Edutainment Communication Strategies against HIV/AIDS through radio:
Case study of Radio Ukhozi FM and Radio Dimsti-Hafash
Prepared by
Kulubrehan Abraham Teweldemedhin
Supervisor: Professor Ruth E.Teer-Tomaselli
Submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of KwaZulu-Natal, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of AI1s at
Culture, Communications and Media Studies (Course Work and short dissertation)
January 2004
Declaration
I, Kulubrehan Abraham. do hereby declare that this is my own work, and that all other peopl e ' s works have been fully acknowledged. I further declare that Ihave never before submitted this work for an award of a degree to this university or any other university. Thiswork is bein g submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Masterof Arts in the Facultyof Humani tiesatthe Universityof KwaZulu-Natal,Durba n, SouthAfrica.
Signature
J~ .
Kulubrehan A. Teweldernedhin
II
Date: 23/03/04
Contents
Declarations Acknow ledgements
Lists ofAbb rev iations and ac ro nyms Listsofappe ndices
Abs t ract
Section I
I.Introduction
1.2.HIV/AIDS StatusWorldwide
1.2.1.Anoverview orHIV/AIDSStatus inSouthAfrica 1.2.2.Anoverview ofHIV/AIDSstatusin Eritrea
Section II
2.1.What is Communication'?
2.2.Distinctive featuresormasscommunicati on 2.3.Radio asa masscommunicatio n medium
Section III
3.1.Entertainment-Educationalasa communicationstrategy 3.1.1.The roleorresearchinEntertainment-Education programmes 3.2. Participatory Communication
3.3. Conclusion
Section IV
4.1.UkhoziFM inSouthAfrica
4.2.OvervieworRadio Dimitsi-Hafash
Section V
5.1 .Methodo logicalapproach to thestudy
5.2.Case study:RadioUkhozi FM and Radio Dimitsi-Hafash 5.2.I. Timescheduling and programme repetition
5.2.1.1.Time scheduling 5.2. 1.2.Programme repetition
III
II
V VI VII VII I
3 3 4
6 7 8
II 14 IS 17
18 19
22 24 24 24 26
5.2.2.Targeting themessage to specific audie nce 5.2.3.Com m unication formats
5.2.3.1. Drama
5.2.3.2. Talk show and audience partic ipat ion 5.2.3.3. Songs
5.2.3.4. Ukhozi FM Outside Broadcasting Van and Abstinence Walk 5.2.4. Assessing the effectiveness of the Programmes
5.2.5. Links to othe r medi a and organizations 5.2.5 .1. Link to othe r med ia
5.2.5.2.Link to orga nizatio ns
5.2 .6. Producer s' awa re ness of EE mode ls
5.2.7.Em ploymentof research to produce messa ges 5.2.8 .Cha llenges in design ing messages (EE)
5.2.9.Using othercountries EE formatsby Trans-creation
Section VI
Conclus ion
Bibliography
Appendices
IV
27 28 29 32 34 35 37
38 38 39 41
42 43 45
47
Acknowledgements
It would be so hard to finish this paper without the assistance and encouragementof my advisor andall my friends.Therefore, Iam highly indebted totheircommitment.
To begin with, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Ruth Teer-Tomaselli, Programme Director and lecturer in Culture, Communication and Media Studies Department at University KwaZulu of Natal. I am short of words to express my gratitude to her for all her untiring supervision/corrections, kind and motherly assistance and encouragement throughout the project.
Ialsowishto extend my sincere thanksto my friendsandclassmates Habteab Tesfagabir andZeria Adhanom for their contribution when we were doing this as a project to fulfil the course BE. ( wouldalso like to give my spec ialthanks to AnusharaniGovender for untiring proofreading and shaping thispaper. Iythanks alsogoto WolduGhebreslasieand Eunice lvala fortheirkindhelp.
Last but not least, Iwould liketo thank Reverend Prince Zuluandallother people who helped me during my research in Rad io Ukhozi FM. I also extend my thanks to the sta ffs of Programme Tigrigna and the Educational Disk in Radio Dirnitsi-Hafash, Eritrea who gave me unreserved assistances incollecting the data.
v
List of abbreviations and acronyms
AIDS EE HEMSET HIV HSRC IEC
KZ MOH MOl
GOs OBs
OBV SABC
STD' s UN
UNAIDS UNESCO WHO UN-OCHA
AcquiredImmuno DeficiencySvndrorn c Entertainment-Education
HIVIAIDS, malaria, sexuallytransmitted infections, tuberculosis Hu man Irn m un o d cficncy Virus
Human Science Research Council
Information, EducationandCommunication
KwaZulu-Natal Ministry ofHealth MinistryofInformation
non-governm ental organizations Outside broadcasts
Outside BroadcastingVans
SouthAfricaBroadcastingCorporations.
SexuallyTransmitted Diseases United Nations
.Joint United NationsProgramme on HIV/AIDS
United ations Educational,Science andCulturalOrganizations WorldHealthOrganization
United NationOffice for the Coordi nation of Human itar ian Affa irs
VI
Lists of appendi ces
•
AppendixI•
Appendix2•
Appendix3•
Appendix4•
Appendix Sa,b,c•
AppendixG•
Appendi x7•
Appendix8•
Appendix9Objective ofthe Ministry ofInformation in Eritrea
Programmesof Rad io Dimitsi-Hafash Programm eTigrigna ScriptoutlineSoulbuddyzwhich is give to Ukhozi FM Few sample pages ofHayenta Drama, whicharetranslated
fromto Tigringa to Englishand broadcasted inDimitsi-Hafash, Ukhoz i FM outsidebroadc astingactivitieson variousevents.
Discussion amongtheoppositesex
Bambisanani champions ofHIV/AIDScareandsupport.
Interview with radio UkhoziFMstaff
Interviewwithradio Radio Dimitsi-I-IafashProgramme Tigrignaand EducationalDesk staff
VII
Abstract
Today. the pandemic ofH[V/AIOS has become a serious challenge especially in developing and underdeveloped nations. For this reason, all nations. different health institutions and non- governmental organizations are investing their wealth to increase public awareness on the seriousness of this pandemic disease. Media institutions also play an unparalleled role in controlling HIV/AIDSthrough educating thesociety.
H[V/A[OS is a great threat bothto SouthAfrica and Eritrea asthey are partof the SahaleSahara of Africa. Thatarea is highly affected and infected by the pandem ic. It iscertain that media have been used todisseminat einformation in the societyabout H[V/AID S in both countries. This study attempts to identify the nature ofcommunicatio nstrategies that are employed against H[V/AIOS by Radio Ukhozi FM in South Africa and Radio Dimitsi-Hafa sh Programme Tigringa in Eritrea.The study attemptsto identify the communication formatsthat both radiostations utilize to increase public awareness about HIV/AIOS. It also examines whether both stations are using Entertai nment-Educational communicatio n strategies to disseminate H[VIA[OS messages.
Furthermore, the study assesses target audience participation; both stations assessment of their programm e andschedulingofH[V/AIDSawarenessmessages. Finally, it attempt sto singleout the challenges that both stations encounter in designing messages for combat ing H[V/AID in their respectivecommunities.
VIII
Section I
1. Introduction
It is certain that communication is extre me ly import ant forall human bein gs.It enables them to updatetheirknowled ge abo utevents unfoldingaround the world. With the proli feration of modem communica tion techn ologies, mass communication is becoming a more integra l part of our life than ever before . It goes witho ut saying that mankind has reache d the period in which it is virtually impossibl e to live withoutthe information we get thro ugh medi a out lets.
In this spi rit, radi o is more easily accessed and used mass media than other media outlets owing to its easy ava ilability,portability andaffordabi lity. It is also a medium through which broad caster s and audien ces share educa tionaland cultural in formation andentertainme nt.One of the burning issues which radi o is used to disseminate info rma tio n abo ut is the pand emi c I-1IVIAIDS .
