2 - Negotiating the Use of Native Languages in Emerging Pluralistic and Independent Broadcast Systems in Africa
Corresponding Author(s) : Isaac Abeku Blankson
Africa Media Review,
Vol. 13 No. 1 (2005): Africa Media Review, Volume 13, n° 1, 2005
Abstract
Since the 1990s liberal and democratic reforms in African countries, competitive independent and pluralistic broad castings, particularly radio, have emerged to provide channel and program diversity for the first time in these emerging democracies. Independent radio has become an entrée into civic discourse and socio-political awareness and a force for social and political integration and accountability. However, these positive developments have overshadowed the
observation that Africa’s emerging independent radio has become an avenue for corroding their societies’ languages and cultures. While they have been insensitive to native languages, they are successful in domesticating the languages of their former European colonizers. Using the experiences of Ghana’s radio, this article raises important questions about the relationship between Africa’s native languages and the development of a true African broadcasting system. It calls for a re-examination of the belief that the multilingual character of African societies does not serve broadcasting well. It argues that a true African broadcast system that allows for mass participation can develop only if African broadcasters and policy makers address the native language deficiency in broadcasting. Finally, it calls for a deliberate and planned effort to promote the use of African native languages over Euro-imperial languages in broadcasting.
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- Abdulkadir, M., 2000, ‘Popular Culture in Advertising: Nigerian Hausa Radio’, in R. Fardon and G. Furniss, eds., African Broadcast Cultures: Radio in Transition, Westport, CT: Praeger. pp.128–142.
- Akan Dictionary Project, 2001, Project Christaller. (http://www.unizh.ch/afrling/ akandic.htm). October 23, 2003.
- Amakyi, R., 1988, ‘Community FM Radio in Ghana’, Combroad, Vol. 79, June, pp. 15–17.
- Anderson, B., 1983, Imagined Communities, London: Verso.
- Ansah, P.A.V., 1979, ‘Problems of Localizing Radio in Ghana’, Gazette, Vol. 25, No.1, pp. 1–16.
- Ansah, P.A.V., 1985, Broadcasting and National Development, Accra: Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.
- Ansah, P.A.V., 1988, ‘Broadcasting and Multilingualism’, in E.G. Wedell, ed., Making Broadcasting Useful, the African Experience: The Development of Ra- dio and Television in Africa in the 1980s, Manchester: Manchester Univer- sity Press. pp. 47–65.
- Ansu-Kyeremeh, K., 1995, ‘A Place of Culture in Independent and Pluralistic Broadcasting in Ghana’, in A. Bonnah-Koomson, ed., Prospects for Private Broadcasting in Ghana, University of Ghana, Accra: Gold-Type Limited. pp. 49–55. Blanco, S. and Bulck, J. V., 1995, ‘Regions vs. States and Cultures in the EC Media Policy Debate: Regional Broadcasting in Belgium and Spain’, Media, Culture and Society, Vol. 17, pp. 239–251.
- Blankson, I. A., 2000, ‘Independent and Pluralistic Broadcasting Development in Ghana: Perceptions of Audiences in Accra’, unpublished PhD Thesis, Ohio University.
- Bonnah-Koomson, A., 1994, ‘Independent Broadcasting Stations in Rural Areas’, in K. Karikari, ed., Independent Broadcasting in Ghana: Implications and Challenges, Accra: Ghana University Press. pp.83–96.
- Bonnah-Koomson, A., ed., 1995, Prospects for Private Broadcasting in Ghana, University of Ghana, Accra: Gold-Type Limited.
- Bourgault, L.M., 1995, Mass Media in Sub-Saharan Africa, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
- Coleman, W.F. and Opoku, A.A., 1968, ‘Rural Radio Forum Project in Ghana’, An African Experiment in Radio Forums for Rural Development: Ghana, 1964/ 1965, Reports and Papers on Mass Communication, No. 51, Paris: UNESCO. pp. 7–15.
- Drijvers, J., 1992, ‘Community Broadcasting: A Manifesto for the Media Policy of Small European Countries’, Media, Culture and Society, Vol. 14, pp. 193–201. Fardon, R. and Furniss, G., eds.,
- , African Broadcast Cultures: Radio in Transition, Westport, CT: Praeger.
- Grant, A.E., 1994, ‘The Promise Fulfilled? An Empirical Analysis of Program Diver- sity on Television’, Journal of Media Economics, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 51–64.
- Gratz, T., 2000, ‘New Local Radio Stations in African Languages and Process of Political Transformation: The Case of Radio Rurale Locale Tanguieta in North- ern Benin’, in R. Fardon and G. Furniss, eds., African Broadcast Cultures: Radio in Transition, Westport, CT: Praeger. pp. 110–126.
