THE ROLE OF CHRISTIAN RADIO STATIONS IN SPREADING CHURCH

DOCTRINES AND BEHAVIOUR CHANGE IN MALAWI

THE CASE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST RADIO

A DISSERTATION
BY
WHYGHTONE MOVESI KAPASULE
CEC/J/08/07/11/029

SUBMITTED
TO
THE CONTINUING EDUCATION CENTRE
THE POLYTECHNIC

IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD

OF A DIPLOMA IN JOURNALISM

TUTOR

MR VICTOR CHIKOTI

DATE OF SUBMISION: 29th MAY, 2013

DECLARATION

I, the undersigned, hereby declare that this mini-thesis is my own work and that I have

not previously submitted it at any university for a degree. All sources that I have quoted

have been indicated and acknowledged by means of reference.

Signed: _________________________Date: _________________________

ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Above all I thank the Almighty God for His sufficient Grace which brought this work to

completion. In addition, this study has been made possible through the effort,

encouragement, support and enduring patience of many people. A few of them receive

special tribute. First, I am indebted to the Seventh-day Adventist Radio and its Station

Manager Pastor Kingsley Matiti for hosting this study and putting me on SDA Radio

Internship programme that made this study an easy undertaking.

Secondly am equally indebted to my wife Loveness, my boy Fortune, my mum Mrs.

Esnala Kapasule, my sister Agness Movesi, Patrick Michael and Berthia Strawo for being

reassuring, supportive and overbearing. I owe you more that I can ever give back. You

are more than family friends, and may the Lord overwhelm you with his favour. In the

same vein, am indebted to the spirit of Inspector Clement Mwale, Sgt. Vincent Chiwaya

and Noxy Chochoma of Limbe Police Station for their support rendered to this study.

The acknowledgement will be incomplete if I do not recognize my tutor Mr. Victor

Chikoti, my classmates: Patricia Sundu, Pedzisai Zembeneko, Kenneth Khondiwa,

Cortex Nzima, Jean Matope, Angellina Puliti, Kaliande Mwakhele and Limbani Ngwata

for their contributions during this study. While am fully responsible for the residual

shortcomings in this thesis, the people mentioned did everything to assist me otherwise.

iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ................................................................................................................ ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... iv

ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ v

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... vii

CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................. 1

1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Problem Statement ................................................................................................................ 2

1.3 Research Objectives .............................................................................................................. 3

1.4 Rationale................................................................................................................................ 4

CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................ 6

2.0 Literature Review .................................................................................................................. 6

2.1 Radio‟s Historical Development ........................................................................................... 6

2.2 The Impact of Radio .............................................................................................................. 7

2.3 Legal and Regulatory Issues ................................................................................................ 10

2.4 Programme Content ............................................................................................................. 12

2.5 Theoretical Perspective ....................................................................................................... 13

CHAPTER THREE .......................................................................................................... 17

3.0 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 17

3.1. Research Design ................................................................................................................. 17

3.2 Interviews ............................................................................................................................ 19

3.3 Questionnaires ..................................................................................................................... 20

iv
 3.4 Analysis of Findings ............................................................................................................ 22

3.5 Research Limitations ........................................................................................................... 23

CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................................................. 25

4.1 Primary Findings ................................................................................................................. 25

4.2 Secondary Findings ............................................................................................................. 29

4.3 Discussion of Findings ........................................................................................................ 33

CHAPTER FIVE .............................................................................................................. 37

5.0 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 37

5.1 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 38

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 42

v
ABSTRACT
This research analyses the impact of Christian radio stations on the social and spiritual

lives of local people in Malawi. The study was conducted in Blantyre at the Seventh Day

Adventist Radio owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Malawi. This research

has chosen SDA Radio as a case study because it has a nationwide coverage, has existed

for over five years and it is based in Blantyre making it accessible by this study.

The main findings of this study are that radio is an effective tool in religion outreach

ministry that reaches to people at their door step due to the supersonic speed of light at

which FM radio waves travel as opposed to the tradition methods of outreach. The study

also discovered that programme content at Christian radio stations like SDA Radio is

produced in a way that reflects the church‟s doctrines thereby uplifting its faithful

spiritually, socially as well as entertaining them through the power of music. Through

deliberate repetition of special programmes, Christian radio stations are able to positively

influence behavior change and character building in the publics.

However, this study established that church run radio stations lack some programmes that

aim at informing its audience about developments in the political arena. This happens

because some churches like the Seventh-day Adventist Church have clear cut policies

that stop the church from indulging in politics. This research also found that radio

ministry is not a good tool for generating income for the churches as it is characterized by

under- advertising and survives on church offerings and support from well wishers

vi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

AMDI African Media Development Initiative

BCA British Central Africa

BBC British Broadcasting Corporation

CCAP Church for Central African Presbytery

CFC Calvary Family Church

DJ Disc Jockey

DRC Democratic Republic of Congo

MACRA Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority

MBC Malawi Broadcasting Corporation

MIJ Malawi Institute of Journalism

SDA Seventh-day Adventist Church.

TV Television

FM Frequency Modulation

HIV Human Immune Virus

USA United States of America

3ABN Three Angels Broadcasting Network

vii
 CHAPTER ONE

1.0 Introduction

This research analyses the impact church owned radio stations have had on the social and

spiritual lives of local people in Malawi. Every church has its teachings and doctrines

based on the Christians holy book- The Bible. In view of this, every church strives hard

to spread its respective doctrines for the masses to profess in them and join their

respective camps. To achieve this noble mission, churches employ different modus

operandi and one of them is the establishment of radio stations. In this research our case

of study is the Seventh Day Adventist Radio- the Voice of Hope, owned by the Seventh

Day Adventist Church in Malawi. This research has chosen SDA Radio as a case study

because it has a nationwide coverage, has existed for over five years and it is based in

Blantyre making it accessible by this research.

1.1 Background

Seventh Day Adventist Radio is a Christian broadcasting institution whose main aim is to

preach the word of God through the radio in line with the great commission of Jesus

Christ as recorded in Mark 16:15 in which the church believes can hasten the second

coming of Jesus Christ1. It is a Christian FM radio run by the Seventh day Adventist

Church. It is based in Blantyre along the Robins Road Kabula Hill on the top floor of

Adventist Lodge opposite Malawi Sun Hotel. The station broadcasts on 90.8 megahertz

in the southern region, 106.9 megahertz in the northern region and 100.0 megahertz in the

1
Adventist Fundamental Beliefs http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/index.html

1
northern region. It was officially opened on 20th September, 2009 by the then vice

president now president of the Republic of Malawi Dr. Joyce Banda. It operates twenty-

four hours with live programmes starting at 06:00 hrs to 20:00 hrs and thereafter they

feature recorded sermons alternated with a music interlude.

The target audience for the radio is anyone who tunes in to SDA Radio Station regardless

of race, tribe, language, colour and originality. Its purpose is to reach to every corner of

the country with the gospel so that people should accept Jesus as their personal lord and

saviour besides disseminate important information about human basic needs. Seventh

Day Adventist Radio also aims at emphasizing the fundamental beliefs as written in the

bible. As such the radio has programs that related to health, nutrition, education, children

women, evangelism and development. In this case SDA Radio is a non-partisan

broadcasting institution which does not air anything that is political in nature.

Programmes that meet the spiritual life of its audience include Tiphunzire Baibulo;

Profound Things of the Bible, Sermons etc that help promote the church‟s doctrines and

bring hope to the hopeless. There are also social programmes in the station‟s schedule

that address HIV/AIDS related issues, education, and agriculture like Ulimi wa

Chiyembekezo, Padakafunda, Tiuzane Zoona, Youth Parade etc.

