|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE
MEDIA Educational Programmes in Kenyan
media > Ethical Relativity and
Journalism. History
of Kenyan print media as a struggle of forces. Traditional communication channels
and Kenyan society. Saddam Hussein's trial as
media performance.
High school students getting into
class. |
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES IN KENYAN MEDIAAn educational programme, simply put, is a programme for providing information that could improve the lives of its recipients through the provision of knowledge.Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights articulates: Education is both a human right in itself and indispensable means of realizing other human rights. As an empowering right, education is the primary vehicle by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and obtain the means to participate fully in their communities. Education has a vital role in empowering women, street working children from exploitative and hazardous labor and sexual exploitation, promoting human rights and democracy, protecting the environment and controlling population growth (Aderinoye et al, 2007). Radio and television have been used widely as educational tools since the 1920s and the 1950s respectively. There are three general approaches to the use of radio and televising broadcasting in education: 1). direct class teaching, where broadcast programming substitutes for teachers on a temporary basis, 2). school broadcasting, where broadcast programming provides complementary teaching and learning resources not otherwise available, 3). General education programming over community, national and international stations which provide general and informal educational opportunities. Students are exposed to a variety of teachers on television but have one home teacher at the school for all disciplines in each grade (Kids Online, 2007). There are also those programs aimed at the general public with objectives other than the entertainment of viewers and profitability. Such programs include documentaries on environmental issues, history, culture and arts. Public health features and civic education programs are included in this category. In today's commercialized media, education programs are not necessarily produced by the stations themselves but instead sponsored by an outside body such as non-governmental organization which also pays for the airtime. The implication here is that without external sponsorship, commercial broadcast stations would never air educational programs. Top Examples of educational programmes in Kenya:Kenya Broadcasting Corporation
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMESThe media, both old and new, have had important effects on the life of the world. More people know more about the world they live in, both near home and across the seas, than ever before. If the responsibility of the media is measured in terms of the number of lives it affects, then never before has the media been so heavily burdened (Charnley, 1966). Therefore, educational programmes have enlightened humanity and should continue to do so.Educational programmes have been used to instigate behavior change that can result in healthier lifestyles and environmental sustainability. For instance, the use of radio is achieving considerable success in changing and enhancing knowledge and attitudes on topics including HIV/Aids, family planning, mother and child health, environmental issues, social and administrative issues and gender equality. Radio is also shown to have had a positive impact on uptake of health services, enrollment in literacy classes, construction of environmentally friendly wood stoves, tree-planting, agricultural yields and awareness of strategies for poverty reduction though income generation and community associations (Metcalf et al, 2007). THE CHALLENGES AND ADVANTAGES OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMESADVANTAGESFindings from studies reveal that radios are easily affordable, accessible and often more handy to use than television. Those without TV and radio, however, still have access to the media through socialization in their local communities. Households that have a television not only attract viewers from within the immediate family, it can attract extended family members in the neighborhood, and even neighbors who may also be interested in the programmes aired.Televisions are no longer a foreign sight in rural areas. Moreover, some televisions can be operated on batteries, which overcomes the problems of electrical shortages and blackouts (Aderinoye et al, 2007). The provision of radio sets to listening groups was found to be a successful strategy for providing access to broadcasts, and research found a high level of commitment and enthusiasm on the part of listeners, especially women. The ability of radio to scale up and extend the on-the-ground work of local service providers has been noted. Research found that women from villages with good radio reception were more knowledgeable about all types of family planning methods than those from villages with low radio listening. Women from villages with radio had vaccinated their children, compared to those from villages with low radio listening (Metcalf et al, 2007). Top CHALLENGES:CommercializationToday, many countries have loosened the government's hold on broadcasting. The political and economic realities of most countries has led to a move away from state funding and subsidy in sectors such as broadcasting, requiring the public broadcaster to increasingly raise its own revenues. The effect of this has been very substantial. Further, the Internet has added a new dimension and opened up new possibilities. Clearly, competition and commercialization - which characterize the broadcasting environment in all countries today - will have a major impact on educational broadcasting. While some countries (most notably the United Kingdom) continue to have arrangements by which funding flows to the public broadcaster through license fee on receivers and sets, many countries have moved towards a commercialization model, where the public broadcaster meets some of its financial needs through selling air time to advertisers. This inevitably requires the broadcaster to skew its programme content towards "popular", mass appeal programmes, leading to the so-called, "dumbing-down" effect (Karnik, 2001). Here in Kenya, the name change from the Voice of Kenya (VOK) to Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) in 1989 wasn't a mere change in vocabulary; it marked a paradigm shift in the manner in which the station was to henceforth operate. To begin, the station that had been a department in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was transformed into a corporate entity, with the State as the sole shareholder. KBC, was to have its own management structure, supervised by a Board of Directors. The government would only play the role of overseer. In financial terms, the station was expected to become self financing. Until that time, KBC obtained its funds from the license fees on radios and television sets. With liberalization of the economy, and with radios and