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Interactive Radio! - Toolkit for Stations

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This toolkit combines the knowledge and experience of Internews with insights from research conducted by the University of Cambridge’s Centre of Governance and Human Rights and partners in the Politics and Interactive Media (PiMA) research project. Politics and Interactive Media in Africa (PiMA), jointly funded by DFID and the ESRC, examined whether and how Africans, particularly the poorest and least politically enfranchised, use new communication technologies to voice their opinion and to engage in a public debate on interactive broadcast media, and its effects on modes of political accountability.

Africa’s digital revolution continues apace, yet broadcast media are vital for reaching the poor, rural and remote populations and the more marginalised, and more now and in the foreseeable future. By employing survey-based, qualitative and ethnographic methods to comparatively analyse interactive radio and TV programmes in the context of electoral and everyday politics, PiMA research critically interrogated the potential for digital communications and liberalised media sectors to promote more responsive and inclusive democratic governance, with a keen eye for turning project insights into relevance for policymakers, media houses, journalists and development organisations.