By Enock Sithole
The recently held Campus Media Symposium accentuated the role of community media in communication within learning institutions and as a tool for practical learning for students.
The virtual event was attended by journalism and communication academics as well as students from various countries.
Organised by the African Journalism Education Network (Ajen), the symposium agreed that a campus media working group under the organisation should be established to develop ideas on campus media on the African continent.
The Ajen board would take the discussions forward and facilitate ongoing discussions on the subject, said Ajen president, Professor Franz Krüger.
The event heard paper presentations from various academics, who discussed the plight of campus media in different institutions and countries.
Durban University of Technology journalism lecturer, Theodora Dame Adjin-Tettey, told the symposium that campus media was considered to be community media, with campus-based radio stations serving listeners in the university community as well as communities close to university campuses. Thus, she added, the medium became a major source of information about the university community, university activities, as well as happenings beyond the campus within which they operate.
Dr Theodora Dame Adjin-Tettey via LinkedIn
“Campus radio stations offer a practice-based environment where students apply journalistic principles in real-time, engage diverse audiences, and build portfolios to complement formal journalism education”.
Adjin-Tettey said many students credited their campus radio involvement with shaping their careers in investigative journalism, political reporting, and broadcast presenting. However, she argued, challenges such as balancing their academic work with newsroom duties, limited funding, and outdated technology hindered learning.
Participants Adjin-Tettey mentioned that campus radio facilitated a seamless transition into professional journalism, arguing that “unlike traditional classroom learning, campus radio offered hands-on training that mirrored real-world newsroom settings. This exposed volunteers to and made them familiar with industry best practices as well as trends. This experience gave a lot of the student journalists a sense of which career pathways existed in the industry and those they could choose”.
Adjin-Tettey said one of the recurring themes across the interviews she conducted for her study was the lack of institutional support for campus radio stations. “For campus radio to thrive, universities must recognise it as an essential part of journalism training and provide adequate funding, logistical support, and infrastructure improvements,” she argued.
Kamufisa Manchishi, Josephine Mwenda and Elastus Mambwe from the Mulungushi University and the University of Zambia concurred with Adjin-Tettey on the role of campus media as a communication tool as well as a learning platform for students. In their paper titled “An evaluation of campus media regulation in Zambia,” they pointed out that “campus media are primarily established for training purposes to ensure students in media-related programmes have experiential learning, which is essential for their practice”.
They added: “Campus media are also often expected to contribute to the overall communication objectives of a sponsoring institution. Campus media are further expected to make an impact on the communities they serve, in keeping with the value of community service in academic institutions.”
In their study titled “Navigating Challenges in Campus Media Operations: Lupane State University Students’ Perspectives”, lecturers in the Department of Languages, Media and Communication Studies at Lupane State University of Zimbabwe, Innocent Mwapangira and Jennings Chibike, found that there were “significant” concerns regarding the station’s editorial independence, with students expressing frustration over institutional control and censorship, “which limit the station’s ability to address controversial or sensitive topics”.
Their study found that several students reported instances of censorship, where discussions on important topics were either avoided or abruptly ended. One student remarked, “There are topics we want to discuss, like student grievances, but they always tell us it’s too sensitive for the radio.” The study identified that mentorship programmes, improving technology and equipment, and building stronger relationships between campus radio stations and mainstream media organisations are some of the ways campus radio can be improved and made effective.
Additionally, they said, students highlighted the station’s limited resources, inadequate student involvement in decision-making, and a lack of interactive programming as key barriers to its effectiveness and relevance.
Golden Maunganidze and Last Alfandika Affiliation of the University of Johannesburg and the Great Zimbabwe University, respectively, presented their paper titled “Navigating Policy and Pioneering Change: The Role of Great Zimbabwe University in the Legalisation and Licensing of Campus Radio in Zimbabwe” and argued that “despite the legislative recognition, early challenges persist”. These, they said, included resource limitations, institutional sustainability, and regulatory constraints on advertising and funding.
Their study argued that while campus radio holds substantial potential for local community engagement, its long-term success hinges on continued policy support, financial innovations, and broader media reforms.
Dr Mulatu Alemayehu Moges from the Oslomet University, in Oslo, Norway, argued that “while the media environment has become challenging in many ways, the number of media producing content and disseminating information from and for universities has now increased” in Ethiopia.
He indicated that of the 36 community broadcasting stations in Ethiopia, most of them were based in universities. His observation was that these stations could be described as “strong” in terms of finance, capacity and technical facilities.
However, he argues, it was difficult to depend on their nature and characteristics to define them as campus radio. “Firstly, they are described as a type of community radio owned by the university. Secondly, they deal with issues beyond university communities. Thirdly, the Ethiopian media law does not define what campus radio is, how it works, and for whom. As a result, the nature of campus radio in the current Ethiopian media is very problematic.”
Prof Krüger ended the symposium by suggesting that research was necessary to help understand the place and impact of campus radio in different countries on the continent.