Knowledge Is Power

AMAGEZI MURRO - KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

A case study on the start-up of a community radio station in Western Uganda

Heleen D’Haens 10850856 [email protected]

University of Amsterdam Master in Journalism and Media August 2016

prof.dr. M.J.P. Deuze

Preface. A word of thanks. At the end of my academic career, at least for the time being, there are many people I want to thank.

First, with regard to this project, my gratitude goes out to professor Mark Deuze, for his expertise, his academic guidance, and his pertinent feedback. Thanks to his accommodating and accessible style of supervision, I was able to finish the thesis within a reasonable amount of time, despite combining the writing process with my work in journalism. Furthermore, I thank all the other professors and teachers who crossed my path in the course of the past two years. They have urged me to think critically, which is of invaluable importance, in journalism as well as in life.

Second, I am grateful to all the people involved with MMU Radio. To Ivo, Dirk, Jeroen and Eline, who accommodated me with the first stages of this study. To the people at MMU, who gave me the warmest welcome anyone could hope for. I thank Mozes, Andrew, and Gilbert, as well as all the volunteers I have interviewed for their time and their enthusiasm about my presence on campus, and about my research. I hope the conclusions in study will be of value for MMU Radio, a project I know many of you have put your heart and soul into. Thanks also to Erik, Violet, Steven, John, and the other people I have at some point shared an office with on the beautiful Saaka campus. Not a day went by that I was not offered a cup of tea, some cassava chips, or a peace of delicious chapati. This welcoming atmosphere warmed my heart, and made my time in Fort Portal all the more delightful.

Lastly, and most prominently, I want to thank my family. My parents, my grandparents, and my sisters, for their endless support, both academically and personally. Having lived abroad for two years now, I cherish the moments we spend together even more. Being able to come home to people who are understanding and supportive of all the decisions I make, however ambitious, or even inconvenient, is something that I cannot be more grateful for. Without such a finely-woven safety net in Hofstade, making the jump to Amsterdam would not have been as self-evident and carefree as it was. Every next step I will take, in my career and in personal life, will be thanks to the values that you have taught me, most specifically to the common idea that that keeps influencing all of our very different paths, that nothing is ever too ambitious.

Table of contents

PREFACE. A WORD OF THANKS. 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

1 INTRODUCTION 4

2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUNDS 6

2.1 COMMUNITY RADIO 6 2.1.1 TOWARDS A DEFINITION OF COMMUNITY RADIO 6 2.1.2 MODELS FOR COMMUNITY RADIO 7 2.1.3 COMMUNITY RADIO IN AFRICA 9 2.2 ‘AFRICAN JOURNALISM’ 11 2.2.1 IS THERE SUCH A THING AS AFRICAN JOURNALISM? 11 2.3 THE UGANDAN MEDIA LANDSCAPE 13 2.3.1 A SHORT HISTORY 13 2.3.2 LEGISLATION AND PRESS FREEDOM UNDER PRESIDENT YOWERI MUSEVENI 14 2.3.3 COMMUNITY RADIO IN UGANDA 15 2.3.4 THE MEDIA SITUATION IN THE RWENZORI REGION 16

3 METHODS OF RESEARCH 17

3.1 CASE SELECTION 17 3.2 RESEARCH APPROACH 18 3.3 DATA GATHERING 19 3.4 DATA ANALYSIS 20

4 RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 22

4.1 THE START OF MMU RADIO: IDEAS, DREAMS AND AMBITIONS 22 4.2 COMMUNITY RADIO? 23 4.2.1 WHO DOES MMU RADIO TARGET? 24 4.2.2 THE FINANCIAL MODEL OF MMU RADIO 25 4.2.3 THE MANAGEMENT OF MMU RADIO 27 4.2.4 FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS: HOW DOES MMU RADIO HELP THE COMMUNITY? 30 4.2.5 DISCUSSION: IS MMU RADIO A COMMUNITY RADIO STATION? 36 4.3 A BELGIAN PROJECT IN UGANDA 37 4.3.1 FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS 38 4.3.2 PROGRAM CONTENT 39 4.3.3 VOLUNTEER TRAINING 41 4.3.4 DISCUSSION: A FLEMISH STAMP ON MMU RADIO? 43 4.4 MMU RADIO WITHIN THE UGANDAN MEDIA CONTEXT 45 4.4.1 LICENSING OF FM RADIO 45 4.4.2 PRESS FREEDOM 47 4.4.3 CHALLENGES FOR MMU RADIO AS A COMMUNITY RADIO STATION IN UGANDA 50

5 CONCLUSION 52

APPENDICES 56

BIBLIOGRAPHY 65

1 Introduction This thesis is a part of Beyond Journalism, a research project into various aspects of journalistic start- ups worldwide. It describes MMU Radio, a community radio (CR) station founded in 2014 by the Mountains of the Moon University (MMU) in Fort Portal, in the Rwenzori region in the West of Uganda. The radio project is supported, both financially and logistically, by several Flemish education institutions that collaborate with MMU. As a journalistic start-up, MMU Radio is hardly comparable with many of the other projects studied in Beyond Journalism. It does not have a particularly innovative business plan, nor does it have a radical, new way of looking at journalistic practice. However, it is a very interesting start-up in many other ways. On a micro-level, the start-up of MMU Radio lays bare many of the challenges that media organizations in East Africa struggle with, ranging from financial difficulties to content restrictions as a consequence of limited press freedom.

Calling itself a community radio station, MMU Radio imposes upon itself a number of expectations. Many important institutions in third-world development, including UNESCO, describe CR as an outstanding way to give “ordinary people” access to information, resulting in them “[casting] off their traditional state of apathy and [stimulating] them to mobilize and organize to help themselves” (Fraser and Estrada, “CR Handbook” 1). Judging on the many canvassing folders these organizations have published promoting CR, the medium almost seems to be the Holy Grail in fighting underdevelopment.

The problem with much of the existing literature on CR, is that it all to often focuses on normative restrictions, enforced by leading organizations such as World Association of Community Broadcasters (AMARC) and UNESCO. For example, in the strictest definitions of CR, a station has to be owned by the community itself, and cannot gain profit from advertising. Many scholars (for example Mtimde and Opuku-Mensah) have focused on how CR stations meet these conditions, on how they are organized with regard to management and financing, rather than looking at optimal ways for them to function within society. For a long time, discussions on form overclouded discussions on content. The problem with these normative restrictions, is that they are barely founded in empirical research. That is why in the last decade, a body of literature on CR has emerged that opposes these blind restrictions, and pleads for more empirical studies on CR stations to assess the legitimacy of the restrictions for CR formulated in normative literature (see, for example Fairchild, Conrad, and Berger). According to these authors, it is especially important that these empirical studies take into consideration the local context of every station specifically. Conrad, for example, argues that “conceptualizations of community media being owned by the people, derived from the scholarship of

communication and development studies, is largely not applicable in East Africa” (“Lost in the shadows…” 156).

This study aims to be an addition to the latter, descriptive tradition of literature on CR. Setting the start-up of MMU Radio alongside traditional, normative visions of what CR should be, the study critically questions both those traditional visions, and the structure of MMU Radio itself. A final step in the study is to formulate recommendations for MMU Radio specifically, taking into account the environment and the media landscape in which the station will be operating, in order to increase the project’s chance of being successful, and achieving its goal of informing and emancipating rural communities in Fort Portal.

The paper starts with a theoretical backgrounds section, followed by a description of the research and analysis methodology that has been used. Chapter four is an overview of the research results, followed by a conclusion and recommendations for MMU Radio in chapter five.

2 Theoretical backgrounds

In this chapter, we set out a theoretical base for discussing the research goals formulated above, covering the themes that are most relevant for the study of the startup of MMU Radio. First, we have a look at existing literature on CR, considering both normative and descriptive approaches of the phenomenon. Second, in order to better understand the impact of a cooperation with Flemish institutions on a journalistic project, we look at the concepts ‘African’ and ‘Western’ journalism. Third, we give a sketch of the media landscape of which MMU Radio is a part, looking at Uganda in general, and at the Rwenzori region specifically.

2.1 Community radio

2.1.1 Towards a definition of community radio In their leading handbook, Fraser and Estrada boil down the notion of CR to the catchy phrase “radio by the people and for the people” (“CR Handbook” 4). That is probably as close as we can get to a single definition of a phenomenon that is as wide-spread and varied as CR, as it includes the two notions often considered essential for a radio station to be considered CR: it is managed by the community, and serves that same community (Ibid.). Producers and the listeners are interchangeable (Opuku-Mensah 165); they are, as Myers calls them, “midwives of rural self-expression” (95). Traditional CR is in this sense essentially different from public and private broadcasting. Public broadcasting, on the one hand, generally refers to a service provided by the state. It is often publically owned, and run independently from the government. Commercial broadcasting, on the other hand, is operated privately, with profit from advertising revenue as its main goal (Mtimde et al. 16; Fraser and Estrada, “CR Handbook” 3). “The key difference [between CR and public/commercial broadcasting]”, Lewis and Booth describe, “is that CR does [not] treat listeners as objects, to be captured for advertisers or to be improved and informed, … [but as] subjects and participants” (8). “CR works in the cultural context of the community it serves [and] deals with local issues in the local language(s)” (Fraser and Estrada, “CR Handbook” 5).

CR has been described to have a number of functions, all of which include ‘development’ in some sense of the word (Wanyeki 31). In the first place, the medium works as “a catalyst for building community” (Siemering 373), reflecting and promoting local identity, and creating a diversity of voices and opinions on the air. Moreover, CR encourages open dialogue and democratic process, it promotes social change and development, and fosters good governance and civil society (Fraser and Estrada “CR for Change and Development” 71-2; Siemering 373).

The notion of ‘community’ in the context of radio has expanded in recent years, from being defined solely in terms of geographical location to “imagined communities” (Goretti 42), i.e. “a group of people who share common characteristics and/or interests” (Mtimde et al. 13; Fraser and Estrada, “CR Handbook” 3-4;). A community can either share a geographical location, or an economic and social life through trade and marketing.

From the above description, it becomes clear that much literature on CR is characterized by a normative approach to the phenomenon. In order to be considered CR by leading organizations such as UNESCO, a station must meet certain criteria, such as being managed by the community itself. However, in recent years, a body of literature has come up, with authors arguing that it is difficult to apply theoretical terms on CR (e.g. ‘radical’, ‘alternative’, ‘citizen’s media’) to actual projects, because they “only [describe] ideal functions, not actual ones” (Fairchild 24; Conrad, “Destructing the notion of community radio” 777). According to Berger, these misunderstandings arise because discussions on media development and participation are often conducted at a distance from the empirical contexts in which they operate (551). In the next paragraph, we compare different models of CR that occur in practice to the straitjacket of classical, normative literature.

2.1.2 Models for Community Radio Mtimde points out three important aspects that make a radio station a CR station: it is owned and controlled by the community, it makes no profit, and the community actively participates in it (19). In this paragraph, we elaborate on these three defining characteristics.

As for financing and ownership, Fraser and Estrada’s definition in the CR Handbook is clear: “[CR stations] must rel[y] mainly on the resources of the community (3). In their view, a CR station is owned by a community under an association, trust or foundation, and does not aim for profit, but only for the benefit of the community (Lumko and Bonin 16; Fraser and Estrada “CR for Change and Development” 70). However, in practice, this form of ownership “has often been [the] greatest weakness … [of CR]” (Ilboudo 43). “The crisis of rural radio”, Opuku-Mensah posits, “lies equally in the overall crisis that the African continent faces: that of a stagnating resource base” (166). This is why in practice, the distinction between public, commercial and community radio is often less tidy than described in 1.1, both on the level of content (e.g. local commercial stations can air community service programs) and on the level of financing (CR stations might have to rely on advertisement to make ends meet). Moreover, in many cases, traditional views “do not adequately

reflect the messy reality of CR in empirical contexts, […] where donor pressures often work against the ideals of independence and participation” (Conrad, “Destructing the CR model” 774). Because of this ‘messiness’, it seems inevitable to broaden the definition of CR. The African Charter on Broadcasting defines a station as CR when “the ownership and management is representative of the community” (qtd. in Da Costa 137). Myers takes CR to mean “small-scale decentralized broadcasting initiatives which are easily accessed by local people, actively encourage their participation in programming, and which include some element of community ownership or membership” (90). Wanyeki even considers corporately owned and managed stations with a community development orientation to be CR (27).

Within this broad definition, Manyozo describes three models for CR stations. The first one is that of the community owned station, which fits Fraser and Estrada’s description of CR. This model is promoted by organizations as the World Association of Community Broadcasters (AMARC) and UNESCO, as they believe it empowers communities marginalized by mainstream media to perform communicative actions (Manyozo 4). The second is the Sutatenza model, named after a project in Colombia. These stations are located in the community, but for sustainability purposes are owned by local organizations or individuals, such as the church or an NGO. According to Manyozo, this model offers a valid alternative to the community owned stations, which increasingly fail to prove sustainable (4). The first two models Manyozo describes meet Mtimde et al.’s requirement that a CR station be ran by the community itself. They should elect the board members, make the policies, manage the station etc. (17). Opuku-Mensah shares this view. She claims that, whatever the specific organization of the station, “what really matters is the institutional structure: Who is in control? Is it democratically managed? Is there a mechanism to make it accountable to those it serves?” (165). The last of Manyozo’s models, however, does not meet this requirement. Campus-based CR stations are owned by educational institutions, not by the community. With students coming from the surrounding communities as presenters, such stations serve both the student community and the surrounding communities. Manyozo does consider these stations to be CR, as “the functional characteristics are more important than the structural indicators being promoted by development organizations” (5).

The biggest problem for most CR stations is financial sustainability. “Managing a successful community station is far more complicated than private radio”, Siemering notes (376). Although the starting cost for a CR station is relatively low (about 3000 USD for the basic equipment (Fraser and

Estrada 2)), many community media initiatives face problems accessing financial support on a consistent basis (Myers 99; Wanyeki 35).

Essential to any normative definition of CR is that a station not be organized to make profit (Mtimde et al. 17). This is important to keep in mind, as most stations in Africa operating on community broadcasting licenses are in fact urban-based commercial stations, oriented toward market interests rather than towards their audiences (Dagron, qtd. in Manyozo 3). This does not mean CR stations cannot get revenues from advertisement at all according to classical definitions. As long as any excess income is ploughed back into a radio project, it can be considered CR. However, the excess cannot be distributed as bonuses among members, volunteers or staff (Mtimde et al. 17; Opuku-Mensah 171). Other forms of funding might include donations, subscription fees, fundraising events, levy, sponsorship, etc. (Mtimde et al. 18).

