Citizens’ Radio in North Africa and the Middle East: Meaningful Change through Citizen Empowerment? – An Experience from Tunis

Autor/innen

  • Stefanie Groth School of Oriental and African Studies in London

Schlagworte:

citizens’ radio, citizenship, transformation, democratisation, Tunisia, MENA

Abstract

Fostering a participatory political culture is a crucial part of the on-going transformation processes which we witness across North African and Middle Eastern countries since 2011. This paper considers which role participatory communication plays in these processes, by examining the potential of citizens’ radios to accompany Tunisia’s transition at a grassroots level. Analysing the case of Radio 6 Tunis – a local, non-commercial Internet-radio founded by Tunisian journalists under the rule of Ben Ali in 2007 – citizens’ radios are discussed as sites of political contestation and cultivation of critical consciousness. While they empower citizens to reclaim both their voice and public space, their influence is however limited. The manifold challenges which citizens' radios face in the transitional context of post-autocratic Tunisia, may well impede nascent democratisation dynamics.

Autor/innen-Biografie

Stefanie Groth, School of Oriental and African Studies in London

Stefanie Groth is a graduate of the M.A. Global Media and Postnational Communication at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. She holds an undergraduate degree in Islamic Studies and Communication Studies from Erfurt University, Germany. Her research interests focus on International Political Communication, media and development, and the interplay of culture, identity and politics in Arab societies. Currently, she is receiving professional training in broadcasting at the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), a German public service broadcaster.

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Zitationsvorschlag

Groth, S. (2013). Citizens’ Radio in North Africa and the Middle East: Meaningful Change through Citizen Empowerment? – An Experience from Tunis. Global Media Journal - German Edition, 3(2). Abgerufen von https://globalmediajournal.de/index.php/gmj/article/view/96

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Peer-Reviewed Artikel