1.2 Problem Statement

The dawn of the twenth century brought a new revolution in the church ministries in

Malawi. Churches began to realise the power of radio as a vehicle to reach world-wide

2
audiences, to share the gospel and save souls. According to Bernald 2 radio is the vital

means of communicating the word of God despite the advances in technology. Radio

remains the most affordable means of communicating the word of God and it plays an

important role in reaching the world for Christ. According to the Pan American

Broadcasting, radio overcomes barriers- political, cultural, geographical and financial-

thereby allowing churches reach the remote corners of the world and touch the lives of

millions around the globe. In view of this, Trans World Radio started formerly

broadcasting as the first Christian radio station in 1986. Today there are eight religious

radio stations in Malawi: Seventh Day Adventist Radio, Trans World Radio, Radio Islam,

Radio Maria, Radio Alinafe, Channel for All Nations, Calvary Family Church Radio,

African Bible College Radio and Radio Tigabane. As if this is not enough, the Blantyre

Synod of the CCAP Church is fundraising to open its radio station in the country.

According the church‟s website, they have raised K2.5 million out of the required K30

million to roll out the radio project3. This research tries to justify if Christian radio

ministries are worth sacrificing for all these huge sum of money by looking at its

effectiveness and impact on the lives of Malawians as opposed to the traditional gospel

outreach methods.

1.3 Research Objectives

This research is conducted to:

2
Bernald G. “Pan American Broadcasting” http://www.radiopanam.com/whoweare.htm
3
CCAP Blantyre Synod, http://www.blantyresynod.org/

3
 i. Find out how Christian‟s radio stations fulfill the church‟s spiritual, social,

and entertainment role to the masses.

ii. Investigate the impact of Christian radio programmes to the masses.

iii. Probe the impact of Christian radio programmes on the behaviour change

and character building among the publics.

iv. Examine how churches benefit from their respective radio stations in

income generation, spreading of doctrines and church‟s growth in terms of

membership in direct proportion to the day to day expenses encountered

by the churches on the running of the radios.

v. Assess if the programming of Christian radio stations meet the publics

expectations and interests.

1.4 Rationale

This research will establish the effectiveness of Christian radio stations and quantify the

rationale behind the huge sums of money that are pumped into instituting these projects

as opposed to the traditional evangelism methods of recruiting pastors or clergy people,

training them, meeting their day to day needs, and conducting of traditional revival

meeting. As an institution which is the case study behind this research; the Seventh Day

Adventist Radio stands to benefit from this research in that it will have a chance to see if

the radio is meeting the church‟s spiritual and social responsibilities towards the masses

that happen to be its listeners in Blantyre. In addition to this, the research will provide a

mirror of the radio‟s impact on behavioural change and character building among the
4
listeners thereby boosting its morale to sustain the existing effective programmes and

formulate new ones in the area the public fill its falling short of meeting their

expectations.

Malawians at large also stand to benefit from the research. For instance, other churches

which are yet to venture into radio ministry like the CCAP Blantyre Synod will

beforehand discover the effectiveness of this mode of spreading the gospel and the

challenges other churches that are already in the field are facing. This will help them

formulate right strategies that will see that the to-be-opened radio stations take on board

the results this research will find. It will also help other churches like CCAP Blantyre

Synod evaluate if this project is worthy investing in the planned 30 million kwacha as

compared to reaching out the masses using the traditional methods of evangelism.

5
 CHAPTER TWO

2.0 Literature Review

The researcher conducted a literature study of the impact of religious radio stations that

involved a desk review of information related to broadcast media. It included a critical

analysis of history of radio development in relation to religion “radio religion”, the

impact of the so called “radio religion” and the legal and regulatory framework in

broadcast media. The results of the literature survey are as follows:

2.1 Radio’s Historical Development

Twenty years ago in 1988 there were only ten independent (non-State) radios in all of

Sub-Saharan Africa4. Since then, radio has had a renaissance. However, Ndagha5

lamented that by then Malawi had one radio station. But he quickly described it as a

development in the right direction to think that Malawi had only one radio station in 1993

and then 18 by 2006. Of the 18, seven are private religious radio stations that include

SDA Radio, Trans World Radio, Radio Islam, Radio Maria, Radio Alinafe, Channel for

All Nations, Calvary Family Church Radio (CFC), African Bible College Radio and

Radio Tigabane. He argued that the private radio stations have developed as fast as other

private commercial because of probably the need by the Churches or faith groups to reach

people with God's Word and disciple them.

4
Girard, B., 2008 a. Community Media and SMS Text Messaging Blog entry 14th July 2008
http://comunica.org/radio2.0/archives/87
5
Kaonga H. (2006) Media in Malawi Part 2- Radio Ministry
http://ndagha.blogspot.com/2006/10/media-in-malawi-part-2-radio-industry.html

6
2.2 The Impact of Radio

Radio was the first electronic medium of mass entertainment and it is a more

psychological medium. Its relationship with its audience is based on an emotional and

imaginative bond. Crook6 suggests that radio has not lost its importance as a huge and

significant source for news and entertainment and the opportunity to hoodwink the

audience is as strong as it has ever been. This justifies the rapid boom in the

establishment of religious radio stations worldwide. Hangen suggests that religion the

found a ready place in modern mass media, enhancing and strengthening certain forms of

religious behavior and practice. For instance radio has made it possible to begin going to

church or to rethink entirely what church was and where worship could take place.

In America radio introduced new narratives and voices to the American public, piercing

with an air of mystery of places and people previously less accessible.7 This means that

religious experience could have been watered down, marginalized, or supplanted by the

public's engagement with new forms of mass entertainment if “religious radio” was not

inverted. Radio served as a pulpit for evangelism on a scale impossible only decades

before. According to Ong and Eliade Charles Fuller, could reach in just an hour message

"more living people on this earth than the greatest evangelist of the nineteenth century, a

thing which D. L. Moody, was able to reach, with long journeys, fatiguing travels, and

sometimes three meetings a day, in his entire forty years of Christian service. This shows

6
Crook T. The Psychological Power of Radio http://www.irdp.co.uk/hoax.htm
7
Ong W and Eliade M, A Media Ecology Review- Centre for the Study of Communication
http://cscc.scu.edu/trends/v23/v23_pdf

7
the effectiveness of “religion radio” whose impact extends further to its ability to speak to

listeners as if in a one-on-one conversation.

Radio is the only medium capable of delivering the natural, personal, powerful persuasive

spoken word directly into the midst of the family where it can be considered, discussed,

and acted upon immediately. This calls for religion to make full use of this medium to

register achievements in spreading its doctrines to the masses. This will go a long way in

addressing the myriad and cumbersome problems that characterise modern life and as

such religion is required to speak to the everyday, concrete realities of life sickness,

trouble, the search for peace of mind to bring hope to the hopeless. For the listeners, the

act of tuning in to a Christian radio is like that of frequent Bible reading and this keeps

evangelicals on the straight and narrow way. To these faithful, God is a deity as close as

the dial on a radio. What believers do over and over again not only reinforces their

perceptions of reality but comes to constitute their reality as well and that radio does the

same in spreading the church‟s teachings.8

All the most recent and reliable surveys agree that radio is still the dominant mass-

medium in Africa with the widest geographical reach and the highest audiences compared

with TV, newspapers and other ICTs.9 While acknowledging the power of religious radio

stations, The Time states that religious radios preached to an estimated congregation of

8
Hangen T. (2002), Redeeming the Dial- Radio, Religion and Popular Culture in America UNCP
http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/page/398
9
Balancing Act (2008), African Broadcast and Film Markets. London. http://www.balancingact-
africa.com/reports/broadcast/africa-broadcast-an-0

8
ten million in America10. Myers 11 reveals that in many countries, religious groups have a

strong influence over the domestic airwaves and command high audiences particularly

among women. For instance in DRC 35% of FM radios are thought to be owned and

controlled by religious groupings, mostly evangelical Christian. Concurring with Myers

is the BBC 2006 African Media Development Initiative (AMDI) Research Summary

Report12 which indicates that in South Africa, Radio Pulpit, a Christian radio as its name

implies, is the only radio other than the state-run SABC to have national coverage while

in Kenya the leading radio station in the most populous province (Rift Valley) in Kenya,

is Sayare FM, a private station with a Christian focus.