In a study on CR in South Africa, Berger appropriately cautions against “lifting concepts like media and democracy from western conditions, and applying them unthinkingly to Africa” (“Theorizing the media-democracy relationship…” 21). Before having a more detailed look into the matters of financial sustainability, community participation and ownership at the start-up of MMU Radio in Uganda, we therefore use the remainder of this chapter to look specifically at the media context in Africa, and in Uganda.

2.1.3 Community Radio in Africa The tradition of CR in Africa started with so-called “farm broadcasting”, programming intended for farming constituents (Linje 5). In 1980, UNESCO launched a program to promote it further. This proved a difficult task, as at that time, there was still a state monopoly on broadcasting in most developing countries (Fraser and Estrada, “CR Handbook” 10). Especially in countries with multiple ethnicities and languages, governments felt that having multiple broadcasters would weaken the national identity and add to existing ethnic tensions (Ibid.). This is why perhaps the first ‘real’ CR station in Africa, UNESCO- founded Homa Bay Community Radio in Kenya, was closed down by the government only two years after it started in 1982 (Javuru 3). However, with the wave of democratization, decentralization processes and market liberalization on the continent in the 80s and especially the 90s, the idea of CR became increasingly popular (Javuru 1). Broadcasting monopolies by the state relaxed, and awareness grew about the benefits of giving information to people otherwise starved of it because of economic, linguistic and cultural factors (Ilboudo 44). In 1985, there were fewer than ten independent stations in all of Africa. By 1998, hundreds had emerged (Mtimde et al. 12).

Key in the growing popularity of CR in Africa were also technical innovations, notably the the development of cheap transistor receivers in de mid-50s, and of low-powered and cheap FM- transmitters, which became increasingly available in the 70s and 80s (Fraser and Estrada, “CR Handbook” 8; Javuru 1). Once a CR station starts to broadcast, the radio ownership in a community tends to rise fast. The number of radio receivers worldwide continues to expand, to two billion or more today (Fraser and Estrada, “CR handbook” 8). Worldwide, the medium of CR, too, continues to grow (Ibid. 1). In Africa, however, the growth has stalled amidst the boom of private radio stations. Javuru offers as possible explanations the financial uncertainty that comes with the unreliability of donor funding, the unfavorable regulatory environment, the lack of political backing, and the competitive broadcasting market (5; 11-12).

On top of the functions of CR described in 2.1.1, the medium has some extra advantages in the specific African context, having to do with the many local languages and cultures spread around the continent. CR offers a cheap way of protecting this heritage, as well as offering an opportunity to standardize the local language and ensuring that people who master only the local language can understand broadcasts (Opuku-Mensah 167; Mtimde et al. 9-10; Chibita 2). Because of this, Ocwich argues that CR stations work best in a localized context (58).

The first rural radio stations in Africa traditionally talked about agriculture, but soon an array of other topics, including health, family planning, and cultural issues, and even politics became popular (Ilboudo 43). The emergence of political talk-shows on private radio stations created, often for the first time, an opportunity for ordinary people to challenge the establishment (Chibita 2). But however auspicious the notion of public participation, it is not unproblematic for most African CR stations. Many of them do not possess enough means to conduct audience studies. Hence, sending out surveys to CR station in 17 African countries, Ilboudo found that very few stations can answer even the most basic questions about their audiences (45-46). This has “prevented [CR from] fulfilling its true potential” (Ibid. 43) Studying a South African CR station, Tsarwe found that “the medium long considered as a channel giving ‘voice to the voiceless’, appears almost as distant and problematic for the public as assembly-line news transmission” (qtd. In Kivikuru 68). From these observations, it appears that CR in Africa “is still experiencing growing pains and has not yet come of age” (Da Costa 6).

Apart from issues of public participation, ownership and finances, CR stations are of course also journalistic institutions, dealing with current affairs specific to their community. In order to

understand the working of CR in Uganda, it is therefore also necessary to look at the concept of ‘African Journalism’ as a whole. This is what we shall do next.

2.2 ‘African Journalism’

2.2.1 Is there such a thing as African journalism? In a comparative description of African and Western journalism practices, it is first and foremost important to relativize the two terms at hand. Within the existing variety of journalistic approaches, both in the Western world and on the African continent, is impossible to discern one overarching model of journalism that accounts for such a degree of diversity. That being said, however, it would lead us too far to use the “far more sophisticated spectacles” Kivikuru recommends (“From an Echo of the West…” 187). We will use the terms ‘Western journalism’ and ‘African journalism’ here as ideal types, keeping in mind that in reality, these terms are much more complex and diverse

Much has been written about the question whether the Western model of libertarian fourth estate journalism is applicable to the African context. Literature displays a continuum of standpoints, going from a universalist view (e.g. Kadhi), which sees journalism as fundamentally similar in the West and in the global South, interpreting differences as the result of challenging conditions, insufficient training, lack of opportunities, etc. (Waisbord, “Remaking ‘area studies’…” 31-32), to a particularistic position (e.g. Blankenberg, Shaw), which thinks journalism in the global South is and should be different from the West. The particularistic view sees journalism as “a Western category loaded with problematic Enlightenment premises about democracy, rationality, information, citizenship, objectivity and truth” (Waisbord, “Remaking ‘area studies’…” 32). As a medium, Skjerdal proposes to see journalism “as operating in the interplay between particulars and universals within each cultural […] context” (“Between Journalism Universals…” 29). He argues that “a specific cultural practice like public journalism may fail if exported uncritically into a context that does not share the historic and cultural preconditions, but the same journalism practice may still have a shared set of values that can be identified and successfully adopted across cultures” (Ibid. 30). The answer to the question whether there is such a thing as African journalism, then, is both ‘yes’ and ‘no’: there are certain values that transcend journalistic practices across cultures, but we also have to keep in mind the socio-political conditions that define journalistic practices within the particular cultures of the African continent (Ibid. 30).

What, then, are the particularities of ‘African Journalism’? Countless efforts have been made to describe this concept, mainly by scholars “bemoaning the lack of Africanness in African journalism” (Kasoma 64), out of discontent with the African tendency to imitate the professional norms of the West. De Beer describes how “generations of journalism students in English-speaking African countries have become entrapped in ‘the American way of doing things’” (213), Nyamnjoh calls African journalism “bandwagonism, where mimicry is the order of the day, as the emphasis is less on thinking than on doing, less on leading than on being led” (“Journalism in Africa…” 37). However, despite many attempts, no academic consensus has been reached on a paradigm for African journalism as opposed to the Western model. Skjerdal subdivides the differing attempts to describe African journalism into to three streams, c.q. ‘journalism for social change’, ‘communal journalism’ and ‘journalism based on oral discourse’. While mutually divergent, these streams have in common that they differ from the Western, libertarian model of journalism on two dimensions: a socio-historical one (i.e. the degree to which a journalism model claims to respond to specific social and historical conditions), and a professional one (i.e. the degree to which the journalistic role is preferred to be exclusive or inclusive) (Skjerdal 638). From the figure below, it becomes clear that Western journalism stands out as more universal and more professionally oriented than the African models (Ibid. 648).

Figure 1: Western versus African journalism according to Skjerdal

Based on literature, we can expect the journalistic practices and values at an African CR station to share certain features with the Western model of journalism, but – based on the above – we can certainly expect some characteristics specific to the local, cultural context in which the station is set.

In order to understand that local context, as a last preparatory step before we turn to the results of this study, we look at the media situation in Uganda as a whole, and then zoom in on the Rwenzori region specifically.

2.3 The Ugandan Media Landscape

2.3.1 A Short History The history of the media landscape in Uganda is closely related to the country’s turbulent political history. Radio broadcasting was introduced under the British colonial regime in the 50s. After independence in the early 1960s, media were exclusively controlled by the government. There was only one government radio station and one TV station, and the few papers that emerged were not comparable to the government-owned one. The main goal of these media was to popularize the notion of nation building (Javuru 3; Chibita 4). In general, there were no attempts to involve rural communities in the communication process (Ojiambo 131). Many Ugandans were excluded from it: Uganda has an estimated 30 to 35 languages and dialects, and no common language other than English, which is spoken only by a relatively small percentage of the population (Chibita 4).

Until 1966, when Milton Obote came to power, Uganda had “a reasonable degree of press freedom” (Gawaya 35). However, with Obote, this relative freedom was soon abandoned: he imposed laws enabeling him to deport foreign journalists, confiscate equipment, close down publications and to arrest and detain journalists (Ojiambo 131; Chibita 5). The situation got even worse after the infamous dictator Idi Amin took over in 1971. The newspaper Argus, for example, was nationalized and, as part of the Ministry of Information, took on a purely propagandist identity (Gawaya 35). Many journalists quit their job, or played safe (Chibita 5). By the time Amin lost power in 1979, radio equipment across the country was in a “dilapidated state” (Ibid.).

The government monopoly on media lasted until the 90s, when liberalization lead to the opening up of broadcasting space, with private, public and community media coexisting (Javuru 3; Goretti 46). The newly found pluralism resulted in an explosion of private FM radio stations: in the first decade after liberalization, the government licensed almost one hundred of them (Chibita 6). By 2008, two thousand licenses had been given out (Javuru 3). Several players, including businessmen, non- governmental organizations, churches, foreign donors and Ugandans living abroad, jump into the fray to start or fund FM stations (Ocwich 7).

2.3.2 Legislation and Press Freedom under president Yoweri Museveni Museveni has been in power since his National Resistance Movement (NRM) won a a guerilla war in 1986. In his early years, he did not seem to be bothered by satirical media coverage, and he allowed a degree of press freedom unseen in Uganda. But throughout the years, as Museveni felt less and less confident about his political position, he has demonstrated a very wobbly parcours in his relationship with free press. Referring to this inconsistent attitude, the British newspaper The Independent dubs Museveni “simultaneously the strongest promoter of press freedom and its biggest threat”:

“He has jailed and prosecuted as many journalists as he has dined with. He has contributed to the creation of an atmosphere of free expression and also contributed to the one of fear, intimidation and self censorship that now pervades Ugandan media. […] He was central in the liberalization of the media and equally central in closing down radio stations that did not agree with him” (Mucoori).

However, the Ugandan media legislation does not entirely depend on Museveni’s caprices. Article 29 (1) (a) in the 1995 constitution reads that “every person shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, which … include[s] freedom of the press and other media.” Despite the critique that the protection of journalists is not specifically mentioned (Robins 132), this legislation is generally considered progressive (Chibita 11; Maractho 12). Apart from the constitution, since 2013, broadcast media in Uganda is governed by the Uganda Communications Act, a merger of the Uganda Communications Commission Act (1997) and the Electronic Media Act (2000). Concerns about this law involve the power of regulators, the appointment of board members, and the independence and autonomy of the regulator, among others (Maractho 13).

But these are not the only laws in place governing broadcast media in Uganda. Maractho notes that the Museveni government increasingly falls back on supplementary legislation with “chilling effects for journalists”, to pre-empt ‘misbehavior’ by the media and society (13). The result, she describes, is “a fluid legal regime and a plethora of laws, riddled with gaps, governing media and weakening media institutions, with implications for broadcast media development” (Maractho 14) For example, in 2009, following a two-day riot, the government suspended the licenses of three radio stations broadcasting in the vernacular and banned open air broadcasting (Javuru 6; Human Rights Watch 14). Most recently, during the 2016 presidential elections, Museveni had social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp blocked. On the television station NBC, he specified that he did it to prevent people from “misusing these pathways” by “telling lies”. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reports the arrest of at least 14 journalists in the wake of the election, trying to cover a meeting from opposition candidate Kizza Besigye.

2.3.3 Community Radio in Uganda The National Broadcasting Policy in Uganda does recognise the role of community media, encouraging inclusiveness and involvement of local communities (Javuru 6). However, the African Media Barometer, published by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, still describes the situation in Uganda as “a vague policy and legal environment”, “exposing [community broadcasters] to various forms of interference by the state” (8). Human Rights Watch notes that “particularly radio journalists working in local languages focused on rural populations face frequent challenges in freely reporting on issues deemed sensitive by local authorities loyal to the ruling party” (2).

Yet community media, because of low levels of literacy and education amongst the population, are indispensible in Uganda. National media mainly use English, thus excluding a large portion of the population (Goretti 43). According to Human Rights Watch, the vast majority of Ugandans receive their news from local language radio stations in rural areas (13).

Not many studies have been done on the effects of CR on general development in rural Uganda. Part of the reason for this is that development is an ambiguous notion, a tangle of different factors that are difficult to disentwine. It is challenging to do a study on the effect of a radio station on the development of a community, while ruling out other factors that could have had an impact. Moreover, development is a slow process, difficult to descry within a short period of time. A comprehensive study on the effect of CR would have to span a period of many years, maybe even decades. As the rise of FM stations in Uganda is still fairly recent, research of this scale has not been carried out. However, there have been some smaller-scaled studies, that do give an image of the importance and the impact of community FM stations in rural regions in Uganda. The 2004 National Electronic Media Performance Study by the Uganda Broadcasting Council (UBC) found that CR stations “have the potential to take care of unique features of specific communities” (UBC 59), as they produce “local content” in the “local language”, giving community members the chance to contribute to programs relevant to their specific needs. A particularly interesting background for the study at hand is the master’s thesis of Denis Ocwich, who studied the effect of three CR stations on rural communities in the Lira region, in the North of Uganda. Using respondent interviews and focus groups, Ocwich found that most of the major programs on these stations conform to different parameters of development. This does not only entail awareness about themes like agriculture and health, but also “the broadening of people’s horizon of access to information” (Ocwich 57).

FM radios across Uganda help to meet rural people’s needs for information, education, and entertainment (UBC 59). In this study, however, we do not look at community radio on a national scale. We focus on one station in the Rwenzori region, in the West of the country. In the last part of this theoretical background section, we therefore zoom in on the media situation in that particular region.

2.3.4 The Media Situation in the Rwenzori Region The Rwenzori region, a region with a population of over two million in the West of Uganda, provides a good example of the kind of rural environment CR stations in Africa tend to reach. The town of Fort Portal, central in the region, currently has ten radio stations, one of which (KRM FC) calls itself a CR station. KRM FC went on air in 2014, and has since then created an audience of mostly farmers across the region.

The communities in the Rwenzori region form a fertile soil for radio stations. According to a 2013 survey by the local Mountains of the Moon University, over over 91% of the population owns a radio, and 96% has access to one (Anderson and McKeown 37). 87.6% of radio owners listen to it on a daily basis. Television ownership is significantly less widespread, with only 6.3% (Ibid. 10). Apart from radio, people get their information mostly by word of mouth, or via the church or the mosque (Ibid. 10). The communities mostly consist of farmers (75.2%), followed by shop owners (16%). Rutooro is the most widely used language (42.3%), English comes third with 27.7%. Several other languages are also used to a lesser extent (Ibid. 8).

