Local media, local content and local literacy: How

Malawian media thwart popular participation in

development1

LEVI ZELEZA MANDA

The Polytechnic, University of Malawi

ABSTRACT

More than twelve years after Malawi reverted to multiparty democracy and adopted a
constitution that incorporated a bill of rights, the local media are, contrary to popular
expectations, slowly becoming a tool for suppression of local content and local languages.
This study is a content analysis of the use of local languages and local content in the
Malawian major print and broadcast media. The study concludes that media pluralism
has not been matched with plurality of ideas, languages and content. The result has been
the thwarting of participation of the majority of Malawians in public debates that
concern community and national development.

Key terms: Public broadcasting, Public sphere, Development communication, Mass

society, linguistic diversity

INTRODUCTION

[mass media have taken over the traditional] "role of teacher, preacher and parent” [and
are] the most powerful and influential tools in modern life. Fr. Francis B. Lucas. 1999
(http://fao.org/sddirect).

It is now established that mass media have an important role to play in the lives and
cultures of any people as sources of news, surveillance information and education.
Recent studies indicate that over 96% of people in Malawi rely on radio as their source
of news (Genderlinks, 2005). In this paper, I look at the media situation in Malawi and
their treatment of local content (in terms of space allotment and linguistic diversity) and
how this is thwarting or has the potential to thwart popular participation in
development activities despite the ubiquitous presence of media in the country. This
study expands on a study that was initiated by the Media Institute of Southern Africa
who wanted to know the state of public broadcasting in Malawi.

1
This paper was prepared in 2007. Statistics cited may not be correct in 2011.

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 1

I purposively chose and studied the average weekly output of Malawi Television (TVM),
Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC 1) and Malawi’s two daily newspapers and the
country’s five regular weekly papers from July to September, 2006.

MEDIA POWER DEBATE

Since the 18th century, mass communication media have been associated with strong
effects on the people. Early American studies often led to the conclusion that the media
had direct influence and effects (positive and negative) on the people. As Bennett (1982)
notes, the audience was then theorised as a mass of passive and vulnerable recipients.
By the same token, the media were likened to an irresistible hypodermic needle or a
magic bullet (McQuail, 1977; Lowery and Defleur, 1987; Berger, 2002). Katz and
Lazarsfeld summarise the magic bullet theory of media effects succinctly:

The image of the mass communication process entertained by researchers had

been, firstly, one of ' an atomistic mass' of millions of readers, listeners and
movie-goers, prepared to receive the message; and secondly…every message
was conceived of as a direct and powerful stimulus to action which would elicit
immediate response. (Katz and Lazarsfeld, 1955:16 cited by Morley, 1992:45)

Mass society theorists believed that industrialisation, urbanisation and modernisation of

European and American society in the 17th century led to the breakdown of traditional
human relationships. As people migrated to urban centres in search of employment and
other attractions of modernisation a new society of alienated, culturally rootless,
undifferentiated and anonymous people who had no relations based on "friendship,
kinship and traditional loyalty" (Lowery and DeFleur, 1988:7) developed. Defleur and
Dennis (1988) say the rise of mass society was characterised by anomie, impersonality
and distrust.

The emergence of the film industry in the 1920s led to especial fears that children would
adopt bad manners and anti-social bahaviour. In the United States, for example, studies
were funded to research such fears. Sociologist Blumer (see Defleur and Dennis, 1988)
who headed the Payne Fund Studies into the influence of the film industry on children,
concluded that the films had a powerful influence on children as "youngsters
impersonated cowboys and Indians, cops, robbers, pirates…every conceivable hero and
villain they had seen in films"(1988: 448). The fears and apprehension about the
influence of television on young people are still abundant today as the BBC Special
programme, Generation Next, has revealed.

Morley (1992) notes that this "pessimistic mass society thesis" was given more weight in
the 1930s when members of the Frankfurt School (Adorno, Marcuse and Horkheimer),
escaping from Hitler's Germany, relocated to the USA. They posited that capitalism had
led to mass society and the rise of fascism and that the media had a "direct and
unmediated…impact…on their audiences" (Morley, 1992:42). Marcuse (see Benett, 1982)
presented the media as irresistible carriers of prescribed, lobotomising attitudes and
habits and promoters of false consciousness. Thus, the Frankfurt School saw the media
as purveyors of narcotising ideology. Herman and Chomsky (1988) accused the media of

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 2

manufacturing consent because of media ownership concentration and commoditisation
of content globally. Their argument is part of the media or cultural imperialism thesis
which posits that the rich and powerful (the core or first world) impose their cultural
hegemony on the weak and poor (the periphery or third world) (Kondowe, 2005;
Strelitz, 2002) via their centrally produced content but widely distributed media. The
theory argues that “transnational media [such as the BBC] provide the necessary cultural
context for the reception of developed countries’ economic [and political] policies”
(Strelitz, 2002:51).