Though these findings are a plus to churches who own radio stations; in Malawi‟s context

however, the research is not a true representation as its sampling and methods did not

consider Malawi‟s situation which is yet to flourish its religious radio ministry to par

commercial and state run radios which are the biggest players in the Malawi‟s electronic

Media industry. The Africa Commission Report raises another point of great impact in as

far as radio broadcasting is concerned- language. Recent research suggest that sales of

radio receivers rise in areas where new local radios start-up offering relevant programmes

and reliable news in people's own languages, a principle newly established religious radio

stations should embrace to establish themselves in the broadcast media. This calls for

10
The Time (1946), Radio Religion, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,934406,00.html
11
Myers (2008), Radio and Development in Africa- A Concept Paper- DFID
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/r4d/PDF/Outputs/ICT4D/Radio_and_Development_in_Africa_concept_paper.pdf
12
BBC WST (World Service Trust), 2006 African Media Development Initiative (AMDI) Research
Summary Report BBC: London
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/trust/pdf/AMDI/AMDI_summary_Report.pdf

9
Malawi‟s religious radio stations to be producing content which is in local languages for

the betterment of the indigenous Malawians whose literacy levels still remain the lowest

estimated to be below 70 %.13

2.3 Legal and Regulatory Issues

Myers14 declares that radio like all mass-media, flourishes well in countries where the

rule of law is respected and where media regulation is independent and even-handed.

This unfortunately, is not the case in the majority of African countries including Malawi.

In most places the body that regulates the media either operates directly out of the

ministry of information or its officers are direct appointees of the ruling party of the day.

A number of concerns have been raised as regards to regulation of the communications

sector in Malawi. For instance Article 1915 reports that the board that regulates the media-

the Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) comes under fire. A lot of

concerns have been raised over the independent status of MACRA due to its regular

threats of harsh action against private stations and its perceived lenience with public

stations. For example, the media in Malawi reported that MACRA had delayed to grant a

religious radio license to Livingstonia Synod of the CCAP because of the synods tough

13
UNESCO
http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/INSTITUTES/UIL/confintea/pdf/National_Reports/Afri
ca/Malawi.pdf
14
Myers (2008), Radio and Development in Africa- A Concept Paper- DFID
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/r4d/PDF/Outputs/ICT4D/Radio_and_Development_in_Africa_concept_paper.pdf
15
Article19 2003 http://www.article19.org/data/files/pdfs/analysis/malawi.bro.03.pdf

10
stances towards the government.16 In June 2003, MACRA threatened to ban community

radio stations from airing news items, arguing that this was the role of MBC and

Television Malawi.17

The controversy surrounding the airing of news programmes by community radio stations

has also led to doubts about the constitutionality of parts of the Communications Act,

which MACRA invoked in support of its ban.18 Malawi Government‟s monopoly over

public broadcaster is a contextualized example of heavy handed regulation towards the

media in Malawi. In November 1998, the Malawi government enacted the Malawi

Communications Act (1998) in Parliament. The aim was to consolidate previous

legislation, establishing the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

and providing for the reconstitution of the Malawi Establishment Broadcasting

Corporation (MBC). The intention was to transform MBC from a State broadcaster,

whose allegiances lay with the government of the day, into a public service broadcaster.

Despite this noble initiative, the US Department of States 2002 Human Rights Report on

Malawi accused MBC of frequently displaying a notable pro-government bias.19 The

regulator MACRA takes the view that it falls outside its regulatory remit, and given that

MBCs Board is appointed by the President this means there is no effective independent

regulatory body to hold MBC to account in cases of alleged political bias.

16
Nyirongo, E (July 9, 2010), Synod Cries Foul Over Delayed License, The Nation Newspaper (Blantyre),
http://www.mwnation.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2330:synod-cries-foul-over-
licence
17
IFEX Alert 4 June, 2003. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/15486/print
18
Malawi Communications Act 1998 section 51(3) (c).
19
US Department of State, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18213.htm

11
Regulation fee is also another drawback in the growth of religious radio stations. Most

countries do not recognise the particularity of religious radios in their media legislation.

They bunch them together with larger-scale commercial stations, and oblige them to pay

the same taxes and licence fees without recognising how punitive such fees often can be.

For example, Radio Simli, a community station in Ghana, was shut down and its

equipment confiscated due to its inability to pay steep licence fees of US$100 as

application fee, a US$2,000 frequency fee, and a US$800 annual fee.20 Similarly

exorbitant taxes and fees mean that religious radio stations all over Africa sail in troubled

waters. Contextually in Malawi, MACRA registration fee for radios with a national

licence is $200 00021 plus 2% audited net operating revenue and $356annual frequency

spectrum fees schedule for fm sound broadcasting in stereo. As seen here license fees in

Malawi are higher than the ones that led to the closure of Radio Simli in Ghana. Licence

fees are a thorn in the development of religious radio stations most of which do not

indulge in business.

2.4 Programme Content

Balancing Act's latest results show that a rough average of 57% listens to radio for news

and 58% for music. This is then followed by sport 29%, 20% for religion, 18% for call-

ins, 13% for 'information' and 9% for 'talk'.22 This justifies how important radio is for

20
Africa Farm Radio Research Initiative, 2008. The Economics of Rural Radio in Africa: An introductory
study into the costs and revenues Farm Radio International: Ottawa
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/unpan/unpan037356.pdf
21
MACRA Licence Application Fees (2003) http://www.ictregulationtoolkit.org/en/Document.799.pdf
22
Balancing Act 2008 http://lists.balancingactafrica.com/t/927/235533/131/0/

12
serving poorer, illiterate populations with news, particularly given that in most of African

countries south of the Sahara there is a weak tradition of the written press and

newspapers are relatively expensive to buy. However, the 20 % that shows radio is

listened equally for religion does not reflect well on the growth of religious radio stations

in the sub Saharan region though Malawi was not included in the study.

2.5 Theoretical Perspective

This chapter makes a critical analysis of theories that are relevant to the understanding of

media in society and its continuous existence through the centuries. Different theories

have been put forward to describe the effects of the media on social behaviors. However,

this research will consider the agenda setting theory and the spiral of silence.

Agenda setting function of the media refers to the media‟s capability, through repeated

news coverage, of raising the importance of an issue in the public‟s mind.23 The first

systematic study of the agenda setting hypothesis was reported in 1972 by McCombs and

Shaw.24 They studied agenda setting in the presidential campaign of 1968 in the USA and

hypothesized that the media set the agenda for each political campaign, influencing

salience of attitudes towards the political issues. The media is capable of telling us what

is important. When a plane crashes or there is a disaster in another country we all have

feelings about it even though it does not affect our lives at all. The media has set the

agenda by the choices the editors have made to report the story to us in an angle that will

23
Severin & Tinkard (2000) Communication Theories 5th Edition Agenda Setting Longman, Inc. p 219.
24
McCombs M & Shaw D (1972) The Agenda Setting Function of Mass Media. Public Opinion
Quarterly,36: 176- 187.