It is within this context that the Mountains of the Moon University, a non-profit community university, in cooperation with their long-time partner the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR), and the Flemish colleges of HoWest and Thomas More, decided to establish a CR station. In chapter 4, we look at different aspects of this start-up, in the light of what we have already discussed about CR in general, journalistic practices in Africa, and the Ugandan media situation in particular. Before that, in chapter 3, we elaborate on the specific choice for MMU Radio as a case study, the process of data gathering, and the method of analysis.

3 Methods of Research

3.1 Case Selection This thesis is part of Beyond Journalism, an overarching research project into various aspects of journalistic start-ups worldwide. As such, the study looks into different aspects of the start-up of MMU Radio.

The choice of a CR station in Uganda was motivated firstly by the author’s personal interest in the East African media situation. The choice for MMU Radio in particular was inspired both by practical considerations and by factors concerning content. Through personal contacts and the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR), it was possible to get access to the people in charge of MMU Radio, as well as the MMU university council, ensuring cooperation and full consent to interview and use documents from all partners involved in the radio project. Furthermore, the use of English as the medium of communication at Mountains of the Moon University in general, and at the radio station in particular, made it a more convenient choice then many other CR stations in the region, which mostly use local languages, both for internal communication and broadcasting.

Despite being inspired partly by practical factors, the choice for MMU Radio as a case study was far from random. While MMU Radio can in many aspects be considered a typical CR Station, two features distinguish the station from other CR stations described in academic literature, making it a particularly interesting case study. However holistic the original research set-up of this study, focus has come to lay on these specific aspects of the journalistic start-up throughout the research process. Firstly, MMU Radio belongs to Mountains of the Moon University. It is not owned, nor governed by the community itself. As most normative literature does not consider the campus-based radio stations as CR pur sang (cf. 1.2), not much has been written on the advantages and disadvantages of the university as an operating base for community communication. The university ownership of MMU Radio is atypical in the sense that MMU itself is a so-called ‘community university’, owned and governed by representatives of the communities in the Rwenzori region. Although the community is not directly involved in the radio management, it is, in turn, involved in the overall university management. Since MMU Radio does in many respects meet the prerequisites for a CR station, it is worth comparing the MMU model to more traditional instances of CR described in literature. The second aspect that makes MMU Radio an interesting case study has more to do with journalistic content. The station is not only sponsored, but also journalistically inspired by the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR). Volunteers at the station, many of whom already worked as reporters or presenters elsewhere in the Rwenzori region, were given journalism workshops by Flemish news

reporters as a preparation for their work at MMU Radio. From a journalism studies perspective, the relationship between African and European journalistic values adds an extra dimension to the study of MMU Radio.

3.2 Research Approach The treatment of the research goals set out in the introduction of this thesis does not lay so much in the outcome of the research process, as in the multiple, complex reasons of that outcome. To grasp the complexity of the matter, it was necessary to “emphasize words rather than quantification in the collection and analysis of data” (Bryman 380). It was chosen to work with qualitative data, which lends itself best to “describe, explore and explain complex phenomena, concepts and processes (Koetsenruijter and Van Hout 19).

For gathering the data, the method of the case study was used. In a case study, general observations and conclusions on a subject (in this case CR) are derived from the analysis of just one instance of that subject. Rather than dealing with isolated factors, case studies are holistic in their set- up (Denscombe 53). The value of a case study is that “it offers the opportunity to explain why certain outcomes might happen – more than just find out what those outcomes are” (Ibid.). As the aim with any case study is to “illuminate the general by looking at the particular”, it is important that the case selected be a ‘representative’, ‘typical’ or ‘extreme’ example of a certain organization or phenomenon (Denscombe 112).

After data was gathered using the case study approach, it was then analyzed using the method of grounded theory. Like the case study, grounded theory is aimed at using induction to generate theory trough studying the specific. However, grounded theory has a broader scope than the case study. Whereas case studies focus on just one instance of the thing that is being investigated, grounded theory in its purest form has no such limitation. The method has been defined as “theory that was derived from data, systematically gathered and analyzed through the research process, [in which] data collection, analysis, and eventual theory stand in close relationship to one another” (Strauss and Corbin 12).

Since Glaser and Strauss coined the term grounded theory in 1967, it has come to mean slightly different things to different people (Denscombe 106). “To some writers it is a distinct method or approach to qualitative research in its own right; to others, it is an approach to the generation of theory” (Bryman 387). In this study, we use the second, wider approach to grounded theory.

According to Denscombe, grounded theory is particularly well suited to the needs of four kinds of research. Firstly, it fits the needs of qualitative rather than quantitative research. Secondly, it is

suitable for exploratory research, i.e. research into a topic that has only been given superficial attention in literature. Thirdly, the grounded theory approach is suitable for studies of human interaction, particularly studies in which the researcher wants to investigate the participant’s point of view in a situation. Lastly, the approach is well-suited for small-scale research (Denscombe 109-10). As the study at hand fits all of the above descriptions to some extent, the choice for grounded theory as an approach for data analysis came quite natural.

We will expand on the analysis of the data in 3.4, after explaining which data was used for this study, and how it was gathered.

3.3 Data Gathering In order to gain insight into the complex opinions, experiences and standpoints of the people involved with the start-up of MMU Radio, it was chosen to gather data mainly through in-depth one-to-one interviews. The interviews were semi-structured, meaning the interviewer had an interview guide of issues to be addressed and questions to be answered, but gave the interviewee “a great deal of leeway to reply” (Bryman 471). Denscombe describes how semi-structured and unstructured interviews are on a continuum, and in practice often “slide back and forth along the scale” (Denscombe 175.) This was the case in the present research process, too.

Although grounded theory prescribes researchers to approach a topic “without a rigid set of ideas that shape what they focus upon during the investigation”, “an open mind is not a blank mind” (Denscombe 108). As Denscombe points out, “there is likely to be more benefit from [an] interview if [the interviewer] is well informed about the topic” (181). Therefore, a literature study was conducted before the interviewing phase. However, to maintain the sense of a “voyage of discovery” (Denscombe 108), the interviews were approached with an “open mind”, leaving flexibility for interviewees to expand on issues they deemed important to elaborate on (Denscombe 175). Throughout the interviewing process, “existing knowledge and concepts [were] treated as ‘provisional’ and open to question” (Ibid. 111).

A list of the interviewees and their functions can be found in appendix 1. The biggest part of the research was done in the months of March and April 2016, when 13 interviews were held in Fort Portal, Uganda. Appendix 2 shows the interview guide that was used for these conversations. All of them lasted between 25 and 60 minutes, and were conducted in English, which, for most interviewees, was (close to) a mother tongue. In Belgium, interviews were conducted with two people in charge of the VLIR-MMU cooperation. The interview guide used for these conversations can be found in appendix 3.

Compared to the Netherlands as an academic environment, doing research in Uganda has its pros and cons. It takes time getting acquainted with certain cultural customs. For example, an appointment for an interview in Uganda is never set in stone. It happened more than once in the research period that an interviewee did not turn up to a previously set meeting. On the other hand, people in Fort Portal were easily attainable, and without exception I found all the participants to this study enthusiastic about taking part in it. All of the interviewees in Fort Portal took a lot of time to answer the questions, never being irritated or even slightly bothered if the interview took longer than anticipated.

Interviews were not the only way of gathering data for this study. Case studies invite and encourage the researcher to use more than one type of data as part of the investigation (Denscombe 54). In order to make the case study of MMU Radio more accurate as well as provide a fuller picture of its start-up, it was decided to triangulate the data gathered from the interviews with a thorough qualitative content analysis of documents relevant to MMU Radio’s start-up. All documents were kindly provided both by VLIR and MMU executives of the radio project. They include, among others, the station’s business plan and concept drafts for the station. A full list of the documents used for this study can be found in appendix 4.

3.4 Data Analysis Qualitative research is always interpretative (Koetsenruijter 22). In this study, the data was analyzed and interpreted following the principles of grounded theory. The approach is inductive and bottom- up, meaning specific observations lead to more general theoretical conclusions. “Concepts and theories [were] developed out of the data through a persistent process of comparing the ideas with existing data, and improving the existing concepts and theories by checking them against new data collected specifically for the purpose” (Denscombe 108).

In order to analyze the data, all interviews, documents and transcriptions first needed to be prepared and organized. Only by organizing, categorizing and structuring the data, does a qualitative researcher get insight into social processes (Koetsenruijter 22). For this study, audio recordings of interviews were manually transcribed. The raw data was then systematically coded, using tags corresponding to recurring themes in both the documents and the interviews. This process is described by Lindlof as “a creative process”, in which “the researcher […] scans and samples data-texts, looking for commonalities and differences, and begins to formulate categories” (224).

In grounded theory, “unlike qualitative research that requires data to fit into preconceived standardized codes, the researcher’s interpretations of data shapes his or her emergent codes”

(Charmaz 515). As data analyzing continued, tags were frequently reformulated and redefined. This so-called process of analytic coding was used to “discover the … general principles underlying [the start-up process]”, which could then be used “to provide a clear understanding [of the research object]”, c.q. MMU Radio (Denscombe 114).

In a second round of analysis, attention was put on the relationships between the codes that had been established before. This process is described by Denscombe as ‘axial coding’, as it “shifts the analysis towards the identification of key (axial) components” (115). Eventually, the focus of the study remained on the key components, the “core codes” that emerged from the open and axial coding processes. It is these key components that are used to discuss the research goals set out in the introduction. They will all be described in detail in the next chapter, which is the result section of this study.

4 Research results and discussion

4.1 The start of MMU Radio: ideas, dreams and ambitions The idea for a radio station at the Mountains of the Moon campus arose in 2012, around a conference table in Belgium. Academics from Flemish institutions involved in the collaboration with Mountains of the Moon University tried to come up with an efficient way to disseminate the research results of the relatively young university among the farmer’s communities in the districts around campus. The idea was picked up by the Ugandan project coordinators in Fort Portal. In 2013, they collaborated with the local NGO Sustainable Agriculture Trainers Network (SATNET) to carry out a community survey across five districts, interviewing at least 15 people in 30 different community groups. Apart from basic information on the interviewee, the questions were mainly focused on finding out what people in the region would expect from a university radio station, and what the benefits could be for the communities. In the report of this study, there is no mention of any potential negative effects a radio station might have.

From 2013 to 2015, a number of technically grounded students and staff from the Flemish colleges of Thomas More, in Mechelen, and HoWest, in Kortrijk, spent several months at the MMU campus to build the radio station. Technical material, such as the transmitter, microphones, and computers, were imported from Belgium. All this material was brand new, as the Ugandan government does not allow second-hand it-equipment into the country to prevent Western organizations from dumping their out-of-date hardware under the cloak of charity. The studio was built up in a white cargo container, as this was the most economical option. It was delivered in 2015, built on the side of a grassy hill at the Saaka campus of Mountains of the Moon University, about seven kilometers out of the town center of Fort Portal.

According to the original planning, MMU Radio should have started broadcasting in September 2015. However, this planning was thrown upside down by unforeseen difficulties. For one thing, the Ugandan Broadcasting Committee (UBC) gave MMU Radio a broadcasting license, but not the FM frequency that is supposed to go with it. They only allotted the frequency in January 2016, half a year after giving out the license itself. Without a frequency, the radio station could not go on air. After that, MMU Radio had problems with their transmitter, which did not function properly. As this is an expensive apparatus, the university management could not replace it, and they had to wait for a specialized engineer to repair it. This happened in April 2016. As the research period for this study came to an end, the first tests were being run with the radio equipment, with plans to effectively go on air within the next weeks.

The research results of this thesis, therefore, are an exploration of the pre-start-up phase of MMU Radio, rather than the actual start-up, which happened only after the research period. However, since the preparations to start broadcasting (training volunteers, making a program schedule, making a business plan, etc.) had been done more than six months before the time of research, decisions with regard to both content and governance had already been made final. The different aspects of MMU’s start-up described in this chapter reflect these decisions, as well as the dreams, ideas and ambitions that the people involved with MMU Radio, both in Belgium and in Uganda, have in mind in starting up their station.

This chapter looks the three most interesting aspects of the start-up of MMU Radio, comparing the findings with existing literature on CR. We follow the build-up of the theoretical framework in chapter 2, respectively tackling issues involving MMU’s status as a CR station (4.2), African versus Western approaches to journalism (4.3), and MMU Radio as a part of the Ugandan media landscape (4.4).

4.2 Community Radio? In Uganda, as in many African countries, the Communications Commission (UCC) gives out specific licenses for CR stations. A CR license is cheaper then a commercial one, but it has stronger restrictions with regard to both finances and content. As for financial restrictions, advertisement rates have to be lower than with commercial radio stations, making it easier for local entrepreneurs to advertise. Also, only 25% of advertising income can come from a single sponsor. For other radio stations in the country, it is not uncommon to be fully sponsored by one person (often a politician) or company. As regards the content, CR stations are charged with enforcing an ethical code of broadcasting, and have to focus on development-oriented programs (Ocwich 7).

MMU Radio acquired their CR license in September 2015. However, the license is not all- dominating in deciding whether or not the station can in fact be considered CR from a normative perspective. Javuru notes that, in the whole of East Africa, “the application and practice of community radio principles is remarkably inconsistent”, and that “many stations are CR in name only.” (7). In fact, they are “urban-based commercial stations, oriented toward market interests” (Gumucio-Dagron, qtd. in Manyozo 3). In this section, we assess to what extent MMU Radio can be considered a CR radio in a more normative interpretation of the term, as set out in the theoretical background. We look at aspects of MMU Radio that deviate from classical definitions, and at the advantages or disadvantages of those

deviations. We base our discussion on three themes that form the base of almost definition of CR: financing (4.2.2), management (4.2.3), and journalistic content (4.2.4). In order to view these themes in the right context, we first have a look at the community MMU Radio targets.

4.2.1 Who does MMU Radio target? The MMU Radio studio is situated on the university campus of Mountains of the Moon University, just outside of Fort Portal, in the Rwenzori region. Its target audience is twofold: on the one hand, the station is meant for the university community, both students and staff. On the other hand, MMU Radio targets communities in the rural outskirts of Fort Portal, mostly consisting of farmers. This is the most important target audience, says project manager Andrew Mugenyi: “Specifically, in line with the project, we are targeting farmers. Farmers, specifically farmers. […] That’s already now our primary target, easy.”

