A grassroots news agency, Simbani, will begin providing community radio stations next week with information produced by Africans about Africa.
Launched late last week, Simbani African News Agency — meaning talk in ChiChewa, which is spoken in Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique — is an Amarc Africa initiative, says Gilles Foadey, the agency’s editor-in-chief.
Research by the South African Advertising Research Foundation indicates that 91,8% of South Africans over 16 listen to the radio at least once a week, says Mluleki Ncube, technical support executive.
“Radio is the most dominant form of media in terms of accessibility in South Africa,” he says. This is generally the case in the rest of Africa.
There are about 750 community radio stations in sub-Saharan Africa alone, says Shingai Nyoka, communications officer for Amarc Africa.
Amarc is an international non-profit organisation based in Montreal, Canada, since 1983 that supports the community radio sector. Amarc Africa, operating since 1997, is based in Johannesburg.
With Amarc’s 100 member stations, many with their own affiliate stations, Simbani’s aim is for the stations to disseminate information in African countries.
African people need their own voice, says Knayisiwe Mkonza chairperson of the Media Development and Diversity Agency. “Africa is silent, due to a lack of access to technology, just silent. This is a historic opportunity and platform to tell our own story.”
Currently Simbani, based in Johannesburg, collects news from 15 correspondents working at member community radio stations in sub-Saharan Africa and then makes the text available to stations in Western and Southern Africa free via its website. It aims to be a quality information source on issues that are topical to Africans with limited access to media.
The agency will begin sending news out on Monday next week.
The advantage of Simbani, says Foadey, is that the newsroom coordinates a work plan of themes.
On a weekly basis Simbani’s themes are compiled by the Johannesburg office and aired by member stations. This, he says, gives communities a diverse picture of what is happening in other African countries.
To make news more accessible, traditional methods such as post and fax will be used. “At the end of three months we will record all the programmes and post them to the [member] radio stations,” says Foadey.
The correspondents have been equipped with computer equipment, access to the Internet and laptops to make it possible for them to file from remote locations.
In March a further 15 correspondents will be chosen. The aim is to have a total of 54 correspondents filing by next year, Nyoka says.
While the service is geared at community stations, she says that information is also freely available to other organisations such as universities and NGOs via a website (www.simbani.amarc.org). Funding of Simbani is provided by partners such as the Food and Agricultural Organisation.