POPULARITY OF VERNACULAR FM RADIO BROADCASTING IN MUCWA SUB-LOCATION IN CHUKA DIVISION: A CASE STUDY OF MUUGA FM

POPULARITY OF VERNACULAR FM RADIO BROADCASTING IN MUCWA SUB-LOCATION IN CHUKA DIVISION:  A CASE STUDY OF MUUGA FM

ABSTRACT

Radio is a popular and most widespread mass medium in Kenya. Recent studies have indicated that vernacular radio is very popular in Kenya.  The purpose of this study was to find out factors contributing to this popularity.   The research design used in this study was case study design. This is a study that seeks to describe a unit of study in detail, in context and holistically. It is a way of organizing educational data and looking at the object to be studied as a whole. In   a case study, a great deal can be learned from a few examples of the phenomena under study. Muuga FM, a radio station broadcasting in Meru Language was used as a case study. The research was conducted in Muungoni Village in Muucwa Sub-location in Tharaka-Nithi County. A sample population of 34 respondents was used in this study. Out of these, 16 were males whereas 18 were females. Questionnaires were administered physically by the researcher. Where there were challenges of literacy, the researcher posed the questions to the respondents and filled the questionnaires himself. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Percentages were used to analyze data. The study revealed that vernacular radio is very popular in areas where its language of broadcast can be understood. Factors that make vernacular radio popular include use of vernacular, reporting local news and exhibiting culture of the community in question. The study recommends that vernacular radio must include content directly related to their local audiences to remain popular. Furthermore vernacular radio is an appropriate medium to reach local communities by those who intend to so, for example the government.

           

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

The last few years have seen a rapid mushrooming of vernacular radio stations in Kenya. This is after the liberalization of the Kenyan electronic media environment in the1990s. Radio is the most widespread means of mass communication in Kenya. According to latest statistics from media Research Company, Synovate, conducted under the Kenya Audience Research Foundation (KARF). Radio leads in overall media consumption at 93% (Kimutai, 2011). This trend can be attributed to the growth of FM radio stations in the country offering a variety of programming that includes music and talk shows. 68% of those sampled listen to vernacular radio stations for   more than 10 hours a week.

.However, vernacular radio stations have had their dark side in Kenyan history. President Moi's tenure as independent Kenya's second President witnessed a heightened sense of tribal xenophobia. In August of 2000, he declared that all vernacular FM radio stations were to be banned altogether arguing that they promoted ''tribal chauvinism and undermined national unity’ (Nderitu, 2008).

The researcher did not agree with this but felt that it is the content broadcast by a radio station that could promote these vices not the language used to transmit the messages. Moi directed the Attorney General to draw legislation that would force radio stations to broadcast only in the two recognizable national languages namely English and Kiswahili. However, the then Minister of Information, Johnstone Makua, successfully countered the proposal in a ministerial statement saying that, “vernacular is part of Kenyan culture and there is nothing we can do about it”.

This free speech controversy became a major issue in Rwanda during the genocide there in 1994.The Rwandan conflict was exacerbated by a  broadcast message broadcast on the notorious  Radio Mille Collines (RMC) during call-in shows  where  the minority Tutsi community was derogatively referred to as 'cockroaches' by the Hutus who were the numerically dominant tribe.' Kill the Inkotanyi' (cockroaches) went a chilling clarion call on RMC. Within the months of the tribal instigated madness a total of 850,000 people were killed, victims of tribal messages
broadcast over radio.

Understandably, when the recent ethnic clashes in Kenya threatened Kenya as a unitary state, Moi's unheeded concern looked perceptive. Long before national elections were held in December, year 2007,  vernacular radio stations were already igniting ethnic consciousness among listeners,'' urging them to support political leaders from their tribe and to harbour bad  feelings about people from other communities according to Tervil Okoko of Kenya Union of Journalists (Nderitu,2008).

These days, radio that brings in gossip is bound to flourish than the one that rigidly sticks to BBC-style bulletins, because customer is king and advertisers follow the numbers (Bosire, B.2012).

This explains why international stations in Kenya, namely British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Voice of America, Radio France Internationale, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Channel Africa, DeutschVelle Radio, China International Radio and many others, are desperately struggling to survive.

These stalwarts of media have steadily lost audience to a new crop of local vernacular FM channels, established after the airwaves were liberalized in the 1990s. Since then, radio has been forced to adapt to the audience’s tastes and trends, something the vernacular radio does.

FM technology is a revolution in both rural and urban slum Kenya. It has propelled vernacular radio stations offering stiff competition to radio stations broadcasting in English and Kiswahili. English radio stations appeal to the elite and the ruling class urbanites and have locked out the bulk of the populace.

The emergence of Kass FM, a Kalenjin vernacular station with a sister station in Washington DC has been a revolution among the over 5 million Kalenjin listeners.
The Kass FM and other vernacular stations are enjoying overwhelming support among all the 42 communities in Kenya (Cheruiyot, 2008).

How do vernacular radio stations deliver the hoi polloi from the fangs of ignorance and bribery?
The intelligentsia for the first time moved to such radio stations to lecture the masses in their mother tongue. Radio stations became universities while villages became lecture halls. For example, Kass FM Washington DC brought together Kalenjin academics in diaspora through teleconferencing to pump new and revolutionary ideas into the villages of Kalenjin community. Through the able leadership of Dr. Kipkoech Sambu, Egyptiologist of repute, Kass FM Washington DC station became to the Kalenjin what NASA has been to the US space exploration.
Grand topics like leadership, economics, politics, theology, anthropology, technology, law, Egyptiology, cosmology, entrepreneurship, medicine ,globalization name it were explored.

"Radio is very local,” said Communications consultant Michael Otieno, who is the general manager of Hill & Knowlton Strategies. “It has evolved from being a channel for transmitting news and information from a central source which was mostly the know-it-all government to being a medium where we can talk about issues happening in the neighbourhood. It’s our verbal gossip column where we talk about who is sleeping with who, we talk about our most intimate issues, fears and eccentricities. To sum it up crudely, morning and afternoon radio is where the nation comes together for group therapy.”

Most international radio channels are government-funded and thus managed by rigid bureaucrats and managers who have an editorial brief that does not necessarily resonate with the local conditions.

Local stations, on the other hand, are headed by creative and entrepreneurial minds driven by the profit motive and displaying eccentric tendencies only tolerated as long as they do not frighten advertisers (Bosire, 2012). Bosire goes on to give an example: Mr Otieno, a fan of Classic 105,a  local radio, says: “What would you rather listen to while held up in traffic on Mombasa Road, a channel that is telling you about a shooting in Denver Colorado, or about your local priest busted with the holier-than-thou choir girl?”

This is not to trivialise international incidents, but the international news must be so compelling, for example, the historic election of Obama as the president if the United States for it to compete with local news about the latest antiques of Mike Sonko, gossip and trivia.

In local FM radio, themes and stories abound that cannot be allowed in BBC or any other international radio station where the rules are rigid, programming is subjected to tough academic standards.

