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THE DECLARATION OF RADIO BRIDGE OVERSEAS
In 1994 RBO produced for half a year a daily 30-minute audio magazine, "VOICES OF AFRICA" with 4 mini-features each by African authors, as feeds through the "Public Radio Satellite System" of the U.S.A. Issues ranged from authentic cultural expressions to social and political developments.
RBO has dubbed
the program on analogue cassettes for
distribution to all workshop-participants who
will make an effort to have the program aired on
a national radio station of their country,
whereby such stations can either use the
30-minute program in its entirety or select
modules for a serial of programs. The cassettes
will also be used for other promotional purposes
by the recipients.
RBO SPECIAL PROJECT AUSTRIA & SADC |
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The
cultures of the peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin
America constitute part of the wealth of mankind.
As a result of colonialism and underdevelopment
many of them are endangered in their very
existence. It is, therefore, of universal
interest that they continue and develop. 
RBO produced in October
& November 1996 a series of 8 x 15-minute
episodes titled "MAKING IT WORK" about
use of appropriate technology, on ZBC (Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation) Radio 4, which was also
aired in different language versions in Botswana,
Kenya and Ethiopia. Episodes in this series were
used as a method of informing policy-makers by
identifying and assessing the demand for
sustainable technical solutions in various
sectors of the developing economies in East and
Southern Africa. The programs were produced in
RBO's studios in English, Shona and Kiswahili and
were designed to sensitize the rural and urban
poor to the existence, availability and
applicability of appropriate technologies. The
series also constructed a forum for the
cross-fertilisation of ideas from around the
region through an introduction in each episode of
a technology and its usage in individual
countries of the region. (Due to the great
success of programming re-broadcast is
anticipated - in additional language versions -
in Zambia, Tanzania and Uganda.) 
THE
ISSUE AT HAND
Access to
a growing range of sophisticated communication software,
free of charge or at low cost, allows people around the
world to use the Internet individually as a medium to
interact with each other. They are able to share and to
exchange information, they can talk to and see each
other.
As much as the net is being used by millions of people
around the globe already, there is almost no exchange
taking place between different cultural settings and
there are rarely links between different topical issues;
the virtual world of Internet - although accessible to
everyone with connectivity - seems to reflect the real
world’s closed circles. Even worse, the majority of
the world’s population is completely disintegrated
from this mode of communication. At the best, they may
perceive their view of the world through their local
radio station, monitored through a battery driven radio.
This radio remains as their window to the world.
Connectivity is the privilege of people participating in
Northern dominated economies, whether in the North itself
or in urban centres of the South. However, connectivity
alone does not solve four major set-backs once you want
to involve a wider scope of communities locally and
internationally:
- You have to bridge cultural differences
- You have to break language barriers
- You have to make the content accessible to an audience
without connectivity
- You have to make such a regular event sustainable
"THE
MULTIMEDIA BRIDGE EUROPE-AFRICA"
as
proposed by Radio Bremen (ARD / Germany)
& Radio Bridge Overseas (Zimbabwe)
THE
NORTHERN PILAR OF THE BRIDGE
"The radio would be the finest possible
communication apparatus in public life, a vast network of
pipes. That is to say, it would be if it knew how to
receive as well as to transmit, how to let the listener
speak as well as hear, how to bring him into a
relationship instead of isolating him."
(Bertolt Brecht)
"Do we people who live in Germany and in Europe
notice the changes taking place in African countries? Is
the image which we draw from our media the appropriate
one for the African reality of life? We ask these
questions, so as to get a deeper understanding of the
efforts being made by Africans to transform their
situation and the hopes they associate with the future.
We suggest to make use of the concrete possibilities of
the multimedia exchange which have been made accessible
by new interacting technologies. For this purpose we
present the idea of a European-African Media Portal. This
is a project that provides many impulses for
contributions of social groups and organisations in
Africa and Europe and beyond."
(Lawford Imunde / Project "Sensitive to Africa"
of Evangelische Akademie Loccum / Germany)
"I would like to confirm that Radio Bremen is
quite willing to participate, within its means, in this
project as well."
(Dr. Heinz Glässgen / Director General of Radio Bremen /
Germany)
Radio Bremen is the first public radio station in Europe
which is prepared to participate in a multimedia-bridge
between people in South and North, and it is intended to
establish the Northern production centre at Radio
Bremen's studios in Bremerhaven.
Such a multimedia portal will allow interaction between
cultures and generations in North and South.
