Post conflict Media intervention type 5
Talking Drum Studio is a multi-media production studio producing - amongst others - radio programmes for broadcast in Sierra Leone. The programmes are aimed at a range of target listening audiences, such as children, refugees and displaced people, children, and ex-combatants, as well as the general public. Using a range of conflict resolution methodologies, the programmes are carefully designed to encourage the process of peace and reconciliation in Sierra Leone.
Talking Drum Studio (TDS) is multi-media production studio operated by Search for Common Ground - Sierra Leone (SFCG-SL). TDS is the primary vehicle of SFCG-SL's media-based programme aimed at reducing violence by focusing on themes of peace, reconciliation and democratisation. TDS, which was officially launched in September 2000, currently has ten radio programming strands, all of which are carried by most of the radio stations in Sierra Leone. Additionally TDS produces audiocassettes distributed to communities, local taxis, and buses, as well as video programmes broadcast on the national TV station.
The media environment
SFCG-SL's initiative has been launched in an environment that is gradually recovering
from a sharp decline during the years of conflict. Today, there are several
independent newspapers in Freetown, which are however focused on sensationalising
issues and personality news. Good issues based on editorial work or news features
are rare. The government has not closed any papers, but it is very conscious
of public relations. A lot of ministries use the papers for their own PR work
frequently. [F1] By far the most important source of information in Sierra Leone,
as in much of Africa, is radio. Sierra Leoneans have developed a radio listening
culture through the years of the war, and appreciate good programmes. Radio
is therefore the most effective tool for a mass media outreach programme, especially
in view of the low literacy rates. Most people listen to short-wave local FM
stations daily, as well as the BBC and VOA. While only one radio station was
operating in Sierra Leone in 1990, by 2002, fifteen stations were broadcasting.
Five are government owned, seven are independent and community radio stations,
and the UN Mission operates three. "What we have seen during the 1990s in Sierra
Leone is the democratisation process of the radio," says SFCG-SL country director
Frances Fortune. Still, broadcasts do not reach some areas of the north and
the east, which have been occupied by RUF rebels.
Common Ground's mission
According to Frances Fortune the positive response to SFCG-SL programmes across
ethnic, political, age and geographical groups is largely due to their adherence
to 'common ground' methodologies. Common Ground media projects rely on four
core methodological principles that guide their production: staff balance, professionalism,
collaboration, and media partnership.
First, the projects build staffs to include regional and factional balance in order to provide perspectives that overcome ethnic and political stereotypes that promote hostility.
Second, journalists are trained in the principles of conflict resolution and 'non-confrontational' interviewing techniques. Essentially the interviewing techniques focus on issues, not personalities or individual perspectives. The technique is to draw the person into the subject and not try to sensationalise the issues but to put across the facts and opinions in a frank, genuine and participatory way. Fortune: "The technique we use in our segments is to bring in voices about specific issues from around the nation - generally easily identifiable by their accent - and balance all the views with 'expert' advice as well. TDS doesn't have a position or opinion. So we are presenting a number of different truths and the listener is encouraged to analyse the situation and decide for himself or herself."
Third, the projects rely on close collaboration with government institutions, NGOs, UN agencies, and donors. Fortune explains that working with the government "gives you an added value of inclusiveness, since most of the time as an NGO you are considered to be anti-government or replacing the government."
And fourth, the projects are productions rather than broadcast operations as the organisation strives to be a partner and not a competitor to local broadcasters. Fortune says that all the Sierra Leonean stations use TDS programmes, so that audience penetration is extremely high.
Programming methodology
Several TDS productions attempt to bring about changes in behaviours, attitudes,
and relationships among the listeners by using what are called "curriculum-based
programming" approaches. These productions seek to bring about changes in attitudes
- perceptions of others, feelings of hopelessness, self-image, ideas about violence
and/or conflict resolution - that are associated with the conflict environment
in which they have lived, but to do so by addressing them in ways that do not
refer directly to the conflict. According to Dr. Ed Palmer, one of the originators
of the approach: "Curriculum planning is articulating, in advance of programme
production, a comprehensive statement of the subject matter content that a programme
will attempt to convey, and of the specific, potentially measurable outcomes
that it will strive to bring about."
Responding to changing circumstances
As the circumstances and nature of the conflict change, the audience's needs
for information and education about the conflict and its related issues change.
Responsive programming demands that producers keep track of these changing needs,
as they make decisions regarding media channels, content and format. They therefore
must engage in a process of continuous assessment of their programming activities
and adapt their plans accordingly. This 'responsive programming model' is a
suitable approach to programme development in circumstances that are unpredictable
or changing because it generates information to feed into programming decisions
on a regular basis.
The programmes of Talking Drum Studio
Common Ground Feature
Common Ground Feature is a news series in a magazine style featuring stories
depicting interests and issues that are shared by conflicting groups. TDS staff
conduct interviews on a wide range of topics focussing on local, regional and/or
national conflict issues interspersed with peace messages, music by local musicians
and human interest pieces. This is intended to assist in the process of peace
building, reconciliation, and reconstruction. This is accomplished, for instance,
by incorporating peace and reconciliation messages into the programmes, maintaining
balanced coverage of divisive issues, and including voices and messages of RUF
and all the citizens in Sierra Leone behind rebel lines.
Wi Yone Salone
This programme aims to provide information to Sierra Leoneans about current
issues that are affecting their lives. Programmes have looked at developments
in various districts before, during, and after the war. The objective is to
reacquaint the nation with various communities in the country by soliciting
their opinions on a whole range of current issues that require consultation.