Scho lars are mak ing trem endou s efforts to devise effective communicat ion strategies that could contribute toward s the prom oti on of a healthi er life with a full understanding of I-1IV/AID S amo ng individu als in society. Such strategies should, however , be based on a sound theory that is flexibl e enough for application in different regional and cultura lcontex ts (Airhihe nbuwa and Obeg onm, 2000). Taking this into cons ide ration, health institution s and other organiza tions are linking them selves with med ia institutions to disseminate educa tional programmes abo ut I-1IV/AI DS to the wider society. Media owners are also expected not only to give ample time for suc h programm es but also to design a well-foc usse d com munication stra tegy to achieve the intend ed resul t. "Strategies are the practica l expression ofgoals and objectives and invol ve the step tobe taken to achieve the desiredresults" (Parker, Dalrymple
& Durden , 1998: 8).
Curre nt ly,communicat ion scho lars like Sinhgal and Rogers (1999) and Colema n(1999) give due emphasis to the use of Enterta inme nt-Ed uca tio n (EE) as an efficient and effec tive comm unication strategy for socialchange toachi eve sustainab le developm entand a better life in societies . To this effec t, if EE communication strategies are implem en ted in a systema tic mann er, design ed along with theory-based messages, forma tive research and othe r necessary
elements, it can be a power ful influencing device to change audiences' knowledge, attitude and beha viour with regard to educationa l issues (Singhal, 1999). In othe r words, "EE (Edutainment) is a strategic process to design and implem ent a communication form with both entertainme nt and educa tionelements to enhance and facilitate socialchange" (Coleman,
1999:76).
To bring about social and behavioural changes among people toward the HIV/AID S pandemi c, there needs to be effective, integrated communication with other commitme nt of the whole society. In this contex t, the study deals with two-radi o stations, Radio Ukhozi FM (fly-hi gh) in Kwa Zulu- Natal , South Africa, and Radi o Dimtsi-Hafash (Voice of the Masses) in Eritrea. The major objectives are:
• To investigate the nature of communica tion, specifically, whether it can be classified as "edutainment";
• To explore the problem s which these two radios face In the impleme ntation of 'edutainme nt';
• To assess whethe r target audie nces (as members of the society) get access to parti cipatein producin gthemessagesto comba t HIV/AID S viathese radi os;
• To identi fy how the producers frame and produce the messages used about HIV/AID S.
To achi eve these objectives, the research was approached first with a brie f overview of the HIV/AID S status in South Africa and Eritrea. Secondly, communication with its functi ons and distin cti ve features, and radios as mass commu nica tion was discu ssed . Thirdly, a brief account of radio Ukhozi FM in South Africa and radio Dimtsi Hafash in Eritrea was provided . Fourthly, the meth odology used in collecting data and the discussio n of the case studies ofboth radi o stations was presented. Finally, the conclusion reitera ted the findings derived from both case studies.
Further, it would be important to assess the impact of the messages tran smitted to target aud iences of the two radi o stations. However, owing to the amount of work that is requi red, this eleme nt is not included.
1.2. HIV /AIDS Status Worldwide
The sweeping spread ofHIVIAIDS in the world isbecoming critica land a serio us worldwide conce rn. The primary vic tims ofthis epidemic fall in the Sub -Sa ha ra n Africa n countries in which South Africa and Eritrea are located . Nume rica lly, 29.4 million outofthe 42 million peopl e livin gwith HIVIAIDS in the world are live in this region (WHO and UNAIDS,2002).
Hen ce forth,the research er is go ing to present HIV/AID S condition in both South Africaand Eritrea.
1.2.1. An overview of HIV/AIDS Status in South Africa
The first two cases of AIDS were identi fied in South Africa in 1982 (Whites ide & Sunter, 2000:47 ). It is estimated that about 4.74 million peopl e betw een the ages of 15-49 are HIV infected in South Africa. Amon gthese, abo ut2.62 million are wome nandabout 2.09 million are men (De pa rtme nt of Health, 2001). KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has the high est profile of HIV/AID S infecti on in South Africa with 32.5% of infected peopl e (Whites ide & Sunter, 2000:7 1).
Accord ing totheNel sonMandelal HSR C study of HIVIAIDS (2002), ther eare several fact ors which cause and hasten HIV infection in South Africa. Some of these factors are the low socialstatus of wom en and theirdep enden ce on men;pover ty ;male and fema le circ umc ision whic h is practi ced amo ng vario us cultura l groups; ind igen ou s healin g practices; unsafe sex; stigma; deni al and discriminati on ; lack of awareness of HIV/AI DS tran smi ssion ; pervasi ve sexua l harassm ent and rape. Moreover , the superstitious beli e f held by some peopl e that havin g sex ua l interc ourse with children helps prevent HIVIAIDS can be added to the lists mentioned above. Actually, these fact ors have subjected wom en in particular , to HIV infecti on as well as to other sexua lly tran smitted diseases (STDs) (Parke r, Dalrympl e and Durden , 1998). Argua bly, the phen om en on seems the same throu gh out the country including KwaZulu-Natal , whe re theradio station under analysisis situated.
It is certa in that to address the issue of HIVIAIDS effective ly and to inc rease public awaren ess, a coord ina ted, integrated effort is need ed fro m all governme nt secto rs, NGOs,
health and medi a institution s in the country, witha closer link to intern ation al organizations.
Unlike othe r countries in Africa, South Africa has a highl y developed communicati on infrastructure. Despit e this fact, as a whole "HIY/AIDS campaigns in South Africa have placed a stro ng emphas is onsexual risk andonyouth, with less emphas is onaspec ts ofsexual beh aviors suc h as abs tinence. Yery little attention has beenpaid to non-sexual aspects ofHIY response, suc h as care provisi on and stigma reductio n or social mobili zati on" (Ne lson Mande la/HS RC, 2002).In this case, it is highly impo rtant to exp loit the popular massmedi a institution s as they have an unparalleled contrib ution in educa ting the public and increasin g their awareness of HIY/AIDS . Despite the limitations and deficien cies listed above, some of the programmes produced by developm ental agencies and non-governmental organizations such as Soul City and Love Life, have played significant roles in enhanc ing people' s perc epti on of HIY/AIDS in South Africa (Soul City, 200I). Wha t the communication strateg ies of the above orga niza tions make more effective is the way they incorp orate both entertai nme ntandeducatio n inan interesting and effective way.As a conseq ue nce, thepublic awareness on HIY/AIDS is increa sin g greatly in SouthAfrica (SoulCity, 200I).
1.2.2. An overview of HIV/AIDS status in Eritrea
Eritrea, a country of3.5 million peopl e, is fou nd in Saha le-Sa hara whe re the sprea d ofHIY/
AIDS is very high. The existing prevalence of HIY infection in the genera l popul ati on is around 3%. According to the data found from the Ministry of Health - (MO l-I) - (2002), HIY/AIDS caseshavebeen increasing since 1988.In 2001 the sprea dofHIY/AIDS rose from 8 cases in 1988 to over 13,500 cases and curre ntly, the tota l number of infec ted peopl e is 15,69 8. Eighty-seve n perc ent(87%) of thesecases were between the ages of15-49 years.The peak age for males is bet ween 25-34 and for fema les is between 20-29 years. Further , It is estima ted that approx ima te ly60,000-70,000 Eritreans are curre ntly infected with HIY,which could increa se sign ifica ntly in the coming few years (MOH, 2002:20).
In Eritrea, altho ugh in most instan ces HIY in fecti on is transmitted by hete rosexu al sex, it is also spread from moth er to chi ld, thro ugh tradit ional skin piercin g and cutting instruments, such as razors, scisso rs and knives (MO H, 2002 ). Furthe r, the bord er conflict with Ethiop ia, mobilizati on of youth into nati onal services and the low literacy levels ofthe society are also crea ting conducive conditions for the rapid spread ofHIY infecti on.The re is also a fear that
in the future, dem obili sin g soldiers may bring high rates of infec tio n to the fam ily and the comm unity(MO H, 2002 ).
Toda y, it is evide nt that in many develop ing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, wome n are highl y exposed to HIV infecti on owing to social norm s and economic factors.
