Effectiveness of Community Radio in Addressing Social Issues Confronting the Society in Tanzania

A Limited Study to Sengerema Radio

Denis Mpagaze

Assistant Lecture in Media Ethics, Conflict Resolution and Communication Theories

CHAPTER ONE 1.0. Introduction It is unquestionable truth that local commercial radio stations, television and newspapers in Tanzania flash news and information that often mean little to people living in rural and poor urban ghettos. Social services such as education, health, agriculture and politics to them are worse. Their children are stunted by malnutrition, education system keeps on oppressing them and agricultural which is the backbone of Tanzanians is doing badly. Worse, media do not see any obligation to reach or write or broadcast about these rural and ghetto areas, unless there is a serious case of rape or witchcraft. The problem is that all outstanding journalists and big media institutions are located in big cities of Dar es Salaam, Mwanza and Arusha assuming colonial legacy- The legacy which reinforces top down communication approach that forces people to consume information out of their interests. During colonialism all means of production were urban based and they were used to disseminate the interest of settlers (Surmer, 1998). The result of journalists being conglomerated in urban areas is to assume the mercenaries of politicians and rich guys. To assume these roles some journalists see nothing wrong to rape their professional standard and resort in cooking stories. The most remarkable incident was in March 2008, when Mtanzania Jumapili reported a cooked story that Edward Lowassa on return to his Monduli constituency
2

addressed a public rally of 10,000 people and that his entourage involved 400 cars. But those who were at Monduli on that day say, the entourage involved around 80 cars (Kilimwiko, 2009, p.37). Alternatively, leading scholars in journalism and mass

communication such as Francis Kasoma, Alumuku and Robert White argue that in order to extend participation in the society we need community radio stations. Community radio remains to be the right participatory and democratic medium of communication capable of initiating dialogue and stimulating critical thinking at the grass root. It is medium of the people in whom community speaks to itself as well as the rest of the world. Community radio plays a central role in community development. To play this role they used to provide quality programmes to ensure continued audience and support from the community (Alumuku, 2006). Radio programmes on political themes often seek to motivate people to national patriotism, progammes about environment seek to motivate people to became more conscious of their ecology and religious programmes seeks to inspire hope, love of neighbors or to find inner peace. Community radio aspires to achieve the ideal of changing the local community to a caring community and a better place to live in. this has potential to increase awareness among audience to participate actively in their social economic and cultural development. It aims at improving the leaving standards of people and financing solution
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to their local problem (Alumuku 2006). Community radio can help people discover weal resources including peoples culture, nature history, institutions, activities and commodities. Such discovery usually happens through various programmes focusing on history, culture and nature in the community, hosted by experts (Osukule, 2005).

Community radio has specific objective which is to promote people's agenda; first local knowledge on culture, human rights and social justice, environment issues and community problems as well as issues related to development, farm news, weather, information about social activities and services available to audience for development of skills, how mothers can prepare more nutritions meals for their families, farms on how to plant better crops and how to choose better seeds for better harvest. Bates (1984) argues that it is confirmed that radio has great potentiality for development especially for many low-income countries among people who are physically isolated, illiterate and poor to improve the lives of the people 1.2. Historical Background of Community Radio in

Tanzania Community radio stations in Tanzania came into existence after the introduction of liberalization policy of 1990s. Among other things, the policy allowed the private ownership of the media enabling media in Tanzania to graduate from singing the songs of
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Nyerere's ideology of ujamaa. The country witnessed the first community radio stations such as Fadeco Community Radio in Karagwe, Orkonerei Community Radio in Simanjiro and Sengerema Community Radio in Mwanza. Currently there are dozens of community radio stations at list in every corner of the country. 1.3. Sengerema Community Radio Sengerema Community Radio is the results of the projects of Sengerema multipurpose community Telecentre which was established January 2001 to enable communities of Sengerema get suitable information about agriculture, fisheries, business and educational for societal development. The station aims at dissemination of information which is important for enlightening communities about what is happening around and enable them to share knowledge and entertainment. The radio came into operation by July 2003 with major marginalized and voiceless (women, children, disabled and aged citizens) as main audience of the station. 1.4. Statement of the problem One of the biggest communication problems in Tanzania is lack of information reaching rural and poor urban communities. Newspapers, and magazines are expensive and reach mainly urban elites, radio, which is mostly music and advertising, provides little news and useful information on social issues. Community radio is therefore remaining to be effective channel
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for the poor and marginalized Tanzanians because community radio has a high level of peoples participation, both in management and program production aspects. White (2011) has shown how Radio Ada in Ghana helped people solve many of local economic, health and development problems at relatively low cost. This study sought therefore to assess the effectiveness of Radio Sengerema in addressing social issues. 1.5. Main objective The main objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of community radio in addressing social issues confronting the community. 1.6 Specific objectives
1.

