Abstract

Information dissemination is very paramount in any developing activity. When a skilled person transfers what he knows to other people, through communication, the willing recipients of that information will more likely become knowledgeable as well. When the recipients of the information are not willing to take in the information and use it accordingly, they are likely not to be changed by the new information. The purpose of this research was evaluate the impact of community radio in sustainable rulal development using Dzimwe and Nkhotakota Community radio stations as cases. Using the principles of community radio that enhance development because the community is able to share important information and work out solutions to their problems as a community using the radio, the study evaluated the extent to which the two radio stations apply the principles in their broadcasting. The study put forward three phases of community radio namely, consciousness-raising; radio discussion, and issue resolution. In addition, some important tenets of community radio were also discussed with the respondents to assess the extent to which they believed in them. It has been shown through literature and other studies that community radio has more impact in the development of a community when it abides by the principles of community radio, and operates on its tenets. The study involved journalists, board members, government agents, NGO representatives, and traditional or local leaders in Nkhotakota and Monkey Bay where Nkhotakota and Dzimwe community radio stations are respectively located. The results have shown that the radios do a great deal of consciousness-raising. The overall rating is that there is a lot of room for improvement because they need to focus more on the community itself, than on things that happen in the whole country as the case was during the time of the study. It has been found that both radio stations are not doing many debates. This needs to change if the radios are to make any impact because debate is the main ingredient of a community radio since it allows members of the community to exchange ideas and make their views known on various issues. Due to lack of this debate, issue resolution does not even start. There were mixed feelings and reactions about tenets of community radio. It was discovered that not many respondents even heard about these tenets. The study has therefore concluded that the radio stations did not have any impact on sustainable development of their areas. The study has gone on to recommend measures which need to be taken so that the stations can play their rightful role in the sustainable development of Nkhotakota and Monkey Bay.

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School	: School of Law, Economics and Government
Issued Date	: 2006

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