People of different walks of life will be connected
beyond barriers of cultures and languages. As a result of
this project, programs will be available for radio and
Internet as well, the content being offered globally as
an online-content, at the same time providing context in
a local environment in which participating community
radio stations operate. They will be able to tailor
incoming programs in a way which would allow interaction
with their local audience.
In order to secure professional content development in
the South, it will be necessary to establish a system for
training which enhances North-South-co-operation of media
workers within the fields of radio and Internet. A
consortium of European partners is in the process to set
up a scheme which includes a permanent training system
attaching interns from Europe (young journalists) to
training sessions with storytellers from the AKP-region
in order to generate authentic southern content for
programming in several language versions.
It is intended to include more and more European regions
into this project through co-operating public and
community radio stations within the European Union and
beyond, thereby providing a grassroots based network of
communication for the exchange of experiences and ideas
along frameworks of the concept of "Local Agenda
21".
Organisations and enterprises within and beyond the field
of direct media involvement - that is in particular those
whose mandate it is to offer services in intercultural
work, in education and in development policies - are
invited to seek partnership with the project.
Precondition for development and smooth operation of a
European-African Multimedia-Bridge will be the reliable
co-operation with a competent southern partner who
commands already a network of communication within the
ACP-region ("ACP" = Africa, Caribbean, Pacific:
some 70 countries connected through agreements of Lomé
and Cotonou with the European Union). This reliable
partner is MWENGO (Mwelekeo mwa NGO, the reflection and
development centre for NGOs in Eastern and Southern
Africa, with its headquarters in Harare, Zimbabwe. MWENGO
will operate "Radio Bridge Overseas" as the
project’s multimedia production & training
facility in the South. At the same time, it will serve as
a switchboard regarding co-operation between civic
initiatives in the ACP-region and in Europe.
THE
SOUTHERN PILAR OF THE BRIDGE
CREATION OF A MEDIA NETWORK WITHIN THE
SADC-REGION
as proposed by RADIO BRIDGE OVERSEAS (RBO) & MWENGO
In order to generate a network of broadcasters within the
SADC-region which will be involved in the establishment
of a sustainable exchange of development orientated audio
programming through Internet, MWENGO suggests to combine
the actual production and distribution of such multimedia
programming with a regional training component. Partners
will be selected grassroots based development projects
& their supporting agencies in Africa & Overseas,
producers of selected radio stations & co-operating
Internet Service Providers, with MWENGO’s RBO as the
co-ordinator. During the proposed pilot phase, partners
in a growing number of SADC-countries.
THE
MULTIMEDIA APPROACH
Multimedia shall be understood as a combination of any
two or more different media types (text, graphics,
images, audio, video).
Multimedia is not a limiting medium - whilst you are
researching a story you can gather material for print,
audio, picture and video at the same time. Electronic
devices are already available which allow digital
capturing of audio, still picture and video with the same
piece of hardware. With that multimedia approach you will
have your newspaper story and your radio story and then
you can combine both to go on the Internet or create a
CD-Rom.
The following elements are suggested:
Regional training - Media personnel will be taught how to
collect information using a multimedia approach whereby
they can produce an article for the print media, an audio
program for broadcast media and basic elements for CD-
Roms & for the Internet.
Production of audio programs - After the training of
media personnel it will be easier to get a constant feed
of stories from around the region with MWENGO’s RBO
receiving all material and turning it into suitable
programs for regional distribution, providing copies in
several language versions.
To produce a CD-ROM / Internet presentation - The
creation of a data bank in form of a CD-ROM will provide
participants access to Internet, also allowing permanent
up-dates by partners.
It is possible to go throughout the region and collect
stories on chosen topics but the idea is to have people
from around the region actively participating in telling
their own stories from their perspective and then
exchanging programs through their local radio. In order
to have a constant source of stories for exchange, it is
suggested that the following can be done:
- Production of multimedia programs relevant to an
organisation’s needs.
- Because of the cultural differences on the continent, a
media training program with identified media
organisations and Internet Service Providers in the
region can be undertaken. Attendees will learn how to
turn material, collected and researched at home, into
suitable formats for regional distribution.
- Establish a network of schools and colleges using the
Internet to allow the youth to learn how to use modern
communication tools whilst at the same time ideas and
opinions are allowed to flow freely from one country to
another. Appropriate media tools can give the students
the experience they need to be informed, intelligent
decision makers, producers and problem solving members
and as adult members of the new millennium. Just imagine
how empowering this is to the African child! The use of
multimedia allows this because teachers and students are
able to tackle various issues by creating interactive
lessons - they are able to link up with their
counterparts in other schools not only in the region but
internationally as well thus sharing experiences and new
ideas in a stimulating way.
