem Around Data: Using Interactive Radio for Accountability to Farmers in Tanzania

Francesca Feruglio, Heather Gilberds

Brighton: Institute of Development Studies (IDS); Farm Radio International (2017), 15 pp.

"In 2015, Farm Radio International applied to Making All Voices Count for a practitioner research and learning grant. Farm Radio International (FRI) is a Canadian-based not-for-profit organisation working in direct partnership with approximately 600 radio broadcasters in 38 African countries to figh ... more

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Interactive Voice Response and Radio for Peacebuilding: A Macro View of the Literature and Experiences from the Field
Top Insights

Inspiring Practice

Eleanor R. Marchant

Philadelphia, PA: Center for Global Communication Studies (CGCS) Annenberg School for Communication (2016), 27 pp.

"This report provides a broad overview and assessment of how Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems are being implemented in international development work with an emphasis on the particular role IVR can play in peacebuilding work in post-conflict contexts. In order to narrow the scope of research ... more

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Africa’s Voices Versus Big Data? The Value of Citizen Engagement Through Interactive Radio

Sharath Srinivasan, Claudia Abreu Lopes

In: Voice & Matter: Communication, Development and the Cultural Return

Oscar Hemer, Thomas Tufte (eds.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2016), pp. 155-171

"We draw on insights from a two-year research project, Politics and Interactive Media in Africa (PiMA), and the related applied research pilot, Africa’s Voices, which worked with local radio stations in eight Sub-Saharan African countries. We examine the social and political significance of new op ... more

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Radionovena: Florece la vida en territorios de paz

Milton Álvarez

In: Siembras del buen vivir: Entre utopías y dilemas posibles

Quito: Asociación Latinoamericana de Educación Radiofónica (ALER) (2016), pp. 163-170

"Surge el propósito, desde La Esquina Radio [Medellín, Colombia] en aprovechar el interés de las comunidades por la celebración cultural de la novena navideña, y a partir de ese acto, potenciar el encuentro ciudadano y la reflexión ciudadana, sin ningún tinte religioso, realizando una transmi ... more

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Exploring the Potential for Interactive Radio to Improve Accountability and Responsiveness to Small-Scale Farmers in Tanzania

Heather Gilberds et al.

Ottawa: Farm Radio International (2016), 36 pp.

"The research examines the possibilities of new digital technologies along with radio to facilitate adaptive management processes through rapid feedback to help ensure that agricultural development projects are farmer-centered, and meet the needs of those they intend to serve. Grounded in assessing ... Farm Radio International’s Listening Post—a methodology for collecting real-time, unfiltered feedback from farmers through a multi-channel platform linked to radio—the research highlights barriers to success and articulates lessons learned during the process of designing and implementing the model [...] The research demonstrates that linking a mobile-based crowd-sourcing tool with radio is effective at ensuring engagement from a large number of farmers. The radio stations offer a simple way to recruit participants from among the regular listeners of farmer radio programs. Also, the radio stations tend to be trusted sources of agricultural information among farmers, increasing motivation to participate. Further, the radio programs offer an easy way to close feedback loops by disseminating information about actions that stakeholders are taking in response to feedback. The Listening Post faced many of the same challenges documented by organizations utilizing similar tools—it was difficult to incentivize stakeholders to adequately respond to farmers, and competing motivations between extension officers, farmers, funders and partner organizations made it difficult to collect high-quality information that was usable and actionable. Moreover, an overarching focus on developing and implementing the technology and engaging a large number of farmers at the exclusion of other factors meant that many of the processes and mechanisms for effectively using the data collected and for responding to what farmers were saying weren’t fully developed. Despite these issues, there is significant evidence that the Listening Post model holds potential to act as a conduit for civic action if the correct stakeholders are engaged from the outset, if mechanisms for analyzing and disseminating relevant data from the platform to partners, local stakeholders and farmers is further refined, and if stakeholders ensure farmers can effectively use the technology." (Executive summary) more

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Interactive Radio Program Report: An Integrated Approach to Addressing the Issue of Youth Depression in Malawi and Tanzania

Heather Gilberds, Adena Brown, Mark Leclair

Ottawa: Farm Radio International (2016), 23 pp.

