Hearing community radio listeners

Abstract

Community radio stations worldwide are mandated to empower their audiences and facilitate community participation in political life. Thus, the perspectives of listeners are vital to ascertain how effective community radio stations are in contributing to political education and civic awareness that motivates listener engagement in the station and in the community. This article draws on the first extensive study of community radio audiences in the Middle East to contribute new insights about documenting the impacts of community radio, and the evaluative mechanisms that should be in place for non-profit, community media to better fulfill their mission to serve the community. Building on critical ethnographic audience research, I argue for a storytelling approach that facilitates personal narratives and cooperative focusgroups among community radio audiences.