Participation by Community Radios in Civic Education and Electoral Coverage

A Code of Conduct for Electoral Coverage was developed by community radios as part of the Media Development in Mozambique Project initiated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)and the United Nations Development Project (UNDP). During the 2003 local election campaign, the UNESCO Media Project carried out a study on the effective application of the Code of Conduct, and of the general climate surrounding community radio stations in three municipalities covered by the elections: Cuamba, Dondo and Chimoio. This 113-page publication summarises the findings of this study. According to the authors, besides showing the strength of community radio as an instrument of social construction (and control), and thus a priority for the contending forces in local elections, the study proves that the Code was well-timed and useful as community radio stations were often caught between opposing parties standing for election.

According to the publication, community radio is an important source of information for communities in outlying areas. Most of the Mozambican population is unable to read or write, and audio-visual media, such as Radio Mozambique and Mozambican Television, do not cover the entire national territory. In addition, community radio can broadcast in the language of the local community. The author proposes that this is why involving community radio in electoral processes is so important and why it is important to reflect and debate upon the existence of rules and/or other provisions that can regulate the participation of community radio in electoral processes. As part of the programme to involve community radio in the electoral process, the Code of Conduct was developed and a number of regional training workshops were held.

Among other suggestions, the document recommends the following for community radio stations in Mozambique during electoral processes:

• planning and production of civic education and electoral coverage programmes should be undertaken with greater collaboration and active accompaniment by the Management Committee, the coordinator, and the mobiliser;
• civic education and electoral coverage programmes should follow monthly and weekly planning schedules, a good choice of themes, and the format most appropriate to the programme, bearing in mind the type of information that is being transmitted;
• information materials offered to radio should always be available to volunteers, and basic documents on the radio’s operations and the rules it adopts should be known and available to all those involved in radio;
• whenever necessary, the support manual, produced by the Media Development Project, on Producing Electoral Civic Education Programmes should be consulted, or should even be used as a basis in the planning, production and broadcasting of programmes;
• community radio stations should discuss and define strategies for greater community involvement and participation in civic education and electoral coverage programmes;
• community radio stations should take a broader and more strategic view on the involvement and participation of women, both in the running of the radio station, and in the production of programmes on the elections; and
• community radio stations should keep an archive of all the programmes and all the information broadcast about the elections, for at least two or three months after the end of the electoral process.

It is also recommends that election candidates for political parties should:

• be better informed about the role and work of community radio stations during an electoral process;
• help community radio stations be more dedicated to their role in electoral processes, rather than trying to force radio stations to take on a less ethical and less transparent role; and
• obtain information from the radio stations about the rules adopted for covering election campaigns and how they structure their broadcasting schedule.