Skip to content
1981
Digital and Material Forms of Community and Alternative Media
  • ISSN: 2634-4726
  • E-ISSN: 2206-5857

Abstract

Health communicators faced substantial challenges in effectively communicating COVID-19 among resource-limited communities due to the rapid changes of the pandemic. This article explores the possibility of communicating COVID-19 via community radio (CR) using entertainment education (EE) based strategies with host communities. A qualitative approach was adopted using focus group discussions and in-depth interviews to collect data, and reflexive thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the data. Guy Bessette’s ten-step participatory communication model was adopted as the theoretical framework to understand CR’s EE-oriented COVID-19 messages, if any. The study found that Radio Peace adopts EE-based messaging, which is often participatory, with listener involvement in the production and broadcast. The study highlights new possibilities for pandemic communication, specifically COVID-19, with CR adopting EE-based strategies among resource-limited communities.

© 2023 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jacm_00125_1
2024-07-05
2026-04-13

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Adjaye, J. K. (2008), ‘The technology of the human voice: Oral systems of information dissemination and retrieval among the Akan of Ghana’, The International Information & Library Review, 40:4, pp. 236–42, https://doi.org/10.1080/10572317.2008.10762788.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Adu Gyamfi, P. and Amankwah, A. S. (2021), ‘Effective communication during a global health crisis: A content analysis of presidential addresses on the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana’, Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research, 4:2, pp. 1–28, https://jicrcr.com/index.php/jicrcr/article/view/45/46. Accessed 8 May 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Aikins, A. D. G. and Akoi-Jackson, B. (2020), ‘“Colonial Virus”: COVID-19, creative arts and public health communication in Ghana’, Ghana Medical Journal, 54:4s, pp. 86–96.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Anoff-Ntow, K. A. and Tettey, W. J. (2022), ‘COVID-19 narratives and counter-narratives in Ghana: The dialectics of state messaging and alternative re/de-constructions’, Journal of African Media Studies, 14:1, pp. 125–42, https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00069_1.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Ansu-Kyeremeh, K. (ed.) (2005), Indigenous Communication in Africa: Concepts, Applications and Prospects, Accra: Ghana Universities Press, pp. 1–12.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Ataguba, J. E. (2020), ‘COVID-19 pandemic, a war to be won: Understanding its economic implications for Africa’, Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, 18:3, pp. 325–28, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40258-020-00580-x.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Backhaus, B. (2022), Polyphony: Listening to the Listeners of Community Radio, New York: Taylor & Francis.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Bandura, A. (2002), ‘Social cognitive theory of mass communication’, in J. Bryant and D. Zillman (eds), Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 121–54.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Bello, A. K. and Wilkinson, K. (2017), ‘The perception of community radio as public sphere and its potential impact on political action: Lessons from Tanzania’, Journal of Development and Communication Studies, 5:1, pp. 22–43, https://doi.org/10.4314/jdcs.v5i1.2.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Bessette, G. (2004), Involving the Community: A Guide to Participatory Development Communication, Ottawa: IDRC and Southbound.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Bosch, T. E. (2006), ‘“AIDS is gold, HIV is platinum”: Bush radio’s use of the entertainment-education strategy’, Postamble, 2:2, pp. 28–44.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2020), ‘One size fits all?: What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis?’, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 18:3, pp. 328–52, https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2020.1769238.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Brown, W. J. and Fraser, B. P. (2004), ‘Celebrity identification in entertainment-education’, in A. Singhal, M. J. Cody, E. M. Rogers and M. Sabido (eds), Entertainment-Education and Social Change, New York and London: Routledge, pp. 97–116.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Buckley, S. (2011), Community Media: A Good Practice Handbook, Paris: UNESCO, http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002150/215097e.pdf. Accessed 3 August 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Campbell, C. and Scott, K. (2012), ‘Community health and social mobilization’, in R. Obregon and S. Waisbord (eds), The Handbook of Global Health Communication, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 177–93.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Cardey, S., Garforth, C., Govender, E. and Dyll-Myklebust, L. (2013), ‘Entertainment education theory and practice in HIV/AIDS communication: A South Africa/ United Kingdom comparison’, Critical Arts, 27:3, pp. 288–310, https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2013.800665.