Rural Youth Voices Project - Magwi FM

First conceptualised in 2007, the Rural Youth Voices Project-Magwi FM was initiated to provide a medium for the youth, and the community in general, to have opportunities to communicate their concerns, solutions, and visions for the community. The first step in the project was to identify and train local youth to operate the radio station. The organisers identified 18 youth: 15 to focus on radio journalism and production and 3 to focus on music production.

Over 6 weeks, youth from Magwi were trained to actively produce radio programmes and music, including programmes and activities related to peace, unity, and development. The first phase of training was on media for peace, in which both radio and music producers participated. Trainers used lectures, practical group work, assessments, and participatory discussions to explore issues related to media, peace, conflict, and violence. The second phase of the training was around radio journalism and production and music production.

The content of the radio production classes was divided into 4 main sections, the first of which was an introduction to radio as a whole. The second part of the journalism training concerned basic studio operation, and was carried out through group practical teaching, handouts, and note taking. The third part was related to content, focusing on radio news, rules and ethics of reporting (such as accuracy, fairness, trust, and crime reporting), and the profiling of listeners. The last section of the radio production training was concerned with making news and news programmes.

In a separate, parallel training, music producers learned how to develop, produce, and record songs of high quality addressing problems existing in their communities. Organisers say that within 5 weeks, the training had enabled participants to record, mix, and produce high quality songs.

The project determined a management structure for the FM radio station and an internal management structure for the team, and also established interlinkages between the internal management structure and the overall overseeing steering committee.

Xchange Perspectives also carried out a broadcasting assessment to explore the needs and preferences of the community in Magwi County related to FM radio broadcasting. The sample taken for the assessment was varied and representative of all levels of education, professional occupation, religious affiliation, ethnic origin, gender, and age. The assessment tackled issues of access and preference of different sources of news information.

Youth, Peace-building

Magwi County has been subjected to conflict and extreme forms of violence that all of South Sudan had been suffering from, which caused massive population movements to neighbouring countries. The general infrastructure is poor, and the local media infrastructure is practically non-existent. Magwi County mainly relied on news from non-local radio broadcasts such as Miraya FM, Mega FM, and BBC World Service, though the access to these stations, especially with regard to the audio quality, was limited.

Xchange Perspectives is an organisation dedicated to connecting the world through community-based initiatives. By providing training in media production to young people and their communities around the world, the organisation hopes to create a future of unity in diversity and a vital expression of peace.