The rise of Al Jazeera and other Arabic TV stations has something to do with the Arabic
world responding to subsuming cultural and media practices of the West, particularly
the USA and Britain whose news, film and music media dominate the world.

However, in the1940s Lazarsfeld and his colleagues published the results of a study of
the Erie County voting behaviour, which led the researchers to the conclusion that the
media had a negligible influence on the voting behaviour of the people of the Erie
County since the pattern of political alignments had not changed much. This conclusion
disrupted the image of the mass media as a hypodermic needle or a magic bullet, that is,
the notion that the media had direct, immediate and powerful effects on people's
behaviour. About fifty years later, Lazarsfeld's findings were also confirmed by Graber
(1989), Drew and Weaver, (1991). Graber found that "media influence is greatest in
informing people and creating initial attitudes; it is least effective in changing attitudes
and ingrained behaviours "(cited by Drew and Weaver, 1991:29). Lull (1995) reports that
American researchers and campaigners admitted that 'safe sex' media campaigns had
failed to change people's sexual behaviour.

In short, field research into media effects has always produced different results from
empirical, experimental laboratory Stimulus-Response studies influenced by learning
theory (Schramm, 1974). Field research has consistently shown the media to have only
limited effects. In 1960, after an extensive review of the 'effects' research, Klapper wrote
that the media could not have direct effects as there always were predisposing factors.
He said the media are not the sole cause of effects (see Kunczik, 1988). Further, Klapper
wrote:

Persuasive mass communication functions far more frequently as an agent of

reinforcement than as an agent of change. Reinforcement or at least constancy of
opinion, is typically found to be the dominant effect. (1960, cited by Morley,
1992:48)

Schramm (1974) who, in the 1960s, believed the media were information multipliers
acknowledges that the audience is active and negotiates the messages it confronts. He
writes:

The social aegis under which the message comes, the receiver's social
relationship to the sender, the perceived social consequences of accepting it or
acting upon it must be put together with an understanding of the symbolic and

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 3

 structural nature of the message, the conditions under which it is received, the
abilities of the receiver and his innate and learned responses. (Schramm, 1974:7)

He later admitted that the development communication "experts" had ignored the fact
that societies were more complex than conceived earlier and urged his colleagues to
revisit their earlier formulations (Schramm, 1976).

Thus, Klapper and Schramm's observations reject the linear model of causality,
recognise social influences as important factors, and emphasise the importance of the
socio-cultural context of reception. But it is important to note that media do not operate
in vacuum. They are part of society and contribute to its culture and their influence
should not be dismissed off hand (Miller and Philo, 2001).

COMMUNICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA

Audience power does not mean that the media are weak. If indeed they were radio and
TV advertising would not have been as strong marketing tool.

As the SADCREVIEW (2000) sums it up, mass media are a tool for ensuring national
unity, modernisation of infrastructure and human development, that is, the
improvement of human lives.

Early development communication was founded mostly on modernisation and social

diffusion theories (Maomeka, 1991). Modernisation theory holds that an emerging
nation needs to improve its economic output, acquire new technology, build new
infrastructure so that its people enjoy higher standards of life than before.
Modernisation theorists of the 1950s and 1960s posited that the media would "create an
appetite for change through raising a climate for modernisation among members of the
public" (Rogers, 1976:49). Pioneer development communication theorists, notably
Schramm (1964) advocated that the media would be instrumental in stimulating poor
people's desire for modernisation. Schramm declared:

Countries in a hurry cannot afford the luxury of…an inert mass. They require the
active and informed co-operation of their village people as well as their city
people. The human resources are indispensable. Therefore, they are going to
have to speed the flow of information, offer education where it has never been
offered before, teach literacy and technical skills very widely. This is the only
way they can rouse and prepare their populace to climb the economic
mountains. And the way they can do it and keep the timetable they have in mind
is to make full use of modern communication. (1964, cited by Berger, 1995)

One of the development communication theorists, Rogers (see Williams, 1989),

acknowledges, however, that not every member of the audience will adopt the new
ideas. He says society has early adopters (like those who go to school) and opinion
leaders (political, religious, and traditional leaders) and late adopters. Because of their
social status and influence, early adopters and opinion leaders are used alongside the
media to spread the new ideas. Rogers has been faulted for relying too much on the

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 4

linear communication stimulus-response transmission model (Williams, 1989) and
ignoring the value of two-way communication in development endeavours.