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Carpentier, N. (2012), ‘The concept of participation: If they have access and interact, do they really participate?’, Communication Management Quarterly, 14:2, pp. 164–77, https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3961/3cd2c4b95ef5dee93a6f8e2ed47512b3981c.pdf. Accessed 13 August 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Chadwick, A. (2017), The Hybrid Media System: Politics and Power, 2nd ed., New York: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. de-Graft Aikins, A. (2020), ‘“Colonial virus”? Creative arts and public understanding of COVID-19 in Ghana’, Journal of the British Academy, 8, pp. 401–13, https://doi.org/10.5871/jba/008.401.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Diedong, A. L. and Naaikuur, L. (2012), ‘Ghana’s experience in participatory community radio broadcasting’, Global Media Journal: African Edition, 6:2, pp. 123–47, http://globalmedia.journals.ac.za. Accessed 10 September 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Dutta, M. J. (2011), ‘Poverty at the margins’, Communicating Social Change: Structure, Culture and Agency, New York: Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203834343.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Dutta, M. J. (2015), ‘Decolonizing communication for social change: A culture-centered approach’, Communication Theory, 25:2, pp. 123–43, https://doi.org/10.1111/comt.12067.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Dutta, M. J., Elers, C. and Jayan, P. (2020), ‘Culture-centered processes of community organizing in COVID19 response: Notes from Kerala and Aotearoa New Zealand’, Frontiers in Communication, 5, pp. 1–15, https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2020.00062.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Essandoh, M. (2006), ‘Local participation in community radio: A case study of Radio Peace in Winneba’, unpublished master’s dissertation, Accra: University of Ghana.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Fox, J. (2019), Community Radio’s Amplification of Communication for Social Change, Zurich: Palgrave, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17316-6.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Ghana Community Radio Network (GCRN) (2010), Origins of Ghana Community Radio Network, unpublished booklet, Ghana, https://gcrn.org.gh/. Accessed 13 May 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Ghana Community Radio Network (GCRN) (2020), Ghana Community Radio Network Stations and Languages, unpublished booklet, Ghana, https://gcrn.org.gh/. Accessed 13 May 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Ghana Health Service (GHS) (2020), ‘Ghana confirms two cases of COVID-19’, 12 March, https://ghs.gov.gh/covid19/downloads/covid_19_first_confirmed_GH.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2022.
  29. Govender, E. (2013), ‘Working in the greyzone: Exploring education-entertainment in Africa’, African Communication Research, 6:1, pp. 5–32.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Jallov, B. (2005), ‘Assessing community change: development of a “bare foot” impact assessment methodology’, Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, 3:1, pp. 21–34, https://doi.org/10.1386/rajo.3.1.21/1.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Laskar, K. A. and Bhattacharyya, B. (2021), ‘Community radio stations’ production responses to COVID-19 pandemic in India’, Media Asia, 48:4, pp. 243–57, https://doi.org/10.1080/01296612.2021.1970421.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Manyozo, L. (2009), ‘Mobilizing rural and community radio in Africa’, Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies, 30:1, pp. 1–23, https://doi.org/10.1080/02560054.2009.9653389.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Manyozo, L. (2018), ‘The context is the message: Theory of Indigenous knowledge communication systems’, Javnost: The Public, 25:4, pp. 393–409, https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2018.1463351.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Mare, A. (2020), ‘Popular communication in Africa: An empirical and theoretical exposition’, Annals of the International Communication Association, 44:1, pp. 81–99, https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2019.1623060.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Medeossi, B. J., Stadler, J. and Delany-Moretlwe, S. (2014), ‘“I heard about this study on the radio”: Using community radio to strengthen good participatory practice in HIV prevention trials’, BMC Public Health, 14:1, pp. 1–8, https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-876.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Moyer-Gusé, E., Chung, A. H. and Jain, P. (2011), ‘Identification with characters and discussion of taboo topics after exposure to an entertainment narrative about sexual health’, Journal of Communication, 61:3, pp. 387–406.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Mundy, P. and Compton, L. (1991), ‘Indigenous communication and indigenous knowledge’, Development Communication Report, 74:3, pp. 1–3, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paul-Mundy/publication/268040873_Indigenous_Communication_and_Indigenous_Knowledge/links/5acb4ffc0f7e9bcd51994697/Indigenous-Communication-and-Indigenous-Knowledge.pdf. Accessed 8 May 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. National Communication Authority (NCA) (2022), ‘List of authorised VHF-FM radio stations in Ghana’, 4 November, https://nca.org.gh/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/FM-LIST-2022.pdf. Accessed 22 December 2023.
