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Radio Silence

Christopher Mason

When the news comes with a price

By Christopher Mason - 20 months ago
Listening to shortwave radio and reading the newspaper by candlelight in Uganda

Somewhere in western Uganda near the Congo border there is a young boy whose willingness to risk his life to own a radio illustrates perfectly, but sadly, the importance of media in development.

I met this young boy on the side of a desolate road while covering the aftermath of an Ebola outbreak earlier this year. We came upon him moments before he would have been beaten by two young men-- one of whom was holding a portable radio while the other clutched the boy by the neck with one hand and raised his other in a clenched fist.

What we discovered was that the boy, who did not have the few dollars it would cost to buy one of his own, stole the radio to listen to the news. The men were about to unleash their own form of mob justice when we arrived. A Ugandan journalist with me diffused the situation.

But driving away that day, and typing this today, it gives pause to consider the struggle for access to basic information, and to consider how many around the world face that struggle. This young boy risked his life to gain access to information and there are many more like him.

It's no coincidence that it was a radio at the centre of the dispute. In Uganda, a country of over 30 million people, total newspaper circulation of all the newspapers in the country rarely exceeds more than 100,000 copies a day.

Think about that-- Uganda and Canada have near identical populations, yet all of Uganda consumes about the same amount of daily printed information as a small Canadian city.

This lack of newspaper readership is not only because of literacy rates ( This site ranks Uganda 175th in the world in literacy rates , and you can learn more about Uganda's demographics here). Rather it is largely because a newspaper typically costs 1,000 Ugandan shillings (or about 60 Canadian cents)-- money that most citizens would sooner spend on food or school fees given the average Ugandan earns only a few dollars a day.

So instead of spending a quarter of their daily income on a newspaper, most Ugandans, like in so many other countries, instead pay a few dollars for a portable battery-powered radio and listen religiously for news and information. This is a topic that will certainly resurface in discussing media development.

This blog will focus on media development policies, but it will do so while spotlighting how those policies affect those who are so desperate for information that they are willing to risk their lives for it.

While living and working in East Africa, I came across countless ideas and projects for helping those in need at both the individual and political levels. But time and time again, these ideas hit a wall while trying to find the best way to communicate with a scattered, isolated and unempowered population. It is in addressing that challenge that the media's role in development touches every aspect of policy.

This blog will explore new ideas, what works and what, so far, has not. In doing so, the site will, hopefully, evolve into an open discussion that will include more voices than just my own. If you've come across projects in your corner of the world, or have a perspective to add, please do so either in the comments section, or e-mail me. I'll be happy to feature these ideas on the site.
 

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