To determine types of social issues often get air time in Radio Sengerema.

2. To explore communitys perception of how Radio Sengerema report societal issues confronting their society 3. To find out if Radio Sengerema gives forum to the people about issues confronting the society 1.7 Limitation of the study During data collection, the researcher faced language barrier because some people spoke only Sukuma, however the researcher had to hire a translator. Roads to rural Sengerema where the majority of citizens live are impassable, so it took much
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of the time to reach from one place to another using bodaboda transport.

1.10. Significance of the study This study is of its kind because it reports the empirical findings on how the community radio is successful in addressing the issues confronting the society. 1.11. Definition of key terms Boda-boda is a term commonly used among Tanzanians to refer to motorcycle taxi. Social issues are issues which relate to people's personal lives and interactions such as, poverty, health care, crime, housing, education, law, abortion, suicide and assisted suicide, illegal immigration, genital mutilation, corporal punishment, alcoholism and drug abuse.

CHAPTER TWO Literature Review 2.0. Introduction The major argument of this study is that mainstream media have failed to respond to peoples problems therefore community Radio remains the only tool that can enable the poor get relevant information to make their lives reality. This chapter reviews some literatures to show what makes community radio effectives to the community and it is divided into four major parts; theoretical argument, theoretical framework and empirical literature review. 2.1. Theoretical Argument Community radio goes by many names. In Latin America it is known as popular or educational radio; in Africa it is known as rural or bush radio; in other parts of Europe it is known as force or association radio (Jankowski, 2002, p.6). Tabing (2002) argues that community radio station is one that is operated in the community, for the community, about the community and by the community. The community can be territorial or geographical - a township, village, district or island. It can also be a group of people with common interests, who are not necessarily living in one defined territory. For example community of youth who listen to bongo flavor are scattered all over the country. Community radio aims not only to participate in the life of the community, but also to allow the community to participate in the
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life of the station. This participation can take place at the level of ownership, programming, management, direction and financing (Girard, 1992 in Jankowski, 2002, p.7). The community should participate actively in programming and management because a fundamental characteristic of community radio is the involvement and participation of the communities that are served by specific stations (Bailey, Cammaerts, & Carpentier, 2007; Bosch, 2003; Teer-Tomaselli, 2001 as quoted from Manyozo, 2004, p.3). The Ghana Community Radio Network observes that community radio should have strong linkages to its communities, which are specific and marginalized. Unlike public and commercial broadcasters, community radio has the mandate of intervening in the self-development initiatives of its community; has the mandate of involving communities in program making; and is mandated to remain politically neutral and nonprofit oriented (Manyozo, 2004, p.3). 2.1.1. Village square role of community radio The community radio station can be compared to a village square or central meeting in which people gather together and discuss issues that confront their lives (Kasoma, 2002). The culture of individuals coming together is purely African ways of living in which individual is no body when alone and is a human being when with others. It is important to remember that in our community set up, issues affecting life are approached communally (Kasoma, 2002). Moemeka (1997) argues that in
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Africa individuals exist first to serve the community and second to benefit themselves through such communal services guided by the dictum I am because we are. The value of such communalistic principle lies in the unity that it sustains. When people are bonded with one another in the name of their community they are usually willing to make tangible and intangible sacrifices for one another (Moemeka, 1997). Making positive contributions to the community earns one respect and the blessings of the elderly and community leaders. 2.1.2. Community radio for community information needs. Information needs of health, economic, agriculture, business and religion should come to people through community radio stations. The people within the community need this information in order to be able to relate to the changing conditions in the environment and attain intelligent decisions. The news should be more localized and therefore, more relevant and useful than that broadcast from other radio stations, particularly those purporting to serve the whole nation. The station should try to get a local angle to it, thereby making it more relevant to the local situation (Kasoma, 2002). The national news on community radio is carefully selected for its relevance to the issues of that community and those responsible for news programs try to explain how national news will affect the community (White, 2011). In doing this journalist should report as participant of the community guided by journalism of attachment model.
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2.1.2

