The Relevance of Integrating Models of Radio into Development Process
Africanus L. Diedong

Abstract
The recent re-democratisation process that has taken place on the African continent is paving the way for the mass media to operate within an environment, which favours the strengthening of this transitional process. What is even more notable in some African countries is the legislative backing for freedom of expression and the encouragement of private individuals and local communities to set up and operate electronic media. What this means is that governments are gradually realizing that development initiatives can be facilitated when they are backed up with a strong communication dimension. In fact, free and independent media and freedom of expression are basic conditions in any new democracy. However, the concentration of the mass media in the urban areas has led to inadequate attention or neglect by governments for the communication needs of rural folk and the poor living in the peripheries of cities. Complicating the situation is the high rate of illiteracy, which constitutes a big hurdle to efforts aimed at enhancing development. However, the welcoming development of the current role being played by fledgling community and educational radio in development in Africa calls for appropriate and adequate strategic planning and guidelines on programmes, which are well suited to models of radio capable of supporting development. Therefore, the aim of the review is to delineate those factors that can influence a model of community and educational radio capable of facilitating development through community participation.

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