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

Status of Freedom Radio Muryar Jama’aCharacteristics Status Changes and progressover the past yearsStations, distribution4 FM stations; 2 in Kano (Freedom Radio and Dala FM), 1 inDutse (opened 2007), 1 in Kaduna (opened 2013).Distribution across a region of some 32 to 35 million people,from Kano State itself, to Katsina, Kaduna, Bauchi, Jigawa, thenas far as Plateau State (to the southeast), Yobi (northeast) andinto the Niger Republic (in the north). Also an online presence.Plans (licenses alreadygranted) to open a fifthstation in Maiduguri(Borno State) and a sixthin Sokoto.Legal frameworkFreedom Radio is a privately-owned station. The licensingprocess is neither cheap nor transparent, the National BroadcastingCommission (NBC) is in charge of licensing but finaldecision lies with the President. Initial outlay is $25,000, then$10,000 annually, plus 2.5% of turnover to be paid to NBC.Hefty fines for any transgression, whereby there is no appealsprocess.President GoodluckJonathan announced in2010 that he was to put thelicensing process entirelyin the hands of the NBC –no sign as yet, however, ofany amendment to the lawgoverning the NBCPublic service remitFreedom Radio as a private station does not have an officialremit. Its mission statement is to be an independent radiostation that “gives voice to the voiceless through informative,educative and entertainment programmes in an objective,diligent and fearless manner ... while raising the standards ofBroadcast Journalism in our areas of coverage.” The sector isotherwise dominated by the Nigerian Television Authority(NTA) and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN),both of which are owned and run by the federal government.Freedom of speech andof expression is nominallyguaranteed under theconstitution of 1999 – butstate-owned outlets are underthe jurisdiction of theMinister for Information.There is as yet no communityradio sector.Regulatory system/governing bodyThe board of directors is the highest policy-formulating body,consists of eight members, five of whom are from the owningfamily. Members are chosen by the board itself, often beingcontacts or associates of incumbent members. Overseeingthe professional sphere of activity is an editorial board,chosen by the directors; candidates should preferably have ajournalistic or broadcasting background. editorial board includesstation managers and the operations manager, membersof civil society, and two representatives from the boardof directors. Below this there is a headquarters managementteam (Business Development, Operations, Administrationand Finance, and Engineering) and each station has its stationmanager plus team.Obviously a functioningmodel, no major changes.Members to both mainboards are elected fora non-specified periodof time. Each station isencouraged to be independent– regional differencescan be quite profound.196