[FoME] Warum scheiterte das Vorzeigeprojekt "Star Radio" in Liberia?

[Christoph Dietz]

Peacebuilding and public service media: lessons from Star Radio and
media development in Liberia
By Elizabeth Goodfriend
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), 2012, 39 p.

Download: 
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/mediaWorkingPapers/MScDissertationSeries/2011/70.pdf

Abstract:

This study explores the case of Star Radio in an effort to contribute
to the debate about media development in peacebuilding contexts. Star
Radio, one of Liberia’s leading nationally broadcast radio stations,
went off-air at the end of 2010 following a staff strike. Started as an
international project with funding from international donors, the
station did not have the capacity to compete in a challenging market
when donor funding stopped; financial problems were what ultimately
resulted in the staff grievances. Staff perceptions that the station’s
management lacked independence, however, prolonged the stand-off, which
proved impossible for the station to overcome. In uncovering these
dynamcis and exploring Star’s role in the media landscape, this study
highlights a number of important issues about media development in
post-conflict countries. As a review of the current literature about
media development reveals, the liberal democratic principles upon which
media development was founded often lead to prioritizing support for
both local and private media. In contexts of peacebuilding, however,
both national and public service-style media may be of critical
importance to the concurrent state-building and nationbuilding
exercises. Using interviews to understand the issues that led to Star
Radio’s closure, this study argues that it may be impossible for
stations attempting to provide national public service to be either
fully commercial or partially state-financed. In such cases, it is
important for all actors to prioritize the value of public service-style
media, rather than focusing on a debate between the value of the two
business models: private- versus public-sector media. Delinking the
concept of public service from public sector and embedding media
development needs within broader national development strategies may
allow media development and development actors to identify more creative
approaches to supporting public service-style media.


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Christoph Dietz
CAMECO
Postfach 10 21 04 
D-52021 Aachen, Germany
Tel.: 0049 - 241 - 70 13 12 14
Fax: 0049 - 241 - 70 13 12 33
christoph.dietz at cameco.org 
http://www.cameco.org