Three

major

attributes

of

community

radio

broadcaster The first characteristic of community radio broadcaster should be a person who demands a democratic public because the foundation of all ethics of public communication is that habit of working to create a participatory collective decision-making process in the community ( White, 1995). Since community radio journalists are closer to the community it remains their role to foster democracy. They have to listen to the needs of the majority members of the community in reporting and analyzing the problems confronting the society. A broadcaster is supposed to be a friend of all people in the community in such a way any members of the community should be able to easily relate to him or her. This enables him or her get feedback on programs from a wide spectrum of people and its is through this feedback that would enable the station to adjust its programming to suit the requirements of the people (Ksoma, 2002, p.180). Therefore obligation of promoting a democratic society measured in terms of justice, and respect for human rights remain to be major attribute of community radio journalist. Secondly, community radio broadcaster should be a person who takes the initiative to speak out on public issues. Journalists voluntarily assume an even greater responsibility to continually evaluate the quality of human life in a community and make known to the public the deficiencies observed. White (1995)
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argues that if a journalist becomes aware of the violation of human rights in a society and consciously avoids the assumed duty to inform the public of these violation, then we may rightly accuse such a professional of moral negligence because people want to know whether something has happened that will affect their lives, their families, their jobs and the well-being of the community as a whole. Although not officially recognized the journalists should assume the role of public representative, because without journalist the government cannot know how its people live, their needs and priorities. A good story should come from slums. Lastly, attribute of community radio broadcaster is to reinforce and enhance participation because participation is the key element of awakening peoples desire to assess their problems critically, to ask why these problems occur and how to overcome them, using their own wisdom, experiences, and knowledge (Mkonza, 2004, p.116). This kind of communicator is the basis and essence of development. 2.2. Theoretical Framework This study is guided by, people centered theory, and monitorial role theory of media in democratic society. 2.2.1. People centered model

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The root of this theory goes back to the concept of democratic model where any kind of decision should come be people centered. When contextualizing this model into journalism, community radio should act as a center for people's discussions. To be able to do this journalists practice embedded journalism or journalism of attachment-a kind of journalism which needs journalists to report as participants and not as observers. Journalists are free to abandon tenets of objectivity in reporting because journalists guided by objectivity hardly get to the root of news to tell people the issues behind the speeches they are reporting and how these issues affect their lives rather they will keep on balancing stories from elites and rich guys. The tale of Kasoma (2002, pp.176-177) describes the kasumba of objectivity oriented journalism which actually is bad. A president from one of a neighboring country (...) was officially opening a new clinic in a rural area close to the capital city. Journalists from both government and private media accompanied the president to cover the event. All of them (...) merely reported the speech of the President. The following morning, the President summoned all the reporters who covered the event (...) told them that they had not done a good job because they had not reported about the peoples efforts to build the self-help clinic. The concern of the president is that most of mainstream journalists are not people centered something which is bad. Community radio station there needs to abandon this culture and establish the culture of going to people and report what they have. Kasoma says that after summon the president ordered them to go back and get the story of how the people had initiated
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and completed the project on their own with little help from government. The reporters, as expected, obliged and got the real story behind the clinic. It was a fantastic story that told of how the people had come together and decided that they needed a clinic and since the government was unable to provide them one, they would themselves build. Every member of the community contributed money, labor or both towards the building of the clinic which was completed in a record time of two months. Basing on people centered model the culture should remain for journalist to go to the silence and say something. Ogonga and White (2008) argue that good stories are found in asylum where the majority of the voiceless are found. 2.2.2. Monitorial Role Monitorial role theory goes back to surveillance role of the media developed by Harold Lasswell (1948) to refer to the process of observing an extended environment for relevant information about events, conditions, trends and threats (Christians, et al, 2009). It is the negative translation of the word "surveillance" as "spying" that forced superstars in media studies, Clifford Christians, Theodore Glasses, Denis McQuail, Kaarle Nordenstreng and Robert White to opt for more general and neutral term "monitorial". They say that the term monitorial emphasizes the open character of the activity and its intention to benefit the receiver of information rather than the agent of information or
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control (p. 139).