However, it is important to underline, that despite the rise of two-way participatory

communication techniques being currently promoted for use in development
communication Rogers' ideas, beliefs and methods are still being implemented in most
parts of the world, including Malawi. The old definitions, theories, and roles of
development communication have not been dropped completely because people still
believe in strong media and passive audiences. For instance, Hornik (1988) sees the mass
media working as a low-cost loudspeaker, as a catalyst, and as a motivator for
development action. McClelland (cited by Kunczik, 1988) argues that the media have the
responsibility of spreading modern norms in ideological campaigns. Lucas (1999) writes
that the mass media have taken over the traditional "role of teacher, preacher and
parent” (http://fao.org/sddirect). He further says, the media [are] the most powerful
and influential tools in modern life. Journalist Hieber (1998), writing about the role of
the media in conflict resolution and prevention, says, "although, direct cause and effect
has never been proven, Radio Mille Colllines of Rwanda has played a role in alerting the
international community to the dangers of hate-media
(http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/two/) because the radio station is considered to have
fanned the hatred that led to the 1994 internecine massacres in Rwanda.

The power of the media, particularly, new technologies such as satellite television and
the internet, is celebrated by Gersham (2001), Poster (1995), and Thornton (1999), among
others, who believe the internet can revitalise democracy and free speech because it is
cheap, can reach anyone anywhere, anytime and evades censorship. However, as
Golding (1996) notes, this is no more than mere wishful thinking, for, in most poor
societies, the internet is an elitist possession. For the more than 80 % poor people in the
world (and Malawi, in particular), who can hardly find anything to eat, the internet is
beyond reach.

Radio and television are two types of media that African governments rely on for
information dissemination and propaganda. Just as they were used for rallying people
to political, they are today used for political and social development priorities and
commitments, including the promotion of governance, human rights and gender issues.

The methods of persuasive communication in development discourses, and the research

are still based on the S-R model of causality. For instance, when in the 1980s the debate
was raging between the dominant research paradigm and the emerging critical
discourses, the discussions in Africa Media Review, were still focusing on such techniques
as Social Marketing, (Isoba, 1991), and oramedia (Ugboajah, 1991) to ensure attitude
change, which were, in fact, ways of refining the dominant development communication
paradigm and adapting it to African conditions.

According to Isoba (1991), social marketing is the employment of advertising and

marketing techniques to change people's attitudes and thinking patterns so that they
adopt new values and discourses. Oramedia is an acronym coined by Ugboajah (1991) to
describe traditional African oral media such as drums, string instruments, folksongs,

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 5

drama, and dance. Used for development purposes, Ugboajah believes, these media
would be appropriate for driving developing African communities into realising their
economic and productive capacity.

USES AND GRATIFICATION THEORY: THE ACTIVE AUDIENCE IS BORN

In the wake of studies that questioned the hypodermic needle or magic bullet theories of
media power, media researchers suggested that they start asking what people do with
the media (Jensen and Rosengren, 1990) since different members of the audience may
interpret media content differently (Morley, 1992). The new approach, called uses and
gratifications, marked the departure from the conception of the audience as a mass of
passive or inert atomised individuals to seeing them as active users of media content
(MacQuail et al., 1972; Watson, 1998).

One of the most outstanding uses and gratifications research work was conducted in
1969 by MacQuail, Blumler and Brown who were, at the time, working at the Centre for
Television Research at the University of Leeds. Using survey techniques, their main aim
was to:

Make general statements about the range of satisfactions provided by television

and the salience of them for different groups, defined in demographic or
personality terms. (McQuail et al., 1972: 143)

They concluded that people use the media as a diversion to escape from routine
constraints and problems, for emotional release, for educational and surveillance
(informational) purposes such as planning an outing depending on predicted weather
conditions. Sometimes, the researchers concluded, the audience uses the media to
establish personal relationships. The actors in a soap opera, for instance, are intimately
and fanatically followed and their misfortunes become the misfortunes of the fans. Thus,
the fans identify themselves with the characters.

This and many other studies in the media uses and gratification tradition recognise the
fact that the audience of the media is not passive but the media are not weak either.
Currently, some development communication experts and rights advocacy groups, have
come to appreciate the contributions of uses and gratifications and cultural studies
research and develop communications activities such as Participatory Rural
Communication Appraisal (see Anyaegbunam et al., 1998) that treat rural people and
researchers as equals.