13
arouse our emotions. If you were to pick up a copy of the New York Times, The

Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, etc. you would find some of the same stories on

the front page of each. Further, you would find those same stories leading the Malawi

media- local papers, radios and television newscasts. This owes to the agenda setting

theory function of the media.

Henry argues religion is very important to the average masses. 25 However, it is seriously

under-reported and under-discussed. Agenda setting theory if adopted and employed by

religious radio stations can effectively help set up what various churches consider

important doctrines and let the secular world think about and consequently adopt them in

their lives. This can be achieved through persistent and consistent programming that is

aimed at spreading their various churches‟ doctrines. As Breed says, “it should be noted

that religion is of double significance to social integration: it is not only a value in itself

but it justifies and rationalizes other sentiments which bring order to a society”.26

Another theory that gives the mass media more power than any other theories is the spiral

of silence developed by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann27. In the theory, she suggests that

public opinion is formed through a process called spiral of silence in which people form

impressions about the distribution of public opinion on a controversial issue. They try to

determine whether they are in the majority and try to determine whether public opinion is

25
Henry M. (7 Dec. 2008), Setting Agendas The Jamaica Gleaner http://jamaica-
gleaner.com/gleaner/20081207/cleisure/cleisure3.htmlb
26
Breed W. (1958) Mass Communication and sociocultural Integration, Social Forces, 37: 112.
27
Noelle-Neumann E. (1980). Mass Media and Social Change in Developed Societies. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.

14
changing to agree with them in the majority. If they feel they are in the minority they tend

to remain silent on the issue. The more they remain silent, the more other people feel that

the particular point of view is not represented and the more they remain silent. The mass

media play an important role in the spiral of silence because they are the source to which

people look to find the distribution of public opinion. The media shape impressions about

which opinions are on the dominant. They also shape the impressions about which

opinions are on the increase and which opinions one can utter in public without becoming

isolated.28

Noelle-Neumann‟s spiral of silence works in the mass media by portraying a given issue

in a certain way with an eye to actually shaping public opinion. Once individuals see the

issue as decided they clam up even if they disagree. This is so because most people don‟t

want to go against the grain, they don‟t want to be socially isolated; they don‟t want to

seem to be cranks, or be labeled as bigots.29 Likewise, religious radio station can adopt

this theory in their content and shape the doctrines of the churches and silence the secular

world. They can shape ideas by letting the gospel be proclaimed consistently from their

airwaves and saturate the public arena. It is through this dominance that the spiral of

silence works in shaping the impression that public opinion (the broadcast gospel) is

popular and is in the majority. In this way religious radio stations can prove effective to

their respective churches and help them grow their membership. Since secular radio

28
Noelle-Neumann E. (1973) Return to the Concept of Powerful Mass Media. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press pg 108.
29
Colson C. (22 Sept. 2011), Say No to Silence
http://www.breakingpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/17878

15
stations have learnt to shoot at masses without missing, its high time religious radio

stations learned to fly without perching.

16
 CHAPTER THREE

3.0 Methodology

This section provides methods, tools and sources of research data, targeted groups and

organisations where data was collected. It further discusses how the data were processed

and tools used in the analysis. The section concludes by highlighting key challenges in

the research that stood in the way of this study.

3.1. Research Design

Specifically, this research targeted the Seventh-day Adventist Radio; a religious radio

station owned by the Seventh- day Adventist Church in Malawi. As the study was based

in Blantyre, this justifies the choice of this organisation as a study case as it is located in

Blantyre Kabula Hill top floor Adventist Lodge making it accessible to this study. Its five

years existence as one of the methods of spreading Adventist doctrines adds up to the

choice of this radio as opposed to other Christian radio stations that have existed for less

than three years in Blantyre. This drives home the adage says “accumulation of more

years means more wisdom, more experience and more impact”. The conservatism behind

the doctrines upon which the SDA Church is founded also influenced the research‟s

choice of this radio station as our case study. This research felt it necessary to measure

how widely embraced are the Adventists Conservatism doctrines as result of the radio‟s

ministry.

17
Potentially the research had about 400, 000 subject based on the Seventh- day Adventist

church membership in Malawi.30 These happen to be the bonafide and possible listeners

to the SDA Radio. It is also within this range that the secretariat that is responsible for

running the day to day affairs of the radio station falls from whom technical information

and other operation related issues were sought. However, actual subjects of 10, 000 were

involved in this research. These included the Station manager, the Communications

Director at the Malawi Union Mission, the President of the SDA church at the Union, the

Head of programmes at the radio, the Marketing and Accounts Personnel. Some data was

also sought from the ordinary members of the church whose cluster groups were based on

their respective churches of assembly. There were ten cluster groups who were identified

within Blantyre City using a systematic sampling system. Five churches were

systematically picked in Blantyre urban and five were picked systematically from

Blantyre rural. Mathematically this research worked out to be a qualitative one as the

number of potential subjects divided by the actual subjects and multiplied by a hundred

transpired to be below half the potential subjects‟ i.e.

ACTUAL x 100 = 10, 000 x 100 =2%

POTENTIAL 500, 000

Data collection in this research was in forms of face to face interviews with the managers

of the radio station to obtain first hand information as this was the most useful method as

30
Seventh- Day Adventist Online Year Book; Malawi Union Mission
http://www.adventistyearbook.org/ViewAdminField.aspx?AdmFieldID=MWUM

18
information could not be observe at the institution. This research also administered

questionnaires to the church members in their cluster- groups.

3.2 Interviews

Interviews can be used with all segments of the population and permit probing into the

context and reasons for the answers to question. They are useful when you want an in-

depth understanding of experiences, opinions or individual personal descriptions of a

process. The structured interview schedule, questions and their sequences are fixed and

identical for all respondents. Selltiz et al31 suggests that interviews allow for greater

communication between the interviewer and the interviewee as opposed to a

questionnaire in which the information one obtains is limited to the written response of

subjects to prearranged questions. To add more flesh to the bone Kerlinger 32 describes

interviews as ubiquitous method of obtaining information from people. He however

suggests that data collection methods using interviews should be categorized by some

degree of directness. If we wish to know something about someone, we can ask him

about it directly. He may not give us an answer after posing a direct question but giving

him an ambiguous stimulus instead, like a vague question does the magic. This will pull

him to talk about related issues in the third person which is useful to the information

required by the researcher. This is the case with information that respondents may be

unwilling, reluctant or unable to give readily and directly like information in income,

sexual relations and attitudes towards religion and minority groups.

31
Selltiz et al (1976), Research Methods in Social Relations Rev. Ed. New York. Pg 294.
32
Kerlinger (1973), Foundations of Behaviour Research 2nd Edition, Holt, Rinehart and Winston. New
York. Pg 479-489.

19
This study adopted personal interviews with the secretariat that runs the SDA Radio. This

included the Station Manager, the church‟s country president in Malawi, the

Communication and Evangelism Director at the Malawi Union of the SDA church, the

Marketing and Accounts Personnel and the Head of Programmes. These interviews

involved a face to face interpersonal role situation in which the interviewer asked

respondents questions designed to obtain answers pertinent to the research question. As a

strategy to solicit more information, the researcher adopted open ended questions which

gave chances for an elaboration from the clergy people about the type of programmes the

radio airs and its time schedule to effectively promote the church‟s doctrines. Some

questions looking for challenges the radio station faces in its operations like programme

production costs versus as revenue generation for the church and the impact of

government regulation on the religious radio in terms of license fees and legal statutes

were posed. This study adopted a systematic sampling technique as it is a straight

forward and has the advantage of covering a good study area easily than random

sampling. Though biased as it may seem to be, but it served the study well by focusing on

relevant authorities at the secretariat of the SDA Church where this research collected

rightful information to achieve is purpose.

