1.
What
is
a
Healthy
Station?
By
its
nature,
community
radio
is
as
diverse
as
the
communities
it
serves.
At
the
same
time,
donors
look
for
some
measures
of
effectiveness.
These
organizational
benchmarks
are
useful
guides
to
evaluate
whether
it
is
a
Healthy
Station.
Naturally,
no
radio
template
fits
all
communities;
each
country
has
a
unique
history,
culture
and
legal
framework.
These
must
be
respected.
Radio
serving
a
Maasai
village
of
1,800
in
rural
Tanzania
will
be
very
different
than
one
serving
a
densely
populated
peri-­‐urban
township
such
as
Soweto
in
South
Africa.
Regardless
of
the
differences,
however,
effective,
healthy
local
radio
stations
have
these
benchmarks:
• A
clear
mission
that
informs
programming,
advertising
and
outreach
decisions.
Each
staff
member
and
volunteer
understands
this
mission
and
uses
it
as
a
guide
star.
• A
defined
audience
and
ongoing
engagement
with
that
audience
• A
clear
voice
(or
style
of
presentation)
that
is
confidently
and
distinctively
community
radio.
The
station
does
not
copy
or
duplicate
an
existing
service.
• A
community-­‐wide
reputation
of
being
independent
of
outside
influence
and
adhering
to
professional
journalism
standards
of
accuracy,
fairness
and
balance
in
information
programming.
• Local
content
and
music.
• Strong
and
fair
leadership
combined
with
the
ability
to
empower
the
staff
by
engaging
them
constructively.
• On-­‐going
evaluation
mechanisms
to
gauge
effectiveness
of
programming,
management
and
service
to
the
community.
• Open
relations
between
stakeholders,
including
board,
staff,
donors,
advertisers
and
listeners
who
encourage
creative
programming.
• Financial
independence.
• An
active
board
of
directors
that
is
engaged
with
the
station
and
representative
of
the
community.
• A
written
code
of
ethics
supported
and
used
by
staff
and
volunteers.
Now
stations
can
use
SMS
text
messaging
as
a
new
tool
for
community
engagement
by
soliciting
topics
for
programs
and
polling
listeners
to
evaluate
the
programming.
1

2. One
other
quality
I
found
that
effective
stations
had
in
common
was
a
culture
of
candor,
of
constructive
self-­‐criticism.
One
station
had
adopted
the
Japanese
idea
of
kaizen,
continuous
improvement.
Rather
than
hide
problems,
they
bring
them
into
the
light
so
they
can
be
fixed.
Criticism
is
not
personal;
rather
it
is
in
the
interest
of
striving
for
excellence
for
the
station
as
whole.
One
last
point:
All
too
often
donors,
NGOs
and
governments
focus
on
using
media
to
bring
information
to
people
and
under
value
the
importance
of
dialogue
or
horizontal
communication.
Radio
is
unique
in
giving
voice
to
people
to
air
and
solve
their
problems,
to
hold
public
officials
accountable,
discuss
taboo
subjects
and
change
harmful
behavior.
While
stopping
horrific
violence
with
peacemaking
remains
a
challenge
in
too
many
African
countries,
we
can
also
take
a
new
broader
look
at
peace
building.
Marine
General
Anthony
Zinni
and
Admiral
Leighton
Smith,
testified
before
the
U.S.
Senate
Foreign
Affairs
Committee:
We
know
that
the
‘enemies’
in
the
world
today
are
actually
conditions
-­‐
-­‐
poverty,
infectious
disease,
political
turmoil
and
corruption,
environmental
and
energy
challenges.
We
know
from
our
own
experience
and
research
that
effective
local
radio
programming
can
make
significant
progress
to
improve
each
one
of
these
conditions.
Few
other
social
investments
can
have
broader
reach
or
affect
more
lives
than
an
effective
local
radio
station.
-­‐Bill
Siemering
2

3. 3