BROADCASTING IN MALAWI

For thirty years broadcasting in Malawi was associated with the Malawi Broadcasting
Corporation (MBC) which was established in 1964 by an act of parliament
(Chikunkhuzeni, 1999) and within the framework of development communication.
Modeled on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the MBC was mandated to
offer programming that would educate, entertain and inform the Malawian public. The
MBC was initially conceived as a tool to rally people to nation building (Uledi-Kamanga,

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 6

1992:1 cited by Chikunkhuzeni, 1999). For thirty years, however, the Malawi Congress
Party used the radio station to silence dissent and all potential enemies of the state and
the government. As there was one political party, state functions were not distinguished
from party campaign recruitment campaigns.

However, the switch to a multiparty system of government meant that people expected
a change in the way the MBC treated dissenting views and minority languages, cultures
and content. But, for years the UDF government dominated the airwaves even during
national elections (Patel, 2000). A second MBC channel, Radio 2, was launched in 1998
with a slightly different programming format from the “mother radio”. Radio 2 was a
mostly seen as an entertainment radio, full of “pop” music and live phone in
programmes. It is no surprise that a 2004 survey found Radio 2 to be the most popular
radio station in the country because it pleased the youth and departed from traditional
didactic MBC 1 programming.

Soon after the airwaves were liberalised following the passing of the Malawi
Communications Act in 1998, a number of radio stations sprung up and the picture is
totally different. The current broadcast environment is presented in tabular form below:

Radio station Classification Ownership Coverage

Joy Radio Commercial Private, owned 70 km radius from Blantyre
by Bakili
Muluzi former
president
MIJ Radio Commercial Trustees of the National (mainly urban areas)
Malawi
Institute of
Journalism
Capital Radio Commercial Private owned National (mainly urban areas)
by Al Osman
and family
Zodiak Radio Commercial Private owned National
by Gospel
Kazako
Transworld Radio Religious Private owned National
by TWR
(Africa)
Malawi Broadcasting State Public? National
Corporation Radio 1
Malawi Broadcasting State Public? National
Corporation Radio 2
Power 101 FM Commercial Private National
Radio Maria Religious Catholic National
Church
(Malawi)
Radio Tigabane Religious Catholic Mzuzu and surrounding
Church areas
(Malawi)
Calvary Family Religious Calvary Family Blantyre

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 7

 Radio Church
Nkhota Kota Community Nkhota Kota Nkhota Kota
Community Radio Community
Mmudzi Wathu Community CRECOM Mchinji
Dzimwe Community Community Dzimwe Monkey Bay and
Radio Community surroundings
Radio Trustees

BBC World Service Foreign BBC Trust National

Radio Islam Religious Islamic Zakaat National
Fund
Channel for all Religious Assemblies of Lilongwe and surrounding
Nations God (Malawi) areas
ABC Radio Religious African Bible Lilongwe and surrounding
College areas
(Africa)
Radio Alinafe Religious Catholic Lilongwe and surrounding
Church areas
(Malawi)

Star FM Commercial Private Blantyre and surrounding

areas
Figure 1: Table showing broadcasting diversity (www.macra.org.mw)

CURRENT LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR

BROADCASTING IN MALAWI

Malawi has several legal instruments that guarantee freedom of expression and
broadcasting. Malawi is also a signatory to several international and regional legal
instruments. As a member state of the United Nations, Malawi is bound to observe the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which in article XIX says:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes
freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and import
information and ideas through any media and regardless of borders.

This provision is also echoed in the Africa Commission on Human and People’s Rights
whose Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa urges state parties
to:
Encourage a diverse, independent private broadcasting sector. A state monopoly
over broadcasting is not compatible with the right to freedom of expression (V: 1)

More importantly the Principles call on African states and governments to transform
their broadcasters into public service broadcasters “accountable to the public through
the legislature rather than the government” (VI: 1). Article VI drives the point home:
Public broadcasters should be governed by a board which is protected
against interference, particularly of a political or economic nature;

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 8

 The editorial independence of public service broadcasters should be
guaranteed;
Public broadcasters should be adequately funded in a manner that
protects them from arbitrary interference with their budgets;
Public broadcasters should strive to ensure that [their] transmission
system covers the whole territory and country; and
The public service ambit of public service broadcasters should be clearly
defined and include an obligation to ensure that the public receive[s]
adequate, politically balanced information, particularly during election
periods.