However, the ambitions of MMU Radio reach further than the communities around Fort Portal alone. In the station’s project proposal, written by the university’s Planning and Development Unit, it is described that “the community radio station will cover six districts across the region”, paying particular attention “towards incorporating the diverse cultures and languages that exist in the region, such as broadcasting news in the six local languages, while also bringing people together using a common language”. The intended audience of the station is thus quite broad. It is based on geographic location (the Rwenzori region), rather than shared economic or social interests, targeting the uneducated population as well as the university community. The furthest district is around 120 km away from the MMU campus. The latest census, in 2002, estimated the population of the Rwenzori region around 1.7 million, projecting it to exceed two million by 2005 (Farmer Employment in the Rwenzori Region).

A large local audience does not need to be a problem for a CR station: a station’s audience “can spread horizontally to cover as little as a village, or as much as an entire nation” (Conrad, “Lost in the shadows…” 32). However, in the case of MMU, the degree of diversity in their target audience with regard to language and culture will likely bring about challenges, both in matters of management and in content. After all, being a CR station requires the whole community’s involvement, which can be hampered by language barriers. In his study on CR in the Lira region in Northern Uganda, Ocwich concludes that “the closer the radio is to the audience, the easier it is for the social and environmental needs of the masses to be considered during program production and feedback” (58).

In the following paragraphs, we discuss the role of the community in different aspects of the start-up of MMU Radio. Based on these results, we then discuss to which extent the station can be considered a CR station by the standards set in academic literature.

4.2.2 The financial model of MMU Radio For many CR stations, financial sustainability a big challenge. MMU Radio is no exception. In their business plan, they describe different ways of generating income as soon as the station goes on air. First, MMU Radio will engage in “traditional forms of advertising, partnering with stakeholders such as […] the business community, development partners and the government”. In keeping with the Ugandan legal regulations for CR, no more than 25% of the advertising revenue should come from a single advertiser. Furthermore, MMU wants to organize promotional events, as well as seek financial support from the university in the form of loans, which the station intends to pay back as soon as they start making money. Also, MMU Radio also wants to ask donations from the national and international audiences they plan to get via internet. The last way MMU plans to make money, is to seek funding from traditional funders of CR stations, such as NGO’s.

The exact distribution between different forms of income at MMU Radio, has not yet been decided. Taking everything into consideration, it seems like donor-funding and advertising will become the main sources of income for the station, as soon as it goes on air. This model of financing is common in East Africa, but not unambiguously efficient. “One consequence of donor-driven rural and community broadcasting initiatives is the lack of sufficient canvassing of grassroots support during conceptualization of such projects”, Manyozo notes (9). In a study on six CR stations in East Africa, Conrad concludes that “rather than engendering meaningful participation in media-making, […] donor funding has caused some communities to assume recipient roles in the communication process” (“Destructing the community radio model” 785).

There is a consensus in normative literature that CR stations should not be organized to make profit, and that any excess income should be ploughed back into the radio project. It should not be distributed among members, volunteers, or staff (Mtimde et al. 17; Opuku-Mensah 171). For the period of time right after the start-up, this will indeed be the case for MMU Radio. Although most of the necessary starting material (a container as a studio, a transmitter, computers, microphones, etc.) was donated by the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR), MMU Radio still struggles with finances. Because of the ambition to reach a wide target audience, the equipment needs of MMU Radio are more elaborate then the 3000 USD worth of basic material Fraser and Estrada

describe in their CR Handbook (2). According to the business plan, in order to compete with commercial radio stations in town, a lot of extra, expensive equipment is needed.

“Like right now, you can see: we only have just one studio. For instance, we should be having two. So that in the event anything happens on the on air studio, maybe you can temporally shift to the other. (…) So maybe in the beginning, whatever we make, shall be to reinvest in the radio.” – Gilbert Matsiko, manager

However, as time progresses and the station generates more income, MMU considers also using their profit for other purposes. First, they want to provide staff with a stipend for work and transportation costs. The use of – mostly inexperienced – volunteers poses a problem for many CR stations: in order to be competitive, they have to make programs that live up to the local standard, and are income- worthy elsewhere (Wanyeki 33). MMU manager Gilbert Matsiko thinks a stipend is important to keep volunteers motivated: “100% voluntary work does not work, especially in an African or a Ugandan context”. In the business plan, this is further explained:

“Given the nature of the radio work and the location of the radio studio [7 km out of town], it would be unfeasible to admit staff on 100 % voluntary work. Some form of financial motivation needs to be considered, otherwise these volunteers will soon run weary and give up and this will jeopardize our goals and efforts of running a feasible community radio station.”

In a comparative study on CR in five countries around the world (not including Uganda), Girard concludes that “while volunteers are universally found in community radio, there is no ideal ratio of [paid] staff to volunteers” (15). In the case of MMU, of the eight volunteers who were interviewed, three indicate that they do hope to be paid after a while. The other five say they will keep working at the radio, whether they get paid or not. Their motivation to work as a volunteer is partly based on the contacts they can make at the university, and partly on the experience they can acquire at the radio station. This image is confirmed in literature on CR in Africa. Due to limited funding, trained CR practitioners are often lured away to paid jobs in private broadcasting (Myers, “Community Radio and Development”, qtd. in Javuru 8). In a UNESCO report, Mendel mentions inexperienced staff “among the most notable challenges faced by the community radio sector in Africa” (31). He notes that, in many stations “the impact of overall human resource deficiencies is felt and reflected in the high levels of staff turnover, which are unmatched by adequate replacements that would guarantee continuation of professional and quality programming” (Ibid.). According to Javuru, “this spells a death knell for the sector, that is caught in a state of perpetual beginnings” (8). MMU, too, struggles with this challenge. Since they trained their volunteers in the summer of 2015, two of them went to work for other stations in town, where they now get a salary. Of course in

the case of MMU, the departure of the volunteers was partly reasoned by the fact that the station did not go on air in September, as planned. Since then, volunteers have been waiting to start their activities. But even when on air, there is a possibility of volunteers leaving MMU Radio for stations where they can earn some money. Youth unemployment in the region is high, and there are many other, commercial radio stations in town. Providing radio staff with a salary can prevent drop outs in the future. Another potential advantage of paying workers, is that it might make the station come across as more professional. This can help attracting advertisers. Bosch describes that, for many South African CR stations, the inability to cooperate with big advertisers is linked to a perception of “the product being of poorer quality than other sectors of broadcasting” (“Community radio continues…” 93). As a result, she notices, many stations become more music-driven in an attempt to sound more professional, “but losing their distinctiveness in the process” (Ibid.).

In summary, with regard to the financial model, it seems that MMU Radio will become a hybrid between a commercial radio station and a CR station. The ways in which the station intents to generate income are all in line with what literature describes to be legitimate for CR, although it is debated whether revenues from advertisements and donations have a positive effect on the station’s effectiveness for the community. In any case, it is necessary to wait until MMU Radio goes on air, in order to really assess whether or not the station lives up to its status as CR. The idea to pay volunteer workers is not in line with normative literature, although there are several good arguments in favor of providing staff with a stipend. In the next paragraph, we consider the station’s management structure.

4.2.3 The management of MMU Radio The management of MMU Radio is in the hands of Gilbert Matsiko, a radio professional who was hired by MMU’s university board. Matsiko combines his master’s degree in journalism from the Uganda Christian University in Kampala with a part-time position as MMU Radio’s manager. He has a lot of experience in the Fort Portal media landscape, having worked as a deejay and presenter at radio stations in and around the town for 13 years. Matsiko is in charge of almost every aspect of MMU Radio, from journalistic content to financial and staff management. According to the concept plan for MMU Radio, “[the station] is integrated into the university’s existing organizational structure”. The manager oversees the day to day operations and decisions, whereas the governance is overseen by the university Board of Directors, which consists of 9 elected community members “who represent the various districts, religions, businesses and associations across the region”.

However, in practice, the board of directors is not closely involved with MMU Radio. Especially in terms of content, Gilbert Matsiko is free to make his own decisions. The manager designed the entire programming schedule himself. Financial matters, on the other hand, all have to pass by the university top (the chancellor and vice-chancellor), as MMU does not have any budget to spare and carefully considers every Ugandan Shilling spent.

The use of a professional manager for a CR station conflicts with Mtimde’s condition that such stations be owned and controlled by the community itself. As the university Board of Directors is barely involved in the radio management, MMU Radio does not meet Meyers’ condition that it “should include some element of community ownership or membership” (90), either. People in the communities around the university can tune in on MMU Radio, but have very little say in how the station is run. As things stand now, as far as management is concerned, MMU Radio cannot be called a CR station in the traditional sense of the term. The radio station is meant for the community, but not initiated by the community. The MMU management is aware of this limitation. They have plans to change the top-down management structure in the future, Gilbert Matsiko explains:

“A fully-fledged community radio many times is founded by the community. […] So, even for this very one, at the moment it is starting in the pocket of the university. But, in order for us to serve the purpose of the communities, after we take off, we are going to form committees, whereby we will get members of the outside community, communities outside the university, to be part of overseeing how the whole project runs, so that the community feels that they are part and parcel of the project.”

Why, then, did MMU not decide to put together such a committee right at the start of the project, giving community members the chance to also have a say in the start-up phase of the station? Project leader Andrew Mugenyi gives two explanations for this choice. First:

“The communities they have a lot of what we call community-based organizations, CBO’s. But the problem with these CBO’s is they lack a lot of capacity, so therefore they become briefcase organizations, right? Therefore, they are not able to accomplish what they are formed to accomplish.

Which is… improving life quality?

Yeah, which is improving life. […] Somebody says I have a CBO, no? Something like that. But he’s carrying it in the what? In the bag.”

The second reason Mugenyi gives not to have involved community members from the start, is that MMU wants to use its experience as a community-owned university, to prevent the radio from becoming a personal project.

“In the communities you always find like one or two people, they become the dominant people in a community organization. Therefore, it becomes like theirs. But now for us it is, we are seeing a different model. […] It’s like pseudo. It’s not government, it’s not private. But it is more on the public side than on the private side. Therefore, this kind of model, this kind of experience that we have, we believe if we inject it in the radio, then we shall be able to manage the radio more sustainably than it starting from the community. Because [with] the community there is always a danger that someone may dominate it and even swindle the whole maybe, eat up the whole community project.”

For these two reasons, MMU Radio was established in a top-down fashion, with MMU imposing a new radio station on the local population, rather than it being initiated by the communities. This is not uncommon. In a study on six CR stations in Uganda, Conrad notices that “often, CR [stations] [are] built before the community is willing or able to fund [them]” (“Lost in the shadows…” 157) This can be a complicating factor for the long-term survival of a station, he argues. Such stations “often [house] the usual characteristics of a [CR] station – local content and staff, building in the heart of a village, and a stance in some sort of a social movement – with the assumption that these local features will eventually lead to grassroots take-over” (Ibid.). However, Conrad concludes that it is a difficult task for a station to build build participation, trust, perceived ownership and need, and eventually become self-sustaining (“Lost in the shadows…” 155).

On the other hand, there is also reason to believe that MMU’s foundation in the university can be of advantage for MMU Radio. Da Costa states that “the more embedded CR stations are in strong institutions […] the more likely they are to reduce their fragility and improve their sustainability” (8). Moreover, it was a conscious choice by the university not to involve community members too early on in the project. There is a clear ambition to involve them in a later stage, as soon as the outlines of the station are sketched, both with regard to management and with regard to content. This approach has the advantage that it makes it easier to agree on things such as program content. A disadvantage is that the decisions made might not entirely reflect the wishes of the communities. MMU tried to avoid this by doing a community survey, asking people throughout the region what they would desire and expect from a new radio station.

According to Manyozo, campus-based radio stations should still be considered CR, despite being owned and managed by educational institutions. He describes the 1960s station DZLB Radio, owned by the University of the Philippines. Much like DZLB’s target audience, the farmers in the Rwenzori Region, too, are “affected by illiteracy, poverty, and boredom” (Manyozo 5). “Though not collectively owned by the communities (as is the case with community radios today), such radios could be classified as community broadcasters, because they [are] community-oriented and grassroots

communication experiences”, Manyozo states. “The functional characteristics are more important than the structural indicators being promoted by development organizations” (5).

In the next paragraph, we consider exactly those functional characteristics at MMU Radio: how does the station aim to help the community, both with journalistic content, and otherwise?

4.2.4 Functional characteristics: How does MMU Radio help the community? CR is radio for the people, and by the people. CR stations generally help the community in two ways. First, they give information to people otherwise devoid of it. Second, they give people the possibility to take part in the journalistic process of gathering and sharing that information. In doing so, people become conscious of their own living conditions, and of potential ways to improve them. In this section, we discuss if and how MMU Radio is organized to meet these two criteria.

4.2.4.1 Radio for the people: journalistic content MMU Radio’s slogan is “Amagezi murro”, Rutooro for “knowledge is fire”. The slogan represents the goal of the station, which is formulated in the concept plan: “to improve the provision of quality formal and informal education to the people in the Rwenzori region”. The radio wants to be an education tool, both for students of the university (formal education) and for the (farmer’s) communities in the region (informal education).

As for formal education, MMU wants to develop audio education modules, which can be used for distance learning and outreach programs. Many of the university’s students have to combine their studies with working in order to provide enough income for their families. This prevents them from going to campus to follow classes. Since the vast majority of these students does not dispose of a computer, let alone an internet connection, radio is a good way for them to follow lectures. They can interact with the lecturer presenting the program by calling in or texting. For students who do not have a mobile phone or the funds to contact the station, the university wants to establish listening clubs in different communities. However, the use of the radio station for distant learning is still in the future, as the learning modules have not yet been developed. In MMU Radio’s current programming schedule, only a one- or two-hour slot each day is dedicated to formal education. This leaves the lion’s share of broadcasting time, at least for the time being, for informal education. From the interviews, it was apparent that this is the goal that most of the station’s staff have in mind when talking about MMU Radio.

In his master’s thesis, Denis Ocwich sums op 11 categories of programs on CR stations that, according to his study, boost development in rural communities. These categories are: news programs,

peace and reconciliation, cultural awareness, religious programs, health education, farming information, environment alert, self-help and small-scale investments, law and order, human rights and family values, and political awareness and democracy. The category ‘peace and reconciliation’ is specific to the Lira region, the backdrop of Ocwich’s study, since it is the region that struggled for a long time with Joseph Kony’s LRA rebel group. The program line-up of MMU Radio can be found in appendix 5. As MMU programs are built up of segments as diverse as “news”, “agric drama”, and “comedy”, it is hard to pin down any of Ocwich’s categories to specific programs. However, it is clear that the majority of program segments (e.g. “press”, “business”, “family insights”) can be subdivided into at least one of the categories Ocwich describes. The remaining segments, then, are more entertaining in nature, e.g. “your kitchen”, “song requests”, and “positive gossip”. Following Ocwich’s findings, then, the majority of MMU programs does indeed have the potential to contribute to the development of rural areas in the Rwenzori region. From Ocwich’s focus group interviews and responsive interviews, it becomes clear that different programs have different, positive effects on the community. News programs “greatly [improve] the flow of information in the rural areas”, cultural programs “raise community awareness on the need to nurture indigenous knowledge”, programs on farming “stimulate rural development by providing useful information” and programs about human rights, family values, democracy and political awareness “[raise] the level of understanding about those issues” (Ocwich 48-49).