Under monitorial framework journalists act as

double agents of communication, serving their sources as well meeting the informational needs of the public. This involvement intends to provide sources with feedback about public response, which also serves as a guide for the media organization in its decisions about news priorities. The point of departure in this theory is that community journalists should act as a link between community larders and the public but also as involving various degrees and kinds of engagement or neutrality. These could range from the role of informer and educator of the public to the role of advocate of policy, as well as critic. The journalist is assumed to have a personal stake in the process of information collection, interpretation and dissemination because is also a member of the community. They should not report as spectators but as full participants. The facts should never speak for themselves rather they must be selected, organized, linked together, and given a meaning. Journalists have the task of providing analysis and interpretation of events and opinions in a balanced and judicious manner (Hcristians, et al, 2009, 145). 2.2.3. The participant media theory Community participation is an inherent feature in a democracy, but the ever-emphases and over centralization of the mass society tends to inhibit individuals and minorities from realistic
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opportunities for participation in the area of mass communication. The theory was developed in reaction to existing theories such as normative theories which rarely took into account the development of new media and the rise of large media organization (Fourie, 2001). The theory is primarily a reaction to the trends towards commercialization in public broadcasting (Roelofse, 1997). The theory advocates for the promotion of media development towards the direct and active participation of communities in publications and narrows casting as opposed to broadcasting. The participant media theory is characterized by the establishment of more local interactive among the people. The democratic participant model incorporates the local communities which are usually not reached by the mainstream centralized media. It lays emphasis on the local and subcultures as well as horizontal interaction more than dominant mainstream media which are usually top down (Kwaramba 2000). In respect to community radio, this would relate to the centralization and empowerment aimed at enabling communities to gain and understanding of their situation, develop confidence and ability to change their lives. In some radio stations, community members are able to act as reporters, thus they tend to be more interested in community including people, events facilities, building, nature and history. Some programs serve to exchange information about communities and establish connections among or between

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communities. Local stores and companies are also important resources in the community. 2.3. Empirical Literature Although community radio is a new discipline and no university that teaches the course in Tanzania, scholars have done commendable job of doing researches in this field. Mpehongwa (2011) assessed the most significant social change brought about by community radio stations in Tanzania and reports that that the most significant change brought by community radio stations were the enhancement of information flow (news and current affairs). He further reports community radio stations to be most popular because of addressing peoples concern. Another recent study on community radio is on The role of Community Media in Tanzania: Challenges and Opportunities for Democratization and National Development by Lobulu (2009). The study reports that community media are capable of fostering interest and participation of its target audience regardless of sex, age group, occupation or level of education. Community media set the agenda for its audience and are useful as credible sources of information and education. They also play the vital role of facilitating social change and act as catalysts for development. Although the reviewed literatures talk much about community radio station in Tanzania, no study that has reported whether community radio stations are effective in addressing social issues
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confronting the majority Tanzanians who are found in rural areas. This study sought therefore to fill in this gap.

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CHAPTER THREE Methodology 3.0. Introduction 3.1 Research Design Survey research design was opted to describe systematically the effectiveness of community radio in addressing social issues confronting the society. It is through this design the researcher was able to measure community opinions regarding the kind of information they get from Radio Sengerema. Murray and Beglar (2009) argue that survey enables the researcher to explore what people believe about an issue, their emotional reactions to various situations and their opinion regarding people and events. Through survey design the researcher explored whether the Radio Sengerema content reflect the reality in the society, whether radio Sengerema provides forum to the public, whether the radio journalists are closer to people and whether information they get from the radio has helped them make improvement in their daily lives. 3.2 Sampling Technique and Sample size The researcher used purposive sampling technique to obtain 100 respondents who often listen to radio Sengerema. The process involved visiting the village and asking persons who often listen to radio Sengerema as it is especially important to be clear on informant qualifications when using purposive sampling (Tongco, 2007).
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3.3 Method of data collection The data for this study was collected using questionnaires composed of attitudinal questions that sought to understand respondents' opinion regarding the effectiveness of Sengerema radio station in addressing social issues. researcher formulated three categories To achieve this, the of questions; likert

questions, dichotomous, closed format questions and open format questions. Accurate 3.3.1. Likert Questions Likert questions are were used to with help the in ascertaining from how Radio

respondents Sengerema.