State broadcasting is characterized by doing and being the opposite of the above criteria.
She says a state broadcaster is essentially a government mouth piece, where the
president, ministers, government officials and ruling party cadres dominate. Since they
are perceived as government mouth pieces, the state broadcasters are rarely listened to,
by those who can afford to, because state broadcasters generally lack credibility.
Dissenting voices are often hushed or not covered at all. Journalists at a state broadcaster
censor themselves for fear of losing their jobs, essentially because they were recruited
dubiously by a management board that was appointed dubiously or using laws that
favour domination or interference of the elite in the state broadcaster. Minority
languages, and most importantly minority views, and cultures are ignored or window
dressed. Local content is ignored in preference of internationally produced programmes
such as Hollywood films. She further points out that the state broadcaster usually has
no editorial guidelines or if they do exist they are not adhered to. During elections
coverage favours the ruling party.

State broadcasting is usually not accessed by all. Importantly, efforts are not made to
have the signal available all over the country.

Malawi, as a member state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), is

obliged by the SADC Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport, which calls on state
parties to “ ensure the freedom and independence of the media” (Article 20) .

One lawyer has argued that since Malawi lacks a domestication law, most of the
international and regional legal instruments, have no force of law in the country.
Therefore, the most important legal instruments vis-à-vis media performance and
broadcasting in particular in Malawi are the constitution and the Parliamentary and
Presidential Elections Act, the Local Government Elections Act, and the
Communications Act.

The Communications Act provides for the creation of the Malawi Communications
regulatory Authority (MACRA), a body responsible for regulating and licensing postal
services, telecommunications and broadcasting.

In the broadcasting sector it recognizes three types of broadcasting: Public broadcasting,

private/commercial broadcasting and community broadcasting. After several wrangles
and public criticism, the two national broadcasters, the MBC and TVM have been

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 9

licensed to conduct pubic broadcasting. Due to misunderstandings between the
authority and some licensees on the definition and mandate of community broadcasting,
the rest of the broadcasters have been classified as private (commercial) or private
(religious) (www.macra.org.mw). Private religious stations were previously issued a
community broadcasting license but most went on a territorial and content expansion
drive that confounded MACRA. Community radio stations still remain at Dzimwe in
Monkey Bay, Nkhota Kota and Mchinji.

It must be noted that despite the rather media friendly constitution, the Communication
Act (1998) and the many legal instruments Malawi has acceded to, there is still no law
on access to information in Malawi. Further, the 40 or so laws, such as defamation, that
can impede media performance are still existent. These can easily compromise the
performance of journalists at the public broadcaster (Forbes, 2005).

TYPES OF BROADCASTING

As pointed out above, there are three types of broadcasting: public broadcasting,
private/commercial broadcasting and community broadcasting. Commercial
broadcasting is not problematic as its principal aim is to make profits from providing
information and selling airtime to advertisers. This is the type of broadcasting most
private investors look for. Community broadcasting is a relative newcomer on African
the broadcasting scene (Bussiek and Bussiek, 2004). According to AMARC
(www.amarc.org) community broadcasting is democratic broadcasting as it is run by the
community, its content produced by the local community and aims to serve the
community without exacting any fees. In Malawi, the concept of community
broadcasting has been controversial. MACRA has always insisted, basing its arguments
mostly on the Communication Act, that community broadcasting is limited to
geographic communities and does not have to broadcast news, cover elections, and
provide political broadcasts or factual programmes (Comm. Act 51:3).

In the revised licences all broadcasters, except the MBC and TVM have been issued with
private commercial licenses with no obligation to cover political elections. Surprisingly
enough, the two national broadcasters, too, have no obligations to cover elections
(Terms and Conditions of Private Broadcasters, 10).

The third is Pubic Broadcasting, which the European Broadcasting Union defines as
broadcasting made for the public; financed by the public and controlled by the public.
For a station to qualify as a public broadcaster it must meet most, if not all, of the
following characteristics:

Firstly, public broadcasting is universal in its geographic reach. In Malawi the MBC and
TVM qualify because they cover over 80% of the country (All Media Survey, 2004).
Secondly, it must cater for all interests and tastes. Programming must ensure that
linguistic minorities, the disabled, children and other vulnerable social groupings are
catered for. Thirdly, there is need to reflect society in its fullest, culturally. Fourthly,
public broadcasting enjoys editorial independence and politicians and businesses have

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 10

no influence in its programming. To achieve this, public broadcasting is fully funded by
the state, and from licence fees.