Audience friendly content has also helped local FM radios because programme managers are working with a defined audience and thus can package content to match the market demands, unlike international channels where it could take several years to effect changes.

Content is king and will always drive the audience, said Mr Jared Obuya, a former BBC journalist and current Kenya Union of Journalists’ secretary general. Media experts have argued that so-called “relevance” has driven many editors and producers crazy, compelling them to package programmes and bulletins based on consumer value and appeal rather than significance (Bosire, 2012)

The biggest segment of audience in Kenya is Swahili and vernacular listeners, who are more fascinated by interactive phone-in programmes, discussing topical issues, music and some carefully chosen news segments.

That is why Royal Media Services (RMS), which runs at least 14 radio stations, including 12 vernacular channels, controls 34% of the radio market, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation 18%, Radio Africa Group and Nation Media Group controls about 6% each, according audit firm Deloitte in a study called “Competition Study – the Broadcasting Industry in Kenya”. (Mlupi, 2010).

When the government liberated the media in the 1990s, newly established FM stations started offering competition to KBC, which had ceded ground because it could be easily be manipulated and international channels – mainly BBC, DW Radio and VOA – were the only source of unbiased news (Bosire, 2012).

This liberalization came with political pluralism, which allowed the newly created entities to position themselves as the alternative source of news. This forced KBC radios to start shedding their gothic past as the radio market was cut to several bite-size business-friendly niches. As it remodelled and streamlined to suit the new consumer tastes amid competition from the FMs, the biggest loser were the giant radios, unable to change and adapt faster because of the state bureaucracy and sheer size.

The competition for numbers got dizzying when many phones came with FM receivers, increasing the audience 10-fold. Nobody would tune in to the hourly BBC or VOA hourly news bullets when a local FM presenter, in a brief interlude, updates the latest international news, gossip and anything that would be happening.

Now, even local FM radio stations Twitter and Facebook pages where they update news and engage debate. According to a 2010 study, “The Media We Want: The Kenyan Media Vulnerability Study”, by Peter Oriare, Rosemary Okello-Orlale and Wilson Ugangu, radio remains the leading media in Kenya, with the audience preferring vernacular stations as opposed to English, Swahili or French, languages preferred by international radios.

“Kenya’s audiences can access diverse media choices but they are heavily fragmented. Audience habits, preferences and patterns affect media behaviour. Kenya’s media consumers use radio the most, followed by television and newspapers. They expose themselves to more than one channel and media per day,” they said.

That was 2010, now the numbers are higher. Kenyans have adapted to mobile telephony quickly as manifested by their use of mobile-phone banking such as M-PESA, but many still prefer ethnic language media to English and Kiswahili radio stations. They demand media loyalty and ignore media that are unable to satisfy their unique political susceptibilities and sensitivities.

Audiences in Kenya change quickly, forcing the media to adapt to their needs and interests promptly. Although media literacy is low, trust in the media to report accurately on political issues is very high,” the report added. The researcher sought to find out how well the vernacular radio has succeeded in this.

The largest share of the country’s at least Sh65 billion advertising revenue is consumed by local commercial radios, giving them the much-needed muscle to wrestle audience from their international rivals by offering promotional free things such as mobile phones, airtime, free lunches, holiday trips and even cash rewards (Bosire, 2012).  Bosire further argues that fortunately, BBC, VOA and other channels cannot match that. “Media revenue from advertising has steadily grown since 2003; and is consistent with the growth of additional segments of the media.

Although the government – easily the largest spender in the Kenyan economy – has a tendency to punish independent and critical media through denial of advertising, other private advertisers use their financial muscle to have their way with the media on sensitive matters that touch on them  (Bosire, 2012).

State-subsidised international broadcasters understand and respect the principles of advertising, and therefore find it hard to compete with the locals, which target a defined audience segment.

For example, a vernacular radio targeting only one tribe can momentarily adjust to meet market demands, unlike the BBC targeting all Swahili speakers in East and Central Africa or English speakers across Africa to adjust effectively and suite the audience tastes and expectations because its coverage zone is too big.

The concern of this study was to find out what has caused the increased acceptance of vernacular   radio station in Kenya.

1.2 Statement of the problem

 In recent years, there has been an explosion in the number of radio stations broadcasting in Kenya and Kenyans have embraced them rapidly. Statistics show that 68% of Kenyans listen to vernacular radio stations for more than 10 hours a week (Kimutai, 2011). The current study sought to find out factors contributing to the popularity of these radio stations.

1.3 Objectives of the study

In this study the specific objectives were to:
(a) Establish the relationship between language and likeability of vernacular radio station.

(b)   Establish how aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity.     

 (c) Determine the attitude of the audience to the content aired by the vernacular radio.

(d) Determine the factors contributing to the popularity of vernacular radio stations in Kenya.

1.4 Research questions

The following research questions were formulated from the objectives of the study:

        i.            What is the relationship between language used by a radio station and its likeability?

      ii.            How do aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity?

    iii.            What is the attitude of audience to the content aired by this radio?

    iv.            What factors contribute to the popularity of vernacular radio stations in Kenya?

1.5 Hypothesis of the study

There is a significant relationship between Muuga FM and the Meru language it uses in

transmitting its programmes.

1.6 Justification of the study           

Acknowledging that radio is the main source of information to most Kenyans, the findings of this study would:

           1. help vernacular radio owners and journalists to create content that suits their listeners.

           2. assist owners if this mass medium to gain commercially by providing attractive

                programming that   will attract large audiences that will consequently attract more
               advertisers.

1.7 Scope of the study          
The study was  carried out in Muungoni Village in Mucwa Sub-Location in Chuka Division in Tharaka-Nithi County in Kenya. It attempted to find out what factors have contributed to the popularity of vernacular radio stations in Kenya and the impact to their audiences. Listeners of Muuga FM, a radio station broadcasting in Meru Language, participated in the study. Data was collected using questionnaire from these audiences (Appendix 1).

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATUTRE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

This chapter addresses theoretical review, conceptual framework and reviews existing literature. It also shows the relationship between vernacular radio and language, culture as well the regional appeal of this electronic mass medium. The popularity of vernacular radio is looked at in terms of audience size, hours of listening and participation in programmes. Extraneous variables analyzed are influence of vernacular language as well as vernacular illiteracy.

2.1Theoretical Review

 This study was based on Uses and Gratification Theory. Uses and gratifications approach is an influential tradition in media research. The original conception of the approach was based on the research for explaining the great appeal of certain media contents. The core question of such research is: Why do people use media and what do they use them for? (McQuail, 1983).  There exists a basic idea in this approach: audience members know media content, and which media they can use to meet their needs.