In the survey MMU did in 2013, members of communities in the region were asked which topics they think are most important for a radio station to talk about. Topics rated most important were local news, agriculture, environment, health/hygiene, and education (all rated “very important” by over 62% of the population). (Anderson and McKeown 19). Apart for local news, these are all topics that lie within MMU’s academic spectrum. The university has a department of applied sciences, which focuses on research in agriculture, a school of education, a school of business and a school of health. Research is conducted in all of these area’s, and MMU wants to use the radio to disseminate their results among farmers and small business owners who would otherwise not get in touch with a university environment.

“The university has been doing a lot of research in different fields. But all for the benefit of the community. So we can use that research, that academic research that has been done, but also as a radio station, through my team that I’m going to work with. We will not do any program without having researched on it.” – Gilbert Matsiko, manager

By doing research, not only on academic issues, but also on journalistic matters such as local politics, the radio wants to get a trustworthy reputation. Trustworthiness is a big issue in the Fort Portal media

landscape, as many of the existing radio stations do not have the means to research every topic they want to bring on air. Ivan, a volunteer at MMU Radio, gained experience as a presenter with eight different stations. He notices:

“Let me talk about radios in Fort Portal. The presenters have no time to make research. Most of them after presenting they go to their own business, they go to booze, they go to where. So tomorrow they just talk about hearsay. Talk about something that is not confirmed. It is common.”

MMU Radio’s being part of Mountains of the Moon University puts it in the position to spread thoroughly researched information on subjects such as agriculture and health, that can improve the life quality of farmers in the Rwenzori region. Many of them have little knowledge about thinks like fertilization, or even the importance of washing your hands to prevent the spreading of diseases. However, these will not be the only topics MMU Radio touches upon in their programs. In MMU’s survey, people also indicated that they want to know about local news. MMU Radio meets this request, as most of the programs in their schedule have segments on different aspects of news, such as business, current affairs, and sports. Politics will also be touched upon. However, it will not be a main theme, the manager decided: “We want to stay away from politics as much as possible, because it affects us. Like here in Uganda, of course we still have challenges with regulation of media. And so, to avoid trouble, you stay away from it.” In section 4.4, we have a closer look at press freedom in Uganda, and how it affects MMU Radio’s programming. First, following from this paragraph about the program content, we look at other ways MMU intends to involve people in the Rwenzori communities.

4.2.4.2 Radio by the people: community involvement MMU Radio presents itself as a radio station meant for the people. Their explicit goal is to improve life quality for communities in the region by providing well-researched information on relevant topics such as agriculture, health, and education. However, CR is not just radio for the people. It is also radio by the people. In this paragraph, we examine to what extent MMU Radio involves members of the community in the process of radio making.

In the case of MMU, the community is very broadly-based indeed. The station targets both a university-educated audience, i.e. its own students and staff, and farmers and other people in the Rwenzori region. The region has more than two million inhabitants, and spans six language areas. Here lies one of the difficulties for MMU Radio as a CR. How is it possible to get such a big community involved? This is what we explore in the following sections.

Radio staff and volunteers

The staff of MMU Radio consists of around forty volunteers, all either university students, university staff, or people from the community. Volunteers were partly recruited within the university, but MMU also launched a commercial on other radio stations in town, asking people to apply. However, not all of the people who wanted to volunteer made the cut. Aspiring volunteers had to go through quite an elaborate selection procedure. This is stated in MMU Radio’s volunteer policy:

“All volunteers must be trained to the standard required by the relevant department(s) before being permitted to participate in any on-air programming. Management in consultation with the volunteer reserves the right to decide when a volunteer is ready for on-air experience.”

As a result, all of the interviewed volunteers who did not have ties with the university, already had plenty of radio experience before starting at MMU Radio. In order for their volunteers to gain even more experience, MMU organized multiple-day journalism courses, taught by volunteers from the Belgian journalism college Thomas More.

MMU is not entry-level, as CR stations are mostly described in literature. For uneducated farmers to take part in the radio making process, the station should be prepared to welcome everybody, even without knowledge on radio making. This is not the case. Programs at MMU Radio are made for a large part by people who have already been active in the media, and not by the farmers who are also targeted by the station. The station expects its volunteers to be experienced presenters, journalists and reporters. This approach restricts the potential of MMU Radio to get the (farming) community directly involved in gathering local news and other relevant information. However, MMU’s decision to work with experienced volunteers only is understandable, given the revenue model of the station, and the media context in the Rwenzori Region. MMU Radio is one of many radio stations around, all competing for sponsors and listenership. As MMU needs to attract sponsors, it is necessary for them to be competitive with other (mostly commercial) stations. In this sense, it is hard to compare MMU Radio to the situation of smaller-scaled CR stations described by, for example, Fraser and Estrada.

The (farmer’s) communities in the Rwenzori region are not involved in MMU Radio to the extent that they can become volunteers themselves. However, there are other ways in which MMU Radio tries to get them involved in the process of radio making. Next, we look at how community members play a role in deciding and steering program content.

Involvement in radio programs In order to get to know the wishes and expectations of their intended audience, MMU held a survey, questioning people throughout region. But the involvement of farmers in MMU Radio does not stop

there. The station wants to stay in touch with local communities in two ways. On the one hand, they want to invite farmers to the radio studio to talk about their experiences.

“I can invite a certain member of the community who is a farmer. I host him in my program. If a person in the same community hears that mister so and so or mister so and so is talking on MMU Radio, the community is already involved.” – Peter, volunteer

On the other hand, MMU Radio wants to do news sourcing, i.e. sending reporters to the communities to make audio reportages on newsworthy events, such as the opening of a new building, or the outbreak of a disease.

“For instance, in Saaka, where the radio is stationed, there are those crater lakes. And in those crater lakes there is now recent, there were some donors who came in… with their fish. Fish species. […] And we were told: if you are assigned to go to the field, to cover a fisher monger. You see? […] It would visit the villages, people practicing farming, growing matoke, cabbages, onions… there are so many farmers there. And they are not catered by these radio stations.” – Alozio, volunteer

The most significant challenge for the ambition to meet with listeners, either in the studio or in the field, are the large distances within the Rwenzori region. For now, the radio does not possess any means of transportation, making it impossible for reporters to cover stories from communities far away. In MMU’s budget plans, however, it is stated that the station wants to acquire a van as soon as they can afford it. But even with a van, reaching some of the more far-off farmer’s communities will be a challenge, as roads are often ill-kept and traffic circumstances are not ideal.

While it will be difficult for reporters to reach the farmer’s communities, it will arguably be even more difficult for farmers to reach MMU’s radio studio. The majority of farmers in the region does not have any means of transportation, which makes it impossible for them to travel beyond their immediate surroundings. Many farmers cannot bring their own crops to the local market, let alone get themselves to a radio studio tens of kilometers away from their homes. However, in most communities, at least some people have a phone. The issue of studio guests can relatively easily be resolved by using the studio line. But even on the phone, there is still the problem of cultural distances within the Rwenzori region. The region has six languages, with no lingua franca that every farmer understands. Even though MMU Radio will read their news broadcasts in all those languages, everyday programs will mainly be broadcast either in Rutooro (used by 42% of the people) or English (used by 27%). It will, therefore, be impossible for the station to make their programs understood by all the farmers in the region.

In spite of that, MMU Radio intends to stay in touch with many (farmer’s) communities, both by making audio reportages out in the field, and by having farmers calling the station to talk about their experiences with themes such as agriculture, health, and education.

Giving back to the community “When we start and we can go to such communities, to health centers, and do some projects. Maybe put a shed there, maybe do a water well somewhere… You know, those are the things we want to look out for.” – Gilbert Matsiko, manager

Apart from paying the volunteers, once they start making money, MMU Radio also has the intention to support community projects: “Whenever there is an event or a certain season (e.g. elections), we’ll go out to the community directly and also do programs from there. And of course there is even a lot more than that. We have heath centers here, which lack different things. Maybe like a shed where patients can rest as they wait to be attended for. […] So first we’re saying, when we start and we are able to make some little money, we can go to such communities, to the health centers, and do some projects.” – Gilbert Matsiko, manager

Traditional definitions of CR, such as the ones from Fraser and Estrada or Mtimde et al., do not include such stations being involved in community projects such as the ones Gilbert Matsiko describes here. In these definitions, the radio is an entity in itself, reinvesting any possible profit in its own workings.

As the radio manager indicates, MMU Radio’s involvement in such projects is still in the future. The station does not yet have the financial reserves to act as a sponsor itself. However, if these projects do go through at some point, there should be no reason why they would disqualify MMU Radio from being a CR station. If anything, community projects help bring the radio closer to (some of) the communities it targets. Moreover, MMU Radio is a part of Mountains of the Moon University, which, as a community university, has certain obligations towards the communities in the region. It is reasonable to argue that, as long as the revenues from MMU Radio are used for the same purpose of the radio itself, i.e. improving life quality of its listeners, the station should still be considered a CR station.

In the above paragraphs, we have discussed the financial structure, the management structure, and the functional characteristics of MMU Radio. Next, we add up the findings on those three aspects, deciding to what extent MMU Radio can be considered a CR station according to traditional, normative definitions. Based on those conclusions, we consider to what extent these definitions propose a fertile model for CR in the Ugandan context.

4.2.5 Discussion: is MMU Radio a community radio station? In chapter 2, we described two normative approaches to CR, one stricter than the other. For Mtimde, a CR station is owned and controlled by the community, makes no profit, and counts on the active participation of the community (19). This is the definition of CR that is used by organizations such as UNESCO and AMARC. Meyers, on the other hand, is more flexible. She describes CR stations as “small- scale decentralized broadcasting initiatives which are easily accessed by local people, actively encourage their participation in programming, and which include some element of community ownership or membership” (90).

Even within this broader approach, we have found that MMU Radio has a number of features that would disqualify it from being a CR station according to traditional definitions. First, manager Gilbert Matsiko intends to provide the radio staff with a stipend, to keep them motivated to work for MMU Radio. Second, the station is owned by an educational institution, as opposed to the community itself. Contrary to what is prescribed by normative definitions, it was decided to include community members in the management of the station only at a later stage. Third, MMU can only be considered ‘radio by the people’ to a certain extent, as farmers can call in, but do not have the possibility to volunteer or work at the station themselves.

The decisions of the management concerning finances, governance, and program content, are based on their ambition to create a radio station that informs as many farmers in the region in the best way possible. Any deviations from standard definitions of CR are partly due to the fact that MMU Radio wants to be larger and more professional than CR stations mostly described in normative literature. The station was donated professional equipment by Belgian institutions, making it possible for them to reach a large audience of farmers in the region. However, in order to gain listenership in the already saturated radio environment of Fort Portal, it is necessary for a station to take on a professional approach. This is a common problem for all new radio stations in Eastern Africa. Already in 2007, Javuru described the broadcasting market as “very congested” and “competitive” (11). A station that does not air 24/7, for example, can never get a solid reputation.

The considerations and decisions at the start-up of MMU Radio confirm the image that exists in literature on CR in other African countries. Frère, for example, notes that in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, many CR stations fall short of the standard definition, as they are either owned by individuals, generate income from advertising, and their programming is not made with the participation of the communities they serve (qtd. In Da Costa 5). “Give or take a few differences, this represents the picture in many African countries”, Da Costa concludes (5).

But whatever classical definitions of CR suggest, it is hard to maintain that, as Opuku-Mensah claims, “what really matters is the institutional structure” (165). The starting point of any definition of CR should be focused on functional characteristics, rather then on administrative technicalities: is a radio station started with the intent to improve the live quality of people in the communities it serves, or to make money? On that account, what literature on CR needs, are more in-depth, long-term studies on the impact of CR stations on development. As Da Costa argues, “we know quite a bit about the challenges CR faces. We need to know much more about what success looks like. […] We need to develop robust tools to assess the impact of these radio stations as social actors, not simply as the conduits for development messages” (11). Furthermore, we need to know whether there is a correlation between success (i.e. the real impact CR can have on development), and the institutional structure of a station, as normative literature seems to suggest. There is no indisputable proof that, for example, the use of advertising revenue alters the potential of a station to make a contribution to the development of underprivileged communities. At this point, seems to be little reason for authoritative organizations such as UNESCO and AMARC to hold on to a straitjacket of rules that is barely based in empirical research.

As for MMU, it will have to become clear in the following months and years, in which direction the station will evolve, if at all, and how it will impact the farmer’s communities in and around Fort Portal. If it turns out that any profits are spent on projects (or people) that are not there to improve life quality of the communities, this would be a reason not to consider the station as a CR anymore. However, in its current form, MMU Radio can be called a CR station, based on its functional characteristics and its explicit goal to improve life quality of farmers in the Rwenzori region.

4.3 A Belgian project in Uganda In the previous section, we presented the workings of MMU Radio in its own right, under the management of project manager Andrew Mugenyi and radio manager Gilbert Matsiko. However, we also mentioned that the station was founded as a part of MMU’s cooperation with the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR), together with the Flemish colleges Thomas More and HoWest. In this section, we discuss the implications of the Ugandan-Flemish collaboration for MMU Radio. We explore to which extent MMU Radio is influenced by their Flemish partners with regard to finance (4.3.1), program content (4.3.2) and volunteer training (4.3.3).

4.3.1 Financial contributions Most of the equipment in the radio studio, as well as the studio itself, was donated to MMU by the Flemish colleges Thomas More and HoWest. Without this contribution, it would have been much harder to start the station, says project manager Andrew Mugenyi.

“It would have been possible. But obviously given the resource constraints it would have been not a priority. […] It was a good idea. And it is a good idea. The university… It’s only we would have had a problem of resources, but otherwise I think it was still possible. But not prioritized. It would have come later.”

In a study of six CR stations in East Africa, Conrad examined how external financial ownership influences a station’s sustainability and its grassroots identity. He concludes that the model in which stations are created and sustained by external organizations, is not sustainable, as relationships between staff and donors get stronger than those between stations and their audiences (Conrad, “Lost in the shadows… 103). This has a negative effect on the community, Conrad describes. The model reinforces a ‘We are poor’ mentality – in effect subtracting, as opposed to endowing the community with agency (Ibid. 166). Conrad even casts doubt on the very function of CR, when sponsored from outside. If community members do not own their station, he asks, are they agents, or does the community merely become a setting for externally funded programs? According to his study, many CR stations are the objects of the external agendas of donors (Conrad, “Lost in the shadows…” 163).

