edition-dw-akademie-in-the-service-of-the-public-functions-and-transformation-of-media-in-developing-countries-pdf

Nigeria is a country renowned for its entrepreneurial spiritand, as such, it would be surprising if the age of the Internethad passed it by. According to Google Nigeria, some 44 millionNigerians, or just under 29% of the country’s total populationuse the Internet: “a fourfold increase in six years, from just 6.7percent in 2008.” 34 Access is of course concentrated in urbanareas and restricted to those who can afford it, and thereforehardly improves the public media access situation in the countryfor those who really need it.Freedom Radio Nigeria – Muryar Jama’a (Voice of the People)Freedom Radio is a privately-owned commercial radio stationbased in the northern Nigerian city of Kano. It is one of theforemost radio stations of the region, and its mission statementidentifies its ambitious objectives:“To be an Independent Radio Station that promotes NationalUnity, gives voice to the voiceless through informative,educative and entertainment programs in an objective,diligent and fearless manner ... while raising the standards ofBroadcast Journalism in our areas of coverage.” 35Since the traditional three levels of broadcasting – public,commercial, community – do not exist in Nigeria, the supposedpublic broadcasters being state broadcasters and thecommunity sector being entirely non-existent, small, and toall intents and purposes commercial broadcasters find themselvessometimes taking on additional roles. In the followingwe want to look at whether or not Freedom Radio might besaid to fulfill – in part or more comprehensively – the remit ofpublic service media.The station was founded in 2003 by a group of men andwomen – from within one family – who had been frustratedby local politics and felt there was a need for an outlet specificallyfor the voices of the local people. None of the foundermembers were journalists, which meant, as one of thesefounder members put it, “a steep learning curve.” 36 They werebusinessmen and law practitioners, which to a degree was anadvantage, as it meant that they proceeded with the requisiteamount of caution 37 in setting up what was in essence a businessventure.The purpose of the Freedom Radio Project was howeververy clear, and right from its inception, Freedom Radio askedthe people what it was that they wanted from the broadcaster.38 One of the first issues they picked up was a truly hot potato– that of HIV/Aids and its impact on society, something noother radio station or media outlet would touch because of thestigma attached.By 2005, Freedom Radio had already established an onlinepresence and live streaming of a selection of programs. Thewebsite now also offers apps for Android, iPhones, and iPads,for listeners to download. There are two FM stations in Kanoitself (Freedom Radio and Dala FM, Da swag station, for youngmusic fans, established in 2011), another was established in2007 in Dutse, and most recently, in 2013, a further FM stationwas opened in Kaduna. There are plans to open a fifth station,in Maiduguri (Borno State), and a sixth in Sokoto 39 – the licenseshave already been granted. They employ around 320 peopleacross all four stations and in their offices. The Managing Directorestimates that at present they reach audiences right acrossa region of some 32 to 35 million people, from Kano State itself,to Katsina, Kaduna, Bauchi, Jigawa, even as far afield as PlateauState (to the southeast), Yobi (northeast) and into the Niger Republic(in the north). 40 And of course the online presence opensthem up to a listenership across the globe.Stakeholders in the Transformation ProcessOf the innumerable development agencies with a presence inNigeria, a surprisingly small number are to be mentioned inconnection with media development in the north of the country.The UK Department for International Development (DFID)and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) areboth strong presences, and both work with Freedom Radio onseveral levels, primarily in the areas of equipping and training,with some minor funding involved. 41 The German KonradAdenauer Foundation has worked with the outlet on variousoccasions: so, for example, during the election period in April2011, when Freedom Radio set up the first-ever political debatefor gubernatorial candidates in Kano to be broadcast live. TheDFID also collaborated on this, and was involved, togetherwith the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and Bayero UniversityKano, in the follow-up in July 2011 when the successful candidate(Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwasu) held a meeting in the townhall with a “broad spectrum of stakeholders.” 42The outlet has strong links with Bayero University (the oldestinstitute of tertiary education in Kano City) and sometimesuses the facilities in their Centre for Democratic Research andTraining (larger conference halls, for example) when debate ordiscussion programs threaten to strain their relatively limitedstudio spaces. Equally, the teaching staff at the university is oftencalled upon to participate in programs or offer expertise,and students from the faculty go to Freedom Radio for theirinternships. 43 Civil society organizations – women’s interestgroups, child health organizations or, on a regular basis, theNational Youth Service Corps – are involved with the stationon a programming level: the NYSC has a weekly half-hour slotbroadcast by Freedom Radio Kaduna and Dutse. As the managingdirector puts it, they (Freedom Radio) provide the CSOswith a platform for their messages and objectives, and, fortheir part, they gain content. 44Further, Freedom Radio collaborates with German internationalbroadcaster Deutsche Welle and DW Akademie, theBBC and BBC Media Action, Voice of America (VOA), and ChinaRadio International. Private radio in Nigeria has to ensure that80% of content is produced locally (60% in the case of privateTV); 45 so while some programs are made available by the internationalpartners for rebroadcast, collaboration also takesother forms, that of co-production of programs or series – e.g.,188