In the mass communication process, uses and gratifications approach puts the function of linking need gratifications and media choice clearly on the side of audience members. It suggests that people’s needs influence what media they would choose, how they use certain media and what gratifications the media give them. This approach differs from other theoretical perspectives in that it regards audiences as active media users as opposed to passive receivers of information. In contrast to traditional media effects theories which focus on “what media do to people” and assume audiences are homogeneous, uses and gratifications approach is more concerned with “what people do with media” (Katz, 1959). It allows audiences personal needs to use media and responds to the media, which is determined by their social and psychological background. In this study, the researcher acknowledged that audience of the vernacular radio deliberately chose this medium.

Uses and gratifications approach also postulates that the media compete with other information sources for audience’s need satisfaction (Katz et al., 1974a). As traditional mass media and new media continue to provide people with a wide range of media platforms and content, it is considered one of the most appropriate perspectives for investigating why audiences choose to be exposed to different media channels (LaRose et al., 2001).

The approach emphasizes audiences’ choice by assessing their reasons for using a certain media to the disregard of others, as well as the various gratifications obtained from the media, based on individual social and psychological requirements (Severin & Tankard, 1997). As a broader perspective among communication researches, it provides a framework for understanding the processes by which media participants seek information or content selectively, commensurate with their needs and interests (Katz et al., 1974a). Audience members then incorporate the content to fulfill their needs or to satisfy their interests (Lowery & Nabila, 1983).

Needs and Gratifications

Uses and gratifications approach emphasizes motives and the self-perceived needs of audience members. Blumler and Katz (1974) concluded that different people can use the same communication message for very different purposes. The same media content may gratify different needs for different individuals. There is not only one way that people uses media. Contrarily, there are as many reasons for using the media as there are media users.

Basic needs, social situation, and the individual’s background, such as experience, interests, and education, affect people’s ideas about what they want from media and which media best meet their needs. That is, audience members are aware of and can state their own motives and gratifications for using different media. McQuail, Blumler, and Brown (1972) proposed a model of “media-person interactions” to classify four important media gratifications: (1) Diversion: escape from routine or problems; emotional release; (2) Personal relationships: companionship; social utility; (3) Personal identity: self-reference; reality exploration; value reinforces; and (4) Surveillance (forms of information seeking). The researcher was of the view that vernacular radio meets needs of its listeners, which are not met by other media. He also felt that low education levels might also contribute to preference of vernacular media.

Another subdivided version of the audience’s motivation was suggested by McGuire (1974), based on a general theory of human needs. He distinguished between two types of needs: cognitive and affective. Then he added three dimensions: “active” versus “passive” initiation, “external” versus “internal” goal orientation, and emotion stability of “growth” and “preservation.” When charted, these factors yield 16 different types of motivations which apply to media use (Item 1).

Item 1.A structuring of 16 general paradigms of human motivation (McGuire, 1974).

Katz, Gurevitch and Haas (1973) developed 35 needs taken from the social and psychological functions of the mass media and put them into five categories:

1. Cognitive needs, including acquiring information, knowledge and understanding;
2. Affective needs, including emotion, pleasure, feelings;
3. Personal integrative needs, including credibility, stability, status;
4. Social integrative needs, including interacting with family and friends; and
5. Tension release needs, including escape and diversion.

Congruously, McQuail’s (1983) classification of the following common reasons for media use:

Information

• finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world
• seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices
• satisfying curiosity and general interest
• learning; self-education
• gaining a sense of security through knowledge

Personal Identity

• finding reinforcement for personal values
• finding models of behavior
• identifying with valued others (in the media)
• gaining insight into oneself

Integration and Social Interaction

• gaining insight into the circumstances of others; social empathy
• identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging
• finding a basis for conversation and social interaction
• having a substitute for real-life companionship
• helping to carry out social roles
• enabling one to connect with family, friends and society

Entertainment

• escaping, or being diverted, from problems
• relaxing
• getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment
• filling time
• emotional release
• sexual arousal (p. 73)

These dimensions of uses and gratifications assume an active audience making motivated choices.

McQuail (1994) added another dimension to this definition. He states:

Personal social circumstances and psychological dispositions together influence both … general habits of media use and also … beliefs and expectations about the benefits offered by the media, which shape ... specific acts of media choice and consumption, followed by ... assessments of the value of the experience (with consequences for further media use) and, possibly ... applications of benefits acquired in other areas of experience and social activity (p. 235).

This expanded explanation accounts for a variety of individual needs, and helps to explain variations in media sought for different gratifications.

Gratifications sought (GS) and gratifications obtained (GO)

The personal motivations for media use also suggest that the media offer gratifications which are expected by audiences. These gratifications can be thought of as experienced psychological effects which are valued by individuals. Palmgreen and Rayburn (1985) thus proposed a model of the gratifications sought (GS) and gratifications obtained (GO) process shown in Item  2.

Item 2. An expectance-value model of media gratifications sought and obtained (Palmgreen and Rayburn, 1985).

The model distinguishes between GS and GO. Thus, where GO is noticeably higher than GS, we are likely to be dealing with situations of high audience satisfaction and high ratings of appreciation and attention (McQuail, 1983).

To investigate the relationship between GS and GO, Palmgreen et al. (1980) conducted a study of gratifications sought and obtained from the most popular television news programs. The results indicated that, on the one hand, each GS correlated either moderately or strongly with its corresponding GO; on the other hand, the researchers found that the gratifications audiences reportedly seek are not always the same as the gratifications they obtain (Palmgreenet al., 1980). A later study conducted by Wenner (1982) further showed that audiences may obtain different levels of gratifications from what they seek when they are exposed to evening news programs.

Media Dependency Theory                               

Media dependency theory, also known as media system dependency theory, has been explored as an extension of or an addition to the uses and gratifications approach, though there is a subtle difference between the two theories. That is, media dependency looks at audience goals as the origin of the dependency while the uses and gratifications approach emphasizes audience needs (Grant et al., 1998). Both, however, are in agreement that media use can lead to media dependency. Moreover, some uses and gratifications studies have discussed media use as being goal directed (Palmgreen, Wenner&Rosengren. 1985; Rubin, 1993; Parker & Plank, 2000).

Media dependency theory states that the more dependent an individual is on the media for having his or her needs fulfilled, the more important the media will be to that person. DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach (1976) described dependency as the correlating relationship between media content, the nature of society, and the behaviour of audiences. It examines both macro and micro factors influencing motives, information-seeking strategies, media and functional alternative use, and dependency on certain media (Rubin and Windahl, 1982).

As DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach (1989) suggested, active selectors’ use of the media to achieve their goals will result in being dependent on the media. Littlejohn (2002) also explained that people will become more dependent on media that meet a number of their needs than on media that provide only a few ones. “If a person finds a medium that provides them with several functions that are central to their desires, they will be more inclined to continue to use that particular medium in the future” (Rossi, 2002).