3.3 Questionnaires

Of all the approaches, research suggests that people are more likely to give honest

responses to sensitive questions by using a self-administered questionnaire though they

are usually cumbersome for literates who hardly respond. However, due to the fact that

interviews take long time and cost effort and money to conduct this research adopted a

20
more economical method of questionnaire that answered the study purposes on the

100,000 membership of the SDA Church from the selected ten churches in Blantyre. No

time and money would have been found in the world for this research to interview all

these members one by one let alone by a student researcher. Closed questions adopted by

this study allow for only a tick, a mark or a line on an already identified response while

the open ended questions enable respondents to reply as s/he likes and does not confine to

a single alternative. The closed questions have the advantage of making the respondent to

think along certain lines which s/he might not have done, had they been left to make up

their responses. The open questions enable the respondent to state their case freely and

clearly and possibly giving reasons as well. However, the closed questions are easier to

analyse as opposed the open questions which are time consuming. One questionnaire was

developed for this study which was administered to all the 100, 000 respondents who

happen to be the churches membership within Blantyre selected from ten churches

excluding the churches‟ secretariat which was reached with face to face interviews.

As listeners to the SDA Radio this research wanted to know how the radio has impacted

their lives in terms of behaviour change, adoption of churches doctrines and character

building. It also wanted to discover how the radio brings the god news down in their

houses and its effectiveness in converting the masses to join the church and how the

masses as a social entity have benefited from the radio‟s programming. To effectively

gather this vital information, this questionnaire adopted stratified systematic sampling in

which the church‟s membership within Blantyre was divided into known groups

according to their respective churches they gather on the Sabbath for worship. Each

21
group (church) was sampled using a systematic approach in which every fifth person was

identified as potential respondent and served with the questionnaire. Stratified systematic

sampling technique was the very flexible and applicable to the many potential

respondents who gather at the identified churches to worship on the Sabbath that

averaged from 800 to 1200 per church. Though it was hard to identify people's age or

social background effectively but stratified sampling served the study effectively.

3.4 Analysis of Findings

Data Analysis is the process of making sense and meaning from the data that constitute

the finding of the study (Merriam 1998).33 Therefore, data analysis is the process of

making the data more manageable by organizing the collected data into categories and

interpreting it, searching the recurring pattern to determine the importance of relevant

information. Merriam suggests that without analysis the data can be unfocused,

repetitious and overwhelming. This means that the analysis results into the identification

of recurring patterns that cut through the data or the demarcation of the process. To

analyse the information this study collected the researcher adopted the inductive analysis

where he first read all the interviews repeatedly to understand it and gain sense of the

whole of it. This enabled him to interpret smaller units of the data. He adopted

comparison and contrast method of analysis of the text segments to establish context of

the segments naming and classifying categories as suggested by McMillan and

33
Merriam B. (1998), Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education San Francisco:
Jorsey Bass Inc. pg 178, 11.

22
Schumacher.34 The use of inductive process helped him to establish the links between

categories and enabling him to form tentative hypothesis that led to the establishment of

theory about “Religion Radio”. The researcher double checked the information to ensure

validity and reliability. For easy understanding, interpretation and use of the information

for decisions making, the data was transformed into score tables and charts. This research

adopted the presentation of the information in tables and charts and texts to enable easy

analysis, interpretation and use by the public.

3.5 Research Limitations

There may be inhibiting factors in carrying out this research. As Merriam 35 suggests, the

human instrument is as fallible as any other research instrument. The researcher as human

instrument is limited by being human. Mistakes are made, opportunities are missed and

personal bias interferes in the way. Though this research tried to investigate the impact of

Christian radio stations in Malawi, but it ended up being confined within Blantyre and

used a Blantyre based radio station as a case study. Its obvious Blantyre is characterized

by life patterns that are different from other districts like Neno. And for the fact that

Blantyre is a commercial city whose listenership and radio sets concentration ratio by

individuals can be high compared to other districts like Phalombe or Nchisi; it is

justifiable for one to easily argue that the findings of this study are skewed away from the

national wide reflection. The point here is it would be proper if this study was done

34
McMillan H. and Schumacher S. (2001), Research in Education, A Conceptual Introduction (5th Ed.).
New York: Longman. Pg 464.
35
Merriam B. (1998), Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education San Francisco:
Jorsey Bass Inc. pg 20.

23
national wide and involve other religions radio stations like Radio Islam. By using SDA

Radio as a case study, this research is skewed towards Christianity whose results can be

thrown away by other religions like Moslems whose behavior patterns and doctrines are

slightly different from the Christians perspective.

Access to the respondent of this research was also another challenging factor. This was

the case with the subjects who were systematically clustered as per their churches to be

targeted by questionnaires. Access to them was on the Sabbath only where they gather

together to worship. Administering the questionnaires for them to respond instantly was a

taboo that they accused of aiming at profaning their Sabbath as their doctrines teach them

to desist from any work on the Sabbath. This forced the researcher to let the respondents

take the questionnaires home to fill in and bring them back the next Sabbath. Risky as it

appears, this research was dealt a heavy blow by some respondents who could not come

to church the following Sabbath and return the questionnaires and some forgot to carry

them to church. This saw the questionnaires getting lost ad subsequently diminishing in

number. Time and resources also posed a big challenge to this study. The researcher who

happens to be a student was pressed between a rock and a hard surface to conduct this

study simultaneously with his class lessons. Additionally, by virtue of being student

resources proved scarce to him as the study required him to travel to and from the semi-

urban and urban areas of Blantyre to gather information. But as the adage goes “all is

well that ends well”, it is pleasing to note that this study was successfully done amid

these challenges.

24
 CHAPTER FOUR

4.1 Primary Findings

This Research conducted some interviews with the secretariat that runs the SDA Radio.

The Station Manager told this research that the radio has twenty three members of staff of

which three only are on the church‟s payroll and the rest are on voluntary basis motivated

by the passion to serve God. Some of these come as interns studying journalism and

media related courses at academic institutions like the Polytechnic, skyway etc. However

he was quick to point out that the radio realises the effects the unpaid journalists can have

on the radio as the interns and the rest of the voluntary staff need to earn a living. This

has the potential to fuel bribery at the church‟s radio even though there are no such cases

reported so far. It is in view of this that the radio station started giving the volunteers

upkeep allowances though they are meagre to sustain their lives. The present of the

Malawi Union of the Seventh- day Adventist Church also said the church is aware of the

radio‟s staff problem and the church is planning to hold interviews to identify ten

potential broadcasters amongst the twenty three to be fully employed by the radio. “Our

mission is to ministering to God but that does not mean ministers should be left to toil;

walk on foot, fail to buy soap and pay for their rentals. We need to motivate them for

great productivity”, said the President who is the chairperson of the board that runs the

SDA Radio.

The Head of programmes at the radio said the engagement of broadcasters on voluntary

basis by the radio station has subjected the radio to massive brain drain. SDA Radio has

lost a number of potential journalists to other media houses like MIJ Fm, MBC and
25
Matindi Radio. He mentioned a recent scenario where three of its staff drifted to Matindi

Radio at once in January that led to the suspension of other programmes that the trio were

producing and presenting at the radio. He conceded that the gap is still being felt four

months down the line as the radio is failing to replace them to maintain content of the

affected programmes. Though they have engaged other presenters but they can‟t be there

within a day. He said they need time to develop skills as most of them are amateurs as

opposed to the former who were diploma holders from the Polytechnic and worked with

the radio for four years as interns.

