Assessing the Role of Community Radio Stations in Facilitating Development: a Case Study of Forte Fm in the Eastern Cape Province
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ASSESSING THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY RADIO STATIONS IN FACILITATING DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY OF FORTE FM IN THE EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE MAWOKOMAYI BETINA 2017 Assessing the role of community radio stations in facilitating development: A case study of Forte FM in the Eastern Cape Province BY MAWOKOMAYI BETINA (201608375) A Dissertation Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Social Science (Communication) Department of Communication Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities University of Fort Hare SUPERVISOR: Prof O. O. OSUNKUNLE June, 2017 Declaration I, Mawokomayi Betina, student number; 201608375 hereby declare that the dissertation entitled “Assessing the role of community radio stations in facilitating development: A case study of Forte FM in the Eastern Cape Province” hereby submitted by me, has not previously been submitted for a degree at this or another institution, and that this is my own work in design and execution. All reference materials contained therein have been duly acknowledged. Signature __________________ Date __________________ Assessing the role of community radio stations in facilitating development: A case study of i Forte FM in the Eastern Cape Province Dedications This dissertation is dedicated to the Lord who has given me the strength to complete this study. I also dedicate this dissertation to my pastor, my mother, my sisters and my fiancée’ for the support they have given me in life. Assessing the role of community radio stations in facilitating development: A case study of ii Forte FM in the Eastern Cape Province Acknowledgements I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to Govan Mbeki Research Development Centre (GMRDC) for financial support that enabled the completion of this study. My deepest appreciation goes to my supervisor, Prof O. O. Osunkunle. His expertise, tolerance and guidance throughout my studies helped me to complete this dissertation. My heartfelt gratitude also goes to my mother Sekai Shayamano and my sisters, Molly Shayamano and Melody Shayamano for their continued love, encouragement and support in all areas of my life and their willingness to help me further my studies. I am what l am today because of them. I also express my gratitude to my fiancé, Moffat Frank, thank you for your unwavering support and encouragement throughout my studies. To my pastor, Mr Nyamazana, thank you for making my dream of attaining higher education a success. In addition, would like to extend my appreciation to Forte FM personnel, especially the programmes manager, Sifiso for welcoming me and assisting me in accessing the data that I needed to complete this dissertation. I also thank my colleagues, Impi Rungano Kuhlengisa, Nwabisa Mgotyi, Mvuyisi Rawu, Songezo Xayimpi, Kanyisa Mbilase, Kajiita Robert, and Pastor Kevin Onyenankeya, and who gave me moral support throughout the research project. May the Lord bless you abundantly for your support: without your inspiration, it would have been very difficult for me to complete this dissertation. Assessing the role of community radio stations in facilitating development: A case study of iii Forte FM in the Eastern Cape Province Abstract Community radio stations play an important role in the development of their communities. Forte FM is a community radio station located at University of Fort Hare Alice campus and was established to facilitate development in communities within the Amathole district municipality. Alice, a small rural town under Raymond Mhlaba Municipality, is one of the communities under the coverage of Forte FM. This study assessed the role that Forte FM plays in facilitating the development of Alice community. The study adopted a mixed method design in which questionnaires and interviews were used to collect primary data. The study findings show that although Forte FM is faced with serious financial challenges, it contributes to the development of Alice in various ways which includes providing the community with agricultural information, health information, promoting local culture, equipping the community with skills, promote local artists and sports personnel and educational programmes. The findings also revealed that the community is involved in the management of some aspects of the station’s operations through a board which is elected annually by the community itself. The results indicate that the radio station involve some community members in programming as experts on some topics or as people who have experienced an ordeal so they could share their experiences and advice other people how to manage similar situations. However, there is need to involve the community in the whole production process. The respondents’ attributed poor levels of community participation in programming to insufficient funds. The study recommends that Forte FM should lobby members of the community to fund the production of programmes since the station belongs to the community. This will enhance the sense of community ownership towards the radio station. Key words: community development, community radio, management, participation, programming Assessing the role of community radio stations in facilitating development: A case study of iv Forte FM in the Eastern Cape Province List of tables Title Page Table 2.1 Framework of Audience Participation in Mass Media ............................... 49 Table 3.1 Summary of research design.................................................................... 57 Table 4.1 Developmental programmes that Forte FM broadcasts ........................... 65 Table 4.2. Developmental categories of programmes that Forte FM broadcasts ..... 66 Table 4.3 Response rate for the study ..................................................................... 84 Table 4.4: Central tendencies and variability measurement of construct of developmental programmes aired by Forte FM ........................................................ 92 Table 4.5: Contribution of Forte FM in facilitating community development ............. 94 Table 4.7 Central tendencies and variability measurement of construct of community participation in developmental programmes broadcasted by Forte FM .................... 97 Table 4.8 Ways of participation in Forte FM programming ....................................... 98 Table 4.9 Community participation in management of Forte FM .............................. 99 Table 4.10 Challenges that hinders participation in Forte FM programming and management ............................................................................................................ 99 Table 4.11 Ways to motivate the community to participate in programming and management aspects of Forte FM ......................................................................... 100 Table 4.12: Normality tests for study constructs ..................................................... 101 Table 4.13: Four-point Likert-scale for measuring Cronbach Alpha coefficient ...... 102 Table 4.14 Cronbach Alpha Reliability results for study variable constructs .......... 103 Table 4.15 Validity of research instrument (questionnaire) used for data collection ............................................................................................................................... 104 Table 4.16 KMO and Bartlett's Test for ways of participation used by the community ............................................................................................................................... 107 Table 4.17: Rotated Factor Matrix for ways of participation used by the community ............................................................................................................................... 107 Table 4.18: Factor description ................................................................................ 108 Table 4.19: KMO and Bartlett's Test for community participation in management aspects of Forte FM ............................................................................................... 108 Table 4.20: Factor Matrix for community participation in management aspects of Forte FM ................................................................................................................. 109 Assessing the role of community radio stations in facilitating development: A case study of v Forte FM in the Eastern Cape Province Table 4.21: KMO and Bartlett's Test for challenges that hinders Forte FM from playing its role of facilitating community development ............................................ 109 Table 4.22: Rotated Factor Matrix for challenges that hinders Forte FM from playing its role of facilitating community development scale ............................................... 110 Table 4.23 Factor description ................................................................................. 110 Table 4.24 Correlation Matrix for ways of motivating community participation ....... 111 Table 4.25: KMO and Bartlett's Test for ways of motivating community participation ............................................................................................................................... 112 Table 4.26: Factor Matrix for ways of motivating community participation ............. 112 Table 4.27: Model summary for ways of community participation .......................... 113 Table 4.28 ANOVA test for ways of community participation ................................. 114 Table4.28: Multiple regression coefficients for ways of community participation .... 114 Table 4.30: Model summary for challenges hindering Forte FM from facilitating