The intensity of media dependency depends on how much people perceive that the media they choose are meeting their goals. These goals were categorized by DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach (1989) into three dimensions which cover a wide range of individual objectives: (1) social and self understanding (e.g., learning about oneself, knowing about the world); (2) interaction and action orientation (e.g., deciding what to buy, getting hints on how to handle news or difficult situation, etc.); (3) social and solitary play (e.g., relaxing when alone, going to a movie with family or friends).DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach (1989) also suggested that more than one kind of goal can be activated (and satisfied) by the same medium.

Dependency on a specific medium is influenced by the number of media sources available to an individual. Individuals should become more dependent on available media if their access to media alternatives is limited. The more alternatives there are for an individual, the lesser is the dependency on and influence of a specific medium (Sun et al., 1999).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.2 Conceptual framework

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE Vernacular radio Language Culture Regional appeal

Intervening variables ·         foreign languages ·         vernacular illiteracy

           

                                                                       

DEPENDENT VARIABLE Popularity of vernacular radio ·         Audience size ·         Hours of listening ·         Audience participation in programming

The conceptual framework above underscores the fact that popularity of vernacular radio is greatly dependent on the language it uses to transmit its programmes, vernacular language. In this framework, vernacular radio is the dependent variable whereas popularity of vernacular radio is the dependent variable.

Aspects of vernacular radio that can influence its popularity include the language itself, culture transmitted or portrayed by the language as well as the regional appeal of the radio station.

Popularity of a radio station can be gauged by the size of the audience it boasts of, the average hours the audience listens to it and the level of audience participation in radio programmes like call-ins.

2.3 Vernacular radio

Vernacular radio refers to radio that broadcasts in language that is native or local in a particular region. The latest media research from Kenya reveals that radio is still the preferred media. According to latest statistics from media research company, Synovate conducted under the Kenya Audience Research Foundation (KARF), radio leads in overall media consumption followed by the mobile phone, television, newspapers, and the internet respectively (Kimutai, 2011).

The study carried out on a population sample of 8 504 showed that 93% of the sample had listened to radio in the last seven days. Further, more people in Kenya are now listening to more than one radio station - about 54% and the average time spent listening per day is 6 hours.

An interesting highlight of the findings is the top ratings for vernacular radio stations. Kenya has two national languages - English and Swahili, and over 42 tribes which when subdivided triples the number of spoken dialects in Kenya. 68% of people sampled listened to vernacular stations for more than 10 hours a week for vernacular far more than those who listened to stations broadcasting in English.  According to the report, top radio broadcasting languages by time spent listening are Luo (28%), Swahili (26%), Kikuyu (25%), Kalenjin (24.8%), and Kamba (22%) - stations that receive more than three hours a day of core listeners.
Royal Media Services Group has carved out a particular niche in this area. The company began in 1999 with its flagship station, the very popular Radio Citizen, which transmits in Kenya’s national language Swahili and targets the “common man.” The group’s current stable of 11 stations includes nine vernacular outlets: Inooro (Kikuyu),  Ramogi (Luo), Mulembe (Luhya), Musyi (Kamba), Muuga (Meru), Chamgei (Kalenjin ), Egesa (Kisii),  Wimwaro (Embu) and Bahari FM (Swahili and Mijikenda) .

Charles Njoroge, director general of the Communications Commission of Kenya -- the body in charge of licensing and regulating broadcasters -- said the growing number of vernacular radio stations is driven by demand from listeners. He said it all started in the early 1990s, when national broadcaster KBC Radio would air programs in different languages at different times.

“Media owners discovered there was demand for vernacular radio stations, owing to the popularity of the select programs aired in vernacular languages,” Njoroge said. 

The CCK director general dismissed concerns that the proliferation of vernacular stations indicated a failure by Kenyans to unite around common language or languages. Building a sense of national unity is a political priority in the wake of widespread post-election violence in 2008-
2009 that was driven largely by ethnic divisions.

Rather, Njoroge argued that vernacular stations are a way to preserve local cultures and traditions which are being diluted by Western influences.  “Vernacular radio stations are one of the platforms to protect Kenya’s diverse languages and cultures,” he said.

