Status of Content and Programming by Community Radio Stations in Kenya

This 81-page report discusses the findings of an assessment of the quality of community radio content in Kenya, particularly related to communication for development programming. It explores factors affecting quality, focusing on capacity, with the objective of informing interventions. According to the report, community radios play a very important role in social, economic, and political development, however, many radios lack the financial, human, and technical resources needed to be able to produce quality content to effectively fullfil this role.

The assessment was part of a project being led by the Kenya Community Media Network, with support from Hivos, to strengthen the capacities of community radio stations in Kenya to improve content. The study was based on a desk review of recent assessment reports related to programming, as well as more in depth studies of three partner community radio stations: Baliti FM (Isiolo), Koch FM (Nairobi), and Ekialo Kiano (Homa Bay).

Section 1 discusses the theoretical foundations and concepts on which community media operates, and presents an overview of community radio in Kenya from 1982 to present. Section 2 reflects on the literature review, which "reveals that over time, the community radios in Kenya have been facing challenges in producing good quality radio." Section 3 outlines findings of the fieldwork at the three radio stations, and the last sections offers recommendations for enhancing the capacities of community radio stations in Kenya to develop better content and programming.

The report explains that quality content is generally determined by a number of factors. These include the presence of articulated mission and vision statements, structures for audience involvement, training and skills development of the staff, gender mainstreaming, and financial sustainability. These factors were considered at each of the three radio stations during field visits. The report first outlines general observations, followed by more in-depth case study findings of each individual station.

All three stations were found to produce generally good content, but were hindered by lack of content production facilities and resources like computers, sound editing software, recorders, mixers and internet. It was also observed that there was a low level of understanding of the concept of communication for development. Many stations are staffed largely by young people with few professional qualifications, resulting in a lack of clear strategies and technical abilities around important functions like audience research. Other weaknesses include little gender mainstreaming, rare use of social media, and lack of technical skills, which all hinder audience engagement.

A number of recommendations (including indicators for success) are offered in order for the community radio stations to be able to better contribute towards development. These are:

• enabling a clear understanding of the concept, identity, principles, ethics, and regulatory and policy framework of community radio in Kenya;
• enabling a clear understanding of the concept of communication for development (C4D) among the staff of community radio stations to enhance content development;
• training on programming, content gathering, research skills, scripting, sound editing, production and presentation skills;
• enabling a better comprehension of gender mainstreaming amongst the community radio staff to ensure unbiased and gender sensitive content;
• strengthening the use of social media for content development and sharing;
• institutionalising audience surveys and feedback mechanisms to ensure relevant content; and
• strengthening sustainability strategies (social, institutional and financial).