There are more reasons why Western funding for CR stations in Africa is not undebated in literature. Jallov describes the downfall of the East African Community Media Project (EAMCP), a collaboration of CR stations that should have spanned Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The first two phases of the project ran from 1996 to 2007, and were realized with the support (both financial and logistical) of the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). However, the third phase of the project, in which the stations should have stood on their own feet financially, failed to take off due to the embezzlement of project funds by some of the managers. “While the station scored highly in the domain of social sustainability and ownership, it remained weak in the areas of institutional and financial sustainability”, Jallov describes (qtd. In Da Costa 8). Based on the EAMCP, and other similar cases, Da Costa draws the conclusion: “reliance on a single external funder, coupled with sub-standard financial accountability mechanisms, can spell the death-knell of any community radio project, however promising” (9).

Da Costa’s conclusion can also be recognized in the case of MMU Radio, as the Flemish project coordinators, too, have the feeling that sometimes things don’t go as smoothly as they could.

“Sometimes it feels like flogging a dead horse. Yes, in that local context… You probably noticed. There is always a lower layer of corruption.

Yes.

And it is not always expressed. Sometimes that is tiring.

To put into perspective?

Yes, no. To let go of the frustration when things are hopelessly in a rut because no corruption is being paid. You cannot put that in the budget, of course. Paying corruption with Belgian’s tax money, that’s not possible of course.” – Flemish partner

Despite these suspicions, no financial accountability mechanism has been put in place for the management of MMU Radio. Although the HoWest and Thomas More colleges have contributed to the station, the Flemish project coordinators do not want to participate in these matters. This becomes clear from the following passage from the interview with project manager Ivo de Pauw.

“So suppose the radio becomes very profit-oriented. Would that be a problem for you?

No, no I don’t think so. No, who are we? It already seems fantastic if the radio station keeps existing, and is used in a professional manner. Because I know projects, for example in the Congo, where a radio station can be bought back on the black market after a while… in separate components.”

Despite being aware of the risk of mismanagement, the Flemish project coordinators do not get involved in the management of MMU Radio, mostly out of fear of coming across as paternalistic. Because of this, the expectations on the Flemish side of the collaboration seem to be relatively vague, in sharp contrast with the ambitious attitude of the MMU Radio management in Uganda. In Belgium, there seem to be no concrete plans as to how the collaboration will continue in the future.

“How do you plan to stay involved? Do you plan to stay involved, and in which way?

That’s a good question. […] For now, the involvement, especially for Dirk, my colleague from Thomas More, is that he keeps having to fix technical problems.” – Ivo de Pauw, project manager

Thus far, the people working on MMU Radio in both countries have been in touch over technical issues such as a broken transmitter, but not on the management or financial governance of the station.

4.3.2 Program content Just like with matters of management and finances, the project leaders in Flanders do not feel the need to intervene in the discussion about the program content at MMU Radio, project manager Ivo de

Pauw emphasizes: “No, absolutely not. No. That seems paternalistic to me”. In this starting stage of MMU Radio, program content is decided by station manager Gilbert Matsiko.

Nevertheless, from the interviews in Belgium, it does appear that the Flemish collaborators do have ideas for how MMU Radio should be put to good use. “The station initially started out with a didactic format. […] The idea was to really have a knowledge radio. To use the format… almost to broadcast classes”, Ivo de Pauw says, referring to the distant learning modules MMU wants to develop. These modules will provide learning material to students who cannot attend classes at the university campus. They will be developed in cooperation between Flemish universities and MMU. However, there are no concrete plans yet as to when the modules will be available. The radio first has to have been on air for a while, de Pauw says:

“I’m sure professor Chang [professor in educational sciences at Free University Brussels] will want to experiment with the format, from the moment the radio really functions. But there is always a dialogue.”

For now, as far as content is concerned, the different Flemish universities and colleges involved in the radio project are not quite on the same wavelength as to what program content MMU Radio should aim for.

“I don’t think that’s been put on paper yet. There are many people with ideas, but it has not been written down yet. Because everyone wants it a bit for himself… Wants to get involved. […] One university says, yeah, we have to do stuff for farmers, disseminating research results. The other professor is in educational sciences. She says: ‘We have to use it to provide education’.” – Dirk van Merode – technical coordinator

From the interviews with the Flemish members of the project, it becomes clear that MMU Radio is seen as an operating base for different experiments that want to use the radio as a tool to improve life quality. To a certain extent, this confirms Conrad’s finding that, in the case of external funding, “when the ownership isn’t in the hands of the community, the nature and objectives of community participation can be trumped by donor agendas” (“Lost in the shadows…” 52). Waisbord, too, describes that the external funding of CR stations is hardly ever unselfish. “Communities are not in the lead in making decisions about programmatic goals. Agencies and donors wield power in the definition of goals, budgets, management, and the overall direction of programs.” (“The institutional challenges…” 510).

However, for the time being, the Flemish project coordinators are not involved in the management, nor the programming of MMU Radio. The idea is that, once the station is up and running,

and has gathered some listenership, Belgian and Ugandan academics can use it, both for research purposes and for the dissemination of their research results. Keeping in mind the above, it will be important to weigh up the value of the station as a research tool, and as a vehicle for development.

4.3.3 Volunteer training The aspect of MMU Radio where the collaboration with Belgian institutions is most visible, are the trainings MMU organized for their volunteers. For these trainings, Flemish journalists from Thomas More visited Mountains of the Moon University, and prepared learning sessions for the volunteers. In the last year, two such sessions were held: a month-long course in July 2015 with Eline Vandenbroucke, an alumnus of the Thomas More journalism school, and a week-long course in September 2015 with Jeroen Franssens, lecturer at the Thomas More journalism school.

Table 1 shows a summary of the set-up Eline Vandenbroucke prepared for the radio course she taught at Mountains of the Moon University.

WEEK 1 Introduction and the basics - Intro (What is radio? What does a radio program consist of? ...) - The studio conversation (How do I present a program? How do I have a studio conversation? ...) - The studio item (What is a studio item?) WEEK 2 News and documentary - The news (What is news? What does a news item look like? …) - The radio documentary (What is a good radio documentary? How do you make it?) WEEK 3 A radio show - Design (How do you make a good jingle? How do I keep the flow in my show?) - The radio show (How do I make a good show? How long can we talk about a topic? …) WEEK 4 Teaching, broadcasting and studio technique - Teaching (How can we teach radio to students? What can radio mean in Uganda?) Table 1: course set-up Eline Vandenbroucke

As most of the volunteers at MMU Radio already had plenty of experience working for the radio before MMU, and some of them even studied journalism in other institutions in Uganda, it could be expected that such basic trainings (the one from Jeroen Franssens was similar in set-up) would be received as

dull, or unnecessary. However, this could not be further from the truth, as appears from this anecdote Ivo de Pauw remembers:

“We had been in touch, because we always want to know who is participating beforehand. So the moment Jeroen starts the training, a lot of extra guests come in, like students bringing two friends. They all thought it was cool to sit in a radio studio. It got a bit out of hand in a pleasant way.”

The main reason why the trainings by Jeroen and Eline were so well-received, is their practical approach. They taught as radio journalism is taught in Belgium, having students prepare an actual radio broadcast, using an actual radio studio and real recording devices. From the interviews with MMU staff, it becomes clear that this approach is very different from the Ugandan one.

“Here in Uganda, every field is theoretical, you know? They will talk about radio, and they will come and sit here and give you theory, you know? And then people lack the technical know-how.” – Gilbert, manager

“Let me talk about Eline’s class. Even yesterday I was sharing it with someone. Really, it made a change in me. I managed to learn new things, new tactics of presenting on radio. Eline started with us, right away from the studio. We started right away from the studio.” – Ivan, volunteer

In the answers of many of the staff, there can not only be heard a certain idealization of the courses organized by the teachers from Belgium, but also a strong dissatisfaction with the Ugandan system of educating journalists, and, following from that, with Ugandan journalism in general.

“In the previous radio I helped set up, when we recruited the personnel, my bosses invited a team from Uganda Radio Network. […] They came around for a week to train the new staff. But I can tell you, for a whole week, we sat in the room only receiving theory, you know? And there was no single day when they took my team to the studio to show them how to use a mic… they never did that one.” – Gilbert, Manager

“It was so good that they came from Belgium, because we did have [more] confidence in them than our real Ugandan journalists, who really don’t go to journalism schools. They are really just this kind of people wo just get into the industry, and maybe consummate into it later on.” – Joshua – volunteer

“In Uganda, not everyone has the skill. It’s just maybe personal character. Someone wasn’t trained, but you find they are working on radio stations. Because I know there is some technical know-who, not technical know-how. […]”– Acleo, volunteer

However, gaining practical know-how is not the only reason why MMU volunteers are happy that the classes were taught by Belgians. From the interviews, it appears that they also attach great importance to the certificate they got at the end of the course. In a region were youth unemployment is high, young people are convinced that any association with foreign institution, and any connection with a successful foreigner, can be of advantage on the labor market, and even in personal life.

“After the training, I got two certificates. […] And they had different universities. There was Gent university. There was VLIR. There was MMU, and below, there were the signatures of Eline and Dennis, indicating that they were from Belgium. Of which it is very expensive to have such a certificate. […] So even if you take it anywhere, even if you take it to Congo, even if you take it to Kenya, it can be recognized rather than having a certificate which is from the same country.” – Peter, volunteer

“With the documents that they get from us here, they go with it outside, like that certificate that comes from Thomas More, it’s among the big institutions in Belgium. When people say this is from Belgium, Thomas More, so they look at them as people who know what they’re going to be doing. So they are really getting jobs.” – Mozes, volunteer

“With MMU Radio, we’re getting friends. It has a connection with white volunteers, people coming from Belgium. Jeroen, Eline… You never know in friendship what might come after. Making friendship with someone you go slow, you don’t know. One day you might find yourself in Belgium.” – Ivan, volunteer

Even though the lectures by Belgian journalists from Thomas More were well received by the MMU volunteers, it is still not an obvious decision to have people from Belgium teach Ugandan journalists, who will be working for a Ugandan radio station. In the theoretical backgrounds chapter, we established that, however subtle, there might indeed be slight differences between “European” and “African” standards of journalism. Skjerdal discerns two dimensions in which these differences are set: a socio-historic one, and a professional one. First, African journalism would rank higher on the socio-historicity scale, meaning that it responds stronger to social and historical conditions, and is less universal than Western journalism (Skjerdal “The three alternative journalisms…” 638). Second, the role of African journalists would be more inclusive than the role of a Western journalist, who is, according to Skjerdal, “more professionally oriented” (648).

These differences, however, are quite subtle, and impossible to discern based on only one, small medium in one, small country. When asked whether they thought there is an essential difference between journalism in Uganda and Africa, MMU staff members mentioned either practical matters, such as the time a presenter talks in between songs, or matters that are to blame on bad journalistic practice, rather than on a cultural difference:

“In Uganda, people mostly base on assumption. Like, they don’t do research on a topic. So somebody will go, sit down, come up with a story. Then he will present the people. But when these people come from Belgium, they tell you… Your sources, you should go look for the new information. Because most of the people are aware, the public is informed of what happening. So if you come with a lie, and you cannot support your lie, then there is a problem. This is not good.” – Mozes, volunteer

Jeroen Franssens, who taught the journalism course in September 2015, experienced this practice of making up stories in his class, too. He gave the volunteers one day to prepare a radio broadcast, including a reportage and an interview with a studio guest. The next day, one of the groups came in without a studio guest. When asked about it, they said: “No, we don’t have one. But one of us is going to imitate the president. He’s very good at it!”1

This anecdote is of course characteristic of the informal environment of the classroom, and it is unlikely that, once actually on air, the volunteers at hand would actually interview their friend, “the president”. It seems that any potential differences between African and Western journalism practices would be too subtle to surface in a small-scaled setting, with only two Belgian journalists, and forty Ugandan ones. It should therefore not be a considered problem that Belgians teach the class, at least as regards journalistic methods and practices. However, as MMU Radio mainly reports on local news and local affairs, it is still important for lecturers from Belgium to be aware of the cultural landscape and the media landscape in and around Fort Portal. Thorough knowledge about local customs, in media and in general communication, prevents specificities in media practices from being dismissed as ‘mistakes’, rather than cultural differences.

4.3.4 Discussion: A Flemish stamp on MMU Radio? In this early phase of the MMU radio project, the Flemish partners in the collaboration are not involved in the management of MMU Radio, nor in the program content. For the Flemish Interuniversity Council, the station is an experiment, which will get started only when it has gathered enough listenership among the local population. It is not yet clear what the station will be used for: it might be for educational purposes, with distant learning modules, or for disseminating MMU’s research results directly to farmers. However, the longer the station is on air before this experimenting phase, the less evident it will become to change around program content, in order to become a base for experiment rather then a self-sustaining media organization. The Flemish donor organizations will have to guard against imposing their ideas on the local management, thus confirming Waisbord’s thesis that “agencies and donors wield power in the definition of goals, budgets, management, and the overall direction of programs” (“The institutional challenges…” 510).

1 This anecdote was told by Jeroen Franssens in a conversation before the time of this study, and was therefore not transcribed.

At this point, the Flemish influence is most clearly noticed in the trainings of the volunteers, which were held in the summer of 2015. From interviews with the MMU staff, it becomes clear that these trainings, however basic in content, were very well-received. Volunteers were particularly enthusiastic about the practical approach of the classes, as well as the international certificate and the international contacts they gained. In some of the reactions, there can be heard a discontent with Ugandan journalism education, and with Ugandan journalism in general. But, however large the excitement about the Belgian way of teaching, it is important to keep considering the pros and cons of having Flemish journalists teach the trainings, as opposed to local radio practitioners. Teachers from abroad are out of their depth in local communication and media traditions, which might cause them to see cultural differences as ‘mistakes’ in journalistic practice. This would detract from the wealth and the value of Ugandan communication traditions, and foster the detrimental habit of African journalists to look up to the West as a role model, described by Nyemanyoh as “bandwagonism, […] as the emphasis is less on thinking than on doing, less on leading than on being led” (“Journalism in Africa…” 37).

We have now discussed the start-up of MMU Radio as a media organization in its own right (4.2), and in the light of its background as an academic experiment in collaboration with institutions from Belgium (4.3). In the next, and final, section of this study, we look at the start-up within the Ugandan media context.