2.3.1 Language and mass communication

Language is the development of the basic form of communication between human beings, and in a society. Moreover, just as it is the basic form, it is also the most developed. We cannot communicate in any real sense without language, other than through gestures; we do communicate through some non-verbal forms like the visual arts - painting and sculpture - and through dance, but the culmination of true, articulate, communication is through language. It could take a number of forms, of course. It could be unvarnished, workaday prose, it could be poetry, it could be drama; but all of these are forms of language, written, spoken and read. Other than the availability of signals, one factor that determines the choice of radio station that audiences listen to is the language of broadcasting. Among the questionnaire respondents in a research that was conducted in Kieni West Divisionin central Kenya dominated by the Kikuyu community 71% picked a Kikuyu vernacular station as their favourite station (Gathigi , 2009). Those who preferred vernacular stations cited the ability to comprehend content as one of the major reasons behind their choice. To the older population, the emergence of vernacular radio broadcasting has provided an avenue where for the first time they could listen to the radio on their own without relying on an intermediary. The old broadcasting system in which radio broadcast mainly in English and Swahili left out a huge section of the older population. They had to rely on those who could understand the languages to tell them what was going on. The following comments reflect some of the views of the older people. For Beatrice, an 85-year old grandmother from Mahiga, the new broadcasting has changed the radio. “The good thing about the new Kikuyu stations is that even as old people, we can now listen to the radio without asking anyone to explain what was said. I will just sit there with my radio and get everything that is said. Before, things were very different, the radio was a device that just made noises, now it speaks to me.” Stephen Ndungo, a 62-year old from Mahiga explained this too, contrasting the old times when there was little to choose from and the current times where there are many choices of radio stations. “The local language stations are good because before we had KBC that broadcast in English and Swahili and not everyone is educated or can speak Swahili or English. So there will always be a time when people listen to the radio but miss something. But since the day we got local language broadcasting, there is no way you will hear someone asking what was said because even little children now can say I heard this and that on the radio. So the local languages make life and radio listening easy.” Struggling with English is not restricted to those who said they did not understand the language at all. Some listeners said that despite understanding English, they have not attained the proficiency level where they are able to understand everything that is said on the radio. From those who reported a modest understanding to teachers and young people who have a higher proficiency, these sentiments were shared across the board. Michael, a 20-year-old teacher at a local primary school who is also waiting to join university said that language is critical in influencing his choice of stations. “Some stations, based on my level of understanding of the language (English), sometimes I may not understand the news. Even when I want to listen to the news, sometimes the use of English is a little too complicated. If I listen to news from Easy FM for example, I cannot comprehend the language without straining. So I end up tuning to a Kikuyu station because I can easily understand.” Agatha, a 55-year old teacher at Mahiga primary school captures the language situation through what she calls “deep meanings” she gets and the “taste” of her language, Kikuyu, compared to English and Swahili. She also talks of “feeling the language getting” in her that signifies cognitive proximity to the speech as it is delivered and the ease with which listeners understand their language. For some listeners, the choice of language is determined by those who are around you and the language norms. Young listeners like 23-year old Bernard Mutugi from Mweiga pointed to what they view as the sensitivity of Kikuyu language, which they believe mutes discussion of topics that are freely addressed in other languages. Culturally, there are shared language norms that have to be adhered to. When a language that is deemed as inappropriate in the Kikuyu culture is heard on the radio, young people feel uncomfortable if they are in the company of older people. However, there is no such discomfort if one is in the presence of her or his peers. However, it all depends on which language is being used on the radio as Mutugi explained. “Based on what is being discussed on the radio, like in Kiss 100, there are things that can be freely said in English. But if the language of broadcasting was Swahili or Kikuyu, it would feel shameful to listen. So I can laugh without hiding and without losing respect. When some issues in English are delivered in Kikuyu language, they are very sensitive and I will feel uncomfortable. Also, because of the people around me, there are things that when said in Kikuyu, with my mother present, will sound offensive. But the same things can be said in English and I can still listen with her.” Young people on the other hand argue that Kikuyu language, like the culture, is more conservative while English language is liberal in the discussion of taboo topics and muted discussions identified in the preceding section. They feel more uncomfortable using the vernacular language to discuss sexual issues than older people. Even concepts that are not necessarily considered unacceptable in the day-to-day speech are hard for many young people to use while the elder people do not have the same problem. Mr. Kariuki, a 68 year old from Mweiga argues that Kikuyu language is not necessarily blunt; instead, it is the young people who do not understand their culture. “Our language is not blunt. I think some parents have taught their children that our language is blunt. Our children have lost our culture and that is making things so difficult. One day I told a young man something and he was so mad because he thought I had insulted him by telling him he depends on his mother. When I went to visit his home, he was asked to prepare me a cup of tea but refused and said I insulted him. When he repeated what I had said, his mother reprimanded him asking him who else he depended upon.” It is also interesting to note how some of the young listeners view Kikuyu broadcasting. Some are resistant to their language on the radio. For them, the language is too mundane; they hear it every day in their lives and would rather listen to something different. Some do not even want to be associated with listening to Kikuyu stations because among their peers it is not considered a “cool” thing to do. In contrast, listening to English language FM stations has a sense of prestige. According to Joseph Mathenge, a 22-year-old male from Endarasha, listening to Kikuyu stations for a young man feels awkward. “Even girls are not impressed when they find you listening to Kikuyu stuff”. Ndugi, a 24 year old from Mwiyogo thinks there is too much Kikuyu on the radio. For Ndugi, such presence results in people all over the country learning the language that erodes any uniqueness of the Kikuyu community. “I don’t know how I feel about Kikuyu stations because I do not listen to Kikuyu stations. And after all, these Kikuyu talk has gone overboard making me feel like I can turn off the Kikuyu stations. As the Kikuyu people we need a way we can communicate among ourselves, be different and symbolize ourselves as Kikuyu. But now the language is being spoken so much by four stations such that even Kisii or other communities understand Kikuyu and from the way things are going, they will all be speaking Kikuyu. If you go to a different place these days and meet a Kisii, Kamba, or Kalenjin, they are all speaking Kikuyu. In a few years to come, everyone will be speaking Kikuyu language fluently.” These comments illustrate a feeling of protectionism. Ndugi feels that the Kikuyu people ought to keep their language to themselves. However, there is also an aspect of resistance that does not necessarily come out openly. It is a kind of discomfort that some people, especially the young feel with their vernacular language. There is a desire to feel different from the rest. In many cases, disassociating with the “local” makes these young people feel different and one way of doing that is using a different language for communication, such as English, which is considered “prestigious”. When asked, many young people expressed the desire to move away from the village, probably to join their friends in the urban areas where life is considered more flashy and interesting. Also there are assumptions that more employment opportunities exist in the urban areas. As Githinji, a 40-year old farmer from Endarasha explained, since many young people do not manage to go away from the village physically, the consumption of urban content serves as a psychologically compensatory act that partly fulfils their wish. The researcher was interested to know to what extent Meru language attracted listeners in Mucwa Sub-location.

 2.3.2. The Relationship between communication and culture

The term “culture” refers to the complex collection of knowledge, folklore, language, rules, rituals, habits, lifestyles, attitudes, beliefs, and customs that link and give a common identity to a particular group of people at a specific point in time.

The researcher was concerned about to what extent culture transmitted through the vernacular language contributes to popularity of vernacular radio. The relationship between communication and culture is a very complex and intimate one. First, cultures are created through communication; that is, communication is the means of human interaction through which cultural characteristics— whether customs, roles, rules, rituals, laws, or other patterns—are created and shared. It is not so much that individuals set out to create a culture when they interact in relationships, groups, organizations, or societies, but rather that cultures are a natural by-product of social interaction. In a sense, cultures are the “residue” of social communication. Without communication and communication media, it would be impossible to preserve and pass along cultural characteristics from one place and time to another. One can say, therefore, that culture is created, shaped, transmitted, and learned through communication. The reverse is also the case; that is, communication practices are largely created, shaped, and transmitted by culture.

 This study sought to find out how favourably the vernacular radio is viewed and therefore liked by its audience for conforming to their culture

All institutions within society facilitate communication, and in that way, they all contribute to the creation, spread, and evolution of culture. However, communication media such as radio play a particularly important role. Because media extend human capacities for creating, duplicating, transmitting, and storing messages, they also extend and amplify culture-building activities.

 In Canada, Gerald S. Doyle Bulletin, was a programme that transmitted messages sent by listeners who listened to Newfoundland radio that broadcast in vernacular. ‘Purposefully obscure language’( deliberate use of language with hidden meaning) was allegedly a significant feature of the messages broadcast on the Gerald S. Doyle Bulletin, and certain unique or humorous personal messages purportedly broadcast on the Bulletin have entered into Newfoundland oral tradition, and are repeated and shared like jokes and legends during reminiscences about outport life(Franklin, 2009). As Philip Hiscock has observed,

                                                                                             

For over thirty years [the Bulletin] retained a large audience and injected into the folklore  of Newfoundland a rich and varied corpus of verbal play. In a manner similar to the collection and telling of jokes, excerpts from remembered message programmes are passed on for entertainment, and enlightenment about Newfoundland’s past culture (Hiscock 1988: 53).