satisfied

content

3.3.2. Dichotomous and Open Format Questions They are yes and no questions. These questions were used in order to screen for respondents who would provide there relevance information of the study. After each dichotomous question there followed open ended question. Open format questions are those questions that give respondents an opportunity to express their opinions. In these types of questions, there are no predetermined set of responses and the person is free to answer whatever he/she chooses. Through open format questions the researcher got insightful and unexpected information from respondents. 3.3.2. Closed Format Questions
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Under closed format questions the researcher used multiple choice answers to verify the existing knowledge and frame setting. 3.4 Validity and reliability To ensure reliability of data the researcher pre-tested the questionnaire to check its appropriateness. The researcher detected some errors, corrected and were ready for use.. 3.5 Data analysis Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such percentages.

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CHAPTE FOUR DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 4.0 Introduction This chapter presents and analyses findings from administered questionnaires and in depth interview 4.1 Presentation of the findings Out of 100 questionnaires, 84 (84%) were returned and filled in. The majority of respondents were standard seven and few of them had college education. This is a reflection that most of the educated people in Tanzania dont live in rural areas instead they are accumulated in big cities and town in Dar es Salaam, Mwanza and Arusha. The significant number of Sengerema people is the youth below 35. This again is a reflection Tanzania has produce food consumption. 4.2. Findings Results of the study on whether radio Sengerema reports issues of the people in Sengerema community As the name community radio goes one would expect to see the radio responds to community needs. To establish this, the researcher explored whether the programs aired by Radio Sengerema are relevance to the community needs. The findings on Table 1 conclude that Radio Sengerema reports issues that are relevance to the community.
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high

population is the youth. The majority are small scale farmers who

Out

of

84

respondents,

76

responded Yes to the question, Does Radio Sengerema content reflect the reality in the society? The frequently information aired by this radio include; death information, news, events, lost relatives, family planning, music, job opportunities, greetings, religious, agricultural information, trade, sports, legal information, health, economics, education and pastoralist. Table 4.1 is a summary of the findings. Table 1: the relevance of Radio Sengerema content to the society Question Does Radio Sengerema content reflect the reality in the society Indicators Yes No Total Responses 76 08 84 Percenta ge 90.5 9.5 100

But again reporting issues that are relevant to the society would not make sense if at all issues are out of people's interests. The line of reasoning is that not all issues relevance to the society can be the priority of many people. The problem is, some journalists have been reporting issues from the society but out of community interests. This shows that there is a need of asking the community themselves to identify their needs. Christians et al (2009) argue that in order to effectively report issues about the marginalized people, journalist should act as animator. The animator brings out more clearly the faint invites the minorities, the poor, and the marginalized who might be less articulate to
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comment through letters or interviews, opens up studio debates, and fosters a general discussion of the issue in the community or region. To test this aspect, the researcher asked respondents whether they get chance to air their views through Radio Sengerema. The majority respondents (61) agreed that radio gives them time to air their views regarding anything that confront their society. Table 4.2, summarizes the findings. Table: 4.2. Does Radio Sengerema give you space to air your views? Question Do you get a chance to air your view through Radio Sengerema? Yes No Total 61 23 84 Indicators Responses Percenta ge

Further the radio often gives the community space to air their views as shown in Table 4.3. Table: 4. 3, How often do people involved in airing their views through Radio Sengerema? Statement How often do you get air time to raise your issue through radio Sengerema?
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Indicators Always Very rarely Never

Respondent Percenta s 45 16 23 ge

Total Results of whether Radio Sengerema broadcasters have sense of their clients The major characteristic of any professionals is that sense of love to their clients. Professionalism--making an oath-like commitment to use the scientifically based skills for the good of society, for the good of both clients and colleagues-- has become an integral part of the normative theory of public communication (Christian, et al, 2009). Likewise professional journalists should have a sense of love of his clients (audience) and this can be achieved when a journalist gets closer to the audience. To taste this, the researcher asked, "Do Radio Sengerema journalists visit the community people objectively?" The majority of respondents 45 out of 84 said that Radio Sengerema journalists go to people and listen to their issues and report the priorities of the society. Table 4 is a summary of the findings. Table 4: Results showing whether Sengerama radio journalists are closer to people Statement Do Radio Sengerema journalists visit the community people
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Indicato rs Yes No Total

Respondents Male 45 40

objectively?