MANDATE AND TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE STATE BROADCASTER

MBC and TVM legally became public broadcasters in 2004 when they were licensed by
the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA). The MBC was
reconstituted in 1998 to become a public broadcaster under the following terms:

The MBC shall provide public broadcasting services in accordance with the following
principles-

the provision of programmes which educate, entertain and inform;

the encouragement of free and informed opinion on all matters of public interest;
the need to reflect the wide diversity of Malawi's cultural life; and
respect for human rights, the rule of law and the Constitution of Malawi.
MBC shall, in the provision of its broadcasting services-
function without any political bias and independently of any person or body of
persons;
support the democratic process;
refrain from broadcasting any matter expressing its opinion or the opinion of its
Board or management on current affairs or on matters of public policy, other
than broadcasting matters;
provide balanced coverage of any elections; and
have regard to the public interest.
(www.macra.org.mw)

The above terms were also applicable to TVM because at the time public TV was
conceived to be part of the MBC. Even now the Communications Act entitles the MBC to
collect TV licence fees (section 88.e). But according to TVM first Director General Benson
Tembo, TVM was registered as a private limited public company with the Malawi
Government as the major shareholder (Manda, 2005) and launched in 1999. Its current
terms and conditions include:

protect constitutional rights and freedoms as enshrined in chapter IV of the

Malawi constitution;
provide universal twenty-four coverage and service to the nation and not less
than twelve continuous hours per day;
be financed in part by the government, commercial advertising, fees and charges
, sponsored programmes, sale of property, etc;
provide current affairs programming for not less than three minutes every
second hour from 06.00 to 21.00 hours;
encourage free and informed opinion on matters of public interest;
exercise independent editorial control over content of news and current affairs
programmes

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 11

 provide entertainment programming that meets the needs of Malawi and reflects
the geographic spread of Malawians
ensure that 60% of programming is Malawian

The Public broadcaster is also mandated to broadcast educational programming, carry

free public announcements from MACRA, the Inspector General of Police, Minister
responsible for Disaster Management on issues pertaining to impending danger.

MBC and TVM are obliged to keep recordings of all their programmes for at least 45
days because MACRA may need them. As pointed out earlier, MBC and TVM are not
obliged according to their licence conditions to cover elections. But if they do, they
should follow the code of ethics in Third Schedule of the Communications Act and this
applies to all broadcasters. The public broadcasting is forbidden from relaying or
rebroadcast any programme material from any other source or station without prior
authorization of MACRA.

To ensure that people lodge complaints, TVM and MBC obliged to announce at least
four times a week how people can lodge such complaints.

The licence does not prescribe the languages in which programming should be.
Currently English and Chichewa dominate the news. As we will see below, minority
languages and cultures are not covered sufficiently.

CONTENT AND LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY ON TVM AND MBC

There are attempts at TVM and MBC to provide content and linguistic diversity. For
instance, there are news bulletins and short programmes in English, Chichewa,
Chitumbuka, Kiyangonde, Chiyao, Chilomwe, Chisena and Chitonga. English is Malawi
official language while Chichewa is the national language. The majority of Malawians is
comfortable with Chichewa, while in all administrative communication and
correspondence English is used. Chilomwe, Chitumbuka, Chitonga, Kiyangonde,
Chiyao, and Chisena are Malawi’s other prominent linguistic groupings. TVM uses only
English and Chichewa while other languages in interviews are voiced over. MBC Radio
1 broadcasts news and short programmes in these other languages.

Out of 8085 minutes of weekly broadcasting at MBC 1, only 520 (6.4%) minutes are
allocated to programmes in languages other than English and Chichewa.

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 12

 6%

94%

Eng/Chichewa Other
MBC 1 weekly quota allocation in minutes for programmes in English and Chichewa

These other languages and cultural programmes, (the 6.4.%) are allocated time as
follows:

120
100
100 85 85 85 90
80 70
60
40
20
0
e

ka

na
e
nd

ng

w
ya

bu

se
m
hi
go

to

lo

hi
m
C

hi
an

hi

C
tu

C
iy

hi
K

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 13

MBC 1 weekly quota allocations in minutes for programmes in Malawian languages other than
Chichewa

Chisena, which is allotted the smallest quota, gets 0.9% of broadcast time, while
Chitumbuka, the most privileged of the minority languages occupies 1.2%, Chilomwe
gets 1.1% and Chitonga, Chiyao, and Kiyangonde get 1.0% apiece.

The time allocated for programming in local languages other than Chichewa is arguably
enough considering that the majority of Malawians speaks and understands Chichewa.
However, the problem is that linguistic diversity is not accompanied by cultural
diversity. News items are constructed in English and translated into Malawians
languages. During the period of study there was virtually no news about the Sena,
Tonga, Yao, Lomwe, Tumbuka and Ngonde people. As noted above the news in English
was mostly about the activities of the President and his fellow politicians, and it was the
same, except for additional colourful adjectives and adverbs here and there, in Chichewa
and other minority languages. In short, the beneficiary is the President and his fellow
politicians. At TVM, the news programme, Nkhani Mwachindunji (News Bulletin) is
broadcast a day after the main 20.00 hours news bulletin, proving in a way that TVM
denigrates local languages.