Respondents to this study indicated that they listen to the radio for music and sermons

most of the times. They indicated that the power and beauty of Adventist Music can not

be over- emphasised. About 70% of he respondents who are new converts to the SDA

Church attributed music as the one that forced them join the SDA church, 25 % said their

conversion owes to heart touching sermons both from radio and local evangelists. One

respondent at Naizi SDA Church in Bangwe said every time she listened to the choral

music interlude on SDA Radio she could fill heaven on earth as the sweetness of the

music was very appealing to her. She sooner made the decision to join this congregation

of sweet singers.

However, 70% of respondents expressed discontent with the radios programming. They

complained that the radio does not air current news bulletins and fails to update its

listeners on the developments happening on the political front. In a follow up interview

the Head of programmes acknowledged the radio fails to produce daily news bulletins

due to financial constraints as they fail to meet news production costs. He said they
26
started airing news bulletins but halted due to the departure of the three staff to Matindi

Fm as they were the only trained journalists who could handle serious news

professionally at the station. On the issue of politics the communication Director at the

Malawi Union of the Seventh-day Adventist Church said the church does not practice

politics. Their role is to pray for good leaders and not otherwise. He said on matters of

politics the SDA Church believes “Silence is eloquence”.

Responding to the question about the accessibility of the radio‟s programming by the

masses, some respondents especially women expressed concerns about gender, radio

listening and participation by women. They said the use of radio though its effective as it

reaches within their door step, but it is not gender neutral. 30% of all women respondents

said they are denied access to radio by husbands. One woman from BCA in Bangwe said

some of the programmes on the radio that are important to women are ill scheduled. She

mentioned “Mai wa ngwiro “programme that takes air on Sunday from 14: 00 hrs as one

that is wrongly scheduled. Her husband is home every Sunday who does not allow her to

spend some precious time on radio. He switches the radio off accusing her of indulging

idly at the expense of major chores at the home. The study also established that language

is another factor that makes the programme content on SDA Radio not accessible. The

station broadcasts in two languages only English and Chichewa neglecting other

languages like lhomwe, tumbuka, sena, yao etc.

On regulation the Station Manager said the radio is heavily censored by MACRA to

avoid airing programmes that may be deemed to be a direct attack against other churches

and may incite violence. “We are pressed between a rock and a hard surface as we try to
27
spread Adventism doctrine most of which are seen as a directed attack to other churches,

yet we are to present the gospel without compromise”, he said. He mentioned for instance

the teaching of mark of the beast and the prophetic interpretations of the book of

revelation that point to the papacy as some teachings that MACRA told the radio to stop

airing as it directly attacks other churches.

This research learnt that the SDA Radio is finding it tough to survive in the electronic

media. The Station Manager told this study that religious radio stations in Malawi are

grouped together with commercials ones on license fees framework. He said the danger

here is that most of the religious ones under advertise and find it tough to sustain. The

Radio‟s Marketing Officer highlighted a scenario where the radio fails to accept adverts

from the secular world whose messages are not in conformity with the SDA doctrines.

For instance an advert from General Vision Screen Printers was stopped from being

played on the radio because it promotes a philosophy of “zolemba-lemba” (pre-

destination) which the church‟s doctrines teach against. She said the radio survives on

Christian based schemes like special offerings from churches, fundraising shows like

music concerts etc.

Responses this study received indicate that urbanization affects listenership on the radio.

Respondents at Kabula SDA Church, Kanjeza SDA and Sunnyside SDA rarely listen to

the radio. Most indicated they engage Adventist World Channels like Hope Channel TV

and 3ABN for spiritual rejuvenation at the expense of the local radio. On a lighter note

some subjects indicated they engage the radio as background medium while driving, at

work but not home.

28
On behaviour change 70% of the respondents indicated that the patterns of their daily

behaviour are directly influenced by the radio programming. The gospel that comes

through the radio repeatedly remains a mirror by which their behavioural patterns are

shaped. Though the radio gives them inspiration and influences behaviour change but

some accused the announcers of not being living examples of what they preach on the

radio.

4.2 Secondary Findings

The problem of engaging journalists as volunteers at SDA Radio is an African problem in

as far as radio journalism is concerned according to the BBC African Media

Development Initiative (AMDI) Report36. According to the report a typical monthly

salary for an African radio journalist will be equivalent to that of a rural primary school

teacher (about US$100 per month on average), but many community radio journalists and

technicians work on a wholly voluntary basis, while government-employees of state

radios often have to wait months to be paid. In such dire economic circumstances, editors

and journalists must find income where they can which often means accepting payment

for covering stories and this promotes cheque journalism in Africa.

The issue of heavy regulation by MACRA that this research discovered stems from lack

of training by African journalists to prepare scripts in advance. According to Myers37,

most radio studios have rudimentary editing equipment. This means that the prevailing

36
BBC WST (World Service Trust), 2006 African Media Development Initiative (AMDI) Research
Summary Report BBC: London
37
Myers (2008) Radio and Development in Africa p. 19.

29
culture of African radio is that of the live broadcast, rather than the meticulous and costly

pre-recording and editing of magazine programmes, features and dramas. It is therefore

no accident that the African airwaves are full of live studio-based programmes, i.e. news,

DJ-led music shows, call-in programmes, and live studio discussions. This gives African

radio a very 'fresh' sound, but it has its dangers in terms of broadcasting unconsidered

opinion, myths and rumours, trivia and, at times, incitement to political or ethnic

violence, when live discussions are badly managed.

The findings of this research that indicate audience listen to SDA Radio for music and

news conforms to the Balancing Act's latest research38 done in nine Sub-Saharan

countries about what kinds of radio programmes they listened to on a daily basis. The

results show that 58% listen to radio for music, 57% listen to radio daily for news

followed by sport 29%, 20% for religion (sermons), 18% for call-ins, 13% for

'information' and 9% for 'talk'.

The passivity of the SDA Radio on politics is in sharp contrast to common tradition in the

media. According to Southwood “Media – whether private or otherwise – is very political

and involvement in media is often seen as a way of getting or currying political favour.

As a result, African media is not seen as a business sector in its own right that can

generate jobs and money but rather more as an act of political patronage”.39 Ironically if

38
Balancing Act, 2008 African Broadcast and Film Markets Balancing Act: London (with Intermedia)
surveyed 9 Sub-Saharan countries: Angola, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda,
Senegal and Tanzania, as well as Morocco, Algeria and Egypt.
39
Balancing Act, (2008:39).

30
all radio stations adopt this stand we may see a different media in Africa that will defeat

Aristotle‟s concept that „man is by nature a political animal‟.40

The case of men clouding out wives from accessing radio content that this study has

uncovered brings to light questions over radio's developmental impact as regards to

gender and inclusion in Malawi. The use of radio, like all ICTs, is not gender neutral.

There are significant differences between the way women and men use radio; and there is

evidence that women have less access to radio than men. In Myers doctoral research in

Eritrea,41 several factors were found to negatively affect rural women listeners, namely:

men's ownership and control of radio sets, women's lower levels of education (and lack of

knowledge of languages other than their mother tongue), and women's higher and more

constant domestic workload which left them little time to devote to radio listening.

Evidence from elsewhere in Africa corroborates these findings. For example, Bocoum

Koumbourou Koita, who was in charge of programmes for women at Radio Daande

Douentza in Mali, says '…Unfortunately, women are busy and it‟s a problem for them to

find the time to listen. Some men think it a waste of time for women to listen to the radio.

We broadcast women‟s programs in the morning so that they can listen undisturbed while

the men are in the fields.'42 The Balancing Act (2008)43 presents the following chilling

figures that justify male biasness over women in access to radio.

40
Patel N. (2008) Government and Politics in Malawi p 1.
41
Myers., M. (2004) PhD Thesis Educational and Development Radio for Rural Women: Understanding
Broadcasters and Listeners in a Case Study of Eritrea
42
Myers (2008) Radio and Development in Africa. p 32.