Further the researcher wanted to know how often do Sengerema Community Radio journalists go to people. The findings show that 20 respondent said journalists go to the community everyday, 24 said rarely and the majority 40 said that journalists never go to people. Table 4.6 is a summary of the findings. Table, 4.6: The results showing how often Sengerema journalists visit the community Statement How often do journalists visit the Sengerema villages? Total Results showing the effectiveness of the information from Radio Sengerema to the society Under this category the researcher wanted to understand the importance of information from Radio Sengerema on the social development such as farming, livestock keeping, training and employment. By giving platform to experts and the public at large, the media can influence the government in selection of priority areas in which the money that would otherwise be used for repaying the debts be invested so as to enable the poor benefit from the cancellation. The media could help in the fight
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Indicators

Responde nts

Always Rarely Never come

20 24 40

against poverty by highlighting investment opportunities, writing inspirational success stories, and disseminating information on national strategies in fighting poverty eg MKUKUTA, influencing policy/decision making in favor of identified development strategies, and exposing would hinder development. The overall findings on this category show that the information people get from Radio Sengerema has contributed nothing to social development of individual members of the society. Tables 7, 8, 9 and 10 summarize the findings from the findings. The impact Radio Sengerema programs on farming Farming is the industry in Tanzania which employs about 77 percent of the population in Tanzania but the findings show that people in Sengerema dont see any impact of information from the radio. The majority of respondents said that they dont see any improvements in farming. Table 7 is a summary of the findings. Table 4.7 Effectiveness of farming information to the people Kind of information Has information you get through radio Sengerema helped you to Indicators To a large extent Somehow To a small extent No improvement Total
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bad policies, regulations or laws that

Response 5 0 2 77 84

Percent

improve farming

The impact of Radio Sengerema programs on livestock keeping Although Tanzania ranks the third position in Africa after Ethiopia and Sudan in size of cattle population, productivity is relatively low. Livestock production as a whole contributes 18% of the total gross domestic product (GDP) and 30% of agricultural GDP. The dairy industry contributes 30% of the livestock GDP, beef contributes 40% and other livestock contribute 30%. Professionals in the field of mass communication and journalism would argue that the problem is high because people have no information. But this study shows that people have information but they dont see the impact of information from Radio Sengerema on livestock keeping improvement. Table 8 is a summary of the findings. Table, 4.7 The impact of Radio Sengerema programs on livestock keeping information to the community Has information you get through radio Sengerema helped you to improve livestock
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Indicator To a large extent Somehow To a small extent No improvement Total

Response 19 4 7 54 84

Percenta ge

keeping

The impact of Radio Sengerema programs on trading Fifty years since independence the business industry is down, poverty is high and financial institutions are not user fiends to the majority of Tanzania. Doing business in the country remain very challenging because of poor infrastructure. Therefore scholars in communication would believe that media should bring this into discussion for attaining intelligent decisions. But despite the discussion in such issue being carried out by radio Sengerema the majority respondents said they dont see any improvement in trading. Table 4. 9 is a summary of the findings. The impact of Radio Sengerema programs on trading information to the community Kind of information Has information you get through radio Sengerema helped you to improve trading Total Indicators To a large extent Somehow To a small extent No improvement Response 24 7 6 47 Percenta ge

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The impact of Radio Sengerema programs on employment information Employment is Tanzania is very disturbing issue because people have no job. So it is expected that media should inform people on job opportunities and how to apply, but the findings show that radio Sengerema has not helped on this area. Table 10 is the summary of the findings. The impact of Radio Sengerema programs on employment information to the community Activity Has information Indicators Response 20 5 5 42 Percenta ge To a large extent Somehow you get through To a small extent radio No improvement Sengerema helped you to improve employment Total 84

Public satisfaction of the content of radio Sengerema Results showing satisfaction of Sengerema people radio Sengerema content Question Satisfaction of Sengerema
30

Indicators

Response

Percenta ge

people on the content of Radio Sengerema?