- Gyimah-Boadi, E., 1999, ‘Ghana: The Challenges of Consolidating Democracy’, in R. Joseph, ed., State, Conflict and Democracy in Africa, Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
- Heath, C.W., 1986, ‘Broadcasting in Kenya: Policy and Politics, 1928–1984’, unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Illinois, Urbana.
- Heath, C.W., 1999, ‘Negotiating Broadcasting Policy: Civil Society and Civic Discourse in Ghana’, Gazette, Vol. 61, No. 6, pp. 511–521.
- Heath, C.W., 2001, ‘Regional Radio: A Response by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation to Decentralization and Competition’, Canadian Journal of Communication, Vol. 26, pp. 89–106.
- Kamin, D.J., 1996, ‘The New Multichannel World (An Asian Overview)’, Common wealth Broadcasters
- Association General Conference XXI Report, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 25–31.
- Karikari, K., ed., 1994, Independent Broadcasting in Ghana, Accra: Ghana Uni- versity Press.
- Kouega, J.P., 1999, ‘Some Major Speech Traits of Cameroon Media News in Eng- lish’, English Studies, Vol. 6, pp. 540–555.
- Kugblenu, J., 1974, ‘Broadcasting in Ghana’, in S. Head, ed., Broadcasting inAfrica: A Continental Survey of Radio and Television, Philadelphia: Temple Univer- sity Press.
- Kupe, T., 2002, Harmonizing Media Policy in Africa. (http://www.themedia.co.za/
- article.aspx?articleid=30947&area=/media_columnistundercurrent/). 25 January 2005.
- Lee, J.H. and Youn, S.M., 1995, ‘Industrial Structure, Government Control, and Network Television Programming: The Case of South Korea’, Asian Journal of Communication, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 52–70.
- Leonard, H., 1996, ‘Public Broadcasting in the Developing World’, Public Broad- casters International. Final Report of the PBI Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 12–15.
- Mazrui, A.A., 1996, ‘Perspective: The Muse of Modernity and the Quest for Development’, in P.G Altbach and S.M. Hassan, eds., The Muse of Modernity: Essays on Culture as Development in Africa, Trenton: Africa World Press. pp. 1–18.
- McQuail, D., 1993, Media Performance: Mass Communication and the Public Interest, Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
- Mytton, G., 1983, Mass Communication in Africa, London: Edward Arnold. Nkansah-Kyeremateng, K., 1996, ‘The Akans of Ghana: Their History and Culture’, Accra: Sebewie Publishers.
- Owen, B.M., 1977, ‘Regulating Diversity: The Case of Radio Formats’, Journal of Broadcasting, Vol. 21, pp. 305–315.
- Reporters Without Borders, 2005. (http://www.rsf.org). 26 June 2006.
- Republic of Ghana, 1992, Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, Tema: Ghana Publishing Corporation.
- Schlesinger, P., 1991, ‘Media, the Political Order and National Identity’, Media, Culture and Society, Vol. 13, pp. 297–308.
- School of Communication Studies, 1993, ‘Promotion of Privatization of Radio and Television Broadcasting in Ghana’, Report of a national conference held in GIMPA, Legon: University of Ghana, March 1–3.
- Schudson, M., 1994, ‘Culture and the Integration of National Societies’, in Diana Crane, ed., The Sociology of Culture, Oxford, UK: Blackwell. pp. 63-81.
- Senghor, D., 1996, ‘Radio Stations in Africa: Issues of Dependency and Culture’, in P.G Altbach and S.M. Hassan, eds., The Muse of Modernity: Essays on Culture as Development in Africa, Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press. pp. 79–108.
- Servaes, J., and Wang, G., 1997, ‘Privatization and Commercialization of the West- ern-European and South East Asian Broadcasting Media’, Asian Journal of Communication, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 1 –11.
- Spitulnik, D., 1992, ‘Radio Time Sharing and the Negotiation of Linguistic Plural- ism in Zambia’, Pragmatics, Vol. 2, pp. 335–54.
- Straubhaar, J.D., 1995, ‘From PTTs to Privatization: Liberalization and Privatiza- tion in Eastern Europe and the Third World’, in B. Mody, J.M Bauer and J.D. Straubhaar, eds., Telecommunications Politics: Ownership and Control of the Information Highway in Developing Countries, Mahweh, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
- Thomsen, C.W., 1989, Cultural Transfer or Electronic Imperialism? Heidlberg: Carl Winter Universitatsverlag.
- Tomlinson, J., 1991, Cultural Imperialism, London: Printer.
- Tudesq, A.J., 1983, ‘La Radio en Afrique Noire’, in L. M. Bourgault, ed., Mass Media in Sub-Saharan Africa, Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 21–109.
- Ugboajah, F.O., ed., 1985, Mass Communication, Culture and Society in West Africa, Munich: Hans Zell.