4.4 MMU Radio within the Ugandan media context The picture we have drawn so far, is that MMU Radio is set-up as a local radio station, which focusses on the interests of local people, and is only sparsely involved in national affairs. However, we cannot escape the fact that the station operates as part of the wider Ugandan media landscape, and therefore has to abide by explicit and implicit rules and regulations characteristic of Ugandan media. In the following paragraphs, we focus on two problems MMU encounters as taking part in this Ugandan media context: getting a radio license (4.2.1), and dealing with limited press freedom (4.2.2).

4.4.1 Licensing of FM Radio Since the liberalization of the media in the 90s, Uganda’s media landscape has been booming. Especially the number of FM radio stations has increased, and keeps increasing, exponentially: in the first decade of this century, the government licensed almost one hundred private stations. By 2008, two hundred licenses had been given out (Chibita 6; Javuru 3). Commercial radio stations in Uganda are very successful, and many people see a such a radio station as a good investment.

However, the procedure to apply for a radio license and an FM frequency is still very long- winded. At MMU Radio, project manager Andrew Mugenyi and radio manager Gilbert Matsiko experienced quite some problems with the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) in getting their license.

“Uganda had put a ban on FM station licenses. They had put on a moratorium, something like that. So it took, it has taken long. […] We got a license after almost two years of applying for it.” – Andrew Mugenyi, project manager

“And of course, they would ask for things in piecemeal. Ask for information, before they could give you the license. They say, now we need the… an engineers report. So the engineer comes and makes his report and they say ok. After several months, they say, ok now we need this information regarding the equipment. You know, things like that. So, it really delayed a lot. – Gilbert Matsiko, manager

In the end, MMU Radio got its license in September 2015, almost two years after applying for it. By then, the equipment was all set up and volunteers had been properly trained. The station was fully ready to go on air. However, there was another bump in the road: UCC gave them a license to broadcast, but not an actual frequency.

“When we applied for the license, shortly also we applied for the frequency. And basically what happened is that, they should have given us the two together, the license and the frequency. Because you are licensing to broadcast on what? […] But what happened is that they only gave us the license, without the frequency. So, it also took us several months again to get the frequency.” – Gilbert Matsiko, manager

“We got a license in September, in October… I think September. And then we ended up getting the frequency in the end of January. In January. So that was the most terrible thing we have encountered. And again, they ended up giving us a very very low power for transmission, because they gave us 500 kilowatts, when we would have loved to be working at 1000 kilowatts.” – Andrew Mugenyi, project manager

Unfortunately, it was beyond the range of this study to discover why the Ugandan government takes so long to issue FM licenses. What is important, though, is the observation that in Uganda, despite the particular status of CR in the media law, it is still a challenge for any aspiring radio station, whether it be CR or commercial radio, to get fully licensed and ready to broadcast. This contrasts sharply with the picture that is drawn in several CR radio handbooks, that “[starting] a small radio station is not as complicated […] as many people thing” (Fraser and Estrada, “CR Handbook” 1).

4.4.2 Press freedom

4.4.2.1 On a national scale In 4.2, we painted a rather pessimistic picture of the press freedom in Uganda under president Yoweri Museveni. Although freedom speech, including freedom of the press, is guaranteed in the Ugandan constitution, several incidents in the recent past go to show that the regime does not always respect this freedom. Especially during election periods, many journalists and media practitioners have been arrested and detained, and during the 2016 presidential elections, the Ugandan government blocked several social media. According to Reporters Without Borders, in the same period, at least 14 journalists were arrested after covering a press conference by Museveni’s opponent Kizza Besigye.

The African Media Barometer describes Uganda as “a vague policy and legal environment”. This feeling is also cherished by many of the people working at MMU Radio. They are well aware of any potential consequences of reporting a story that is adverse for the national government.

“There’s a problem in Uganda. The media is not independent. Because whatever you say, there’s people that hear it. So you cannot come here and begin talking bad about the government. Your radio will lose the license. It will be shut down. So you have to be very very careful with whatever you say.” – Mozes, volunteer

“You take it into account. Because you can see something… maybe they arrest you. Or they withdraw… mostly what they do now is they withdraw the license. It has happened to some radios. Not here in Fort Portal, but in Kampala. […] If you host someone, like politicians who are on opposition, you get problems.” – Mozes, volunteer

The idea that there is indeed a risk in giving airtime to politicians whose views oppose government policy, is confirmed by the following anecdote told by Patrick, the manager of KRC Radio, another station in Fort Portal. In 2011, he allowed opposition candidate Kizza Besigye to come to the studio and present his ideas.

“Wherever he went, he would even pay for radio programs. But when he would come, during that time he would find either they’ve ran away, or they’ve closed, after being seriously intimidated. But I was the first to offer him. […] It was hectic. The owner was so frightened that he told me never to allow him back again. […]

Did you experience any intimidation after that?

I was called by the regional, how do you call them? Intelligence offices, something. But in the security. Yeah. I had a meeting with them.

What did they say?

They had not wanted him to be on air. But it was too late. I made it clear to them that, next time they don’t want him, they should write to me in advance. But, it was obvious they can’t make it formal. Because they can use it…

Against him?

To expose. They wanted the decision to come from me. And then stand and say: no, we didn’t interfere. But it was. There was a lot of intimidation.”

When covering stories that are displeasing for the regime, there is a serious risk for individual journalists and media organizations alike. A reporter might be arrested; a radio station might be closed down. Alozio, an MMU Volunteer who also freelances with another radio in town, took this into account when reporting the 2016 elections.

“That radio station on February 18th assigned me to go to one of our neighboring districts to cover the general presidential and parliamentary elections. There are certain things myself I would see with my eyes. I saw and heard what was going on, and I was doing a live broadcast calling from the field to the station. But I had to keep it in mind that I’m not going to mention this. The moment you are freelancing on someone’s radio station, you mention it, that’s the end of your journalism institution. […]

So what happened? Were there irregularities while voting?

Yes, there were irregularities. Myself I saw them.

And you wouldn’t mention them on air?

I didn’t.”

As a consequence of the risk that lies in reporting politics, MMU Radio’s manager Gilbert Matsiko decided not to get too involved in national politics.

“We are still very young in terms of multiparty politics. And you invite people to radio, they come with different sentiments. At the end of the day, their views are taken to be views of the radio station, and sometimes the government may nog separate or differentiate between the two. So to avoid that, we will stay from politics as much as possible. Though not 100 %. But the way we do it will be really… a secondary issue.”

This tendency of radio makers to stay away from political reporting is worrisome on a national scale. However, for the case of MMU, it was never their ambition to inform farmers in the region about national affairs. Their goal is mostly to keep communities involved in local matters. In the next paragraph, we take a look at the press freedom of the station with regard to local politics.

4.4.2.2 On a regional scale Local politicians in the Fort Portal region do not have a reputation of intimidating or arresting journalists. However, even then, it is hard to speak of total independence of the media. In Uganda, the dividing line between local politicians and media organizations is not as strict as it is in many European countries. One of the main reasons for that is that politicians are among the few people in the Rwenzori region who make enough money to sponsor (media) organizations. Not uncommonly, local radio stations are funded by local or national politicians. An example in Fort Portal is the farmer’s radio KRC, connected with the NGO Kabarole Research and Resource Centre. In the board of this NGO is Alex Ruhunda, Fort Portal’s MP in the national parliament in Kampala. The same MP intends to start a television station with local news in the near future. Another example is Gertrude Balinda, who combines her job as a presenter at a local radio station with a position as representative in Fort Portal’s district council.2

Another way in which local or national politicians might have an influence on regional media in Uganda, is by buying airtime. They pay the radio station a certain amount of money, and then get the chance to host their own show in the studio, spreading their ideas. As for MMU Radio, selling airtime is not one of the sources of income they describe in their business plan. However, the document with their program line-up does provide a price list for buying airtime on the station.

Package Days Unit Cost Weekly cost Monthly cost 4 spots daily Mon-Fri 5,000 UGX 100.000 UGX 440.000 UGX Sponsorship Daily 3 hour block 1.000.000 UGX Daily 1 hour block 500.000 UGX Weekly 3 hour block 300.000 UGX Weekly 1 hour block 200.000 UGX Segment sponsorship Main news bulletin adjacency 800.000 UGX Business news adjacency - News summary adjacency 500.000 UGX News roundup adjacency 500.000 UGX Table 2: Costs for classified advertising at MMU Radio

2 These examples were heard in private conversations with MP Alex Ruhunda and Gertrude Balinda. The conversations were not transcribed. However, the accuracy of the facts was double-checked by the author.

As the radio station is only about to go on air, it has not yet been established who will buy these large chunks of airtime. From the following passage in MMU’s volunteer policy, it appears that it will in fact be possible for politicians to buy airtime:

“For any political broadcast, the sponsor of the broadcast, and the political party or an individual on whose behalf the program is being broadcast must be announced before and after the broadcast.”

Apart from the possibility of buying airtime, there are other ways in which MMU Radio has relatively close ties with politicians. This is because politicians are some of the biggest employers in the region. Many youngsters have a sideline campaigning for local politicians. This entails chores such as spreading election posters, or standing on a truck, chanting the candidate’s name. Peter, who will volunteer as a presenter for MMU, did such a job to gain money for his education.

“There was a person whom I was supporting, a politician. An MP of this area. I was supporting him, and we happened to make a contract. I should support him without file, so that if he passes through he can also give me a small portion of my tuition.”

Peter’s previous involvement in politics was no reason for MMU Radio not to accept him as a volunteer. Moreover, manager Gilbert Matsiko himself has a second job doing PR-related work for a local politician. There seems to be a difference here between Ugandan and European media organizations. In Europe, people who have ties with politicians, might be declined for a job in journalism, as there is a possible conflict of interest. In Uganda, at least at MMU Radio, this does not seem to pose a problem.

4.4.3 Challenges for MMU Radio as a community radio station in Uganda Despite getting support from Belgian institutions, MMU is still a Ugandan media outlet, dealing with Ugandan regulations, and Ugandan media traditions. The clearest example of this lies within the issue of journalistic independence, which seems to be a less stringent notion in Uganda than in many European countries. Several politicians, both national and regional, have a certain degree of influence on the management of media companies, as well as on their journalistic output. The close ties between politicians and media organizations seem inextricably bound up with the fact that, in Uganda, politicians are among the few people who have enough money to sponsor these organizations. Conversely, not infrequently staff members of media organizations have ties with politicians, mostly as their employees. This is the case for some of the staff members at MMU Radio, too. It is important that media practitioners be aware of potentially being involved in a conflict of interest, and that organizations and individuals alike find a way to guarantee their independence in journalistic content, especially when covering topics that could potentially be harmful for politicians. Options for such a guarantee could be a journalistic code, possibly shared by several media organizations in the

region, or a union, in which journalists in the region back each other up. In the case of MMU Radio, in Fort Portal, neither of these conditions has been created, effectively limiting the independence of the station at this time.

5 Conclusion Literature on CR by leading organizations such as AMARC and UNESCO often focuses on formal discussions, formulating restrictions with regard to financing and management structure in order for radio stations to be considered CR. This is problematic, because many of those restrictions are based on assumptions, rather than on empirical research. Moreover, these formal discussions have, for a long time, overshadowed the most important aspect of CR, namely its functional characteristics, and its ability to contribute to development. In this paper, we set out to use the study of the start-up of MMU Radio, combined with additional, empirical literature, to hold the normative definitions of CR up to the light. An important remark here is that the study at hand focuses on a station in East Africa, and that its results can not simply be extrapolated to stations in other contexts. “Lessons learned from one radio station in a given community may not readily be applicable to other localities” (Da Costa 136).

It appears that, while some aspects of traditional, normative visions of CR are legitimate, others are unnecessary. As the financial governance of CR stations is concerned, the case of MMU shows that a combination of advertisement revenues and support from external donors, such as NGO’s, is considered the most convenient source of income for CR stations. However, research has shown that this form of funding can be harmful on the long term, as it leads to “[a] lack of sufficient canvassing of grassroots support during conceptualization of such projects” (Manyozo 9). Conrad’s conclusion that “relationships between staff and donors get stronger than those between stations and their audiences (“Lost in the shadows… 103)” is partly confirmed in the case of MMU, as the donor, the Flemish Interuniversity Council, indicates an ambition to use the station as an operating base for experiments in the future. The claim in normative literature that funding for a CR station had best come from the community itself, is to a certain extent confirmed here. On the other hand, the idea that a station has to invest any profits into its own workings, is not. Firstly, in the case of MMU, literature proves that there are several advantages to providing workers with a stipend. It prevents a fast alternation of inexperienced volunteers, who leave as soon as they find a paid job elsewhere. This helps the station’s professional status, which in turn helps to attract sponsors. Secondly, a CR station can also invest any potential profit into community projects. We have argued that, as long as the revenues from a station are used for the same purpose as the station itself, i.e. improving the life quality of its listeners, the station should still be considered a CR station.

With regard to management structure, Conrad remarks that “conceptualizations of community media being owned by the people […] [are] largely not applicable in East Africa (“Under the shadows…” 156). In the case of MMU Radio, the management chose to involve community members only in a later stage, to prevent the station from becoming a personal project, or a briefcase organization. However, imposing a CR station on a community in a top-down way is never a recipe for success. Conrad concludes that one of the crucial conditions for a station to succeed, is that there is a sense of need among its listeners. “This problem is not with a community needing a station; it is a perception among the people that the station also needs the community” (Ibid. 164). Despite there sometimes being certain contraindications against involving community members from the start, as in the case of MMU, they do not weigh up to the clear proof furnished by Conrad that the involvement of the community is an absolute condition for any CR station to succeed.

The third and last aspect of MMU Radio we compared to normative views are its functional characteristics, i.e. the journalistic content it produces. Deviating from what classical definitions prescribe, MMU Radio is not entry-level. Most of the volunteers at the station already have experience in journalism, and new volunteers are highly educated university students who get a training in reporting. In the case of MMU Radio, working with unexperienced farmers is not considered an option, mostly because of the saturated media landscape in Fort Portal. Because MMU has to compete with several commercial stations, a certain degree of professionalism is necessary to attract a listenership. MMU Radio wants to compensate for this lack of community participation by offering the possibility for listeners to call in, or even visit the studio. These forms of participation are desirable, if not indispensable, to call a station a CR station. CR should be radio for the people, but certainly also radio by the people. Letting people take part in the creation of journalistic content is the main condition for the intended purpose of any radio station, which is letting people “caste off their traditional state of apathy and [stimulating] them to mobilize and organize to help themselves” (Fraser and Estrada, “CR Handbook” 1).

The explicit goal of MMU Radio, formulated in its concept plan, is “to improve the provision of quality formal and informal education to the people in the Rwenzori region”. Based on this study, we can say that this goal makes MMU Radio a CR station, because, despite the narrow straitjacket of rules and regulations that leading development organizations apply, “functional characteristics are [always] more important than […] structural indicators” (Manyozo 5). Rather than holding on to these sometimes out-of-date conditions, energy should go into carrying out more empirical research on CR

stations in different media contexts, focusing especially on the factual results those stations can obtain, and formulating possibilities, rather than blind restrictions.