  39. Nyamnjoh, F. B. (2011), ‘De-westernizing media theory to make room for African experience’, in H. Wasserman (ed.), Popular Media, Democracy and Development in Africa, New York: Routledge, pp. 19–31.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Nyareza, S. and Dick, A. L. (2012), ‘Use of community radio to communicate agricultural information to Zimbabwe’s peasant farmers’, Aslib Proceedings, 64:5, pp. 494–508, https://doi.org/10.1108/00012531211263111.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. P1 (2021a), in-person interview with E. Essel, Effutu Municipal, 3 July.
  42. P1 male FGD#2 (2021b), FGD session with E. Essel, Awutu Senya West District, 17 September.
  43. P2 (2021), in-person interview with E. Essel, Effutu Municipal, 30 July.
  44. P3 (2021), in-person interview with E. Essel, Gomoa West District, 7 September.
  45. P3 male FGD#1 (2021a), FGD session with E. Essel, Awutu Senya West District, 18 August.
  46. P3 male FGD#1 (2021b), FGD session with E. Essel, Effutu Municipal, 18 August.
  47. P4 (2021), in-person interview with E. Essel, Effutu Municipal, 21 October.
  48. P4 male FGD#2 (2021), FGD session with E. Essel, Awutu Senya West District, 17 September.
  49. P4 male FGD#1 (2021), FGD session with E. Essel, Effutu Municipal, 18 August.
  50. P5 (2021), in-person interview with E. Essel, Effutu Municipal, 16 October.
  51. P6 (2021), in-person interview with E. Essel, Effutu Municipal, 30 July.
  52. P6 female FGD#1 (2021), FGD session with E. Essel, Effutu Municipal, 18 August.
  53. P6 male FGD#2 (2021), FGD session with E. Essel, Awutu Senya West District, 17 September.
  54. P7 (2021), in-person interview with E. Essel, Effutu Municipal, 30 July.
  55. Pavarala, V. and Jena, A. (2020), ‘Expanding discursive spaces: Community radio during COVID-19 and beyond’, Economic and Political Weekly, 55:49, pp. 69–78, https://www.epw.in/sites/default/files/engage_pdf/2020/12/18/157735.pdf. Accessed 8 May 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Racicot-Matta, C., Wilcke, M. and Egeland, G. M. (2016), ‘Development of radio dramas for health communication pilot intervention in Canadian Inuit communities’, Health Promotion International, 31:1, pp. 175–86, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dau024.
     [Google Scholar]
  57. Radio Peace (88.9 MHz-FM) (2019), ‘Programmes document’, unpublished radio station internal documents, Ghana, https://www.radiopeaceghana.org/about-us. Accessed 13 May 2024.
  58. Rodríguez, C. (2011), Citizens’ Media against Armed Conflict Disrupting Violence in Colombia, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  59. Servaes, J. (ed.) (2020), Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change, Singapore: Springer.
     [Google Scholar]
  60. Sharma, A. and Kashyap, S. K. (2015), ‘Community radio: A community media module for empowerment of rural women’, Media Asia, 42:3–4, pp. 180–91, https://doi.org/10.1080/01296612.2016.1142245.
