Radio listening clubs in Malawi and Zambia

Abstract

This paper, based upon a field research project commissioned by the Panos Institute SouthernAfrica, investigates the communicative efficacy of the radio listening clubs project implementedby the Institute in Malawi and Zambia. The investigation takes the form of a ‘second-orderinterpretation’ of the key findings of the field research. The findings are analysed in terms of theparticipatory communication model of development communication. The paper argues that theclubs live up to some of the ideal-typical attributes of participatory communication. This is evidentin the following areas: (i) a propensity for social mobilisation; (ii) acquisition of skills and knowledge;(iii) communally induced motivation to listen to the radio; (iv) the possibility of interpersonal influencewithin groups; (v) the benefit of being ‘organised’ structures; (vi) the ‘massive’ reach of the clubs;and (vii) the dialogic interchanges between the rural-based groups and the urban-based policymaking elites.