"This open access book breaks new ground by examining the significant role played by radio in empowering women in three Francophone West African countries: Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. It examines the representation and perception of key themes broadcast by radio and associated with women's empower
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ment in the three countries. Each chapter contextualises a specific topic in the country and then explores discrete aspects of radio's provision. The topics covered in the chapters are women's political engagement; women and finances; women and life within marriage; inheritance; women's involvement in radio structures; and radio, internally displaced women, and trauma." (Publisher description)
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"This article provides an original and timely contribution to current cutting-edge methodological debates by discussing the ongoing need to ensure communities in zones which are inaccessible through war, conflict or disease still have a voice and are not side-lined. As seen during Covid-19, traditio
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nal methods of gaining opinions from these communities, such as face-to-face interviews and focus groups, may be restricted and even impossible. Instead, remote methods using WhatsApp provide many additional benefits, providing qualitative and quantitative data (not always simultaneously provided by surveys or interviews), and allowing voice and text messages to be used. This article draws out the generic implications for the methodology using the substantive findings of a study conducted in the Sahel in 2019–20. Whilst also providing ‘how to’ discussions on this novel approach, the article critically reflects on the advantages and disadvantages of using WhatsApp as it relates to conducting social research in general." (Abstract)
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"This edited collection brings together voices from the margins in underrepresented regions of the Global South, within the context of scholarship focusing on indigenous languages and development communication. Contributors bring together research from often-overlooked parts of the world to engage i
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n dialogue towards an understanding of the similarities and differences between issues of language and development in the Global South, presenting cases as a starting point for further research and discussions about indigenous language and development communication in Latin America, Africa, and Asia." (Publisher description)
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‘Feminine Frequencies’: Gender, Radio, and the Auditory Culture of Revolution in 1940s China / 4
Frocks And Powder Puffs / 13
María Luisa Ross: Mexican Educator, Writer and Radio Station Manager / 23
Cathleen Nesbitt: Britain’s First Radio Drama Producer / 32
‘Women on the Air’: A Contrib
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ution to the History of Women in Community Radio in Europe / Birigtte Jallov, 36
Broadcasting History but also Working Lives: Women’s History in the BBC’s Written Archives, 42
The Women Diarists of Early Radio / Emilie Morin, 45
In Profile: Kate Terkanian, 47
[Four Book Reviews: Women in British and US Media]
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"Gender perspectives in media development are common in grey literature produced and promoted by media development actors. Yet, academic research investigating gender dimensions in media development practice and discourse remains scarce. This paper wants to contribute to filling this gap. The empiri
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cal data results from my PhD field research with women journalists in proximity radios in Burkina Faso. Based on the perspective of women journalists, the study gathered transversal data that sheds light on how they experience and perceive media development activities. The data was collected in 2019-2021 through interviews and audio diaries with a total of 10 female journalists. This paper examines media development activities and their effects on women journalists’ lived experiences. The analysis uses an intersectional lens to grasp the interdependences of different power structures. Findings show how media development interventions might have both positive and negative effects on women journalists’ everyday life. As such, media development activities shape the power structures within the media environment, enabling and restricting women journalists’ access, interaction, and participation in content production and decision-making. The data also shows how the security situation in Burkina Faso affects women journalists in a different way and sheds light to blind spots in the efforts of NGOs to incorporate gender dimensions in their approaches. The analysis reveals the complexities in which media development interventions at times challenge and reinforce existing inequalities in the media sector." (Abstract)
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"Listening clubs constitute a space that allows a group of people to listen to a radio programme together, discuss the programme, ask questions in order to clarify what it was about, and even create their own radio programmes. Generally speaking, community listening clubs aim to improve access to in
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formation for rural populations, particularly women, and to strengthen their power to take action. A listening club is a group of men and women who wish to actively and systematically listen to radio broadcasts with a view to debating their content and, in particular, putting into practice the lessons learnt from these programmes. Listening clubs also aim to conceive and lead their own radio programmes on specific issues, chosen during their discussions, in order to clarify any questions they may have. Their objective also forms part of Oxfam’s protection mandate (the fight against violence, coercion and deliberate deprivation) and its strategic objectives related to the fight against poverty and to gender equality in terms of access to resources, goods and services and involvement in decisionmaking." (Page 1)
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"One of the first books to examine the status of broadcasting on its one hundredth anniversary, Radio's Second Century investigates both vanguard and perennial topics relevant to radio's past, present, and future. As the radio industry enters its second century of existence, it continues to be a dom
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inant mass medium with almost total listenership saturation despite rapid technological advancements that provide alternatives for consumers. Lasting influences such as on-air personalities, audience behavior, fan relationships, and localism are analyzed as well as contemporary issues including social and digital media. Other essays examine the regulatory concerns that continue to exist for public radio, commercial radio, and community radio, and discuss the hindrances and challenges posed by government regulation with an emphasis on both American and international perspectives. Radio's impact on cultural hegemony through creative programming content in the areas of religion, ethnic inclusivity, and gender parity is also explored." (Publisher description)
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"This article discusses participatory methods for data gathering in the context of a partnership between a Swiss-based media development organization, Fondation Hirondelle, and a research team at the University of Sheffield. In 2018–2019, the partnership conducted fieldwork which focused on the im
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pact of radio on women listeners in Niger. The project used participatory methods of data gathering in the form of workshops and focus group discussions (FGDs). The article examines the advantages and limitations of combining the practical experience of international development organizations and the in-depth research capabilities of academia. To triangulate this collaboration and to navigate the limitations of FGDs, the use of workshops is discussed as an important method for providing feedback among the radio practitioners and experts in Niger. The article examines the usefulness of combining these methods and reshaping their application to promote participatory research with radio audiences and practitioners." (Abstract)