"Here we discuss a unique and innovative radio-based approach to improving mental health literacy and creating a demand for mental health services—part of a larger project called 'An Integrated Approach to Addressing the Issue of Youth Depression in Malawi and Tanzania'. Grounded in theories of so ... cial and behavior change communication and edutainment, and leveraging participatory methodologies, Farm Radio International and partners Teen Mental Health and Farm Radio Trust in Malawi worked with local radio broadcasters in Malawi and Tanzania to design and deliver weekly, interactive youth radio shows about mental health. Ongoing engagement with the content, and deliberation over the messages, was facilitated through SMS feedback mechanisms, and mobile polls and quizzes delivered through the radio stations, along with school-based radio listening clubs that met weekly to listen to the programs and discuss the themes in a group. Over the course of the 45-month project, the radio shows gained immense popularity, in large part because they talked about issues that are important to youth, and incorporated the language youth use and music they prefer. The programs attracted an average of 500,000 listeners each week, and received tens of thousands of text messages and Facebook posts by young people giving feedback, telling the radio hosts about what topics they would like to hear about, and asking questions about mental health or requesting to be connected with a mental health expert. The impact of the radio was measured according to whether and to what extent the interactive media programs play a role in triggering or facilitating drivers of the process of change. These drivers include bringing about improvements in knowledge and attitudes, mobilizing a social movement, and facilitating greater social and public support to put mental health on the agenda as a topic of conversation, grounded in new understandings and new knowledge. Our findings demonstrate that an interactive radio campaign can have a marked effect on improving knowledge, decreasing stigma, and increasing demand for mental health services among youth in sub-Saharan Africa. Youth who listened to the radio programs fare better than their peers in understanding the signs and symptoms of mental health disorders and in knowing where to go if they or someone they know needs help. Further, interactive radio programs can have a direct impact on reducing stigmatizing attitudes, frequently recognized as a crucial element in promoting improved access to care." (Executive summary) more

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The Power of Publics: Competing Imaginaries of the Radio Audience in Kenya and Zambia

Sharath Srinivasan, Stephanie Diepeveen

Cambridge: University of Cambridge Centre of Governance and Human Rights (2016), 23 pp.

"With the liberalisation of the airwaves and the rising use of mobile phones since the 2000s, call- and text-in shows have become popular and lively features on broadcast media in Eastern Africa. Amidst expanding possibilities for listeners to speak and contribute to live radio broadcasts, new ways ... of imagining the position of the audience emerge. The audience is not simply comprised of passive listeners of publicly broadcast information, but actively engaged in contributing and reacting to what is aired. Yet the nature and political potential of the ‘audience-public’ is not straightforward. Interactive radio and TV shows are not just introducing specific audience members into the discussion, but who they are, what they represent, their influence and contribution to the space are uncertain. As audience members engage, those who manage and shape the broadcast must imagine, interpret and respond. Each participant in the discussion –whether listening, or involved in the station – producing, hosting, etc. – must come to terms with the nature of the interaction, Who is engaged? How should they respond? What are their reasons for being engaged and how might the introduction of this indeterminate audience-public relate to their intentions? Given the plurality of subjectivities, information, roles and intentions of those involved, the audience and why it matters can be imagined in multiple and competing ways. This paper interrogates how different actors involved in the radio broadcast imagine and respond to audience participation, and how these imaginaries become politically significant. This paper draws predominantly on interview and observation data on the perspectives of station hosts, guests and frequent callers of selected media houses and interactive broadcast shows in Zambia and Kenya. It examines the dynamic, plural and conflicting ways in which the audience is being reconstructed as an active ‘public’. In so doing, it shows the centrality of the imagined audience in the construction of the broadcast as a ‘public’, specifically how the indeterminate audience becomes the basis for competing imaginaries about power, authority and belonging. The political significance of the ‘audience-public’, it is argued, lies in the very fact that multiple and competing imaginaries are at play, which are invested in by actors pursuing diverse ends and thereby create tangible political effects." (Abstract) more

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Interactive Radio! Toolkit for Stations
Key Guidance

Ida Jooste

Internews; Centre of Governance and Human Rights University of Cambridge (2015), 51 pp.

"This toolkit combines the knowledge and experience of Internews with insights from research conducted by the University of Cambridge’s Centre of Governance and Human Rights and partners in the Politics and Interactive Media (PiMA) research project. Politics and Interactive Media in Africa (PiMA), ... more

Interactive Voice Response and Radio for Peacebuilding: A Macro View of the Literature and Experiences from the Field Top Insights Inspiring Practice

Interactive Radio! Toolkit for Stations Key Guidance

Interactive Voice Response and Radio for Peacebuilding: A Macro View of the Literature and Experiences from the Field
Top Insights

Inspiring Practice

Interactive Radio! Toolkit for Stations
Key Guidance