SWAZIS WANT INDEPENDENT RADIO

More than 90 percent of people in Swaziland say they want the state-controlled monopoly of radio in Swaziland abolished.

They want to have radio stations that are independent of government, but under the control of ordinary people. They also want radio to present impartial news and not concentrate on news about the Swazi Government or King Mswati III.

These findings are contained in research undertaken by Sibonginkosi Mamba, a student in Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC) at the University of Swaziland (UNISWA).

Mamba analysed the Swaziland Broadcasting and Information Services (SBIS) news bulletins during March and April 2008 and also interviewed listeners about their attitudes to the radio station.

Of a total of 176 items in the news bulletins, 64 percent were about the Swazi King or the Swazi Government. If a bulletin had as story about the king, it was always the lead item. If there was no story about the King, a story about the Prime Minister came first. If there were no stories about either of them, Cabinet Ministers lead the news bulletin.

The King always came first, according to Mamba, even if the story wasn’t that interesting.

For example, on one bulletin the King and Queen Mother led the news for attending a traditional brew ceremony in one of the royal residences. ‘This story led despite that there was a hot story about a government minister who it was alleged had illegally granted citizenship to foreigners and aided them to set up businesses in the country,’ Mamba said.

The study also found that ordinary people hardly feature in the news at the station (less than 4 percent of news stories were about ordinary people).

A separate study of urban and rural listeners to SBIS, undertaken by UNISWA JMC student Musa Simelane, found that every urban dweller interviewed wanted more radio stations in Swaziland.

Here are some of the main findings of Simelane’s research.

Urban dwellers showed a strong unison by 100 percent that there is a need for other radio stations in Swaziland.

There is strong agreement among urban dwellers that SBIS news is mostly about government and parliamentarians and less about ordinary citizens.

A substantial number of urban dwellers do not see SBIS radio as contributing to development and social welfare, but some agree it does.

Urban dwellers see SBIS radio as a source of educational information more than entertainment.

Urban dwellers are all in agreement that they want an all round improvement in the news content of SBIS radio in areas such as variety, balance, more views of ordinary citizens and community news.

The views of rural dwellers were not markedly different from those who live in towns, but a majority did feel that Swazis were able to freely express their opinions on the radio stations.

Simelane made a revealing note in his research about the fear some respondents had when answering his questions.

‘Some respondents, both urban and rural dwellers feared answering question 7 which asked them to agree, strongly agree or vice versa that SBIS Radio serves only the interest of government, parliamentarians and the monarchy. This fear was [because] the question had mentioned the monarchy (king). There is a fear of expressing one’s true sentiments, especially when they appear to be on the opposite side of the king.’

At the end of his research, Simelane made suggestions for improving the quality of the radio services Swazis presently receive.

He recommends, ‘Create a daily ‘no-holds-barred’ talk channel within SBIS where the public is encouraged to freely express their sentiments and debate on topical issues, especially sensitive areas like politics and leadership.

‘The talks should be coordinated by journalists who have been trained to embrace a completely different ethos, that of serving the public, not government.

‘There should be a policy that obligates government officials to honour invitations to this channel so that they cannot shun it.

‘All this should be done in good faith with the view to empower Swazis with well rounded information.’

He also recommends that to improve the quality its news coverage, SBIS needs to work on balance, variety, impartiality and community news.

‘[SBIS should] make people’s voices and views an important part of its daily broadcast. This means no more giving exclusive airtime only to government officials and parliamentarians. The radio audience should also be allowed to choose topics for discussion on any matters at least three times a week.’

To achieve these changes, Simelane recommends that SBIS should break way from government control. ‘This will free it from abrupt political interference from government officials on news content among other things.

‘It should be made autonomous, raise at least 70 percent of its own funds for operation and rely less on government subsidy.’

See also
THE CASE FOR COMMUNITY MEDIA
SBIS