Radio broadcasting and the quest for democratic participation on Motsweding FM

Abstract

The study seeks to explore the role played by Motsweding FM’s news and current affairs programmes-Boresetse and Tsele Le Tsele as an avenue for citizen participation in the democratisation process. It interrogates more broadly the sometimes oblique relationship between public service broadcaster and democracy and attempt to deepen our understanding of the democratic role of the public broadcaster by examining how the two programmes, particularly through its discussion segments encourage citizen participation. The study utilises theoretical frames drawn from participatory liberal democratic, Habermasian public sphere, empowerment and Anthony Giddens’ (1984) structuration theory to demonstrate the significance of the application of the concepts in the critical appreciation of Boresetse and Tsele Le Tsele news and current affairs programmes in providing citizens with the platforms to democratically participate in debating matters of common interest. The examination of whether Boresetse and Tsele Le Tsele news and current affairs programmes provides important content attributed to mediated public sphere such as: surveillance of the socio-economic and political environments, providing platform for robust, uninhibited and wide-open marketplace of ideas seeks to establish how the contents of this two programmes contributes to citizens’ democratic life. The study adopts thematic content analysis of the programmes’ episodes to interrogates how they function as a mediated public sphere. The findings of the study have established that these news and current affairs programmes attempt to encourages citizen participation and public debate through call-ins and Facebook messages. The interpretation and analysis of data reveal that the act of participation falls short of deliberation, which is an essential precursor in examining radio broadcasting’s role in fostering the space for citizen participation and empowerment.