Week Two: What is interactive radio?

Archived English Discussions Interactive Radio
#59

Dear colleagues in the platform,

Sorry for sharing late about Interactive Radio! Here below is my submission.

1.My understanding of what interactive radio is:

In simple terms, interaction or to be interactive is a- two-way traffic in which say; the Presenter, Reporter or interviewer talks and gives time to the listener or interviewee to respond or to share. In other words, the parties involved each have time to contribute or talk and give time to listen to the other. Therefore, Interactive Radio is that kind of Radio programme that involves both the Presenter/Interviewer and the listener/audience. Both parties mentioned here take part in a Radio programme and discuss together issues as put forward by the organizer of the programme, or say the Presenter or Host or Interviewer. They both share and give time to listen to each other. By doing so, they make the programme interactive, but also enjoyable!

If a programme is not interactive, it tends to bore the audience! But if interactive, then the people feel they are part of it and share what they know about the subject matter as they listen too through the guidance of the host. But i would also share by saying that a good interactive radio or radio programme has to have both women and men represented. This is so because men tend to dominate say in an agriculture programme by sharing what they feel is good practice or produce or farm inputs are better for them. If women are not given chance, then theirs which is mainly food for family, vegetables and other farming practices that are gender friendly may not be given space. In Uganda for example, men dominate the airwaves in case an opportunity for calling in a programme is given. So women should be considered to share mostly what they feel is better for them since they are the ones concerned mostly with food production to feed their families, to cook nutritious foods and what best if for the family in terms of food and vegetables . So both sexes give it the best to an interactive radio programme.

  1. An example of a radio program that is interactive - This is a Radio Programme called Tukyeese presented by one of my colleagues at Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) Radio. Tukyeese is going up to morning…It is presented on one of the local Radio channels of UBC Radio called UBC Butebo. It is done in a local language called Lusoga. It is presented from Midnight to 6a.m- Monday to Friday. It is segmented with music, greetings and topical issues on gender and development, family life education.

The Presenter of this programme has two telephone lines in studio-one line is called on by only men and the second one is only for women. He says he wants to have both men and women interact and share equally in the programme. That most women do not have chance to call in especially when still very busy with house chores. Also that the line may be jammed with a lot of male callers making women not to go through. So since the programme airs late after work, both men and women participate equally and discuss real issues pertaining to Gender and development and other family related issues. Now that famine has been tabled of recent in this programme-famine being an issue in Uganda today, women shared with men and the Presenter and you could hear they both suggested points that are of benefit. So this is the kind of programme i share here.

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#60

Dear Radio-Upper-West, thank you for sharing on the topic of interactive radio. However, on the example you gave of an interactive programme, you have said that you had the radio programme last year where you had to ensure that you used the necessary tools like phones, beep to voice etc…who did the audience or listeners call in to interact or ask questions on that campaign?

Also, was it a one time programme or a campaign that ran for sometime? If so…how long was the campaign…and did you have feed back?

#61

Dear Kasooha, i really appreciate your submission on interactive radio. It sounds good and i have learned something too especially the use of ICT. I admire this because it seems some of you colleagues are advanced with those other advanced tech or equipment. However, you have said that interactive radio gives instant feedback that is relevant which to me i say no. In Radio for example in a live talk show…we face a challenge of any callers calling in with irrelevant responses…have you experienced so? So how can the host make it relevant there.

Also, you have said that both parties in interactive radio value each other…is it? For me i host those who can contest others’ submissions and i try as much as possible to bring them together and to value submissions and to guide through how it would best be. What about this where they are not agreeing?

#62

Hello everyone

Wow we have come to the end of the second week of our discussion. Thank you to all who contributed. All contributions show that people understand what interactive radio is. Thank you to all who even shared programmes on interactive radio. I was really impressed by @obolo 's program https://www.facebook.com/143kasa where he makes sure he uses any platform available to reach out to the listeners who in turn interact with the program.

I will not quote everyone but there has really been great points in each contribution I read.
Sarah @smawerere said :

So much has been said and even though said differently, the meaning is the same.

Big up to all of you for sharing your understanding. We learn a lot through sharing understanding and experiences.

If you have not yet participated, you can use the weekend to do so as we will start a new topic on Monday.

Enjoy your weekend

Busi

#63

Interactive Radio literally refers to a programme(s) on Radio that is or could be educative and informative talking about trends, happenings, myth, societal issues, political, sports, customs and traditions which allows the listerning audience to participate either via phone calls, sms or social media. The presenter gives the listerner the opportunity and plaform to air their views, opinions and comments as well as ask relevant questions to the topic, at the end a solution is provided or a stance taken in the best interest of all that is involved.

A typical example can be on the topic: “FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION” why some remote communities in some African countries still encourage the practice? and its devastating effects on women.

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#64

This should certainly be a very interesting topic, i guess issues about the constitution and laws with its accompanying statutes are discussed extensively here.

#65

See you on Monday, actually it is tomorrow.

#66

Thank you Busi, Meli Rostand and all colleagues in the platform for sharing such rich info on Interactive Radio!!! I have learned a lot.

However, i would also like to share that interactivity and feedback gathering differs from audience to audience. If Obolo for instance serves a high tech young audience, then interaction through FB (Facebook), twitter etc is the best in this era. However, some of us handling real subsistence farmers in rural settings as Meli shared, we still gather feedback either instantly through phone-ins or wait to receive such feed later on. Phones are almost everywhere…but believe me, there are still those who have no access to phones yet or even if they have them, they will not have them on all the time due to factors like lack of power to charge the phone all the time etc. Also pre- recorded programmes are still standard in some of our stations, so if you play a recorded progarmme…there is no instant feedback got just like Meli said. But the programme has to be interactive through having various voices that are different to get diverse opinions. These will continue to happen. So we should not ignore these as broadcasters.