television sets sold on the roadsides, it gradually became difficult to collect the license fee. KBC was therefore expected to commercialize its operations by selling airtime and attracting sponsorship in order to sustain itself. There is the additional factor of greater gain in terms of advertising revenues for reaching the high-income population segments. This means that there is more revenue to be gained by attracting an audience of the economic elite, rather than reaching out to the far larger numbers of disadvantaged and deprived. The elite, with comparatively far less dependence on broadcasting as a delivery mechanism for education, have little interest or need for educational programmes. Moreover, even within the space of educational broadcasts, a programme that deals with the latest business practices will attract far more advertising support than an adult literacy programme - even though the audience size of the latter may be ten times that of the former (Karnik, 2001). Lack of guidelines on programming Kenya has no regulatory media provision that obligates the electronic media to air educational programs. This would most likely face resistance for being anti-liberalization. Moreover, even the KBC itself, does not have an official quota for the broadcast of educational programs and the decision on how much (if any) airtime to allocate to these programs is left to the station management. There have been calls that the Media Bill currently in Parliament should govern the types of programs on air depending on the time of day. For instance, informative programs during the day, family entertainment and news in the evenings and finally adult-oriented programs late at night. This is in reaction to the commercial media airing what is considered inappropriate content without due regard to local cultural values. Language Kenya is a country with a multiplicity of ethnic groups each with a distinct language. Though there have been efforts, through the formal education system, to inculcate English and Kiswahili as official and national languages respectively, majority of rural Kenyans still communicate in their local dialects. As communicative and social studies have demonstrated, the language used by a person has an effect on that person's cognitive processes, that is, the manner in which messages are interpreted, assimilated and acted upon. Most educational programs on the public broadcaster are broadcast in either English or Kiswahili. KBC broadcasts in some vernacular languages but only for a few hours in a day. The past five years have seen an increase in vernacular commercial FM stations but they specialize in popular entertainment to attract audiences. This is a challenge in educational programming. The solution has been the introduction of low-powered, community based FM stations operated by local people and about local issues. There are reportedly a one such station in Rarieda constituency of Bondo District, another one in the Kisumu area aimed at fishermen and yet another one in the Mukuru area of Nairobi's Industrial zone. These community stations with their community based approach could be useful avenues of educational programming, especially those aimed at behavior change. At the same time, using community based broadcast stations in education programming will enhance community participation. In the past, educational programming has been viewed as being "top-down" in nature. Through community based stations (in addition to the public broadcaster) the producers of educational programs will have a chance of interacting with audiences through talk in sessions or even direct contact in social settings. The feedback thus gained will further the process of communication, as it should. Technology Technologies pose a challenge to the dominance of the public broadcaster. However, technology also offers hope as well. Today, with extensive cable networks and digital technologies that lower costs by enabling 6 or 8 television channels to broadcast through a single satellite transponder, it is easy and not too expensive for the public broadcaster to initiate new channels. This opens up the possibility of having specialized or niche channels for specific audiences or for particular subjects. Another key technological development, of immense importance to education, is the creation and rapid growth of the Internet. Used by itself, or in conjunction with broadcasting, it can greatly enhance education. Potentially, it can make education an "anytime, anywhere, any subject" activity. The ICT revolution has opened up new avenues for a whole host of applications and it is only appropriate that education also make full use of this powerful new tool (Karnik, 2001). Top FUTURE OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMESThere was a time when broadcasting was a government monopoly in a majority of countries. Those with access to television [and radio] only had a choice between watching the only available channel or switching off the set. A captive audience was guaranteed for any educational programme, requiring the producer to focus purely on the teachings emanating from the programme. Those simpler, idyllic "good old times" have gone forever.Despite financial constraints, governments must continue to support meaningful public broadcasting, especially educational programmes. Educational programmes need to take into account the competitive environment and focus not merely on content, but also on production values and packaging. Educational broadcasting as a whole and specific programmes need to be marketed (Karnik, 2001). Top |
1). Press Reference (2007). KENYA Press, Media, TV,
Radio, Newspapers. Advameg Inc.
http://www.pressreference.com
2). Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, KBC (2007). About KBC
http://www.kbc.co.ke
3). Aderinoye, R. A., Ojokheta, K. O. & Olojede A. A. (2007).
Integrating Mobile Learning
into Nomadic Education Programmes in
Nigeria: Issues and Perspectives. Ibadan. University of Ibadan
http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/viewArticle/347/919
4). Kids Online (2007)
http://www.ourkidslearnonline.com/Kid/Importance-of-Kids-Educational-Television-Programming.html
5). Charnley, Mitchel V (1966). Reporting 2nd Ed. New York.
Holt,
Rinehart & Winston Inc.
6). Metcalfe, Leo, Nicola Harford & Mary Myers (2007). Contribution
of Radio Broadcasting to the Achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals. The Communication Initiative.
http://www.comminit.com/evaluations/eval2007/evaluations-419.html
7). Karnik, Kiran (2001). Re-engineering Educational Broadcasting. The
Newsletter of Commonwealth Educational Media Center for Asia.
http://www.cemca.org/newsletter/dec2001/dec2001.htm
8). Baddeley, Hugh W (1970). The
Technique of Documentary Film
Production. London. Focal Press Ltd.
9). Answers.com (2007)
http://answers.com/topic/broadcasting
10). Wikipedia.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_broadcasting
11). Ofcom Public Service Broadcasting Review Phase 3: Competition for
Quality
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/psb_review/annrep/psb07/
©2007
Godfrey M. Kimega
Crystal Images Kenya, Email: [email protected]