- UNESCO, 1961, Mass Media in Developing Countries, Reports and Papers on Mass Communication, No.33, Paris: UNESCO.
- UNESCO, 1968, An African Experiment in Radio Forums for Rural Development: Ghana, 1964/1965,
- Reports and Papers on Mass Communication, No. 51, Paris: UNESCO.
- UNESCO, 1989, World Communication Report, Paris: UNESCO. UNESCO, 1992, World Communication Report, Paris: UNESCO UNESCO, 1996, World Communication Report, Paris: UNESCO White, D., 1996, ‘The New Multichannel World’, Commonwealth Broadcasters Association General Conference XXI Report, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 25–31.
References
Abdulkadir, M., 2000, ‘Popular Culture in Advertising: Nigerian Hausa Radio’, in R. Fardon and G. Furniss, eds., African Broadcast Cultures: Radio in Transition, Westport, CT: Praeger. pp.128–142.
Akan Dictionary Project, 2001, Project Christaller. (http://www.unizh.ch/afrling/ akandic.htm). October 23, 2003.
Amakyi, R., 1988, ‘Community FM Radio in Ghana’, Combroad, Vol. 79, June, pp. 15–17.
Anderson, B., 1983, Imagined Communities, London: Verso.
Ansah, P.A.V., 1979, ‘Problems of Localizing Radio in Ghana’, Gazette, Vol. 25, No.1, pp. 1–16.
Ansah, P.A.V., 1985, Broadcasting and National Development, Accra: Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.
Ansah, P.A.V., 1988, ‘Broadcasting and Multilingualism’, in E.G. Wedell, ed., Making Broadcasting Useful, the African Experience: The Development of Ra- dio and Television in Africa in the 1980s, Manchester: Manchester Univer- sity Press. pp. 47–65.
Ansu-Kyeremeh, K., 1995, ‘A Place of Culture in Independent and Pluralistic Broadcasting in Ghana’, in A. Bonnah-Koomson, ed., Prospects for Private Broadcasting in Ghana, University of Ghana, Accra: Gold-Type Limited. pp. 49–55. Blanco, S. and Bulck, J. V., 1995, ‘Regions vs. States and Cultures in the EC Media Policy Debate: Regional Broadcasting in Belgium and Spain’, Media, Culture and Society, Vol. 17, pp. 239–251.
Blankson, I. A., 2000, ‘Independent and Pluralistic Broadcasting Development in Ghana: Perceptions of Audiences in Accra’, unpublished PhD Thesis, Ohio University.
Bonnah-Koomson, A., 1994, ‘Independent Broadcasting Stations in Rural Areas’, in K. Karikari, ed., Independent Broadcasting in Ghana: Implications and Challenges, Accra: Ghana University Press. pp.83–96.
Bonnah-Koomson, A., ed., 1995, Prospects for Private Broadcasting in Ghana, University of Ghana, Accra: Gold-Type Limited.
Bourgault, L.M., 1995, Mass Media in Sub-Saharan Africa, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Coleman, W.F. and Opoku, A.A., 1968, ‘Rural Radio Forum Project in Ghana’, An African Experiment in Radio Forums for Rural Development: Ghana, 1964/ 1965, Reports and Papers on Mass Communication, No. 51, Paris: UNESCO. pp. 7–15.
Drijvers, J., 1992, ‘Community Broadcasting: A Manifesto for the Media Policy of Small European Countries’, Media, Culture and Society, Vol. 14, pp. 193–201. Fardon, R. and Furniss, G., eds.,
, African Broadcast Cultures: Radio in Transition, Westport, CT: Praeger.
Grant, A.E., 1994, ‘The Promise Fulfilled? An Empirical Analysis of Program Diver- sity on Television’, Journal of Media Economics, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 51–64.
Gratz, T., 2000, ‘New Local Radio Stations in African Languages and Process of Political Transformation: The Case of Radio Rurale Locale Tanguieta in North- ern Benin’, in R. Fardon and G. Furniss, eds., African Broadcast Cultures: Radio in Transition, Westport, CT: Praeger. pp. 110–126.
Gyimah-Boadi, E., 1999, ‘Ghana: The Challenges of Consolidating Democracy’, in R. Joseph, ed., State, Conflict and Democracy in Africa, Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
Heath, C.W., 1986, ‘Broadcasting in Kenya: Policy and Politics, 1928–1984’, unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Illinois, Urbana.
Heath, C.W., 1999, ‘Negotiating Broadcasting Policy: Civil Society and Civic Discourse in Ghana’, Gazette, Vol. 61, No. 6, pp. 511–521.
Heath, C.W., 2001, ‘Regional Radio: A Response by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation to Decentralization and Competition’, Canadian Journal of Communication, Vol. 26, pp. 89–106.