Here the channelling of telegraphic into radiophonic communication, private into public, scatters the grains (the original meaning of the term ‘broadcast’) of lore. This ‘publication’ of messages means that they ‘belong’ to a wider community that can then relate and repeat them freely, and adapt them, if they choose. The humour of the remembered, repeated (and, perhaps, in the process of oral transmission, refined) messages resides in the various ways in which they deviated from the conventional formula. The unconventional and figurative language of some messages can be attributed to a sense of humour on the part of the sender, or the necessity for economy in phrasing a telegram. Some allowed all kinds of possible interpretations of what the sender really meant. For example, one message was sent by a man to his wife, letting her know that he could not return home that day because he had to wait to complete their purchase of a household item: “Won’t be home tonight, hung up on stove” (quoted in Hiscock 1988: 56). Some of the humorous messages can be attributed to mistakes made during the scripting or relaying of the messages, which sheds light on the ‘cherishing’ of ‘amateur’ standards in local or regional radio. Franklin (2009),  has highlighted the popularity of amateur hours and local interaction in the programming of the small private stations in that (Canadian) province in the 1930s:

 “As imperfect as [the] announcers were, they nevertheless served to remind listeners that those who spoke to them over the air were one of them. Less than proficient renderings of the news or announcements of local events reinforced the notion that announcers were members of the community, doing the best they could through a medium that reflected the community and was responsive to its needs and wishes. If people felt close to their flawed announcers and error-prone stations – and there is abundant evidence that they did – then it was because they saw both as an extension, an integral part, of themselves. That is why they believed they had a legitimate say in programming…”

 

It has been noted that listeners to riddles, jokes and other folkloric forms become not merely participants but even creators of meaning when the message is not explicit; “to project themselves into the text in order to invest the empty spaces with meaning” (Levine 1992: 1386). Each and every Bulletin listener had had his or her interest piqued, and imagination fired, by “interstices that need connecting, ambiguities that need resolution, imprecisions that need clarity…” (Levine 1992: 1384).Thus the interpretation of the Bulletin was in many instances a collective process, as has typically been the case with the small group exchange of folklore, and this is entirely congruent with the way in which the programme contravened what we might term the normative model of broadcasting, which is typically unidirectional in flow and often private in its domestic mode of ‘consumption’.

Folklore was created both despite and because the vernacular was channelled, and in the process shaped by communications media such as the telegraph and the radio, which are conventionally associated with heavily standardised varieties of speech. It can be observed that the communicative network created by the Bulletin is an excellent example of what Walter Ong has referred to as ‘secondary orality’ in the age of electronic technology; “This new orality has striking resemblances to the old in its participatory mystique, its fostering of a communal sense, and even its use of formulas” (Ong 1988: 136).

The researcher wished to find out how Meru culture is transmitted by and contributes to the popularity of vernacular radio station.

2.3.3 Regional appeal of vernacular radio

Vernacular radio stations broadcast chiefly using a local language to a target
audience that understands the language of broadcast. Vernacular stations tend to
broadcast to a community that is also defined by a common culture. The content such as
news and different types of programs is mainly in the vernacular language. The degrees
to which the stations use the language vary from station to station. For some stations such
as Inooro FM, a Kikuyu station, the broadcasts are in the Kikuyu language. The
presentation, news and informational programs, and all the music played on Inooro FM
are in the Kikuyu language

Most vernacular stations tend to assume a regional nature because settlement
patterns in Kenya are such that people of a given ethnic group are concentrated in one
settlement region. Thus, the Luo audience is found in the Nyanza around Lake Region,
the Kalenjin in the Northern and Southern Rift while the majority of Kikuyu audience is
found in Central Kenya region. Vernacular stations in Kenya have started gaining the
highest listenership in areas where their languages of broadcasts are widely spoken.
Inooro FM is the most listened to station in
Central Kenya ahead of two other Kikuyu stations, Kameme FM and Coro FM. In Lake
Region, Ramogi FM that broadcasts in Luo language has the highest listenership. Kass
FM that broadcast in Kalenjin language is the most listened to station in Central Rift
Valley area while Muuga FM, a Meru language station dominates the Upper Eastern

The researcher wished to find out to what extent this assertion of regional  appeal holds.

2.4 Popularity of vernacular radio

Vernacular radio has become very popular in Kenya. Below are concepts examined  in an attempt to understand this variable.

2.4.1 Audience size

The latest media research from Kenya reveals that radio is still the preferred media. According to these findings, there are top ratings for vernacular radio stations. Kenya has two national languages - English and Swahili, and over 42 tribes which when subdivided triple the number of spoken dialects in Kenya. 68% of people sampled listened to vernacular stations for more than 10 hours a week for vernacular far more than those who listened to stations broadcasting in English (Kimutai, 2011).

2.4.2. Hours of listening

The researcher needed to find out how long audiences listen to vernacular radio .According to Gathigi (2009), who investigated the listening habits of audiences to vernacular radio, an examination of the Kieni West audience’s radio listening habits suggests that they are related to the stations’ programming formats. Kieni West audience’s listening habits also conform to the listening trends of the wider Central Kenya audience. These habits are influenced by factors such as availability of the audience to listen when the programme is on air, the relevance of the programme content, and the popularity of the programme based on the content and presenter(s). The radio audience in Kieni West chooses programs from multiple stations. People listen to the radio more during certain times of the day when they are available and are likely to make sure that they tune into their preferred programme when it is on air. Most radio listening occurs in the early morning hours before people start their daily activities and in the evenings after work. No major differences were found between the amount of time people spend listening to the radio during the weekdays (Monday to Friday) and during the weekend (Saturday and Sunday). On average, respondents to the questionnaire spend an average of 6.8 hours on weekdays compared to 6.4 hours on weekend day.

Many listeners are free from their work during the weekends
and one would expect that they would listen more during this time. However, this is not
case and various explanations were given. Some women reported that they are likely to
be busy during the weekends because they have to take care of the children who are not
in school. During the weekdays, mothers spend the day alone at home but this changes
during the weekend when children are at home. For people who have formal
employment such as teachers and administrators, the “free time” during the weekend
does not actually amount to being free. This time is used to perform other duties that they
are not able to fulfill during the weekdays. During the weekends, it is common to find
men doing various activities at home such as doing domestic repairs, taking care of
animals, or working on the farm, among others. For others like Gerald Karimi, a 38 year
old casual worker and a father of three, the weekend is spent with the family and working
on the farm as he reported.

“The weekend is the only time I am ever at home. The rest of the week, I leave home very early before 6:00 am when it is still dark and will not come dark until 8:00 pm when it is dark again. I do not even get to see what is happening around my compound. Also, most of the times I will come home and the children are sleeping, same when I leave in the morning. The weekends are therefore sort of busy for me and it is hard to find time to pay much attention to the radio. I spend the weekend with my children, talk to them, play, and sometimes take them to visit relatives and such things. I also use the weekend to work around the farm. You will find me mending fences and putting up or repairing animal structures.”

In comparing the average number of hours spent listening on the radio across gender, this
research found that male listeners spend an average of 7.2 hours on weekdays while
women listeners spend 6.2 hours. During the weekend, female and male listeners spend
almost an equal average time with 6.5 hours and 6.4 hours respectively.