Since Eritrea is adeveloping nat ion , there is much concern ofHIV spread ingamo ng females.
This isdem on strated by the followin gquote :
Social and cultural norm s put girls and young wome n at greater risk to HIV infecti on than boys and men, as they lack control over economic resources and retain low er socialandeduca tional status .Fear ofphysical violence limit s theircontroloversexual enco unters. The threat of rape, dom estic viole nce, and occasiona l abando nme ntcreate difficulties for wome n tryin g to initiate orsustain discussions on safe sex and condo m use. In additio n, many wome n, who are in monogam ous relationships, do not suspec t that they are at risk of infection and thus do not tak e the necessary precauti on s(UN- OCH A,2002).
Sim ilarly, campa igns carried out by the Information, Educa tion and Communication Dep artment(lEC)in the Ministry of Health,indicatethat manypeopl e, especiallythose inthe rural areas (75% of the popul ation ) do not have a correct understan din g oftran smi ssion , the differen ces betw een HIV and AIDS, and other facts of mY/AIDS (Grube r, 2001 ).
Stigm ati sationof HIV infectedpeopl eisalso oneof the reasonsforthe spread of HIV/AIDS.
As onecansee from the above brief account,the statusof HIV/AIDS inbothcountriesseems alarminglyon the rise. Amo ng the genera l popul ation,about4.74 million outof 45 million in South Africa and abo ut 70,000 outof 3.5million in Eritrea are HIV/AID S infected. Majority of these HIV/AIDS infected peopl e are young men andwome n bet ween the age of15and 49. Asmatterof fact these form theproduct ivepartof the society in both countries.Further, these figur es and age group sindicat e theurgent need of aneffective com m unication interventi on to prevent thehigh sprea dof HIV/AIDS.
Section II
It is a matter of fact that communication has a long history, though mass communication through electronic media are recent phenomena in the world. One of the major issues this paper deals with is communication in forms of EE. In this section of the paper,the researcher provides a brief definition of communication and mass communication along with its distinctive features and functions. Attempts are also made to discuss radio as a mass communication medium and to offer some criticism of it.
2.1. What is Communication?
There is no single definition to the word communication as there are many different approaches to the subject. Hence, the definition of 'communication ' differs according to perspectives provided by different theorists. For example, in the scientific study of communication there are two different perspectives with regard to communication: technical view and meaning-centred view (Steinberg, 1995). According to the technical view, communication refers to the sending and receiving of messages or the transmission of information from one person to another (Steinberg, 1995 and Du Plooy, 1997: 12). On the other hand, the meaning-centred view perceives communication as a dynamic process of exchanging meaningful messages among communicators (Steinberg, 1995: 13).
Mass communication, specifically, can be seen as a "process of delivering information, ideas and attitudes to a sizable and diversified audience through a medium developed for that purpose" (Ault & Emery 1988 cited in Du plooy, 1997: 127). Mass communication is different from other types of communication patterns because it provides little or no opportunity to
!,
interact directly (face-to-face) with feedback to the communicators. This is also considered as one disadvantage of the mass communication. Further, although the effects and functions of mass communication can be different, according to the functionalist point view (Lasswell, 1948:220-230; Wright, 1960: 610-613) and Steinberg, 1995:186-187) it provides five important functions for the society.These are:
•
•
•
•
•
Surveillance func tion: asthe source of information and news;
Correlation func tion: med ia presents the information to the ir audiencesafter the process of selec ting,interpreting,andcriticising contents;
Cultura l tran smi ssion func tion: the role of the media as vehic les of beliefs,rules, values,and norm s of the society;
Enterta inme nt function : the role of the media In presenting messages, whic h provid e escapismand relation s;
Mobilizati on functi on: the media funct ion of prom otin g society's interest espec ially in times of crisis.
2.2. Di stinctive features of mass communication
Mass communica tion has basic distinctive characteristics. Unlike interpersonal communica tio n,it is very a complex form of interaction. It is "the ins tit utio na lised produ ction and gene ralize ddiffus ion of symbolic goods via the fixationand transmission of information or symbo lic content" (Tho mpso n, 1995: 26). Unlike the other type of communication, it is highl y medi ated communica tio n that invol ves the use of a complex techn ology such as elec tro nic and print medi a to multiply messages and tran smit them to large numbers of recipi ents simultaneo usly (Ste inbe rg, 1995). The adva ntages of modes of mass comm unica tion arethat the sender cancommunicate with multitudes ofrecei vers at the same time over longdistan ces,which is abse nt in interp ersonal comm unication(Crise ll, 1986).
On the othe r hand, in mass communicat ion, the context under whic h message s are produ ced and tran smitted is different from the context of receptio n. This imp lies recei vers of the message that inclu de a large and diversified audience arenot personally fam iliarto eachother, or even to the communicators. Unlike interpersonal communication, in mass communication there is no face-to-face interaction. Immed iate feedback is limi ted to the use of telephone, email or letters. In spite of this fact, mass communication has a significant contr ibution to educ ating and inform ing society abo ut various aspects of life. If mass communica tion is exploite d properly, it may be highl y potent to bring positive social, politi cal, economic or cultural cha nges in a society. At this point, radio as mass communication medium, plays a
great role in transmitting messages to large aud iences especially III develop ing and underdeveloped countries.
2.3. Radio as a mass communication medium
Radi ohas anostens ible interp ersonaldirectn ess, whic h is priva teand intimate. The twenti eth century herald ed the era of electro nic media, and radio is very much a child of th is century. Indeed, it is virtually impossibl e to imagine our world witho ut the companio nship ofthis flexible med ium (Teer-Tomaselli& de Villiers,
1998:147).
Radi o is a blind med ium in which its aud iences listen to the noises and silence of the messages only (Crise ll, 1986). Radio works throu gh stim ula ting the imagin ation as the listen er attempts to visualise wha t he or she hear s and to create the owner ofthe voice in the mind' s eyes (Teer-To maselli& de Vill iers, 1998). In this sense, fictional imagina tion mustbe establis hed very well by creating contex ts ofthe messages in orde r to assist the listen ers in understanding the message well. The reliance on transm itted inform ation makes audiences conce ntrate onthe symbo lic words ofmouthandcontex tua lise meani ngs.
Radi o offers several adva ntages over the "big" media of television and film, espec ially in developing countries (Schramm, 1977 ). Since itis a flexible andeasily tran sport abl emedium, radio gives more freedo m to listen ers to perform other activities while they are listening (Crise ll, 1986). Compare d to other types of mass media, radio is an intima te mean s of comm unicat ion becau se listen er s can listen to messages very easily witho ut investing great effort. As amassmed ium ,it isalso very powerfulingenerating discu ssions amo ngcitize nsas well as between citize ns and decision-mak ers, such as politicians, adm inistra tors and other influenti al individu als in a society . Unlike the other mass media programm ing, radio programming can beprodu ced cheap ly, quickly,andmessages can betail oredto specific local need s(Pop ulation Reports, 1986 cited inRogers andSingha l, 1999:122).
Desp ite the significa nt roles of radio, there are some criticisms associate d with it. Messages throu gh radi o are tem porary as theyare transmitted at specific times ina specific programme.
Hen ce, altho ugh they are capab le of being repeated, accessing the informa tion repea tedly at
anytime,like print media,maynot bepossibl e unlessthey are record ed on tapes. Similarly,if the messages are not interesting, audiences can tum the radi o off to avoid listening. Teer- Toma selli & de Villier s (1998: 152)identi fy some disad vant ages ofradio asthe foll owing:
Radio is transient. A disad vantage of radio is that it leaves no trace.1f one misses a particular programme, there is no way of retri eving it, unless one has a radio with a tape recorder and has switched this on to record spec ific programmes. For this reason , news bulletins are scheduled at regular intervals , while particularly popular programmes may have two or more airings at different times during the week to reach as many listenerspossible.
