To: Multiple recipients of broadcast
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2003 13:47:25 +0200
Subject: Community radio station takes a stance on war - April 2003
 
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SPECIAL FEATURE: Community radio station takes a stance on war
“Bush Against War” – a slogan that turned a few heads in Cape Town on Tuesday 25 March. On that day community broadcaster Bush Radio launched its “Bush 48 hour ultimatum” which replaced ordinary programming with 48 hours airplay of John Lennon’s Give Peace A Chance in a protest against the war in Iraq.
The station plans to give the “Bush 48 hour ultimatum” a weekly slot from 2 p.m. Tuesday to 2 p.m. Thursday until the war is over.
“Actually the campaign is only 30 percent anti-war, the rest is educational and has a local focus. We are trying to deepen the political understanding in the community”, revealed station manager Zane Ibrahim.
To that end, any member of the community was allowed to air their thoughts on the war for two minutes live or one minute by phone during the 48 hours. Aside from going on air, the community was involved through a special committee at Bush Radio in setting up the campaign, which was conceived a year ago with President Bush’s first mentions of the “axis of evil”. 
The campaign was reported in the Cape Argus on March 28.
“It was quite a popular story. My colleagues were talking about it for days afterwards, joking about it. People said that the campaign was crazy but apparently it worked”, relates Peter Cardwell, the journalist who wrote the story for the Cape Argus. Independent Online carried the story on its website the same day.
As word of “Bush Against War” spread, Bush Radio got a number of different reactions to the campaign.
“We have had a people calling to tell us that we are uppity kaffirs.We also had two phone calls from the U.S. Consulate, who said that what we are doing is “silly” and “counterproductive”. So we know that we are doing the right thing”, says Zane Ibrahim.
Zane Ibrahim tells MISA that community broadcasters in the U.S., England and Nepal have already congratulated Bush Radio through email on the campaign and asked for advice on how to address conflict in a similar way.
“We tell them that it must be carefully structured. You don’t want to end up on the wrong side, for instance by backing the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe and then see it turn out to be even worse than the alternative. It should be about educating the community”, says Zane Ibrahim.
Another source of international support may catapult the campaign into a higher profile. Bush Radio has received confirmation that Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s widow and co-pacifist, will give an interview and negotiations are currently underway.
Marketing success aside, the campaign raises questions about journalism ethics. Broadcasting in times of war can be a tricky business. American mass media are currently under heavy fire from both academics and other journalists for ignoring journalistic standards such as objectivity and non-partiality in their reports on the war in Iraq. The national colours are flying on the air waves as pro-war reporting takes its toll on journalism ethics. The ethical spectrum is no longer measured from objectivity to subjectivity but from patriotism to objectivity.
In this situation, is it not equally wrong for broadcasters to direct their media against the war? Peter Schellschmidt of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Namibia, one of Bush Radio’s sponsors, does not think so. 
“First of all, I would like to make clear that whatever Bush Radio decides to broadcast, we as donors do not interfere. As an independent institution it can do as it pleases as long as it is within the law. But personally I think it makes a lot of sense to campaign against an illegal war that is not sanctioned by the UN. The “Bush Against War” campaign is not about supporting one side of the war, it is a protest against what is happening in Iraq. The love of peace finds its expression at the radio and I have no problem with that activity, just the contrary”, he says.
An important fact about the campaign is that Bush Radio gives airtime to both sides. 
“I am grateful that Bush Radio gave me an hour to present the American administration’s side in the war”, says Brian Penn, the Deputy Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. General Consulate in Cape Town. “Bush Radio has taken a political stand, but their policy has not gotten in the way of letting all sides be heard.”
“We want to let our listeners make informed decisions. It is a peace-building exercise. Otherwise it would just be ambulance-chasing, looking for wars all over the world”, Zane Ibrahim explains.
From May 1 to May 10 Bush Radio extends its broadcasting from the confines of Cape Town to the world, as it transmits live over the internet to celebrate its 10th anniversary. For more information, please visit <http://www.bushradio.co.za/>.