Community Radio News Audiences and Political Change in Jordan
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The Radical Pedagogy of Community Radio and the Case of Radio al-Balad 92.4 FM: Community Radio News Audiences and Political Change in Jordan Gretchen Beth King Department of Art History and Communication Studies McGill University, Montreal September, 2015 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Studies. © Gretchen King 2015 Gretchen King Dedication To community radio warriors worldwide. 2 Gretchen King Table of Contents Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Tables ............................................................................................................................................. 5 Figures ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Abstract (Français / English) ....................................................................................................... 6 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 1 - Occupy the Media ............................................................................................... 8 Significance of This Study ............................................................................................. 16 Research Questions Borne from Community Radio Practice and Scholarship ............. 21 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 2: A Brief History of Community Radio .............................................................. 31 Tracing the History of Community Radio ..................................................................... 35 Historical Trends in Community Radio Scholarship ..................................................... 54 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 57 CHAPTER 3: Theoretical Framework and Research Design for Valuing Community Radio Audiences ..................................................................................................................................... 59 A Review of Scholarship Concerning the Audiences and Impact of Radical Media .... 61 Gaps Concerning Community Media in Scholarship on Social Movement Media ... 62 Gaps in Attention to Audiences in Community Radio Scholarship ........................... 67 Blindspots in Audience Research in Media and Communication Studies Scholarship ............................................................................................................................... 72 Limits to Audience Research by Community Radio Stations .................................... 74 Theoretical Framework for Research Design ................................................................ 77 Insights from Current Approaches to Studying Community Radio Audiences ......... 77 Theoretical Framework for Researching Radio al-Balad’s Impact ............................ 81 Research Design Framework ......................................................................................... 90 Context Dimension of Research Framework ............................................................. 91 Case Study Dimension of Research Framework ........................................................ 96 Data Analysis and Validation ................................................................................... 107 3 Gretchen King Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 108 CHAPTER 4: The Social, Political, and Economic Contexts Shaping the FM Dial in Amman, Jordan......................................................................................................................... 113 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 114 Overview of Jordan’s Political and Economic History ................................................ 116 The Importance of Radio Broadcasting in Jordan and the WANA Region ................. 120 The Role of Media Policy in Jordan ............................................................................ 122 Opening the FM Dial - Jordan’s 2002 Audiovisual Media Law ................................. 129 The Social, Political, and Economic Contexts Shaping the FM Dial in Amman, Jordan .................................................................................................................................. 135 The Arab Uprisings in Jordan ...................................................................................... 145 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 151 Chapter 5: Case Study of Radio Al-Balad: Governance, News Programming, and Listener Engagement ............................................................................................................................... 154 Community Radio Governance Practices at Radio al-Balad ....................................... 157 Radio al-Balad’s Governance Structure ................................................................... 160 Internal Debates about Governance Practices .......................................................... 166 Community Radio News Practices at Radio al-Balad ................................................. 175 Ain al E’lam (Eye on the Media) ............................................................................. 179 Sawt Al-Aghwar (Voice of the Valley) .................................................................... 180 Nas Wa Nas (People and People) ............................................................................. 182 Al-Majles (Parliament Program) and Huwa Hizbee (Factional Winds) ................... 183 Listener Feedback on News Programming Practices ............................................... 187 Community Radio Listener Engagement at Radio al-Balad ........................................ 194 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 203 Conclusion: The Radical Pedagogy of Community Radio .................................................... 205 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 213 4 Gretchen King Tables Table 1: Arab uprisings and Internet users by country (2014). .................................................... 62 Table 2: Dimensions of research design. ...................................................................................... 91 Table 3: Primary data collected from taxicab drivers in Amman, Jordan, (n=15) and interview protocol. ........................................................................................................................................ 94 Table 4: Top five radio stations in Jordan. ................................................................................... 94 Table 5: State and private broadcaster interviews in Amman, Jordan, (n=8) and interview protocol. ........................................................................................................................................ 96 Table 6: Artifacts collected from Radio al-Balad for case study. ................................................. 98 Table 7: Interviews with Radio al-Balad station members (n=11). ............................................ 100 Table 8: Community news programs (n=5) included in the case study and interview protocol for news producers............................................................................................................................ 102 Table 9: Audience storytelling data collected (n=13) and protocol for guiding storytelling...... 105 Table 10: On-air focus group data collected (n=13). .................................................................. 106 Table 11: In-person focus group data collected (n=5). ............................................................... 106 Table 12: Gender representation in focus groups (on-air and in-person) and storytelling. ........ 106 Table 13: Coding scheme used for data analysis. ....................................................................... 107 Table 14: Attributes of Radio al-Balad governance practices as a community radio station. .... 158 Table 15: Radio al-Balad governance principles. ....................................................................... 159 Table 16: Attributes of Radio al-Balad news programming practices as a community radio station. ......................................................................................................................................... 176 Table 17: Radio al-Balad news programming principles. .......................................................... 177 Figures Figure 1: Radio al-Balad’s logo and slogan --“Voice of the people and country.” ...................... 13 Figure 2: Periods in the evolution of community radio. ............................................................... 33 Figure 3: Experimental period of community radio (1900s-1940s). ............................................ 37 Figure 4: Wildfire period