PRIVATE AND COMMUNITY BROADCASTERS

Private broadcasters are not obliged to have quotas for their programming. In general
private radio stations are advised to respect human rights pertaining to, inter alias:
privacy of individuals, freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and opinion,
access to information, equality and justice for all. As for content the private broadcasters
are licensed to provide news bulletins of not less than 60 minutes every twenty four
hours; more than half of which should be broadcast during peak hours.

On culture, the licencee is urged to reflect the cultural diversity of Malawi and not
denigrate any people’s religious and cultural beliefs and values. In the area of
entertainment, private broadcasters are told to have programmes on HIV-AIDS, the
position of women, children and the disabled; career guidance; general health and
hygiene and any other areas as required by the target audience; and provide
entertainment programmes that meet the needs of its target audiences.

As can be seen from the above summation of the private broadcasting licence, the
private broadcasters are not obliged to provide quotas in terms of linguistic accessibility
and localness of content of the said programming. The Malawi Communication
Regulatory Authority (MACRA) may seem to be democratic by giving broadcasters
freedom to choose what to broadcast. But prescription of quotas is important. In South
Africa, the SABC is obliged to broadcasts through its provincial substation to ensure that
people are served in all their 11 official languages. As Bussiek & Bussiek (2004) put it
content is regulated in favour of local producers and local cultural content and the result
has been a jump in income for local music and drama from 21 to 32%. The general
argument for local content quotas is that as part of the media regulation process, media

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 14

regulators such as MACRA need to impose local content quotas and need to be
stipulated in all licences.

Due to lack of strong regulation vis-à-vis local content and linguistic diversity, local
broadcasters use just 16 hours. The rest of the time is given foreign stations like VOA,
BBC, DW etc. One new radio station even claims to broadcast live English soccer while
at Kamuzu Stadium, Malawian teams are playing.

Some people have argued that since public broadcasting seems to favour politicians
while private broadcasting is mostly interested in money, community radio could be a
panacea for popular participation and promotion of local content using participatory
rural communication appraisal (PRCA) to generate community relevant content for
broadcasting (Anyaegnum et al. 1998). But a recent study (Mphaka, 2006) has shown
that in Malawi popular participation in content sourcing and programme production is
often ignored and in some cases trustees do not even understand what constitutes a
community radio.

Despite the debates to the contrary, community radio is very important in popular
participation in development. Manyozo (2005) has found the programme Kanthu
n’khama produced by the Development Broadcasting Unit of the Malawi Broadcasting
Corporation to be effective in enhancing dialogue between local communities and
politicians.

According to Babalola & Babalola (2004), functional communication is important for

popular participation and choice of self-help development projects in the Nigerian state
of Osun.

THE PRINT MEDIA IN MALAWI

While MACRA regulates the broadcast media, there is no regulator for the print media,
apart from the courts which punish print media on account of libel and defamation.

The number of newspapers has dropped from 21 in 1993 to less than 6 regulars. These
remaining newspapers are analysed below in terms of allocation of space to news and
advertising.

Dailies
Mon Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Total
weekly
Daily Total pages Total pages Total pages Total pages Total pages
Times
32 20 36 36 40 164

Advertising Advertising Advertising Advertising Advertising

14 8 18 21.5 20 81.5

International International International International International

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 15

 news/sport news/sport news/sport news/sport news/sport

4 3 4 6 7
24
Local news Local news Local news Local news Local news 58.5
English English English English English 164

32 20 36 36 40
Chichewa Chichewa Chichewa Chichewa Chichewa

0 0 0 0 0 0

Other Other Other Other Other

Malawian Malawian Malawian Malawian Malawian
languages languages languages languages languages

0 0 0 0 0 0

Nation Total pages Total pages Total pages Total pages Total pages Total
Weekly
32 28 36 32 32
160
Advertising Advertising Advertising Advertising Advertising

20 10 21 17 18 86

International International International International International

news/sport news/sport news/sport news/sport news/sport

5 4 3 4 5
21

Local news Local news Local news Local news Local news 53
English English English English English

32 28 36 32 32 160

Chichewa Chichewa Chichewa Chichewa Chichewa

0 0 0 0 0 0

Other Other Other Other Other

Malawian Malawian Malawian Malawian Malawian
languages languages languages languages languages

0 0 0 0 0 0

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 16

Summary

The two daily newspapers publish a total of 324 A3 (tabloid) pages weekly. Of these
167.5 (51.7%) are dedicated to advertising, while 45 pages (13.9) are dedicated to
international news and sport. 111.5 pages (34.4%) are dedicated to local news and sport.
All these pages are in English (100%) while Chichewa (Malawi’s national language) is
never used (0%) nor are other Malawian languages (0%).