As explained earlier in this chapter, radio is one of the old communication channe ls commonly used as a vehicle for surve illance, cultura l tran smi ssion , and entertainment, correlation and mobilisation functions. It was also observed that radio has some disad vantages. Notwithstanding the disad vant ages, radio can be conside red as an effective tool in bringing beha vioural changes amo ng member s of a society by raising their awareness of issues, which directly impinge on their life, such as HIV/AIDS. As appliedto the function of the E-Ecomm unicationstrategy, radioispotent andcould play a significant role in informing, educatingand entertaining,hereb y mobili sing audienc es towards the desired outcome. Rogers and Singha l (1999:150) elabora te on the significance and application of radio in educatingpeopl ethroughentertainme nt:
Radio uniquely reaches low-income and less educated people, who have the highest fertility, the greatest risk of AIDS, and, more gene rally, whose lives are plagued by social problem sthat entertainment- edu cation canallev iate. Radio isnot as glamorous as television , and it appeal s only to one's sense of hearing. But it is more portable than television (for instance,it can be carried to agricultural fields) and one can listen to radio while doin g some thing else. Unlike television, which depend s on the availabili ty of central-station electricity, radi o can be battery operated .
Communicators and educa tors have been exploiting radio to disseminate EE message s for encouraging positive individu al as well as societal behavioural changes. Besid es, EE radio is a powerful form of communication that motivates while entertaining, creates bonds among
comm unity members,and sets a societalagenda, whi letelling a story peoplewant tohear (De Fossard, 1996). This also engages listeners ' emo tions thro ugh informing them new ideasand beha vioursthat can improvetheir lives at individu al andcommunity levels.
Altho ugh it is difficult to speci fica lly define communica tio n, In a genera l sense comm unication can be stated as transmi ssion ofinform ation from one person to anoth er to excha ng ing messages amo ng comm unicators (Steinberg, 1995 and du Plooy, 1997).
Altema tive ly, mass communica tion is a process of providing information , ideas and attitudes from sources such as radi o to diversified audiences. It is different from othe r types of communica tion in the sense that there is no face-to-face interac tio n between sender and recei ver ofthe messages. Toda y, radio is one of the mass communica tions that is used to disseminate informationandeduca tion to audiences in any part ofthe world . Radiois cheaply priced, port abl e and easy available. Radio is thus conside red the best and highl y used mass medi a, whe ncompared to othe r mass media suchas television .
Section III
In doing research, one of the most important points which scholars give due emphasis, is the use of conceptual and theoretical frameworks. This is because they guide the research to a better focus. Today, in communication that is targeted for social change, there are several communication theories, which have been used by many communication scholars. This study is based on two conceptual and theoretical frameworks: Entertainment-Education, commonly called EE, and the participatory communication approach. These frameworks are used to examine Ukhozi FM and Dimitsi-Hafash's communication strategy to convey the facts about prevention of HIY/AIDS. In the following few pages, the researcher presents the arguments on Entertainment-Education and participatory communication strategies.
3.1. Entertainment-Educational as a communication strategy
In the past, there was a belief that mass media programmes should be either entertaining or educational (Fischer& Melnik, 1979; Singhal& Rogers, 1989a and Singhal & Rogers 1999).
With the advent of EE communication strategy, controversies revolve around the dichotomous nature of EE posing the problem that one may not impart knowledge while entertaining. Impossible or impractical though it may seem, the application of EE in educational settings is more effective when used in combination with rather than without entertainment. This dissemination of educational information through entertainment is known as Entertainment-Education, enter-educate, edutainment, or infotainment (Singhal & Rogers, 1999: 9).
The prominent scholars Singhal & Rogers (1999: 9) define EE as "the process of purposely designing and implementing a media message both to entertain and educate, in order to increase audience members' knowledge about an educational issue, create favourable attitudes, and change overt behaviour". The core emphasis of EE is to integrate both educational as well as emotional aspects of humankind to promote positive behaviour in society so as to contribute toward direct social change to achieve development (Singhal &
Rogers, 1999:9). This is because of the strong belief that messages disseminated via EE can influence audience awareness, attitudes and behaviours toward socially desirable ends as well
as create the necessary conditions for social change in extem al environment at the group or system level (Singha l& Rogers , 1999 and Waisbord ,2001 ).
EE communication strategy grew out of recogniti on of two undesirabl e trends in the contemporary mass media programming. These trends are entertainment-degradation and boredom-educational programming (Singhal & Roger s, 1999). As many scholars, like Rosen gren (1994); Singhal & Roger s (1999) and Jones (1999) explain plainly, in entertainment-degradation the media portrays extens ive sex and vio lence related entertainment that in tum has negative effects on social behaviour in a society, principally among children and adolescents. In thistype ofentertainme nt themain emphas is ison how to mak e the entertainme nt attracti ve. In this way pro-social values are degraded to achieve higher audienc e ratingand great profits. The harmful and antisocial effect ofentertainme nt in the media is not given much consideration.Similarly, in boredom-edu cational programming, the educators presenttheeducation system in non- en gagin g sty les (Singhal & Rogers, 1999). This means students and societies arepro vided with lots of inform ati on witho ut creating some amusem ent to relaxthemind. At thisjunction E-E hastherefor ebeen created to overcome and heal the limitations ofentertainme nt-deg radationand boredom-education programmes so that programming may be socially responsibl e and comme rcially profitable (Singhal & Rogers , 1999). In other words, E-E is a blend of enterta inme nt and education aimed at achie ving positi ve social change.
Although EEisa new concept in this contemporary world, it iscurre ntly becoming a popular communication strategy for disseminatin g messages that are meant to bring behavioural changes within the soc iety (Sing hal & Rogers, 1999 and Bosch & Ogada, 2000).People use EE to "teach the basic social skills and cultura l values" (Colema n, 1999). To achieve the desired objectives, EE employ popular media , such as television ,radio, print and small media like billboards,books,posters with different medi a genres; suc h as series and serial dramas, soap opera s,talk shows and other s. These popular med ia and medi a formats help to transmit the desir ed message to the target audiences in an inform at ive and entertaining way, as they can reach, engage and attract target audience more eas ily. In fact, this widely usable format makes EE potentially a powerful strategy for effective communica tion to tackle social problem sand promotepro-soci alacti vities (Singha l& Rogers, 1999).
Communication scholars are designin g EE interventi on s around the world for very spec ific local audiences. Othe rs work broadl y at anat ional level, or may gobeyond anati onal level to include a broader cultural space in order to enrich peopl e with inform ati on and knowledge (Signal& Rogers, 1999). For instan ce,the "SoulCity" EE campa ign reach eslargeparts of its target audience in South Africa and other counties of Southe rn Africa, suc h as Zimbabwe, Malaw i, Namibia and othe rs to address HIV/AID S, women abuse, violence and other social issues (SoulCity, 200I).
Furthermore, EE utilizes the popular cultures that are "highly involvin g, emo tionally engaging, continuall y involvin g, and inherentl y parti cip atory" (Servaes & Tho mas, 1999:342) . They also explain that EE is participatory in a sense that the re ispopul ar audience part icip ation at least during the message design phase and fan mail is sent to the broadcast statio n. Inother words, solon g as EE exploits the popular cultures appropriate lyandproperly, it can ha ve significa nt contribution to averting harm ful social practices such as vio lence, supe rstition, female circumc ision and dowry, dictatorial regimes and so on. EE canalso be a mean s to solve and address social probl em s suc h as "ethnic conflicts, environmental catas tro phes, infecti ous diseases, hunger and famine, and unsupported popul ation growth"
(Singha l&Rogers, 1999 :8).
Singha l & Rogers (1999:207 -2 15) further identi fy SIX major factors that determine the effec tive ness ofEE.These are :
•
•
•
•
•
Audie nce characteristics, which inclu de norms, values, and degrees of interperso na l inter conn ectedn ess and selective interpr etation of the messages amo ng tar get audie nces . In other words, programmes transmitted thro ugh vernac ular or conversationa l lan guage havetremend ous effectcompared to foreign languages.
