Media sustainability in a postconflict environment: Radio broadcasting in the DRC, Burundi, and Rwanda

This chapter interrogates the capacity of radio stations in three countries of the African Great Lakes region (Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Rwanda) to act as influential independent stakeholders in the postconflict public debate. The three countries are all former Belgian colonies and have been historically, economically and culturally interconnected for decades. During the past twenty years, Burundi, Rwanda and the DRC have experienced varying degrees of liberalization of the political space as well as the media landscape after decades of single-party rule and state monopoly on the media. Moreover, these three countries have also undergone armed conflicts in which some journalists and media agencies have been key players. Radio stations especially have experienced significant growth in recent years and radio broadcasting in these postconflict environments is clearly superseding print and television media, both perceived as elitist and urban-based. The chapter first presents an overview of the radio broadcasting landscape in the three countries. After examining the obstacles that radio stations face in that environment, it then analyzes a peculiar dynamic that has spread in recent years among radio stations in the three countries, known as “media synergy.” These initiatives, aimed at sharing human and material resources between media outlets and at producing joint contents, were established during elections as the stations were trying to overcome the obstacles they faced. Finally, the chapter interrogates the sustainability and professional autonomy of some of the main local radio stations in the three Great Lakes countries, which have become financially dependent on Western donors.