The Role of Radio Talk Shows in the Transition to Multi-Party Politics and Democracy in Uganda. A Case Study
NABUNYA, CHRISTINE (2009)
2009
Tiedotusoppi - Journalism and Mass Communication
Yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2009-06-23
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uta-1-20356
https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uta-1-20356
Tiivistelmä
This study aims firstly at reviewing the transition to multi-party politics in Uganda after 20 years prior to the first election in February 2006 and at assessing how this system of governance has worked. Secondly, it seeks to explore how the media has evolved in response to this transition, particularly the radio talk shows using one of the popular radio stations in Uganda CBS and its Mambo Bado talk show programme as a case.
The research employs the agenda-setting theory. The core of this theory is who sets the agenda, in this case the media agenda, public agenda and the politician’s agenda in regard to radio talk-show programmes and how they affect each other. The core of this theory is that the media is successful in telling people not what to think but what to think about. This theory attempts to explain how the various topical issues make it on the agenda of radio talk show programmes.
The study analyses the interviews of the Members of Parliament as well as Mambo Bado talk show programmes. There is sufficient evidence that the media sets the public and politicians’ agendas by virtue of the fact that it is them who choose what issues to be discussed on the radio talk shows. According to the analysis of the interviews and the Mambo Bado talk show programmes, radio talk shows were at the center of the transition. Most of what the public knew was through the radio talk shows, they take what they hear on radio to be ‘gospel truth’ and keep making reference to it even after an issue is no longer being discussed on a radio talk show. This transition to multi-party politics has also shaken up the media with many radio stations settling for self censorship as opposed to being closed down by the government for being critical.
Key words: Uganda, multi-party politics, radio talk shows
The research employs the agenda-setting theory. The core of this theory is who sets the agenda, in this case the media agenda, public agenda and the politician’s agenda in regard to radio talk-show programmes and how they affect each other. The core of this theory is that the media is successful in telling people not what to think but what to think about. This theory attempts to explain how the various topical issues make it on the agenda of radio talk show programmes.
The study analyses the interviews of the Members of Parliament as well as Mambo Bado talk show programmes. There is sufficient evidence that the media sets the public and politicians’ agendas by virtue of the fact that it is them who choose what issues to be discussed on the radio talk shows. According to the analysis of the interviews and the Mambo Bado talk show programmes, radio talk shows were at the center of the transition. Most of what the public knew was through the radio talk shows, they take what they hear on radio to be ‘gospel truth’ and keep making reference to it even after an issue is no longer being discussed on a radio talk show. This transition to multi-party politics has also shaken up the media with many radio stations settling for self censorship as opposed to being closed down by the government for being critical.
Key words: Uganda, multi-party politics, radio talk shows