The presence of celebrities and cha mpio ns, adequate funds or coope ration with variousorganiza tions and professionalsto assistthe various activities in theproj ect.
Presence of accessible and appro pr iate media environme nt that disseminate programmesto an intended audience.
Ade quate researchabout the programme andthe project.
Appro priate time and program m ing schedules for dissemi na ting the enterta inme nt- educa tion messages.
• Availability of adequate infras truct ure such as teleph one line, elec tricity, transportation , opinion gatheri ng desk and other facilities that can make the enterta inment-education programm emore effec tive
3.1.1. The role of research in Entertainment-Education programmes
In medi a study, theuse ofresearch is crucial to extend and broaden themedia operationsso as to meet educa tional and entertai nment dema nds. In other words, the use of forma tive and summa tive evaluation researches are very essential in designin g an effective EE comm unication inter venti on . According to Singha l and Rogers (1999:198), "Formative evaluationisconducted while an activity, process, or systemisbeingdeveloped oris ongoing to improve the effec tive ness as well as to form the communication messages". They further argue that forma tive evaluation research contributes to designin g effective EE messages.
Tufte (2002:40) also notes that formative research about diffe ren t subjec ts or about spec ific target audiences can sharpe n the design of EE becau se such resear ch "serves to make messages resonate with everyday life, norms, belief systems and compe tences of the audie nces and to make the narrative really entertaining and educa tio na l". By and large, form ati ve research is a guide line to defin e the scope ofthe problem , gather data on possibl e interventi on strateg ies, and learn abo ut the inten ded audience (Valente, 200I). It highli ght s possibl e factors that might limit programme implementation. It is also help ful to "evaluate effective ness of possible comm unicatio n channels and to learn abo ut audience beliefs, moti vation s, and percepti ons" (Valente,2001: I07). Allthese activities at the early stage of the inte rventi on helpimprovethe effectiveness of EE.
On the other hand, summa tive evaluatio n research in EE is helpful to identi fy whether an interve ntion has been releva nt, effective and appropriate to bring the desired changes at individu al, community or societal levels by measur ing the impactof programmes.Further, as Singhal& Roger s (200 2: 130-1 31), argue, summa tive research:
• Help stoassessaudience degree of expos ure and the behaviour change achieve dafter the dissemin ation of EE interventi on. This in tum help s the programmers to identify whether the desiredchanges are achieved or not.
• He lps to understand how often EE interventi on programmes prom ote interp ersonal communica tion amo ng audience mem bers such as spo uses, children, relati ves and
friends.
• Provid es an opportunity to trace the direct and indirec t effects oflisten ing EE radio, television and other medi aprogrammes.
• Help s us to under stand the EE effects broadl y at individu al , gro up and social level cha nges .
In conclusion,it is believed that more scholastic research contributes to understandhow, why and when EE programmes are more or less effec tive (Singha l & Rogers, 1999 ). It also minimizes the possibl e effects of anti-social messages that could be disseminated unintentionallywithin the EE programmes.
3.2. Participatory Communication
Arguably, the need for part icip atory communica tionarose outofthedesire to fill the gap left by the top-down and authority-dri ven nature of communica tio n, wh ich does not enco urage critical thinking and participation (Frei re, 1972).Parti cipatorycommuni cation isthe currently preferr ed academi c paradi gm in which de velopm ent is planned in conjunc tion with those comm unities who are supposed to be beneficiaries at grassroots level (Tomase lli, 2002 ). This model is based fundamentally on intera cti ve, participatory, bott om-lip, and two-way hori zontal type ofcommunication, at all levels of society to ena ble them to be their own agents (Me lko te, 1991 and Servaes, 1999). According to this parad igm , if the needed social changes are to be imminent , the target community should be the primary participant in the project or campaign meant for them . Moreover, it emphas ises the "impo rtance of cultural identi ty of social communities, dem ocrat isat ion and participa tion of targe t audience at all level s: the international,national ,local and individu al" (Servaes & Thomas, 1999: 88).These types of participation also imply that the communication planner s can have ben efit from the native people ' s wisdo m to come up with the best ideas, whic h help them solve social problem s suc h asHIV/AIDSand implem entdevelopm ent al projects or tasksat hand.
From a Freirean perspecti ve, educa tion and communication have to be part icip ati ve and recei ver- centred rather than top-down in order to help peopl e understand their enviro nme nt
(Melkote, 1991). This implies that communica tion for social cha nge sho uld incorporate dialogical approaches in which active grass roo ts particip ation of the target audienc e will be the centra l principl e. This in turn highli ght s the importance of 'social contex t' in which
"community-based formsof communication such as songs, theatr es, radios, vide os , and other activities that require gro up interventi on will be prom oted " (Waisbord,2001:7).By and large, Servaes (1999) also argues that the value of such parti cipatory medi a is not only in being a device of transm ission but also a mean of comm unication forexchange ofviews byinvol vin g community membersin theprocess of communication.
There are two different approaches revolvin g around parti cipatory communication theory . These are the dialogical peda gogy of Paulo Freire and the idea of access, participation and self-manage me nt expr essed in the UNESCOdebatesin the 1970s. These are asfollo ws.
• Dialogical pedagogy ofFre ire insists that subj ugated peopl e must be treated as fully human subjects in any political process. This implies dialogical comm unication with respect to the other peopl e with equal access of particip ation to solve the problem, which affect s eac h individu al. This not ion of dialogical communica tion is participatory communication.
• Access refer s to the use of med ia for public service In terms of the oppo rtunities available to the public to choose varied and relevant programs to have a mean s of feedback to transmititsreacti on and demand to the produ cti on organiza tion.
• Participation impliesa higher level of publicinvo lve me nt incommunication systems.
It includes the involvem ent of the public in the process and also in the managem ent and planningof communicationsystems.
• Self-manage ment is the most advan ced form of participation .In this case, the public exerc ises power of decision-makin g within communica tion enterp rises and is also fully invol ved in the formulation of com munication policies and plans. (Be rrigan, 1977 ,19 79 ;Lewi s, 1993and Husband , 1994 cited inServaes, 1999: 84- 85)
The challenge for HIV/AIDS is to develop a social movem ent that invol ves whole comm unities and as man y sectors of the society as possible (Parker, Dalrymple & Durden , 1998). In other words, no spread of HIV/AIDS can be controlled unless beha viour change occ ursamo ng the target groups . In this case, the adva ntageofparticipatory comm unication is
apparent in fighting HIV/AIDS as it focuses on active social participation within the target society to achieve social goal (Servaes & Thomas, 1999). This means that the participatory communication model allows recipients to participate in the discu ssion about the behaviours, modes of transmission and prevention of HIV. This could also enable them to have mutual understandingsabout the disease.In addition to this,participatory communication approaches also allow representati vesof the target audience to shape messag es in a waythat isrelevant to the way that they conceptualise ideas applicable to the context within which they live (Parker, Dalrymple & Durden, 1998). It can also help the communication planner to deviseeffective communication strategies that can solve the problem from the target audience perspective.
This enables policy makers to identify the exact need s from the target audience via this method.
In the contemporary world, EE communication strateg ies and participatory communication are recent phenomena. EE is a communicati on strategy which has been used to address messages across target communities to bring behaviour changes in order to achieve the intended results. EE messages are disseminated through different media such as television, radio, other electronic media and print media to teach target communities. Unlike other entertainment, in EE, message saredeveloped through extensive research in order to identify and address the needed social issue as much as possible.In fact, this extensive researchdone to produce the message, makes EE distincti ve from other entertainme nt formats. However , participatory communication is the currently preferred paradigm which allows society to participate in things that concern them , such asdevelopm ent issuesand other social acti vities.
Further, as Melkote (1991) and Servaes (1999) put it, this model is an interactive, participatory, bottom-up, and two-way horizontal type of communication, at all levels of society to enable the target society to be theirownagents.