Overall
Goal
To establish a forum for debate between development
orientated grassroots initiatives through radio and a
network for the exchange of educational audio packages
between radio stations within SADC and Overseas.
Project
Objectives
a) To initiate ongoing communication between grassroots
development projects, their support agencies and the
audio media within the SADC-region, using English,
French, Portuguese, Spanish etc. & vernacular
b) To provide Southern radio journalists with the
necessary skills to produce and exchange relevant
audio-programs through Internet
c) To initiate co-operation of Southern Internet Service
Providers (ISP) with radio stations for an exchange of
such audio-files through Internet
d) To establish a professional African media-network
which would provide a digest of authentic programming
from Africa for distribution to audiences beyond Africa
through co-operation with media-partners in Europe
Achievements
expected
It is hoped, after the pilot phase, to have established
through Internet and associated radio stations a regular
forum for developmental debate between grassroots
initiatives within the SADC-region and with relevant
support agencies. MWENGO / Harare, as NGO co-ordinator,
will have mobilised ongoing support by NGO’s and
other organisations which operate in different fields of
developmental and civic engagement. Regular audio
programming on their behalf, and financed by them, will
help to maintain a sustainable network for audio program
exchanges. Participating radio stations will receive
educational audio-serials for free, offering in return
own programming for international distribution.
Planned
Project Activities
The idea is to establish in a growing number of African
countries a professional relationship between one
Internet Service Provider (ISP) and producers of a local
radio station, both partners being invited to a
3-week-training workshop in Harare.
On the agenda:
a) liaising with local grassroots development initiatives
& their support agencies
b) Identifying local topics and formatting of
audio-programs meant for radio audiences in other
cultural environments
c) Introduction to computer-based digital
audio-production (hard disk recording)
d) Introduction to compressing, up- & downloading and
de-compressing of audio- files
e) establishing of systems for audio-program exchange
through Internet from RBO's website to websites of
participating radio stations with connectivity or to
websites of co-operating ISP's
f) methods for dubbing of downloaded files for analogue
use at partner radio stations with connectivity or of
co-operating ISP's, and systems for uploading of analogue
audio-programs by those partner radio stations for
exchange through Internet
g) Establishing permanent communication through Internet
& e-mail
STRUCTURE
at MWENGO’s RBO in Harare / Zimbabwe as:
Liaison point with MWENGO / Harare, as NGO co-ordinator
and with radio networks & their ISP-collaborators
within SADC
Meeting point for trainees from within the SADC-region
during pilot phase
Receiving point for all audio material & English
transcripts, from participating radio stations with
connectivity as compressed files, from participating
radio stations without connectivity through co-operating
Internet Service Providers in their vicinity.
Production point for final arrangement of regular program
feeds in several language versions.
Distribution point for all ready-made audio feeds in
several language versions, through compressed files for
placement on RBO’s website, downloadable for
partners with connectivity, where necessary through
co-operating Internet Service Providers, and accessible
to Internet surfers.
INTERNET surfers will find a general introduction to the
project, linking them to three weekly mini-audio-features
(each not more than 6 minutes long) on RBO's website,
available as over-voiced versions in several language
versions. Sub-buttons will direct visitors to these
language versions.
It is intended to place all audio files on RBO’s
website as a multi media offer, which will allow updates
by and interaction with resource persons, the use of
pictures, graphics & links to additional resources.
Editorial chat-links will be set up between RBO's studio
in Harare and centres of partners abroad. Regular
conferences via Internet, hosted by RBO, will allow
co-ordination of programming and monitoring of progress
and feedback.
MWENGO is targetting - through RBO - grassroot based
development initiatives & their support agencies,
radio producers & co-operating Internet Service
Providers in member countries of SADC. During preparation
one radio station and one Internet Service Provider will
be identified in each country who are willing to
participate.
They will be asked to honour participation in
RBO-training with continued support of the ermerging
exchange network. Each radio station will be represented
during a 3-week-training session in Harare with 1
producer and 1 ISP who has signed an undertakting to
co-operate in future with the station. Producers will be
tasked to bring along material and script for at least
one audio program, not longer than 6 minutes, and
including excerpts from interviews, relevant SFX, music
& songs from, reflecting a subject still to be
determined in a context of a grassroot based project in
the environment they come from. Each participating radio
station will have to provide from the time its trainee
returns home at least 1 program offer per month.
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