Very satisfied Satisfied Normal Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied Total

36 9 28 8 1 73

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CHAPTER FIVE Discussion The overall findings of this study show that Radio Sengerema is doing a very good job of strengthening communication in the community. The public is given opportunity to decide what kind of information should be aired out, journalists go to people and develop public forum from the grassroots. Further, the findings show that people are satisfied with the content from Radio Sengerema. But something amazing and probably needs more research is that the majority of respondents said that the information they get from the station doesnt move them anywhere. If at one person says is satisfied with media content and at the same he doesnt benefit from the content he has leads to a conclusion that some audiences are passive and if not passive they dont trust the media. For example some audience do not value much of the media believing that mass mediated information in general is incomplete, slanted or in other ways colored by the intention of communicator (Scheufele, 1999,p. 105). Probably community members in Sengerema might be falling in this category.

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CHAPTER SIX Conclusion and Recommendations The statement that a society with free and independent media people cannot suffer from hunger has been proved wrong in this study, because people in Sengerema have a free media which covers issues for the interests of the society but the society doesnt see any impact on this. This study is therefore recommending that
1.

Community radio stations should establish regular listening groups that will be taking people together discuss issues that confront their society. This method has been used in many countries and has proved successful. In Canada, for instance, such programs known as radio farm forum helped people listen, discuss and take collective action.

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REFERENCES Christians, C. and Glasser, L. (2009). Normative Theories of the Media: Journalism in democratic societies. Urbana and Chicago. University of Illinois Press Mpehongwa,G. and Lobulu, W. (2010). Research report by media Council of Tanzania Dominick, J.and Wimmer R. (1991)(3rd Ed). Mass Media Research: An Introduction. Wadsworth: USA Deobold, B. (1979). (4th Ed). Understanding Education research: An Introduction Elliott, J. and Mc Adam, K. (1996). Researching Audiences: A guide to Media Writing, Ally and Bacon: USA Hess M. (1988) (3rd Ed) .Sociology acts press: Nairobi Kombo, D. and Tromp, D. (2006). Proposal and Thesis Writing: An Introduction. Pauliness Publication: Nairobi Kothari, C. (2004). Research Methodology: Quantitative and Qualitative. New Age International (P) Ltd: India McQuail, D. (1994) (3rd Ed). Mass Communication Theory: An Introduction. Sage Publication: London Mugenda, O. and Mugenda, A. (1991). Research Methods: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. Acts Press: Nairobi

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Franken .R. (2000) .How to design and Evaluate research in Education APPENDIX Instruction Dear respondent fill in or tick where appropriate 1. Education level.. 2. Gender .. 3. Age .. 4. Occupation .. 5. Do you own Radio set? a. Yes b. No ( ) 6. When do you listen to radio Sengerema? a. Whole day b. Morning c. Daytime ( ) d. Evening e. Night time 7. Does the information you get from radio Sengerema reflect your society? a. Yes b. No ( ) 8. Mention the kind of information you hear from radio Sengerema ... 9. How much are you satisfied with content of radio Sengerema a. Very satisfied b. Satisfied ( ) c. Normal d. Dissatisfied e. Very dissatisfied 10. Please briefly explain for your answer (9) above 11. Tick in the box below, Has information you get through radio Sengerema helped you to improve the following
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Farming Live stock Trade Employme nt Your village

12.

To a large extent

Someho To a small w extent

No improvement

Mention other improvement issues you have achieved through the information you get from radio Sengerema 13. Does radio Sengerema give you space to air your views? a. Yes b. No ( ) 14. If yes (no 14 above), how often? a. Always when you have an issue b. Very rarely c. Never 15. Do journalists of radio Sengerema come to your villages and listen to your problems and report objectively? a. Yes b. No ( ) 16. If yes (No 15 above), how often? a. Always b. Rarely c. Never come 17. Have you ever aired any issues confronting your society? a. Yes b. No ( ) 18. If yes, what was the issue? a. b. If no, why?
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19.

Mention other benefits that you get through radio Sengerema

Which issues do you like Radio Sengerema to report most and Why? ............................................................................................... ................. 21. What changes would you like to be made to Radio Sengerema for it to play a greater role in issues confronting your society?
20.

37