     [Google Scholar]
  61. Shelus, V., VanEnk, L., Giuffrida, M., Jansen, S., Connolly, S., Mukabatsinda, M., Jah, F., Ndahindwa, V. and Shattuck, D. (2018), ‘Understanding your body matters: Effects of an entertainment-education serial radio drama on fertility awareness in Rwanda’, Journal of Health Communication, 23:8, pp. 761–72, https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2018.1527873.
     [Google Scholar]
  62. Singhal, A. and Rogers, E. M. (2003), Combating AIDS: Communication Strategies in Action, New Delhi, Thousand Oaks, CA and London: Sage Publications.
     [Google Scholar]
  63. Singhal, A. and Rogers, E. M. (2001), ‘The entertainment-education strategy in communication campaigns’, in R. E. Rice and C. K. Atkin (eds), Public Communication Campaigns, London: Sage Publications, pp. 343–41.
     [Google Scholar]
  64. Srivastava, S. (2020), ‘Role of community radio in health communication: A case study of Sharda 90.8 FM in Greater Noida’, Pragyaan: Journal of Mass Communication, 18:2, pp. 31–35, https://pragyaanmasscomm.iuu.ac/upload_dynamic_content/Pragyaan-Dec-2020.pdf#page=37. Accessed 8 May 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  65. Tabing, L. (2002), How to Do Community Radio: A Primer for Community Radio Operators, New Delhi: UNESCO, http://portal.unesco.org/ci/fr/files/17593/11014593681Com_radio.pdf/Com_radio.pdf. Accessed 15 June 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  66. Teer-Tomaselli, R. (2006), ‘Community radio’s impact on community building: Case studies from Kwazulu-Natal’, in B. Hipfl and T. Hug (eds), Media Communities, New York: Waxman Münster, pp. 189–208.
     [Google Scholar]
  67. Teer-Tomaselli, R., Dyll, L. and Govender, E. (2021), ‘Twenty years of communicating social change: A southern African perspective on teaching, researching and doing’, in J. Servaes (ed.), Learning from Communicators in Social Change, Communication, Culture and Change in Asia, vol. 7, Singapore: Springer, pp. 211–33, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8281-3_15.
     [Google Scholar]
  68. Thomas, P. N. (2014), ‘Development communication and social change in historical context’, in K. G. Wilkins, T. Tufte and R. Obregon (eds), The Handbook of Development Communication and Social Change, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 7–19.
     [Google Scholar]
  69. Thompson, R., Nutor, J. J. and Johnson, J. K. (2021), ‘Communicating awareness about COVID-19 through songs: An example from Ghana’, Frontiers in Public Health, 8, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.607830.
     [Google Scholar]
  70. Tufte, T. (2005), ‘Entertainment-education in development communication’, in J. Servaes, P. Malikhao, O. Hemer and T. Tufte (eds), Media and Global Change, Rethinking Communication for Development, Buenos Aires: CLACSO, pp. 159–74.
     [Google Scholar]
  71. Waisbord, S. and Obregon, R. (2012), ‘Theoretical divides and convergence in global health communication’, The Handbook of Global Health Communication, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 7–33.
     [Google Scholar]
  72. Waters, D., James, R. and Darby, J. G. (2011), ‘Health promoting community radio in rural Bali: An impact evaluation’, Rural and Remote Health, 11:1, pp. 86–93, https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks2011/813. Accessed 14 August 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  73. Wimmer, R. D. and Dominick, J. R. (2011), Mass Media Research: An Introduction, 9th ed., Boston, MA: Wadsworth.
     [Google Scholar]
  74. Zoller, H. M. and Kline, K. N. (2008), ‘Theoretical contributions of interpretive and critical research in health communication’, Annals of the International Communication Association, 32:1, pp. 89–135.
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/jacm_00125_1
Loading
  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): community media; de-westernization approaches; health communication; non-pharmaceutical interventions; pandemic; participatory approaches; Radio Peace

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test