Section IV
It isquite true that thehistory ofradi obroad casting in SouthAfrica and Eritre a isdifferentas the ir geographica l and histori cal backgroun d is different. Radio broadcasting began much earlie r in South Africa than in Eritrea. But, one ofthe main emphases of this research is to assess how far these radios are used to tackl e HIV/AID S by employ ing EE communication strateg ies . In this matter , the research er will prov ide a brief overview of radio Ukhozi FM and Dimitsi-Hafashso that thereader can have a genera l picture ofboth radio statio ns.
4.1. UkhoziFM in South Africa
In South Africa, radio broadcastin g has a long history. Rosenthall (1974) traces the establishme nt of the radi o station back to 1923, when the governme nt called for licence applications for carryingout offic ial broadca stin g in South Africa (cited inTeer-Tomase lli &
De villiers, 1998:153 ). Rosenthall furt he r mentions that in August 1936, the South Africa n Broad ca stin g Corporation (SABC) began to ope rate. "At the beginning of 1996, the SABC broadcast 22 regional and nati onal radi o services in different languages. Eleve n of these were...meant to offera full ran ge of programming genres :info rma tio n-news, actuality, spo rts programs, discu ssion shows; entertainment-music, requ est program s, quizzes, novel reading and drama- and educa tion-bo th form al and non- form al" (Teer-Tomaselli & Tomaselli, 200I: 126-1 27). Ukhozi FM, which broad casts in isiZulu lan guage, is one ofthe SABC owned public broadcastin gradio stations.
Radio is an important and widely used medium as a main source of information in South Africa becau se it is easily accessible in comparison to print and television media. Many peopl e in South Africa n are illiterate and are more dep end ent on rad io than on print and Telev ision. This is because televi sion is expe nsive, while newspaper demands literacy from audie nces. With regard to listen ership, the AMPS research (1995) ind icates that 23 million peopl e (49 percent of the adult popul ation) listen to radio daily (cited in Teer- Tomaselli, 2000 ). In othe r words, the figur e implies the high importa nce ofradio in South Africa for disseminatin ginformation,educa tionaland developm ental issues.
Radi o Uk hoziFM, formerly know nas Radio Bantuand Radio Zulu,respectively, had its first broadc ast in IsiZulu langua ge from Joh ann esbu rg in 194 2 and from Durban in 1963 (Anne, April2003). This radio station is the largest radio station in South Africa, and in the southern hemi sph ere, as well. It isconsid ered a dynamic radio station in Kwa Zulu-Natal as it reach es even those in remo te part s of the province '. Today Uk hoz i FM, which broadcasts for 24 hours in IsiZulu lan gua ge, has about 30 staff mem bers. Its main target audience are peopl e who speak the Zulu lan guage. Rece ntly,the stationhad installed new transmitter networks to reach its target audien ce in the rem ote area s of Nqutu and Qude ni regions. It has abo ut 6,000,000 listener s.This makes Uk hozi FM2the radio stat ionwith the largest listenership in South Africa.Further , Uk hozi FM also hasmobil e Outside Broadcastin g Vans for off-stud io transmi ssion s.This provid esinform ation andentertainment to the listeners whoare in rem ote town ships and rural areas.
Curre ntly, Uk hozi FM tran smits various programm esto prom ote health y lifestyles within its target society. It pro vides different mixtur es that focus on"business, news& curre nt affairs, farming, educa tion,spo rt,wome n'smagazin e, music, listenersforum,drama, culture, politi cs, health , lover ' sparadi se, youth talk showsand othe rsprogrammes',To enrich itsprogrammes, Uk hozi FM works closely with differen t institutions in South Africa, suc h as regional administrati onsand health departments.In this case, itoffers informa tion that hasrelevanceto the society. UkhoziFMfurther provides religio us programmes to stre ngthen the spiritual and moral fibre ofthe society.
4.1.2. Overview of Radio Dimitsi-Hafash
Eritrea, whic h got its indep end en ce fro m Ethiopianoccupation in 1991,is located in the hom of Africa. The history of mass comm unication in Eritrea can be traced to the Italian occupation of Eritrea in World War II and late r on was followe d by Ethiopian colonialist power. During the Itali an occupa tion, there wasa radio station in Massawa(a port in Eritrea). Sim ilarly, after the defeat of the Italian s by the Allied Power s, the Ethiop ian regim e set a
UkhoziFM Website:http://www.ukhozifm.co.za/Ukhozi/Thokozani.htm).1 Ukhozi FM,Website)http://www.ukhozifm.co.za/Ukhozi/Ukhozi footprint.htm2 Ukhozi FM, Website)http://www.ukhozifm.co.zu/Ukhozi/Ukhozi footprint.htm3
radi o station in Asma ra, the capitalcity of Eritrea. This rad io station disseminated program s that promulgated unity with Ethiopia and underm inedthe struggle for liberation of Eritrea.
As a developing nati on , curre ntly radio broadcastin g is one ofthe most effective mean s of mass comm unication in Eritrea . According to the limited audience research conducted by the Ministry of Information (MOl) in 1998, 78% of Eritrean hou seh old s have radio recei ver s, compa red to television , which is not accessed by most Eritreans for econom ic reason s (MOl, 199 8:5). Furthe rmo re, underd eveloped infrastructure is still a roadbloc k to the establishme nt of diver sifi ed media operation. Curre ntly, the radio departme nt broad casts its programmes usin g tw o channe ls, Radi o 'Di mitsi-Hafash (the Voice ofthe Masses) and Radio Zara FM, which started its ope ration in 2002.
Dimitsi-Hafash, which is the subject under study, was established during the struggle for liberation in 1979 bythe Eritrea n People Libe rationFront (EPLF). At thebeginning,the main aim ofthisradi o stationwas to inform the society on the progress ofthe war and thepolitical developm ent that was tak ing place using different lan guages, such as Arabic, Tigrigna and other indigenouslangua ges . Based on the macro-p oli cy outlined bythe govern me nt,some of the major objectives ofthe radio station (Appen dix 1), which are related to this study at the present are:
• To provid e the public with news, timely inform ati on, entertai ning and enlightening programmes;
• To mobilizethepublicfor national reconstru cti on and development activities;
• To raise public aware ness and spread educa tiona l programmes in coope ration with various orga nisa tions, and ensure that more emphasis is give n;and,
• To provid eeducationalprogramm es.
According to the present struc ture of the Ministry ofInformat ion, the Departme nt of Radio pro vides different services and programm es for its target audiences using eleve n lan guages.
These are nine local and two fore ign languages for one hundred and forty-fo ur hours per week. Tigri gna , the focu s of the study, is among these nine local lan guages. In 2003, the Tigrigna dep artment oftheradi o station pro vid es various programmes three timesper day for 36 hoursper week.These programmes are documentaries, live interviews, law-related issues,
agriculture, trade and investment, commentary, news, current affairs, environmental issues, children's programmes, youth, music, healthcare, sport, education and other services (Appendix 2). Further, the Tigrigna Department of the radio station has thirteen staff members, excluding department heads and other staff that do not participate directly in these programmes.
South Africa has many radios station comparing to Eritrea and other countries in Africa.
Ukhozi FM is one of the radio stations in South Africa with largest audience. It target audience are people who speak the isiZulu language.This radio station disseminates different programmes such as culture, news, sport, music, dramas, programmes that are about HIV/AIDS and other programmes.On the other hand, radio Dimitsi-Hafash is the only radio station in Eritrea which disseminates information to its target audience using different languages. Radio Dimitsi-Hafash programme Tigringa is among those languages that are broadcast by the radio station. The main target audience of this programme are people who speak the Tigringa language. Further, the radio station through this programme broadcasts different programmes such as culture, development news, news, sport, drama, programmes that are related to HIVIAIDS and other current national and international events.