Graphically this is how the daily newspapers fare:

A) Language use

120%
100%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0% 0%
0%
English Chichewa Other

B) Content

60% 52%
50%
40% 34%
30%
20% 14%
10%
0%
Ads Local news Int news

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 17

It is important to note that despite 34% of the news being local, the dailies concentrate
on politics and politicians while the rest of the news is buried inside the newspaper and
sometimes sandwiched between heavy colour advertising.

B) Weeklies

Weekly Malawi Sunday Weekend Nation on Guardian Courier Chronic Total

News News Times Nation Sunday le
Total pages Total Total Total pages Total Total pages Total Total
pages pages pages pages pages
16 68 20 260
52 36 32 20 16

Ads Ads Ads Ads Ads Ads Ads Ads

1.25 16 1.25 16 1.25 16 1.25 16 86.8

Internation Internatio Internatio Internationa Internatio Internationa Internati Internat

al nal nal l nal l onal ional
news/sport news/spo news/spor news/sport news/spo news/sport news/sp news/s
rt t rt ort port
1 2 4 16.3
2 2.75 0.5 1.5 1

Local news Local Local Local news Local Local news Local Local 158.6
news news news news news
13.75 28 8
34 25.3 27.5 10 12
English English English English English English English English

14 44 36 63 32 20 19 15 243

Chichewa Chichewa Chichewa Chichewa Chichewa Chichewa Chichew Chiche

a wa
2 8 0 5 0 0
0.25 1
16.3

Other Mw Other Other Other Other Other Other Other

languages
0 0 0 0 0 0.5 0 0.5
0

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 18

Summary

The weekly newspapers produce 260 A3 pages of which 86.8 (33.4%) are dedicated to
advertising and 16.3 (6%) for international news and sport. 158.6 pages (61%) are
dedicated to local news. However, 243 pages (93.5%) are in English; 16.3 (6%) are in
Chichewa and 0.5 or 1 A4 page (0.2%) is in Chitumbuka.

If we add the pages from the dailies and those of the weeklies, we get 424 A3 pages per
week of which 168.3 are reserved for advertising, 211 for local news and sport. But 403
(95%) pages are in English, 16.3 (3.8%) in Chichewa, 0.5 (0.1%) in Chitumbuka.

Graphically this is what the situation looks like:

a) Linguistically

100% 95%

80%

60%

40%

20%
4% 0%
0%
English Chichewa Chitumbuka

b) in terms of content

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 19

 70% 61%
60%
50%
40% 33%
30%
20%
10% 6%

0%
Ads Local news Int news

CONCLUSION

Although limited in scope, this study has demonstrated that while local content
dominates the local media, choice and preference of English as the medium of
communication makes newspapers and partly radio inaccessible to the local people who
constitute the majority of Malawians, live in rural areas and are mostly illiterate, and
poor. It is also worth noting that local content may seem to dominate the media but it is
politicians and business elite that are featured. The front page in newspapers and the
headlines in radio and tv broadcasting are almost taboo to non-political local content as
the president, cabinet ministers, opposition are always the people that receive news
prominence.

The availability of pages and space on TV and Radio in Chichewa does not necessarily
translate to availability of local people in the news. Only when local people’s
contributions are sought can the local people contribute to development. Illiteracy is
high in Malawi and therefore these many people cannot participate in debates
conducted languages they do not understand.

It is only proper to ask MACRA to be stricter on content and linguistic quotas in

broadcasting. Radio and television are very important in helping the public, literate or
illiterate to access information that would enable them to participate in democracy,
development and cultural celebration. Without necessarily compromising media
freedom, the print media need to have content and linguistic quotas, too. The Michiru
Sun used to have front pages in Chichewa and things worked well.

As the Civil Society Coalition for Quality Basic Education (CSCQBE) (2006) argued
recently, there is a link between illiteracy and poverty; between illiteracy and hygiene;

Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 1:0 20

and illiteracy and HIV and AIDS. The media do not have to wait for donors to institute
programmes or content coverage beneficial to many illiterate people in the rural areas.

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