By Matongo Maumbi
There is no known single definition on what a community radio is but at the end of the day, the community is at the heart of all.
In the publication The Healthy Community Radio Station, a "community radio is owned by the community and is answerable to it. Its purpose is public service and development, providing platforms for marginalised voices."
This definition puts most of the community radio stations in their right place in Zambia. There is community ownership and duty to provide a voice for the voiceless – but at whose expense?
Many community radio stations are crying foul that they cannot sustain their operations. In as much as they would want to be the voice of the voiceless, they cannot afford to do so - for free. It goes without debate that a radio station needs money to operate.
This can bring another question of what makes a community radio station expensive to operate. Some reasons are genuine while others are as a result of poor planning and management.
It is a continued cry by the community radio sector that the broadcasting and frequency fees should be combined and thus brought down. After all, the stations are not in the business for the profit but the service.
Many community radio stations attribute high cost of operation to high utility bills on electricity, fuel, water and communication. Besides all this, some have too big a workforce requiring monthly salaries and gratuities at the end of their contracts.
However, contrary to popular assumption, community radio is not expensive to maintain. The operating cost is pretty low, mostly related to electricity and water bills, spare parts, routine maintenance and office supplies.
A community radio station should pride itself on volunteers, who receive, if any, minimal honorarium, to staff the station. If struggling, it should reduce on full-time workforce or in other words put fulltime staff at minimal. This will save a lot of finances on salaries and benefits.
Management should be trained on how to raise money from local, national and international sources, for example, through donations and other fundraising activities.
With the above in mind, I have a few suggestions on how radio station can reduce their expenses and be more self-sustaining.
Community radio station employees should be encouraged to make it a point that they take care of the equipment as if it were their personal property, as indeed it is. The community radio management should maintain the equipment on a regular basis.
A popular station will be able to generate commercial advertising revenue. It can also generate money from listeners through different categories of membership fees. Benefit concerts for a radio station can be organised, as well as radio sweepstakes or raffle.
Donations, especially for equipment, from funding agencies can also be solicited, since more and more donor organisations are beginning to see the developmental value of supporting radio projects.
Special project proposals can be formulated for donors generated by community radio stations based on local demands for that information and service. Several NGOs and governmental departments will be interested in sponsoring for example health programmes, and some advertisers who feel that a programme reaches out to their target audience will definitely put in money into that programme which in turn generates money for the station staff.
Many struggling community radio stations are broadcasting 24hours a day, which has its own pros and cons. Does the community radio primary target listen to the station at those late hours? My simple answer is a no, but the secondary target could be. Talk of great wear and tear!
I strongly believe that it is more expensive to play music than run programmes? Unless of course if that particular radio station does not buy original music nor not pay loyalties through the Zambia Music and Copyrights Protection Society (ZAMCOPS). Whatever the case, a balance between music and talk should at all times be achieved.
Community radio stations should also look beyond airtime and do other income generating projects where airtime sales are not adequate.
Despite such constraints, these stations are helping to shift the communications balance from a distant voice controlled from the top, to one in which the voices of marginalized and poor populations can at last be heard.
On air, ordinary citizens discuss issues that are central to them, such as gender relations and combating HIV/AIDS. They share farming tips and income generation ideas and explore ways to improve education.
In conclusion, community radio station should air free programmes that they initiate, and not at the expense of promoting another organisation, which is capable of paying. Yes we have that community social responsibility to our community. But to have an NGO or Government department seek free airtime will be too much to ask and so unfair.
To make matters worse, such organisations pay huge amounts to advertise on public funded TV and newspapers. The best that such groups can do is building the capacity of community radio stations. By so doing the radio stations will pick it from there without having to dance to their tune.
And following debates by colleagues, personally I worked for a community radio station for 9years. I left because it was time to move on and face new challenges. However, I have continued to be in touch with community media in my new job and the service continues.
My question to you folks who proudly say as community radio stations, workers go for months-on-end without pay – do you need to exist if you cannot manage to pay for services rendered? Why are existing? Why haven't the local or business bought into your programming?
In case people forgot, ZESCO is in the business of selling electricity. If that is becoming unbearable, switch to solar power. From what I gather it seems community radio stations are very broke and should declare they are bankrupt.
I wish we could sit on a round table and chart a better way forward for the community radio stations.
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Matongo Maumbi
Creative South Productions
Livingstone - Zambia