#67

hello everyone, my name is hassan mugabe i work with radio vok, voice of kamwenge 87.9fm in western Uganda. i must admit i have missed out on the discussions because of the hectic work schedule but thought its never too late for me to submit my utmost contribution.
my understanding of interactive radio is thus a broadcast where the moderator is directly interructing with farmers in their fields and sharing one to one with them.i believe reaching out to the fields and having a one to one interruction on site gives me a feel of what happens in the field other than hearing from them on the phone or online.

please allow me submit ma small audio interview with a volunteer farmer from usa whose been in nyabbani subcounty of kamwenge district doing voluntary work of empowering local farmers with skills on how to uppergrade their agriculture practices en thus better yields.

madam catherine got touched by the dire need of the people of the western uganda district of kamwenge and nyabbani subcounty and went back home to the usa only to fundraise for them bicycles which she handed over to them this month.

#68

radio gurune our interactive radio programmes are of phone insurance and field voices sharing their opinions and knowledge on the topic to be discussed on other special farmer programs or health or nutrition listeners could use the flashing way and we call out to them .texting is also one tool for mostly the youth programmes. the use of other social media tools are not very much used due to poor connectivity. Live discussion programmes is the phone that we get more women contributing. the other social media tools such aas FB,etc is less because our greater target audiences are rural and sub urban people even though the station is right in the heart of the capital of Upper East Region, Ghana.
Interactive radio is the process of the station always engaging community people to share their stories and comment on other issues they have heard from the station too.

#69

Good piece it seems we are limiting the discussion on posing topics for on air discussions and allowing listeners to contribble by phoning etc etc Interactive radio involves more research and engaging the listeners sharing their opinions and learning new knowledge or information that will either motivate them to act or use it for life changes Like stated FGM is still practice in some parts of Africa because it’s a behavoiur change issue or cultural and needs continues discussion involving the practitioner and survivors. We will get there and save many girls

#70

I think interactive radio is broadcasting that brings the gatekeepers (producers, presenters and reporters especially) in a blended (or conflicting?) contact and interaction that produces the intended balance in message productions. Technologically many use mobile phones, land line phones emails, text messages in responding or contributing to discussion shows (and even posted letters). The central approach here is that there is interaction and participation by audiences and those professionals producing. It’s a 2-way inputting
and outputting in the message production processes.

#71

I am happy that the discussion is still continuing. Indeed we also have to take into consideration those who have no access to the ICT tools. There are loyal listeners in most remote areas who have no phones or internet. The best way to include them is to use what they have. There are may ways to do this. Say you decide on having listener groups and the groups compile feedback to the station. There was one station that decided on training at least one person in each community and supplied the person with a smart phone. That way the person was able to collect opinions, views and feedback from listeners and feeds through to the station. The most important thing is to accommodate everyone, not only those that are on social media.

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#72

Interactive is when the audience have an opportunity to participate in an on going discussion in a given on the radio.There are so many ways through which that can be done; through the phone in platform, text messages, writing back to the producer and presenter through and nowadays via email, facebook and whatssap. And that is my simple definition of interactive radio
We have our own program that I produce and present The News Hour in which at times we host experts, it could be Agricultural officials, Environmentalists depending on the matters arising. We however get overwhelmed by the responses through the platforms of interaction mentioned. Others keep flowing even after the program.

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#73

Most programs in Kenya are interactive programs. Though a huge percentage is entertainment. In the programmes, audience are invited to participate via phone calls, texts, whatsapp, facebook or twitter. While at it, they get to broadcast their voices, ideas, suggestions or lifetime stories about farming.
Most of times, burning and new issues on farming will be discussed during the program. The ability of interactive radio programs of audience to decide what the next program will be or what it will contain is what makes interactive programs unique. Basically, having what will run or be in next program out of listeners hands is like killing a bird with two stones as two efforts are met at same time.

#74

2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Cafe - a place to chat with others

#75

Interactive radio is an all inclusive output that gets all stakeholders onboard and which makes broadcasting communication rather than a transmission.
The feedback is istant and the message passed across to everyone listening

#77

Sorry for the late engagement. I read most of the comments on interactive radio. It’s such an interactive discussion by itself. The thought and experiences forwarded by participants could be an input for the programs we produce. Interactive radio is an approach in which both radio program team and the audience interact on the contents of the programs. As communication is a two way traffic, interactive radio is also a communicative approach that fosters the audience participation on various topics. The producers in turn will have an opportunity to understand different perspectives that comes in via phone, email and social media platforms.

Our own radio programs in Ethiopia has an experience of interactive radio practices. For instance, we have Interactive voice response (IVR) which creates interaction with the audience. This is a two way communication process. The producers ask question of the week and the audiences send their response from their mobile phone and vise versa. The audience feedback could also be received through IVR. The producers play the audience voices back on radio on the next week program. That makes the audience to shift the role from being passive listener to be active participants. Thus, interactive radio programs significantly contributed to develop trustworthy relationship between the producers and the audience.

Netsanet Hailu,
FRI Ethiopia

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#78

Snail speed alert!

my understanding of interactive radio is a style of broadcasting that encourages contribution and feedback from target audience on issues of importance to them; and timely response from the radio broadcaster.

Example of interactive radio programming employed in the “B’omugaiga” agribusiness program i produce and present at voice of Kigezi in Uganda, is that of the short phone text or whatsapp messages that may contain questions and comments from listeners about ongoing program, that are responded to by hosted experts or referred to next program.

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#79