The above conclusions, as well as further findings that were talked about in the course of this paper, are converted into specific recommendations for MMU Radio, taking into account the environment and the media landscape in which the station will be operating. These recommendations form the final piece of this paper, are meant to increase MMU Radio’s chance of being successful, and achieving its goal of informing and emancipating rural communities in Fort Portal.

Recommendations with regard to financial management • So far, no accountability mechanism has been put in place for the financial support MMU Radio has gotten from its Flemish partner institutions. Several examples in literature go to show that, without such a mechanism, there is a risk of the station being mismanaged, and the project being discontinued, letting initial investments go to waste.

• As regards the idea of providing MMU staff with a stipend for their work and transportation costs, this study shows that in the context of Fort Portal, the benefits counterbalance any potential disadvantages. Paying volunteers prevents them from being lured away to commercial stations. This averts a coming and going of inexperienced staff, eventually contributing to the quality and the continuation of the station. Moreover, a more professional image is interesting from an advertising perspective, which is of importance for MMU Radio’s business model.

Recommendations with regard to the future collaboration with VLIR • Research shows that, once external funding runs dry, many CR stations get into trouble financially. It is important to create clarity on what future role the VLIR and other Flemish institutions will play in MMU Radio on a financial level, so that the radio station knows where it stands and can anticipate on any financial needs in the future.

• The same goes for the plans VLIR has with MMU Radio with regard to content. The longer the station is on air before the planned experimenting phase, the less evident it will become to change around program content, in order to become a base for experiment rather then a self-sustaining media organization. VLIR needs to create clarity, both within its own ranks and in mutual agreement with Mountains of the Moon University, as to what will be the role of MMU Radio for the communities around Fort Portal.

Recommendations with regard to community participation • Keeping in mind the fact that many CR stations get into financial trouble once external funding is discontinued, it is advisable for MMU to work on creating grassroots support. This can be done by appointing a community board, that has influence on the way the station is managed, as well as on the program content. Only when community members feel involved in the station, and understand its value, will they be prepared to contribute to its continued existence. Furthermore, this transformation in management structure will prevent the communities from assuming a “recipient role in the communication process”, instead of “engendering meaningful participation in media-making” (Conrad, “Destructing the community radio model” 785).

• In creating this grassroots support, MMU Radio should take into account Ocwich’s recommendation that “the closer the radio is to the audience, the easier it is for the social and environmental needs of the masses to be considered during program production and feedback” (58). It seems advisable to invest in creating a limited, yet strong and involved community of listeners, rather than a very broad one, spanning the whole Rwenzori region.

Recommendation with regard to volunteer trainings • Volunteer trainings by Belgian journalists have an added value with regard to similar trainings given in Ugandan institutes. However, foreign teachers should guard against a paternalistic attitude, and especially against creating an inferiority complex with their Ugandan students. Teachers should be well acquainted with the Fort Portal media context and with Ugandan communication traditions, and should prevent simply imposing European values in journalistic practice to the Ugandan situation, which is by no means comparable. This would detract from the wealth and the value of Ugandan journalism traditions.

Recommendation with regard to press freedom • The MMU Radio staff should be aware of any potential conflicts of interest they might have when being connected to politicians, as employees or otherwise. The station should find ways to guarantee independence of journalistic content, for example with a clear journalistic code that reporters can appeal to when bringing news that could get them into trouble. Another way to foster journalistic independence is to provide legal assistance for reporters and presenters working at the station.

Appendices

Appendix 1: list of interviewees

Appendix 2: interview guide for interviews in Fort Portal

Appendix 3: Interview guide for interviews in Belgium

Appendix 4: List of documents

Appendix 5: Program schedule MMU Radio

Appendix 1: list of interviewees

NAME FUNCTION DATE LOCATION Acleo Volunteer MMU Radio March ‘16 MMU Saaka campus, FP

Alozio Volunteer MMU Radio March ‘16 MMU Saaka campus, FP

Andrew Mugenyi Program manager partnership VLIR-MMU March ‘16 MMU Saaka campus, FP

Diana Volunteer MMU Radio March ‘16 MMU Saaka campus, FP Thomas More college, Dirk van Merode Technical coordinator Thomas More Feb. ‘16 Belgium Erik Sekitoleko MMU development manager March ‘16 MMU Saaka campus, FP

Gilbert Matsiko Manager MMU Radio March ‘16 MMU Saaka campus, FP MMU Kabundaire Godwin Volunteer MMU Radio March ‘16 campus, FP Ivan Volunteer MMU Radio March ‘16 Cafe in town center, FP

Ivo de Pauw VLIR project coordinator April ‘16 (by telephone)

Joshua Volunteer MMU Radio March ‘16 MMU Saaka campus, FP

Mozes Volunteer MMU Radio March ‘16 MMU Saaka campus, FP

Patrick Manager KRC Radio March ‘16 KRC Radio studios, FP

Peter Volunteer MMU Radio March ‘16 Café in town center, FP

Appendix 2: interview guide for interviews in Fort Portal

INTRO • Job/job title • How long have you been involved in the project? • Previous projects/experiences

THEME – The job • Description of activities • Skills needed for job • Do you generally work alone or with colleagues? • Who are your peers and colleagues? • Do you see them often/ work together? Where do you see them? • How many hours a week? How much is journalistic work? • Where will you work? • What facilities do you consider essential for your work space? • How important is technology? • Other jobs? How much time?

THEME – Self-identity • Why do you want to work for MMU Radio? / why did you decide NOT to work for MMU Radio? • What would you describe as your ‘mission statement’ /the ‘mission statement’ of the organisation you work for? • How do you think that influences/will influence your work? • What are your professional goals? Where would you like to go next? • What are the most important values you have for your work? • Does your work make you happy/other? If so, why?

THEME – Social identity • Which communities would you say you belong to? • Do you have memberships to trade unions, a local group or network, online networks, or other professional associations? • How useful are professional communities to you? • Who do you see as your main competitors in your job? • Has this changed? Do you have new competitors? • Who are your audiences? • Are you satisfied with these audiences, or are there other people you would like to reach?

THEME – Press freedom • Do you think in Uganda you can report about anything, e.g. politics, freely? • Do you expect legal problems when reporting on politically sensitive matters? • Would you be scared of that? / Would you rather avoid those issues?

THEME – Start-up process MMU Radio and governing structure • Where did the idea come from? Who had it? • How did it develop from there? • What has been the starting cost? • Do you find legislation on Community Radio in Uganda clear? • How difficult was it to get licenses/permits/… (whatever needed to legally start)

• Who is technically the owner of MMU Radio? • Does it have a board? Who’s in it? • Right now, what is the most fundamental challenge?

THEME – Collaboration with VLIR • How did VLIR get involved? • Has anything been made concrete (e.g. by means of a contract) about what is expected of MMU Radio? What can/can’t you do with the station?

THEME – Community Radio • What is the GOAL with the station? o in terms of content o in terms of financial structure? • What do you consider Community Radio? • Had you done any previous research on Community Radio? • How will MMU be different from private radio stations? • Which community does MMU radio target? • How do you think MMU Radio will benefit the community? • What language will you broadcast in? • How will MMU Radio involve the community? o in journalistic production? o In management? • How do you make sure you know your audience? You know who you’re talking to, what they want/need to hear? • What topics will be covered by MMU Radio? • In what ways will the station earn income/revenue? • Will it be sustainable? Will it make profit? • What will happen to the profit? • How will you give value to the labour of volunteers? • Do you expect to be competitive with other radio stations in the region? • What will be the most difficult aspect for MMU Radio?

THEME – ‘African journalism’ • Do you consider yourself a journalist? • What aspects make your job a journalistic one? • What did you learn in the training this summer? • Was the training what you expected from journalism? • Do you think it is a good thing it was given by a European journalist? • Do you think there are differences between journalism in Africa and in Europe?

EXTRA – Documents • Which documents exist with regard to all aspects of the start-up of MMU Radio?

Appendix 3: Interview guide for interviews in Belgium

INTRO • Job/job title • How long have you been involved in the project?

THEME – Start-up process MMU Radio and governing structure • Initial idea behind MMU Radio? • Meant as community radio? • How did VLIR get involved? • How has the collaboration developed? What were the different stages in the project? • On which aspects of the start-up has VLIR offered support to MMU? o Logistically? o Financially? • Have any conditions been set for that support? In other words, what is the balance of power? Who decides what? o With regard to management structure? o With regard to programs? o With regard to journalistic approach? (cf. Workshops: whose idea to organize them? Why is it a good idea?) o With regard to how MMU is set up as community radio (has any further research been done?) • To what extent are VLIR member institutes involved in the concrete interpretation of MMU Radio? • Why? What is the idea behind more or less involvement? • How will the collaboration continue? o Will VLIR gradually disappear from the (financial) outline? o Will VLIR follow up what happens to the station? Will there be condequences?

THEME – Start-up • Financial structure? How much money went to MMU? • Arrangements for the future? • What about audience participation? • Has the local context been researched, e.g. with regard to community radio? (e.g. what’s the relationship between MMU and similar initiatives in a local, national, and international context?)

THEME – Collaboration • Does the project have a specific goal? What is that? • Have specific requirements been formulated with regard to the radio station? • Regulations? Do they have a limiting effect? How difficult/easy does everything go? • Division of roles? Who does what? (Belgium/Uganda, but also between specific people involved)

EXTRA – Documents • Which documents exist with regard to all aspects of the start-up of MMU Radio?

Appendix 4: List of documents

DOCUMENT WRITTEN BY Community Radio Station at Lake Saaka Campus – 1st draft Erik Sekitoleko

Community Radio Station at Lake Saaka Campus – 3rd draft Eric Sekitoleko

MMU-IUC partnership program training/workshop reporting Template Jeroen Franssens

MMU Radio brief business plan Gilbert Matsiko

MMU Radio journalism course preparation Eline Vandenbroucke

MMU Radio manager’s report (April-June 2015) Gilbert Matsiko

MMU Radio manager’s 2nd report (June-September 2015) Gilbert Matsiko

MMU Radio manager’s 3rd report (Oktober 2015-February 2016) Gilbert Matsiko

MMU Radio program line up/description/synopsis Gilbert Matsiko

Radio technical report Dennis van Anraat

Report to top university management on management of MMU Radio Andrew Mugenyi

Volunteer management policy Gilbert Matsiko

Appendix 5: Program schedule MMU Radio

NO PROGRAM NAME TIME DESCRIPTION

MONDAY TO FRIDAY 1. The morning buzz 06:00- Early morning inspirational program. This is a live morning show that 10:00 runs from 6:00Am with after news repeat and ends at 10:00am daily from Monday to Friday. Its main aim is to prepare listeners for the day by briefing them on the latest news highlights, press review and several educative segments like: - Music - Comedy - Insight of the Day (To also feature MMU events) - Sports - Press - News and all sorts of Entertainment - Agric Drama - Ensonga - Muraire Muta - Entahya - Akaaro Koiwaitu - Koi Koi 2. Twekambe 10:00- Mid morning program urging the listener to work hard, (let’s work hard) 14:00 Segments: - The good time hour (Musical) - New Hit - Ekicumbiro Kyawe (your kitchen) - The Recipe - Gampe (positive gossip) - Job slot 3. Afternoon shades 14:00- An Afternoon-evening program that enables listeners to relax as they 17:00 reflect on work and the proceeds of their sweat with segments: - Omusubuzi (business) - Agagwokya (Hot news) - The global village - Manya ebyengundo (know about traffic) - Bakigambire (quote) - Select six @ six - Akatale (market) And so much more 4. The communication 17:00- Mass Com technical classes 18:00

5. Ekyooto 18:00- Evening drive which is educative, informative and entertaining (fire place) 22:00 Segments: - Select 6 at Six (Two songs selected by listeners in each program block to feature here) - Local & national public affairs - Commercial programs

6. Rara kurungi 22:00- Program about relationships and family insights. (good night) 02:00 Backed up by mid temple and slow jams

7. The night breez 02:00- The entertainment Continues 06:00

SATURDAY 1. Living Saturday 06:00- Weekend program inspiring the listener to work 10:00 Segments: - Music, news and entertainment - City News - Music Wings - Public Affairs 2. Mwalimu (teacher) 10:00- It’s all about education and research dissemination. Guests and calls 12:00 to all inclusive participation. 3. Campus 12:00- About youth issues and their contribution to dev't. This is a 3hr field touch/youth& dev’t 14:00 program that runs every Saturday from 12:00 – 2:00PM. It includes links like topic of the day that involves phone calls and, this show’s purpose is to address issues affecting the youth, it is also informative and entertaining. It targets youths between 15-30 years. Youths from secondary schools to tertiary institutions are involved and their views are recorded and played during the program., and also host a successful youth 4. Sports 14:00- Sports News. This is a live sports show that 2:00PM – 4:00PM. 16:00 Local and international sports ranging from soccer, athletic, golf, basketball, rugby etc. Much emphasis is put on local sports, but international sports are also looked at. 5. Count down 16:00- - Music Count Down 17:00 - Music Information etc 6. News talk 17:00- Brief of all important news/events that happened in the course of 18:00 the week. 7. Omutindo gweka 18:00- Home making/Family Affairs (home standard) 22:00 Segments: - Issues at hand - Local Music - Exhaustive analysis of a Ugandan Family 8. Ekigoma 22:00- Energetic Music Dance and entertainment and Special requests 02:00 9. Free zone 02:00- Music 06:00

SUNDAY

1. Universal gospel 06:00- Gospel music from around the world with spiritual insights experience 10:00 2. Kiki Ekiri mu Uganda? 10:00- Spiritual, Political, Social, Economical matters at a glance in and (what is in Uganda?) 12:00 around the nation. Guests and callers make the program informative and entertaining. 3. Africa sings 12:00- Africa music and Art 14:00 Segment: - Music and Art - African heritage and diverse culture. - Weekend events - Song requests - African Celebrities 4. Children’s hour 14:00- Children’s program 15:00 Segments: - Teaching and advising children at home - Calls from children and their parents - Hosting the children in the studio 5. Sunday connect 15:00- Interactive program, public affairs, song requests etc. Friends and 18:00 loved meet through the lines. 6. Reggae house 18:00- Reggae Music 21:00 Segments: - Culture and development - Commercial programs 7. Sunday round table 21:00- Public Debate on politics by citizens 22:00 8. The good time zone 22:00- - The bedroom is sacred 02:00 - Music 9. Gospel tunes 02:00- Gospel Music 06:00

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