{"id":59040,"date":"2024-02-17T20:00:09","date_gmt":"2024-02-18T00:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=59040"},"modified":"2024-02-17T08:58:12","modified_gmt":"2024-02-17T12:58:12","slug":"the-conversation-100-years-of-radio-in-africa-from-propaganda-to-peoples-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/02\/the-conversation-100-years-of-radio-in-africa-from-propaganda-to-peoples-power\/","title":{"rendered":"The Conversation: “100 Years of Radio in Africa: from propaganda to people\u2019s power”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Radio Taboo in Cameroon<\/p><\/div>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marty, who shares the following article from The Conversation<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

100 years of radio in Africa: from propaganda to people\u2019s power (The Conversation)<\/a><\/h1>\n

Radio is\u00a0thriving<\/a>\u00a0across\u00a0Africa<\/a>. Exact figures are difficult to come by because audience research differs across countries. But studies estimate radio listenership to be between\u00a060% and 80%<\/a>\u00a0of the continent\u2019s\u00a01.4 billion population<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In contrast to many western countries, where there has been a\u00a0shift<\/a>\u00a0towards streaming and podcasts, traditional radio continues to be widely embraced in Africa. Because of poor literacy levels and uneven access to the internet and technological infrastructure, old-fashioned radio remains a\u00a0reliable and inclusive<\/a>\u00a0medium.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s\u00a0celebration<\/a>\u00a0of the 100-plus years of radio offers us an opportunity, as African media scholars, to reflect on the historical significance, cultural relevance, political power and social impact of the medium on the continent. We home in on examples from the regions we\u2019ve studied to demonstrate this rich history.<\/p>\n

Early years<\/h2>\n

The story of radio in Africa starts with its introduction\u00a0to serve colonial interests<\/a>. Cameroonian scholar Francis Nyamnjoh\u00a0argues<\/a>\u00a0that as soon as it had established itself as a mass medium in the 1920s,<\/p>\n

\n

European states were quick to realise the part radio could play in realising their desire to swallow up weaker cultures around the globe.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Historians\u00a0note<\/a>\u00a0that it also allowed Europeans in the colonies to connect to home, their culture and their languages.<\/p>\n

In the early 1920s amateur radio enthusiasts had already begun\u00a0tinkering<\/a>\u00a0with the technology. The\u00a0first official broadcast<\/a> seems to have been on 18 December 1923 in Johannesburg, South Africa. [Continue reading at The Conversation…<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marty, who shares the following article from The Conversation: 100 years of radio in Africa: from propaganda to people\u2019s power (The Conversation) Radio is\u00a0thriving\u00a0across\u00a0Africa. Exact figures are difficult to come by because audience research differs across countries. But studies estimate radio listenership to be between\u00a060% and 80%\u00a0of the continent\u2019s\u00a01.4 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,3],"tags":[180,8872,619],"class_list":["post-59040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-news","tag-africa","tag-the-conversation","tag-world-radio-day"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-fmg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6153,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/propaganda-from-the-source-listening-to-the-voice-of-korea-on-shortwave-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":59040,"position":0},"title":"Propaganda from the source: Listening to the Voice of Korea on shortwave radio","author":"Thomas","date":"April 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the countries dominating the headlines of global news lately is North Korea. 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