Special sensitisation issues have also been produced by the Wi Yone Salone team,
focusing, for example, on education, elections, and conflict diamonds. The programme
aims to give the people of Sierra Leone a sense of their identity, the culture,
and the process of development, reconstruction and resettlement, and to provide
them with examples of development activities that work.
Golden Kids News
TDS-SL has developed a children's news programme called Golden Kids News that
has become the one of the most popular programmes in the country. This is a
news and issues programme that is identified, reported and partially produced
by kids. It is truly a show for kids by kids. This show engages many children
from diverse backgrounds who serve as producers, 'cub reporters' and presenters
and who identify issues for and about children and advocate on their behalf.
The show creates a forum for children to discuss their hopes and fears, advocate
for their own issues and present events important to them. This programme also
provides children with a positive image of Sierra Leone. One important objective
with Golden Kids News is to motivate people to take actions to build peace by
advocating children's rights and their responsibilities, highlighting the plight
of children nation-wide, and identifying and developing advocacy groups for
children.
Lost and Found Atunda Ayenda
This is a soap opera about the youth of Sierra Leone and how they got involved
in this war. It talks about the conditions and coincidences that drew most people
into the conflagration and the difficulties they had in getting out of it. It
looks at the disarmament process and features personal stories of young ex-combatants
going through that process and then returning home. Lost and Found uses entertainment
to reach young people and to provide them with a framework for analysing their
situation. It serves to promote education as a means to build peace, and to
build awareness around the issue of re-integrating ex-combatants and wider concerns
of social reintegration with youth
Salon Uman
This programme is about key issues affecting women in post conflict Sierra Leone.
The war has exacerbated certain traditionally problematic issues such as sexual
and gender based violence, and the difficulties and discrimination women face
in exercising their rights. In collaboration with local human rights groups,
issues are identified that are affecting the status of women and require exposure
and reflection. The programme, which is produced in the lingua franca rather
than English, also serves as a platform for the advocacy of legislation to protect
women's rights in Sierra Leone. Frances Fortune notes that traditionally, women
are not supposed to talk about a lot of these issues. The result, she says,
is that "the programme is also a sort of sensitisation programme for the mainly
illiterate and uneducated masses of women."
Home Sweet Home
This programme is focused on targeted information for returnees, refugees and
IDPs. The programme, which is sponsored by UNHCR, is done in a free-form style,
with information intertwined with dialogue to provide not only an entertaining
drama, but also a series that informs and educates refugees, IDPs and returnees
about the issues they must face and overcome in returning home. Among other
things, Home Sweet Home provides information about the situation in Sierra Leone
particularly in refugees' and IDPs' home areas, as well as information on government
policies about resettlement, safe areas, reconciliation etc.
Troway Di Gun
This programme is co-hosted by two ex-combatants, namely a retired colonel of
the RUF and a senior trainer of the Civil Defence Forces. They have both disarmed
and each is undergoing his own reintegration process. This programme seeks to
inform the ex-combatants about the reintegration process, both in the short
and the long term. It provides them with information about the opportunities
that are available to them, urges ex-combatants to be patient, attempts to identify
the obstacles in the reintegration process which ex-combatants need to work
through, and provides a forum for ex-combatants to discuss their own problems
in their own voices.
Luk wi Pipul
This programme provides news and information geared towards the needs of Sierra
Leonean refugees presently residing in Liberia and Guinea. The programme seeks
to provide a broad spectrum of information for the refugees to help them make
informed decisions about their lives. The information is presented in a magazine
style programme that includes peace messages, Guinean and Sierra Leonean music
and some family messages too. The programme provides information on resource
programmes available in Guinea for the refugees by UNHCR Guinea and the government
of Guinea, information about the peace process, and information about resettlement
policies.
Common themes
What these programmes all have in common is an effort to provide balanced and
accurate information to all of the people of Sierra Leone, as a way of building
(or re-building) a sense of common identity, with an understanding that they
all face common problems and challenges. Much of this information is of a practical
nature - information to assist refugees and displaced persons, promote development,
let ex-combatants know about opportunities available to help them re-integrate
into society, etc. The programmes bring all the voices of Sierra Leoneans into
national debate so that the airwaves are no longer dominated by male urban discourse
with elitist accents.
While some of the programmes explicitly communicate a message of peace and reconciliation, the approach is more commonly one of attempting to bridge the divides that have long existed in Sierra Leone, and have widened during the years of conflict.
Another important element in the messages communicated by the TDS programmes is one of self-confidence - that individuals, communities, and the nation are capable of overcoming their problems. Implicit is the message that progress will be easier in a spirit of reconciliation.
A third important strategy common to the TDS programming is 'sensitisation' of the listening public - to make the public aware, for example, of problems faced by women, and women's rights issues; or the difficulties of reintegrating ex-combatants into normal life; or a range of social or political issues that need to be addressed, such as education or conflict diamonds.
And finally, because the children of Sierra Leone have been caught up in the war as both victims and combatants, a major focus of attention is children. Many children and youth have never known any different kind of life beside one permeated by violence. And in many cases, the reintegration of young people into society is exacerbated by the widespread drug use that has been encouraged in the military units in which they served. And thus, programmes which address the needs of children and young people and contribute to them playing an active and constructive role in society are of vital importance in building a stable and peaceful future in Sierra Leone.
Resources
www.bbc.com
www.oneworld.org
www.tvradioworld.com
www.state.gov
www.ijnet.org
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1061561.stm Country
profile: Sierra Leone
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1065898.stm Timeline: Sierra Leone