 2.4.3. Audience Participation

The vernacular broadcasting format identified  research by Gathigi  (2009) is found in the
Kikuyu radio stations These stations carry content that can be termed as all-inclusive and
balanced between information, education, and entertainment. This kind of programming
is common on Kikuyu vernacular stations that include Bahasha FM, Coro FM, Inooro
FM and Kameme FM. The programmes in these stations are arranged to compete with other vernacular stations hence they are highly similar. The vernacular stations open at 5:00am, playing Christian inspirational music until 6:00am when the news headlines are read. During this hour, listeners also call in to send early morning greetings and dedications. The morning show falls between 6:00am and 9:00am and is one of the most important segments. Morning shows on the Kikuyu vernacular stations consist of information in the form of news briefs at the top of the hour and a full news bulletin at 7:00am. The morning content includes music, talk, review of the major newspapers top stories, and constant traffic updates. Because the morning shows attract higher sponsorship from advertisers, there are various sponsored games where listeners call in to win money and other prizes.

The session after 4:00pm has more talk and game shows where listeners call in
to win prizes, as well as constant traffic updates because of proximity to Nairobi where
they have a sizeable audience (Gathigi, 2009).

2.5 Foreign language influence

Popularity of vernacular radio has been hampered by young people refusing to listen to vernacular radio. They feel it is “cool” (a sign of civilization) to listen to stations broadcasting in English. (Gathigi, 2009).

2.6 Vernacular illiteracy

A significant number of young people born and brought up in towns do not learn their mother tongue. With rapid rural to urban migration, vernacular radio may experience declining audience in future.

2.7 Summary

From the literature review done, it is clear that vernacular radio is a player in radio market in Kenya. Language appears to be a dominant factor in contributing to the popularity in this mass medium. The researcher found that this review very essential in conducting the research.

2.8 Research gaps

In the literature review, the following gaps were noted:

1. There was no adequate explanation as to why even people who understand

   English and Kiswahili insist on listening to vernacular radio.

2. Little attention has been given on why certain listeners still do not switch completely to

   vernacular radio stations a significant percentage still listen to non-vernacular radio.

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

In this chapter, procedures that were used to collect and analyze data were discussed. These include research design, population, sample all the way to data analysis and presentation.

3.1 Research design

The research design used in this study was case study design. This is a study that seeks to describe a unit of study in detail, in context and holistically. It is a way of organizing educational data and looking at the object to be studied as a whole. In   a case study, a great deal can be learned from a few examples of the phenomena under study.

In this study, Muungoni Village in Mucwa Sub-Location in Chuka Division was used to represent the Meru community.

3.2 Population

Mucwa Sub-location has a population of 2732 according to 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census (P. 72).  This formed the target population from which the sample was drawn .This geographical area has 8 villages. When the total population was divided by 8, a total of 342 respondents were needed in the study.  The 342 respondents were got from Muungoni Village and from these a sample would be drawn.

 

3.3 Sampling frame

Sampling frame was developed based on details of population obtained from the office of statistics in Chuka. This is population of 342.

3.4 Sampling technique and sample

Sampling technique that was used in this study was simple random sampling. In this technique, a researcher uses a relatively small clearly defined population. According to Kasomo (2009, P 31) sample size depends on factors such as the number of variables in the study ,the type of research design, the method of data analysis and the size of accessible population. For descriptive studies, this author suggests that 10% of the accessible population is enough. Based on this, the researcher will use a sample of 34 from a population of 342.

3.5 Research Instruments

The researcher used a questionnaire to collect data, (Appendix I).  The questionnaire was intended to offer the advantage of uniformity to all respondents as they give the same questions (Mugenda&Mugenda, 1999).

3.6 Data collection procedure

Questionnaires were administered physically by the researcher. Where there were challenges of literacy the researcher posed the questions to the respondents and filled the questionnaires himself. The questionnaire restricted the respondent to the necessary answers and thus avoided time wastage.

3.7 Pilot tests

To determine the effectiveness of the questionnaire, the researcher issued ten questionnaires to some residents of Ndagani Market who listened to Muuga FM. Ndagani is not located in the area of study.

 

 

 

3.8 Data processing and analysis

  Data collected was both qualitative and quantitative. Consequently, the data was  analyzed using descriptive and quantitative statistics. The results were presented using tables. This  was done with the help of Microsoft excel where percentages were used.

 

                                           

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA COLLECTION, ANALYZING AND PRESENTATION

4.0 Introduction                 

This chapter presents the findings of the study on popularity of vernacular radio. Muuga FM, a radio station broadcasting in Meru language was used as a case study. In this study a total of 34 Meru speaking respondents were sampled from Mugoni Village of Mucwa sub-location in Tharaka Nithi County. These respondents were aged between 15 and 69. Out of these, 16 were males whereas 18 were females.

The objectives of this study were to:

(a) establish the relationship between language and likeability of vernacular radio station,

(b) establish how aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity,        

(c) determine the attitude of the audience to the content aired by the vernacular radio and;

(d) determine the factors contributing to the popularity of vernacular radio stations in Kenya.

 

4.1 Data collection instruments

The researcher used a questionnaire to collect data, (Appendix I).  The questionnaire was intended to offer the advantage of uniformity to all respondents as they give the same questions. (Mugenda&Mugenda, 1999).

4.2 Methods of data analysis

 Data analysis was done with the help of Microsoft excel where percentages were used.

4.3 Data/information presentation

The findings are presented in tables where percentages are used. The presentation is as follows.

4.3.1 Establishing the relationship between language and likeability of vernacular radio

The results for this study are summarized and explained in the tables below. The first objective of the study was to establish the relationship between language and likeability of vernacular radio station. The results are summarized in the table below

Table 1

Language and likeability of vernacular radio               

		Number	%
Hours of listening	1-3	24	70.58823529
(Total no=34)	4-5	7	20.588
	6	1	2.941
	Over 6	2	5.882
Influence of language on choice of radio	Strongly influences	25	75.757
(Total no=33)	Fairly influences	8	24.242
	Never influences	0	0

From the table above, the study found out that about 71% of the audience sampled listen to   Muuga FM for 1-3 hours per day while 21% listen between 4-5 hours. 3% listen for 6 hour whereas only 6% listen to the station for over 6 hours daily.

The influence of vernacular language has a very strong influence on popularity of vernacular radio. Table 1 shows that a whopping 76% are strongly influenced by vernacular language to choose Muuga FM with 24% being fairly influenced by the language used.  Thus all listeners sampled are influenced in varying degrees to listen to vernacular radio. According to Gathigi (2009), vernacular contributes to popularity of vernacular radio among certain listeners.

4.3.2 Establishing how aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its

          popularity.

The second objective of the study was to establish how aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity .Table 2 summarizes the findings.

         

 Table 2

 How aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity

		Number	%
Culture(Number=33)	Yes	32	96.96969697
	No	1	3.03030303
Influence of culture on listening to radio (Number=33)	Strongly influences	27	81.81818182
	Fairly influences	4	12.12121212
	Never influences	2	6.060606061

         

The influence of culture on likeability of vernacular radio is immense. A whopping 96% of the listeners sampled feel the station’s content contains Meru culture whereas only 3% do not feel so. Furthermore, 82% are strongly influenced by this culture, 12% are fairly influenced by it whereas only 6% are not at all influenced by the culture.  In Canada, local culture strongly contributed to popularity of Newfoundland vernacular radio (Franklin, 2009).