31
Percentages of Male and Female respondents who listened to the radio

MALE FEMALE

Mozambique (Inter-media survey in 5 cities 2005) 73% 64%

Senegal (weekly listening Inter-media survey, Dakar, 2006 95% 92%

Tanzania (Inter-media survey 2006) 78% 64%

Uganda (Inter-media 2006) 73% 63%

Africa's broadcast output has always been largely funded through advertising and SDA

Radio is of no exception. However, there are several problems with the commercial

funding model. From a developmental point of view, the poorer your audience, the less

advertising revenue you are likely to attract, and therefore the less economically viable

your rural stations are likely to be (Myers 2008).44 Then you have the problem of quality

of content - the more entertaining, sensational, controversial etc. your content, the bigger

your audience, and the more advertisers you are likely to attract. The problem of under-

advertising that SDA Radio experiences seems to be the price the radio is paying for not

covering political stories. By nature human are political animals and like conflict.

43 43
Balancing Act, (2008).
44
Myers (2008) Radio and Development in Africa. p 35.

32
Shunning politics is delineating the radio from the audience and scarring away potential

advertisers who are interested in reaching out to them with their products and services.

The effects of urbanization have not spared SDA Radio as discovered by this study.

Respondents within Blantyre urban indicated they prefer international Adventist TV

channels to the local radio. Most countries in Africa are now urbanising at a rate that is

three times faster than in the developed world. Due to the fact that radio is powered by

batteries, it is cheap, portable and it is associated with rural information provision. For

instance the Balancing Act indicate that TV ownership in Angola's capital, Luanda, is at

96 percent of the population as compared to only 85 percent for radio, with mobile phone

ownership coming a close third at 79 percent.

4.3 Discussion of Findings

The findings of this study that SDA Radio plays a role in changing behaviours of its

masses can be attributed to behavioral learning theories that emphasize the role of

external, environmental stimuli in causing behavior. One of this is Classical Conditioning

theory that assumes that learning is an associative process with an already existing

relationship between a stimulus and a response coined by the Russian psychologist

Pavlov45 in which dogs learned to salivate at the sound of the bell. Thus, the bell became

a conditioned stimulus that elicited a conditioned response resembling the original

unconditioned reaction. This can be the magic at play when SDA Radio broadcasts its

doctrines repeatedly with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits pleasant feelings like

45
Belch G. and Belch M. (2003). Advertising and Promotion McGraw−Hill Companies.
33
music. Richard Yalch46 demonstrates that music can be used effectively as a mnemonic

device to enhance the recall of slogans and doctrines. As seen here, Classical

conditioning behaviour learning theory is effective in the broadcast media in grooming

behaviours that SDA Church wants it‟s faithful to develop by using the radio ministry.

Though classical conditioning theory has been effective in behaviour change among SDA

faithful, there is another mass media theory called agenda setting that worked hand in

hand with it. As discussed in chapter 3, Agenda setting function of the media refers to the

media‟s capability, through repeated news coverage, of raising the importance of an issue

in the public‟s mind. The media is capable of telling us what is important through

repeated coverage. SDA Radio applies the agenda setting theory and has effectively

helped set up doctrines the church considers important. Through persistent and consistent

programming that is aimed at spreading the churches‟ doctrines SDA Radio lets the

secular world think about its repeated programme content. Potentially, this has led a good

segment of its audience to consequently adopt SDA doctrines through classical

conditioning in their lives.

Another theory that owes to the effectiveness of SDA Radio in spreading Adventism as

uncovered by this study is the priming theory of the media. According to Iyengar et al

(1982)47 priming is the process in which the media attend to some issues and not others

and hereby alter the standards by which people evaluate them. It simply refers to the play

46
Belch G. and Belch M. (2003).
47
Iyengar et al (1982).”Experimental Demonstrations of the „Not-So-Minimal” Consequences of
Television News Programs. American Political Science Review 76 p852.

34
given by the media to particular stories. When journalists focus on a story and that story

appears in the press day after day, drawing the attention of an increasing number of

readers, we can say that the readers have been primed to concentrate on that issue.

Through its deliberate repetition of special programmes like “profound things of the

Bible”, SDA Radio draws the attention of an increasing number of its audience thereby

priming them to concentrate on the issues the programme teaches about the Advent

movement.

The issue of heavy censorship by MACRA to avoid radio stations from airing

programmes that are deemed to be a direct attack against other churches may be

attributed to the SDA Radio‟s failure to apply Aristotle‟s Golden Mean theory. The

theory teaches that moral behaviour is the mean between two extremes. At one end is

excess and at the other is deficiency. Aristotle‟s golden mean propagates that an ideal

conduct or act lies in the golden mean i.e. the middle between two extremes. SDA Radio

is supposed to find a moderate position between those two extremes and the radio will be

acting normally. The church has doctrines and the great commission to accomplish yes,

but at the same time the radio can not operate in extremism under the guise of refusing to

compromise its teachings. Radio extremism and the havoc it subject Rwanda in 1994 can

not be under-estimated. African radio is characterised by rudimentary editing equipment.

This means that the prevailing culture of African radio is that of the live broadcast, rather

than the meticulous and costly pre-recording and editing of magazine programmes,

features and dramas that sieves out sensitive content. This has its dangers in terms of

broadcasting unconsidered opinion, myths and rumours, trivia and, at times, incitement to

35
political or ethnic violence, when live discussions are badly managed and can incite hate

in Malawi if left uncensored by MACRA.

36
 CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 Conclusion

The aim of this thesis was to investigate the effectiveness of Christian radio stations in

spreading church doctrines in Blantyre. This study opted for SDA Radio which is based

in Blantyre as a case study. To pursue this, a survey was done where personal interviews

were conducted with the secretariat that runs the SDA Radio. Questionnaire was also

served to the church‟s members in their local churches of worship. Overall, the results of

this study produced a number of interesting findings that contribute to a better

understanding of the effectiveness of Religion Radio in Malawi. At the broadest level,

results seem to confirm that Christian Radio Stations are effective in spreading church‟s

doctrines.

The findings of this study show that “Religious radio” is an effective tool of church

ministry that reaches to people‟s door step at the supersonic speed of light at which FM

radio waves travel as opposed to the tradition methods outreach. The study also

discovered that programme content on SDA Radio is produced in a way that reflects the

church‟s doctrines thereby uplifting its faithful spiritually, socially as well as entertaining

them through the power of “Adventist Music” the radio plays. Through deliberate

repetition of special programmes, SDA radio is able to impact behavior change and

character building in the publics through the behavior learning process.

37
However, this study established that SDA Radio is lacking in some areas in terms of

programme content as it falls short of informing its audience developments in the

political front. This is a deliberate ploy as the Seventh-day Adventist Church does not

indulge in politics apart from praying for good leaders. This research also found that

Radio ministry is not a good tool for generating income for the churches as it is

characterized by under- advertising. This has gone worse at SDA Radio as it fails to meet

its day to day expenses like staff salaries. Most of the journalists at the radio are interns

and volunteers not out of design but lack of resources to put them on permanent

employment. The radio survives on church offerings and support from friend of the

station.

In summary, the finding s of this thesis are important as they will help churches who

want to venture into radio ministry appreciate the challenges of Religion Radio Ministry

in Malawi for good planning purposes. It also provides the platform where audience

views are reflected as regards to programme content the masses want to be aired on

Christian radio stations to meet their radio needs and expectations. The findings also will

help existing Christian radio stations bridge the gap that exists between its audiences in

terms of meeting their needs through proper programme content.