Section V
Thissection of the research paper deals mainly with the meth odology and case study ofboth radio stations. In the first part,the researcher presents the meth odol ogic al approach used for collect ing the data. The second part deals with the discuss ionofthedata found from the case study . Here, the researcher attempts to formulate the discu ssion around time scheduling, programm e repetiti on, targeting messages to specific audie nce, and the communication formatsusedin both radio stations .Attempts are also done to discusshowboth radio stations assess the effec tiveness of HIVIAIDS messages, links to other medi a and organizat ions, producer' s awareness of EE models of communicatio n, the use of research to produ ce messages and the challe nges that both radio stations face in designing messages of EE. Fina lly, he discusses whethe r Uk hozi FM and Dimisti-Hafash use EE formats that are produ ced by other countries by tran s-creat ion. The concl usion ofthe case study is presented in sectionsix ofthepaper.
5.1. Methodological approach to the study
Thereare twomain aims for this study.The first isto assess the communication strateg ies that both Uk hozi FM and Dimitsi-Hafash are utilizing to address the contentious issue of HIV/AID S and whether the natur e of communicatio n could be catego rized as an EE communica tion strategy . The second aim attemp ts to identify the role oftarget audiences as wellas the challenges communicators enco unte r to preparemessagesthat address HIVIAIDS issuesproperl y. Toachieve this goal, the researcher emp loye d qualit ativemethods of inquiry, spec ifically in-depth interviews with key inform ant s in the area of research and docum ent s.
Inter viewees were selected based on their relations with the HIVIAIDS programm es, such as message produ cti on , actin g in dramas and facilitating communicatio n. To identi fy these people, the researcher first contacted the manager for culture, magazine and religion in Uk hozi FM and the head of radio Dimitsi-Hafash 's progra mme Tigrigna. Based on their recommendation,theresearcher selected the interviewees and then conducted the interviews.
Ukhozi FM has staff of around thirty, who have different tasks in the station. Among these, the researcher conducted in-depth interv iews with two disc jockeys; a drama producti on
manager; a manager for culture, reli gion and magazin e and a public relati ons practiti oner in Ukhozi FM . Briefdiscu ssion s were also held withUkhozi FM's Outside Broadca st Manager, and the comm unication manager for SABe. These interviewees have direct and indirect relationswith the HIVIAIDS message dissemination programmes.The interview wasdoneat the Ukhozi FM radio station offices.
On the other hand, Dimitsi-Hafash has a spec ial unit called the Educa tiona l Desk. This unit has two scriptwriters who provide all the radio programmes with releva nt material on health issues to be broadcast. The re are also staff memb er s of Dimitsi-Hafash's Tigr igna chann el who write scripts abo ut HIVIAIDS and othe rhealth issues. The researcher conducted an in- depthintervi ew with both scriptwr iters in the Educa tiona l Desk, of who mone istheunit head.
The researcher also conducted interv iews with three staff memb er s ofthe radio stations . The staff particip ate in the fight against HIV/AID S directly as actors, readers, produ cers and scriptw riters. To get access to these peopl e, the researcher first discu ssed the issue with the radi o station manager who recommend edinterviewees.The interview was done in the library of the Ministryof Information .
With regard to the question s, the researcher first prepared semi-s truc ture d guiding quest ion s pertinent to the research questions under investigati on. Later on, depending on the guidin g question s and the actual discu ssion with the inte rviewees, the researcher conducted further interviewsbased on follow up question sthat were created. Since it was quite difficultto take notes in the discu ssion , the researcher rec orded most of the inter views after obtaining the con sent ofinterviewees.The researchertranscribed the interviews and then used them forthe discu ssion.
In additio n, the researcher also used some available docume nts on dram as as suppleme ntary to the discus sion in the intervi ew. This is because there were difficulti es in getting the most rele vant docum ents on HIVIAIDS inUkhoziFM.The researcher endeavo ured to give abrief discussion of the contents of the docum ent s such as drama s. He basicall y attempted to identify the setting, characteri sat ion and subject matter intended to be disseminated through both radi o stations.
5.2. Case study: Radio Ukhozi FM and Radio Dimitsi-Hafash
5.2.l.Time scheduling and programme repetition
5.2.1.1. Time scheduling
The effects of EE can be increased throu gh appropriate pre-programme publicity and programme sche duling (Roger s and Singha l, 1999:211 ). In othe r words, selecting an appropr iate time can increase audience exposure to the EEprogrammes. "Scheduling refersto the practice ofcoordinating the tempo of formats to comp leme nt listeners activities" (Fourie, 2001:412 ). According to Hyde (1995:250 ) and John son & Jones (1978 :140 - 14 1), there are five specific broad cast times that are related to the listeners activities (cited in Fourie, 200I :412). They areas follows:
• The morningdrive times (06:00 -10:00) in whic h listen ers get up prep are for workor schoo landare in transit.
• Midday (10:00 - 16:00) in which most people are at work, hen ce the need for information isless important.
• The afternoo n drivetime (16:00- 19:00)in which chi ldre ncome hom e from schoo land wor kers drive hom ehen cethe atmos phereis somewha t morerelaxed.
• Thenight time (19:00-00:00) inwhichaudie nces tend todecline andopt for television as enterta inme nt.
• Overnight(00:00-06:00) in which audiences are at theirlowest listeningtime.
Genera lly, there are no spec ific days in whic h HIY/AIDS programmes tran smit to target audiences in Ukhoz iFM. However, spec ific days are set whe n the governme nt or ministers address listen ers on HIY/AIDS. Apa rt from this, whenever disc jockeys and dram aproducers get any topic or issues that relat e to HIY/AID S, they disseminate them in order to alert listen ers to the subject. On the other hand, when they are to broadcast HIY/AID S related inform ation , the programm ers attempt to choose tim es which they think appro priate and conve nient to the listen ers. That is, they disseminate inform ation abo ut J-IIY/AIDS mostly in the morning fro m 06:00-09 :00. This is the time when listeners get up, prep are for work or
schoo l andare intransi tas Hyde (1995) and Johnson & Jones (1978) charac terized it. Hence most of them may not have their full atte ntion on the message. In the evening, HIV/AID S related programm es are broadcasted between 16:00 - 21 :00. During this time listeners are highlyattenti ve to their radio as Hyde (1995), Johnson & Jones (1978) explain.Forexample, if a programme isdesigned for youth, it isnormally scheduled at 16:00 or 16:30. This time is chara cterized as relaxation time in which listeners such as children come home from schoo l and worke rs drive hom e. This could be also interpreted as the conve nient prime time of listeners tofoll ow theprogrammes. If the message is especially for women,and other people who are at work, it is disseminated between 09:00-12:00 .Most dramas are broadcast during thistime. The need for inform ation is also very little during this time as most ofpeople are at work . Moreover, conce rning drama s, their attempt is to dissemin ate at the peak hour whe n people havetime to listen . Further, Ukhozi FMtries to disse minate HIV/AID Smessages with outgiving much regard to timing.
Apa rt from the spot,which dissemi nates after news every day, Dimitsi-Hafash dissemin ates health rela ted programm es two days a week on Monday and Wednesday . On Monda y, it always dissemin ates HIV/AID S inform ation at about 07:15 in the mornin g and 20:30 in the evening. This means that one message is broadcast two times per day. The mornin g time is cons idere d the rush hour where workers are rushing to work and stude nts to schoo l. While evening time is considered free time where in workers and stude nts are at home. On Wednes day, the radio station disseminates other health issues such as malaria and Tuberculosis. Sometimes thetalk show is alsodone duringthisday.
The programmers in the radi o station have chose nthis time because they believe that people who missthe message in themornin g can getchance to listen it in the evening. Forexample, farme rsand most workersare free andin their homes in the morn ing andevenings .They then get achance to listen to the message ofHIV/AID Sand get inform ed . Converse ly, "duringthe midday everybo dy is busy to do his/her work hence they cannot listen it" (Zewede, personal inter view,2003 ). In fac t, the radi o station finds their HIV/AID S timings appropriate for they donot receive anycomplaintfrom listeners.
5.2.1.2. Programme repetition
Apart from the appropria te time scheduling, "repetition of an entertainment-educational messageincreases its educationa leffects. Theeffectof one-shotexpos ure to a communication message is typicall y minimal" (Singhal & Rogers, 1999 :211 ). Massive expos ure to the EE messages enables individual s to store them in their lon g-term mem ory. In this case, it is possible to argue that EE messages have high probabil ity to effect increasing behaviour change, particul arly if the messages are repeated in multiple forms integratin g with other media .