Kamin, D.J., 1996, ‘The New Multichannel World (An Asian Overview)’, Common wealth Broadcasters
Association General Conference XXI Report, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 25–31.
Karikari, K., ed., 1994, Independent Broadcasting in Ghana, Accra: Ghana Uni- versity Press.
Kouega, J.P., 1999, ‘Some Major Speech Traits of Cameroon Media News in Eng- lish’, English Studies, Vol. 6, pp. 540–555.
Kugblenu, J., 1974, ‘Broadcasting in Ghana’, in S. Head, ed., Broadcasting inAfrica: A Continental Survey of Radio and Television, Philadelphia: Temple Univer- sity Press.
Kupe, T., 2002, Harmonizing Media Policy in Africa. (http://www.themedia.co.za/
article.aspx?articleid=30947&area=/media_columnistundercurrent/). 25 January 2005.
Lee, J.H. and Youn, S.M., 1995, ‘Industrial Structure, Government Control, and Network Television Programming: The Case of South Korea’, Asian Journal of Communication, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 52–70.
Leonard, H., 1996, ‘Public Broadcasting in the Developing World’, Public Broad- casters International. Final Report of the PBI Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 12–15.
Mazrui, A.A., 1996, ‘Perspective: The Muse of Modernity and the Quest for Development’, in P.G Altbach and S.M. Hassan, eds., The Muse of Modernity: Essays on Culture as Development in Africa, Trenton: Africa World Press. pp. 1–18.
McQuail, D., 1993, Media Performance: Mass Communication and the Public Interest, Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Mytton, G., 1983, Mass Communication in Africa, London: Edward Arnold. Nkansah-Kyeremateng, K., 1996, ‘The Akans of Ghana: Their History and Culture’, Accra: Sebewie Publishers.
Owen, B.M., 1977, ‘Regulating Diversity: The Case of Radio Formats’, Journal of Broadcasting, Vol. 21, pp. 305–315.
Reporters Without Borders, 2005. (http://www.rsf.org). 26 June 2006.
Republic of Ghana, 1992, Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, Tema: Ghana Publishing Corporation.
Schlesinger, P., 1991, ‘Media, the Political Order and National Identity’, Media, Culture and Society, Vol. 13, pp. 297–308.
School of Communication Studies, 1993, ‘Promotion of Privatization of Radio and Television Broadcasting in Ghana’, Report of a national conference held in GIMPA, Legon: University of Ghana, March 1–3.
Schudson, M., 1994, ‘Culture and the Integration of National Societies’, in Diana Crane, ed., The Sociology of Culture, Oxford, UK: Blackwell. pp. 63-81.
Senghor, D., 1996, ‘Radio Stations in Africa: Issues of Dependency and Culture’, in P.G Altbach and S.M. Hassan, eds., The Muse of Modernity: Essays on Culture as Development in Africa, Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press. pp. 79–108.
Servaes, J., and Wang, G., 1997, ‘Privatization and Commercialization of the West- ern-European and South East Asian Broadcasting Media’, Asian Journal of Communication, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 1 –11.
Spitulnik, D., 1992, ‘Radio Time Sharing and the Negotiation of Linguistic Plural- ism in Zambia’, Pragmatics, Vol. 2, pp. 335–54.
Straubhaar, J.D., 1995, ‘From PTTs to Privatization: Liberalization and Privatiza- tion in Eastern Europe and the Third World’, in B. Mody, J.M Bauer and J.D. Straubhaar, eds., Telecommunications Politics: Ownership and Control of the Information Highway in Developing Countries, Mahweh, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Thomsen, C.W., 1989, Cultural Transfer or Electronic Imperialism? Heidlberg: Carl Winter Universitatsverlag.
Tomlinson, J., 1991, Cultural Imperialism, London: Printer.
Tudesq, A.J., 1983, ‘La Radio en Afrique Noire’, in L. M. Bourgault, ed., Mass Media in Sub-Saharan Africa, Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 21–109.
Ugboajah, F.O., ed., 1985, Mass Communication, Culture and Society in West Africa, Munich: Hans Zell.
UNESCO, 1961, Mass Media in Developing Countries, Reports and Papers on Mass Communication, No.33, Paris: UNESCO.
UNESCO, 1968, An African Experiment in Radio Forums for Rural Development: Ghana, 1964/1965,
Reports and Papers on Mass Communication, No. 51, Paris: UNESCO.
UNESCO, 1989, World Communication Report, Paris: UNESCO. UNESCO, 1992, World Communication Report, Paris: UNESCO UNESCO, 1996, World Communication Report, Paris: UNESCO White, D., 1996, ‘The New Multichannel World’, Commonwealth Broadcasters Association General Conference XXI Report, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 25–31.