5.1 Recommendations

While this study has produced some interesting findings, a number of things need to be

done to sustain and improve Religion Radio in Malawi.

38
i Christian radio stations should address the social and political needs of the masses

through relevant programming apart from being a gospel out reach ministry.

Humans by nature are political animals who are affected in one way or the other

by political decisions hence the need to use Religion Radio to update them on

development in the political arena.

ii Church run radio stations should also start treating journalism as a profession by

offering journalists jobs through which they can earn a living as opposed to the

current trend where volunteerism is the order of the day in many Christian radio

stations. This will help them handle issues at the institutions with seriousness and

professionalism. It will also help bring in journalists who are well trained as

opposed to every Jim and jack who feels like has nothing to do and opts to waste

time on the air.

iii Churches running radio ministries should make sure that their radios are

established as independent entities that can devise plans of strengthening their

financial muscle and meet their day to day expenses and not being reliant upon

the church and operate on offerings. This will enable the radio develop

programming that meet public expectations and attract advertisers because it

remains undisputable fact that African Broadcast Media survives through

advertising.

iv In an era where churches are characterized by Protestantism and break-a-ways,

churches should make sure they strike a balance between making their teachings

39
 peculiar to the audience and use of combative speeches that demonise other

churches as a strategy to win converts. As Crook48 suggests the relationship

between radio and its audience is based on an emotional and imaginative bond.

Radio has not lost its importance as a huge and significant source for news and

entertainment and the power to hoodwink the audience is as strong as it has ever

been. This means radio has the potential to incite violence if not managed

properly.

v The Malawi government needs to adopt deliberate policies that aim at letting

Religion Radio grow in the country. The finding of this study that indicate church

run radios are grouped together with commercial ones in term of license fees is

retrogressive to the growth of radio ministry in the country. Most of Christian

radio stations do not advertise to their optimum capability due to restrictions to

adhere to church doctrines. Most secular songs that are used in commercial

adverts sometimes do not conform to the churches‟ doctrines and such adverts

are not aired by the radios hence loosing out revenue.

vi Christian radio stations also need to recruit staff that are in good standing with the

church and are articulate with the church‟s doctrines. As models they will help in

behaviour change as effectiveness of the social learning theory depends on good

and well behaved role models with whom the audience establishes a pro- social

relationship.

48
Crook T. The Psychological Power of Radio http://www.irdp.co.uk/hoax.htm

40
vii Programmes at Christian radio stations should be scheduled at proper times that

make them accessible by women to strike gender balance. As discovered by this

study women are busy most of the time and it‟s a problem for them to find the

time to listen to radio. As if this is not enough, men think it a waste of time for

women to listen to the radio. Therefore Christian radio stations should try

broadcast women‟s programs in the morning so that they can listen undisturbed

while the men are in the fields.

41
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Africa Farm Radio Research Initiative (2008). The Economics of Rural Radio in Africa:
An introductory study into the costs and revenues Farm Radio International:
Ottawa accessed from
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/unpan/unpan037356.pdf
on 20/03/13.

Anonymous “Adventist Fundamental Beliefs” accessed from

http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/index.html on 20/02/2013.

Anonymous “Radio Religion” The Time Magazine (1946). Accessed from

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,934406,00.html 28/02/13.

Anonymous “UNESCO National Reports- Malawi” accessed from

http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/INSTITUTES/UIL/confintea/p
df/National_Reports/Africa/Malawi.pdf on 04/03/13.

Anonymous “Malawi Communications Act” (1998) section 51(3) (c).

Anonymous “US Department of State” accessed from

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18213.htm on 06/03/13.

Anonymous “Seventh- Day Adventist Online Year Book; Malawi Union Mission”
accessed from
http://www.adventistyearbook.org/ViewAdminField.aspx?AdmFieldID=MWUM
on 20/04/13.

Balancing Act (2008), “African Broadcast and Film Markets”. London. Accessed from
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/reports/broadcast/africa-broadcast-an-0 on
23/02/13.

BBC WST (2006) “African Media Development Initiative (AMDI) Research Summary
Report” London. Accessed from

42
 http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/trust/pdf/AMDI/AMDI_summary_Repo
rt.pdf on 02/03/13.

Belch G. and Belch M. (2003). Advertising and Promotion McGraw−Hill Companies.

Bernald G. “Pan American Broadcasting” accessed from

http://www.radiopanam.com/whoweare.htm on 18/02/13.

Breed W. (1958) Mass Communication and socio-cultural Integration, Social Forces,

New York Longman pp 37: 112.

Colson C. “Say No to Silence” accessed from

http://www.breakingpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/17878 on 02/04/13.

Crook T. “The Psychological Power of Radio”. Accessed from

http://www.irdp.co.uk/hoax.htm on 25/02/13.

Girard B. “Community Media and SMS Text Messaging” accessed from

http://comunica.org/radio2.0/archives/87 on 20/02/13.

Hangen T. “Redeeming the Dial- Radio, Religion and Popular Culture in America”
accessed from http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/page/398 on 20/02/13.

Henry M. “Setting Agendas” in The Jamaica Gleaner (7 Dec. 2008) accessed from
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20081207/cleisure/cleisure3.htmlb on
30/03/13.

IFEX Alert (4 June, 2003) accessed from

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/15486/print on 29/03/13.

Iyengar et al (1982).”Experimental Demonstrations of the „Not-So-Minimal-

Consequences of Television News Programs”. American Political Science
Review 76, p 852.

43
Kaonga H. “Media in Malawi Part 2- Radio Ministry” accessed from
http://ndagha.blogspot.com/2006/10/media-in-malawi-part-2-radio-industry.html
on 23/02/13.

Kerlinger M. (1973), Foundations of Behavior Research 2nd Edition, Holt, Rinehart and
Winston. New York. pp 479-489.

MACRA “License Application Fees” (2003) accessed from

http://www.ictregulationtoolkit.org/en/Document.799.pdf on 26/03/13.

McCombs M & Shaw D (1972) “The Agenda Setting Function of Mass Media. Public
Opinion Quarterly” pp 36: 176- 187.

McMillan H. and Schumacher S. (2001), Research in Education, A Conceptual

Introduction (5th Ed.). New York: Longman. p 464.

Merriam B. (1998), Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education San
Francisco: Jorsey Bass Inc. pp 11, 20, 178.

Myers M. (2004) PhD Thesis Educational and Development Radio for Rural Women:
Understanding Broadcasters and Listeners in a Case Study of Eritrea.

Myers M. (2008), Radio and Development in Africa- A Concept Paper- DFID accessed
from http://www.dfid.gov.uk/r4d/PDF/Outputs/ICT4D/Radio_and_Development_in_A
frica_concept_paper.pdf on 03/03/13.

Noelle-Neumann E. (1973) Return to the Concept of Powerful Mass Media. Chicago:

University of Chicago Press pg 108.

Noelle-Neumann E. (1980). Mass Media and Social Change in Developed Societies.

Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Nyirongo E. “Synod Cries Foul Over Delayed License” in the The Nation Newspaper (
July 9, 2010) accessed from

44
 http://www.mwnation.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23
30:synod-cries-foul-over-licence on 25/03/13.

Ong W. and Eliade M. “A Media Ecology Review- Centre for the Study of
Communication” accessed from http://cscc.scu.edu/trends/v23/v23_pdf on
28/02/13.

Patel N. (2007), Government and Politics in Malawi, Kachere Series; Montfort Media
Balaka, Malawi. p 1.

Selltiz et al (1976), Research Methods in Social Relations Rev. Ed. New York. p. 294.

Severin M. & Tinkard L. (2000), Communication Theories 5th Edition Agenda Setting
Longman, Inc. p 219.

45