There is genera lagree ment that repeati ng HlY/AI DSmessages are helpfulbecau seit provides an opportunity for listeners who miss the programm e to listen to it. "We repeat them at the same day. We play them during the mornin g and then repeat them during evening becau se some people are working at night and some people are during the day. So we play duringthe day and repeat them during the evening, mostly, during the evening" (Maphalala, personal inter view, 2003). Despit e this fact, the same messages about HlY/AIDS are not repeated on other days because the radio station has enough available scripts and material to be dissemin ated.
On the other hand, Dimitsi-Hafash repeat s the messages against HlY/AID S twice on the same day. Excluding the almost daily spots that last for three minutes on average after the news. This mean s the message which is broadcast in the morn ing is repeated mostly in the eveningbut rarelyat midday.The reason forthis isto give more opportunities forpeople who do not listen or missthemessage in the mornin gtolisten to it in the evening.Apart from this, becau se of enough available material, similarities of the message content and to avoid boredom ,theyprefer to repeat the messagesin differentways with equivalent ideas.Recentl y however, with the advent of radio Zara FM, if the message is very important and target audience requests repetiti on, they repeat it on Radi o Zara FM. This is done very rarely as someof the intervieweesmenti oned. Mostofthe time messages are repeated when theyhave ashortage of material.
5.2.2. Targeting the message to specific audience
In the communication campaign for social changes, attaining atte ntio n to messages and reaching audie nces effec tive ly are some of the problems. To avoid such probl em s, target audience spec ification is among the major factors that sho uld be cons ide red in orde r to achieve the intended objectives. For example, a comm unicat ion campaign might catego rise the popul at ion in terms ofage, sex, ethn icity, social class, marital status, values, personali ty charac teristics and social contex ts in gene ral (Singha l & Rogers, 1999 and Rice & Atk in, 2001 ).Rice and Atkin (2001)further illustratethat such audience segme ntationcan behelpful to tailor messag e content, form and style to maximize messages efficiency . According to Fourie (2001:81-82), radi o-broad casting formats identifies a segments ofthe target listening groups.Theseare an adultcontemporary fonn at that istargeted between 25-49 age groupand 12-24 age gro up. All-talk format is targeted the 25-55 age gro up; an urban cont emporary form at is targeted at the 12-34 age group in highl y ethnic communities; and a full-s pec tru m form atistargeted atall age groups.
Gene ra lly, Ukhozi FM is set for rural and urban peopl e who speak Zulu. As some of the interviewees state, the target audiences ofthe radio station are the who le society withspec ial emphas is in some programmes on the youth. Inother words, Ukhozi FM target audiences constitute different age groups, social classes and econom ic back grounds in the provin ce. According to Fourie's (200 1) principl es ofprogramming form ats, Ukhozi FM programming may be stated as a full-spectrum programming format inwhich messages are tar geted for all age groups without much discrimination. For instan ce, most of the dram as that are provided by SoulBuddyz are targeted at the fam ilies, teach er s and stude nts. On the othe r hand, LoveLi fe and thematerial that isprovided from LoveLifeseem to target the youth asthey are broad ca st on the You th Talk show programmes of the radio station. The Abs tine nce Walk that happen s once a year is also targeted at the youth to abs tain from sex before marriage.
Apart from target audience spec ificatio n, the radio station also attempts to give spec ific time scheduling dep ending on the categories ofthe target audience and the message intend ed to address. For instanc e, if theprogramme is for wome nand peopl e who do not have work, they broad ca stit between 10:00-12 :30.
In Dimitsi-Hafash, the messa ge s are target ed at the youth between the ages of 15-40 in particular. However, since it is not easy to differ entiate the youth from the gen eral social syste m, they also target parents,organ izati on sthat ha ve gre at influen ce on the youth. There is also a beliefthat if parents get adequate knowledge about HIV/AID S, they can advise their young ch ildre n. In addition, Hayenta, the drama that the resea rch er tried to give a brie f exp lana tio n of,is targetedat the youthwho areat high scho o l.Conce rn ing thetarget audience of the radi o station with regard of the messages of HIV/AIDS, one interviewee states as foll ows:
The main victim of Hlv" AIDS is youth. Thus, these are our main target aud ience.
Furthermore , we also target family/parentsbecause they ca n advi se and control their ch ildre n and youth . Here, it wou ld be diffi cult to cha nge 60-year-o ld man but it is easy to change the youth since the y are in the age in which they can change. Hence we hammer them to cha nge the ir beh a viour (K ida ne mariam, per son al inte rvi ew , 2003).
Radio Dimitsi-Hafash programming Tigrigna formats seems to include all programmmg formats suc h asan adult contemporary formats (25-49 and 12- 24 age gro ups), all-talk format s (25-55 age groups); and a full-sp ectrum format target ed at all age gro ups.This is becau se of the age range (15-40) of its target audience being distributed among all the broadcast programming formats. Further, the setting of the message and the cha rac ters used in the dramas are youth who live in urban areas . Hence, cons ide ring this , one may interpret the targetaudien ce of the radio sta tionas urban peopl e.
5.2.3. Communication form ats
Curre ntly radi o programmmg is based on format broad casting. Forma t is radi o sta tio n's stra te gy to attract a particular audien ce (O'Do nne ll, Ben oit & Hou sman, 1990:297 ). Radio formats in well-orga n ize d media sta tio ns are based on identifi cati on of target listen er s. This includes many factors such as "a udie nce age, incom e, geogra ph ica l location as well as lifestyle-opinion, attitudes, habits, values and test s" (Four ie, 200 1:8I). Most radio programming cons ists of recorded mUSIC, news and weathe r, spo rt, listen er s letters, educational programmes, adverti sin g, talk radi o , debates, quiz, vox -pops, commentary, documentary,and spots and phone-in programme genres (Four ie, 2001and Brandt& Sasono,
1999). Suc h radi o formats "provide people with good ideas of wha t they are likely to hear whe n theytum on theradi o" (Fourie, 200 I:438).If EE communica tio nstrategy is to atta in the intend ed goal, it is extreme ly important to choose the most suitable genre(s ) to disseminate themessages (Singha l& Rogers, 1999). In this context, as mass media, both Ukhozi FM and Dimitsi-Hafash utilize different communicat ion formats to disseminate messages against HIY/AIDS to thei r target audience. Both use interv iews, dram as,talk shows, comme ntaries - in the form ofnormal script, phone-ins, music and radio spo ts . In addi tion Ukhozi FM uses Outs ide Broadcastin g Vans (O BY) and Abs tine nce walks differently from Dimitsi-Hafash to tran smitits messagesabout HIY/AID S. Wha tfollows is adiscu ssion on selected format s and howboth radi o statio ns utili zethem.
5.2.3.1. Drama
" It' s the dram atic appeal that lead s to audience invol vem ent mech ani sm throu gh which EE has its effects to help peopl e to talk about the issues. It is also aud ience involvem ent that actu all y lead s to changes in behaviou r." (Rogers, 2002:15). Using this, radi o can bring exciting drama s that engage listeners ' emo tions while informing them of new ideas and beh aviours that can improve their lives and their comm unities (de Fossard, 1996). This impliesthat dram ais one ofthe favourite EE formatsto convey messagesplainl ytothetarget audien ce through role modelling. For de Fossard (1996), role models in dramas make the messages much clea rer bydem on stratingto listeners the benefi ts they cangain from a change in their life style, as opposed to an abs trac t description. It also illustrates bad and good behaviou r. EE drama utilizes three different styles. They are indepe nde nt dramas which tell s the story completely inone broad cast;series which is a collection ofindep end entdram as with some major character s in each programme; and the serial which is an ongo ing story that continues from one broadcast to another with many episodes (de Fossard, 1996). She also discu sses that any EE dram a has five maj or features, which are characters, plot s, setting,
