He says, effective collaboration between these two bodies will engender needed for the career development of top-class, well-trained, informed, articulate, and analytical broadcast journalists for the country and beyond.
Dr. Sidick made the call during the 25th-anniversary celebrations of Volta Premier FM (VPFM), of the Ho Technical University in the Volta Region.
He touted the achievements of campus-based Radio shaping the broadcasting landscape in Ghana due to the role being played by its students across several commercial stations in the country.
On programming, noted how campus radio became a trailblazer in creative programming concepts and content years ago.
“Campus radio was the first to introduce in-depth national discourse with instantaneous feedback from students, lecturers, experts, politicians, and the public on socio-political and economic stories and issues highlighted in the daily press”
“Campus radio (Radio Univers) pioneered the introduction of Newspaper Review in Ghana in 1993 just one year after the 1992 Constitution came into force. Campus radio was also the first to introduce local language programming on private independent broadcasting media. The replication of the Newspaper Review in local languages democratized expression and gave voice and power to the voiceless. This transformed entirely the broadcasting landscape, politics, and most importantly, service delivery, and policy formulation,” he said.
Challenges of Campus Radio
Dr. Ahmed said funding and financing of campus radio continue to be a challenge due to its not-for-profit character. So, the dilemma now is whether or not to go commercial.
“The dangers of commercialization however looms, going for it will deprive many a student who get the opportunity to start building their career in broadcasting and other media-related areas and communications,” he said.
Although he acknowledged that some universities were making monetary allocations to these stations, Dr. Ahmed says that it was not enough to deal with the challenge.
“The main challenge of campus radio is funding and financing of infrastructure, equipment, logistics, and operations, especially programming. The sources of revenue for most campus stations are students’ annual contributions, community announcements, fundraising activities, and sponsorships by media-related organizations such as UNESCO and DeutzeWella who do provide training opportunities and in-house consultancies.”
“Some universities have found an administrative solution to channel some funds for the upkeep of the stations but it has not been easy at all. The dilemma is the decision as to whether to go commercial or remain institutional and continue to provide community and public services to our listeners. Products of campus radio are highly sorted for in the commercial broadcasting and television industry in the country,” he said.
Advice to campus radio
Dr. Abubakari Sidick Ahmed urged campus radio to align their programming policy to that of the National Communication Authority’s licensing mandate, the constitutive act, and the strategic plan of their respective universities.
He argued that such a move was necessary as the “relevance of the University is judged by its contribution to society and not by just talking to itself and entrenching the myth of the Ivory tower.”
“They must set out to demystify the concept of the Ivory tower and actively engage in the communicative enterprise of public discourse,” Dr. Sidick added.
About C-BAG
The Campus Broadcasting Association of Ghana C-BAG is the umbrella body under which all the 21 Campus radio stations in Ghana belong to.
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