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"The 'We Can Do It' (WCDI) radio program was established to educate, raise awareness and responsiveness to violence again women in Cambodia. Programs were broadcast in 5 provinces: Battambang, Kampong Cham, Siem Reap, Kampot and Kratie. The program ran for three years (2016-2019) under financial and
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technical support from ABCID and Australian Aid. This impact briefing reveals the progress made by the radio program towards ending violence against women. WCDI listeners consistently demonstrate better knowledge of legal processes and resources than an inclusive sample. Less promisingly, both listeners and non-listeners exhibit decreased confidence in the capacity and willingness of authorities to intervene." (https://www.abc.net.au/abc-international-development)
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"This working paper defines the scope of the FemmePowermentAfrique project, its significance, its research approach and its intended beneficiaries. This project originated in an impact assessment of radio on women’s rights and empowerment in Niger, yet has broadened to incorporate a series of rela
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ted and important research questions. The research draws on various methodologies including focus groups with listeners, semi-structured interviews, workshops and context analysis of radio output. The project pursues the following aims: 1. To assess the impact of radio on women’s rights and empowerment in the Sahel region of Africa. Three countries have been selected for initial investigation: Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. 2. To assess perceptions of female empowerment within the context of these countries, particularly in comparison with existing concepts and those widely used by nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and countries and donors in the North. 3. To produce recommendations on the use of radio with regard to women’s rights and empowerment to be used by media development organisations, civil society organisations, journalists and the media, donors, and research organisations. 4. To contribute to understandings of impact and its measurement. 5. To contribute to methodological approaches used by researchers working in the field. 6. To benefit radio organisations, media, listeners and marginalised and disempowered communities in the three countries through the application of the recommendations. 7. To identify other geographic and topic areas that could benefit from the research findings and methodology (for example, youth, governance, and radicalisation)." (Executive summary)
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"This article examines the work of women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on West Bank radio as they represent women, a marginalized community, within a patriarchal, traditional and religious society. It also examines the commercial and societal difficulties faced by radio stations in their
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interactions with NGOs. Using a quantitative and qualitative approach, this article analyses data from six commercial, rather than state-owned or community, radio stations in four West Bank cities and discusses the frustrations of both parties as they work together. Contributing to the limited literature on the role of radio in the West Bank, the article also draws on interviews with representatives from the chosen stations and the NGOs that broadcast material on radio stations. The findings suggest that, for the NGOs and in contrast to other media, radio plays an important, albeit currently limited, role as amplifiers for their campaigns. Yet the radio stations do not contribute substantively, if at all, to encouraging NGO community-building activities and, in fact, restrict themselves to a commercial-based association." (Abstract)
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"Five weeks prior to the 2011 general election in Liberia, women in randomly selected villages were allocated radios and organized into groups to listen regularly to radio programs on the electoral process broadcast by the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). The field experiment was designed
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to ascertain the direct effects of women's access to politically-relevant information through radio broadcasting on their political behaviors and attitudes in a post-war context. Results point to positive significant effects of access to United Nations Mission in Liberia Radio on female political participation both at a national and a local level. Communities that received the intervention also exhibited smaller gender gaps across the majority of outcome indicators. The results suggest that UNMIL Radio effects likely occurred through increased political efficacy of women voters in the lead up to the elections. The study concludes that women's exposure to politically-relevant information through mass-broadcasting, even if brief, can boost their political efficacy and participation in public life." (Abstract)
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"How does media influence beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors? We know surprisingly little about this influence and I argue that two mechanisms account for its impact. Media provides new information that persuades individuals to accept it (individual channel), but also, media informs listeners about w
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hat others learn, thus facilitating coordination (social channel). Using a field experiment in Mexico, I disentangle these effects and analyze norms surrounding violence against women. I examine the effect of a radio program when it is transmitted privately versus when it is transmitted through public outlets. Although I find no evidence supporting the individual mechanism, the social channel increased rejection of violence against women, support for gender equality, and unexpectedly, increased pessimism regarding the future decline of violence." (Abstract)
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"Drawing upon feminism and participatory communication, this research has used multiple methods to explore the rich and innovative experiences of the women’s radio stations in Senegal. The case of Gindiku FM, one of the four women’s radio stations in Senegal, is used to assess the community radi
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o’s revolutionary potential for development and progressive social change. The findings show that women’s community radio has emerged as a response to women’s marginalization in both mainstream media and in alternative community media, as well as to women’s need to have their own communication means. The findings reveal that Gindiku FM is an outstanding model of a women’s community radio station that has successfully articulated gender and participatory communication to empower rural and poor women living in a context dominated by a Sufy Islamic Order. The findings show that three key factors have contributed to the success of Gindiku FM. The first factor is a clear commitment to integrating a gender perspective in all of their actions and therefore to question gender-based discrimination and marginalization. The second factor is the set-up of a network of 60 rural women reporters and 60 listening groups, in as many villages, as a scheme to ensure women’s inclusion and participation in the radio station. The third factor is the implementation of gendered programming targeting inequality, social injustices, and women’s subordination. The findings of this study indicate that Gindiku FM has produced changes both at individual and community levels. Women have been empowered technically, culturally and socially. The traditional image of a silenced woman, lacking agency and self-esteem, is fading for a new one that is more vocal, dynamic and less entrenched in traditional and patriarchal values. Therefore, Gindiku FM has emerged as a powerful model that can inspire women’s media activists, as well as donors willing to support initiatives in gender and communication for development." (Abstract)
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