assessing the impact of community radio on youth empowerment a case study of kagadi kibaale community radio in kagadi district

Description

This study assessed the impact that Community Radio has on youth empowerment. With specific focus on 91.7 Kagadi Kibaale Community FM (KKCR FM), the study examined the extent to which the programmes, which this radio used to provide economic and civic empowerment to its audience empowered the youth economically and civically. It also investigated the challenges the radio faced in the process of empowering the youth. The study was grounded in the youth empowerment theory. It was designed as a case study and used a mixed methods approach to collect and analyse qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data was collected from the radio‟s employees using indepth interviews and from its listeners club members using focus group discussions. Quantitative data was collected from the radio‟s youth listeners using a survey questionnaire. Qualitative data was analysed using qualitative content analysis supplemented by the descriptive statistical method, which was also used to analyse quantitative data. The study found out that KKCR FM used various programmes to empower the youth economically. The programmes used were to equip the youth listeners with productive knowledge, skills and work values, change their mindset from the job-seeking to the job creation mentality, sensitise them about opportunities that can be exploited from government programmes, and mobilise them join the radio‟s listeners clubs and form a SACCO from which they could borrow to finance their projects. The radio empowered the youth civically using different programmes that enlightened them about their civic duties and rights, and how to perform these duties by participating in leadership and holding elected leaders to account. However, the extent to which the radio empowered the youth was moderate because it faced financial, technical, competition and audience-based challenges. There was hence need for the radio to improve this extent by addressing the challenges. To this end, the study recommended to the radio‟s management to mobilise resources required to deal with the financial and technical challenges, and to sensitise its target audience to support it. The radio‟s programme manager was urged to tailor the programming and programme presentation to the interests of the youth so as to attract more youth to listen to its empowerment programmes instead of switching to other radios or social media. Further research was recommended into how community radios can develop programming tailored to youth interests and how they can mobilise resources needed to effectively implement this programming.