Impact of Radio Broadcasts in the Mali-South Region: Follow-Up and Evaluation

From the Introduction

The second phase of the Mali-South Rural Radio Revival Project was carried out in 1997, two years following the end of a first phase (T.C.P.), which had been financed by FAO, with the support of UNICEF between 1993 - 1995.

An important point to remember, is that the political context was quite favourable for this project following the end of the one-party government regimes, under whose auspices the State jealously guarded its total monopoly of all communication information, and which was characterised by systematic control, and the outright management of all the media, effectively blocking all freedom of expression.

After 1991, there began a new era in Mali, which was favourable for the blossoming of the information media, an era which witnessed the proliferation of the radio and the press. This newly-gained freedom signalled an end not only to thirty years of total government control of the media, but the end of an autocratic regime, as well.

Abstract

This paper will deal with:

• The framework of the project
• The methods and techniques used by the different radio networks in the Mali-South region within the framework of the Mali-South Rural Radio Revival Project, in order to gather the reactions of listeners
• The methods used following the introduction of newer methods and techniques
• The follow-up and evaluation of the broadcasts within the framework of the Radio Revival Project
• The experience gained
• The need for follow-up and evaluation.

Conclusion: The Need for Follow-Up and Evaluation

Without follow-up and evaluation, a radio set is no more than a mere noise-box.

It is indispensable for us to carry out continual evaluation of the work of our radio stations, in order to improve their performance in the field, and to correct their insufficiencies.

Following-up and evaluating the impact of a radio programme allows us to measure, in time and space, the positive or negative consequences of a programme, as well as its effect on the attitudes, behaviour and general knowledge of our listeners.

The Mali-South radio stations have made enormous progress in their realisation of the importance of follow-up and evaluation. In order to do this, they have been using new, simplified and accessible methods, such as listener mail and field trips.

A radio station that does not make use of Follow-Up and Evaluation is like an aircraft flying blind, or without a pilot on board. The result is very predictable!

Follow-Up and Evaluation is one of the activities that the Mali-South radio revival project (GCP/MLI/020/NET) has included in its planning, and its principal objective is the perpetuity of its radio stations.

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