The practice of participation in broadcasting for development initiatives in post-independent Malawi

Abstract

What is broadcasting for development? What methodological approaches have characterized the praxis of broadcasting for development in Malawi? This exposition critiques, with reference to the notion of participation as expounded by Paulo Freire, some of Malawi\'s broadcasting for development initiatives designed and implemented since the country became a multiparty democracy in 1993. It explores the field of broadcasting for development by highlighting the role played by the Los Baños School of the 1960s, which, the article contends, was responsible for laying the theoretical foundation of the field of development communication through broadcasting; thus providing a springboard from which modern scholars and development planners have rethought the role of communication in development. The study concludes by proposing that authentic participation is probably an ongoing process during which community members are allowed to defy and contest the standard or official notions of development and participation.

Key words: development communication, development broadcasting, development, journalism, participatory broadcasting, educational broadcasting, radio for development

Journal of Social Development in Africa Vol.20(1) 2005: 77-105