4.3.3 Determining the attitude of the audience to the content aired by vernacular radio

The third objective was to determine the attitude of the audience to the content aired by vernacular radio. The results are summarized in the table below.

Table 3
		Number	%
Like content broadcast	Yes	33	97.05882353
(Total number=34)	No	1	2.941176471
Content is helpful	Very helpful	26	76.47058824
(Total number=34)	Fairly helpful	17	50
	Not helpful	1	2.941176471
Content broadcast relate to day to day activities of Meru people(Total no. 33)	Yes	31	93.93939394
	No	2	6.060606061

97% of listeners sampled like content broadcast by vernacular radio whereas only 3% do not as summarized in table 3. The table further shows that 76% of the listeners find the content very helpful, 50% find it only fairly helpful whereas only 3% find it not helpful at all.  Additionally a whopping 94% feel the content broadcast relates to the day-to-day activities of the Meru people with only 6% disagreeing.

4.3.4 Determining the factors contributing to the popularity of vernacular radio         

100% of listeners like vernacular radio because it airs local news.  93% like the station because it shows Meru culture whereas 6% do not feel so. 93% like this mass medium because it uses vernacular whereas 7% are not influenced by vernacular. The results are summarized in table 4 below.

Table 4
		Number	%
Reporting local news	Yes	29	100
(Total number=29)	No	0	0
Shows Meru culture	Yes	29	93.5483871
(Shows Meru culture=31)	No	2	6.451612903
Uses vernacular language	Yes	27	93.10344828
(Total number=29)	No	2	6.896551724

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMEDATIONS

5.0 Introduction

The purpose of this study was to gauge the popularity of vernacular radio and factors contributing to this popularity. This chapter presents summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations.

5.1 Summary of the findings

On the basis of analyzed data, presented in chapter (4), and the study’s objectives, the following are the major findings of the study.

5.1.1 Language and likeability of vernacular radio

The study revealed a direct relationship between vernacular and likeability of vernacular radio. Language was found to greatly increase popularity of vernacular radio.

5.1.2 Culture and vernacular radio

 The study revealed that culture contributes to likeability of vernacular radio. Culture of a particular ethnic group makes the community to have a common identity and vernacular radio broadcasts enhance this.

5.1.3 Attitude of listeners to content broadcast by vernacular radio

The study revealed an overwhelmingly positive attitude of the audience to broadcasts of vernacular radio. They like the content broadcast by this medium and find it very helpful.

5.1.4 Factors contributing to popularity of vernacular radio

The study revealed that the following factors contribute to popularity of vernacular radio: it uses vernacular to broadcast programmes, reports local news and shows local culture.

5.2 Conclusion

The research shows that:

·         vernacular language attracts listeners who speak in the language,

·         listeners identify with and love their culture and;

·         vernacular radio is popular.

5.3 Recommendations

The study recommends that:

·         vernacular radio must include content directly related to their local audiences to remain popular.

·         vernacular radio is an appropriate medium to reach local communities by those who intend to so, for example the government.

5.3.1 Recommendations for further research

The findings in this study are not exhaustive. The study is based on a single community. Furthermore the factors identified especially language and culture can be investigated fully on their own.

The researcher suggests research to be carried out on the following areas

(a)How language contributes to popularity of vernacular radio.

(b)The impact of vernacular radio broadcasts on listeners.  

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     network evening news programs and 60 Minutes. Communication Research, 9, 539-560.POPULARITY OF VERNACULAR FM RADIO BROADCASTING IN MUCWA SUB-LOCATION IN CHUKA DIVISION:  A CASE STUDY OF MUUGA FM

ABSTRACT

Radio is a popular and most widespread mass medium in Kenya. Recent studies have indicated that vernacular radio is very popular in Kenya.  The purpose of this study was to find out factors contributing to this popularity.   The research design used in this study was case study design. This is a study that seeks to describe a unit of study in detail, in context and holistically. It is a way of organizing educational data and looking at the object to be studied as a whole. In   a case study, a great deal can be learned from a few examples of the phenomena under study. Muuga FM, a radio station broadcasting in Meru Language was used as a case study. The research was conducted in Muungoni Village in Muucwa Sub-location in Tharaka-Nithi County. A sample population of 34 respondents was used in this study. Out of these, 16 were males whereas 18 were females. Questionnaires were administered physically by the researcher. Where there were challenges of literacy, the researcher posed the questions to the respondents and filled the questionnaires himself. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Percentages were used to analyze data. The study revealed that vernacular radio is very popular in areas where its language of broadcast can be understood. Factors that make vernacular radio popular include use of vernacular, reporting local news and exhibiting culture of the community in question. The study recommends that vernacular radio must include content directly related to their local audiences to remain popular. Furthermore vernacular radio is an appropriate medium to reach local communities by those who intend to so, for example the government.

           

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

The last few years have seen a rapid mushrooming of vernacular radio stations in Kenya. This is after the liberalization of the Kenyan electronic media environment in the1990s. Radio is the most widespread means of mass communication in Kenya. According to latest statistics from media Research Company, Synovate, conducted under the Kenya Audience Research Foundation (KARF). Radio leads in overall media consumption at 93% (Kimutai, 2011). This trend can be attributed to the growth of FM radio stations in the country offering a variety of programming that includes music and talk shows. 68% of those sampled listen to vernacular radio stations for   more than 10 hours a week.

.However, vernacular radio stations have had their dark side in Kenyan history. President Moi's tenure as independent Kenya's second President witnessed a heightened sense of tribal xenophobia. In August of 2000, he declared that all vernacular FM radio stations were to be banned altogether arguing that they promoted ''tribal chauvinism and undermined national unity’ (Nderitu, 2008).

The researcher did not agree with this but felt that it is the content broadcast by a radio station that could promote these vices not the language used to transmit the messages. Moi directed the Attorney General to draw legislation that would force radio stations to broadcast only in the two recognizable national languages namely English and Kiswahili. However, the then Minister of Information, Johnstone Makua, successfully countered the proposal in a ministerial statement saying that, “vernacular is part of Kenyan culture and there is nothing we can do about it”.

This free speech controversy became a major issue in Rwanda during the genocide there in 1994.The Rwandan conflict was exacerbated by a  broadcast message broadcast on the notorious  Radio Mille Collines (RMC) during call-in shows  where  the minority Tutsi community was derogatively referred to as 'cockroaches' by the Hutus who were the numerically dominant tribe.' Kill the Inkotanyi' (cockroaches) went a chilling clarion call on RMC. Within the months of the tribal instigated madness a total of 850,000 people were killed, victims of tribal messages
broadcast over radio.

Understandably, when the recent ethnic clashes in Kenya threatened Kenya as a unitary state, Moi's unheeded concern looked perceptive. Long before national elections were held in December, year 2007,  vernacular radio stations were already igniting ethnic consciousness among listeners,'' urging them to support political leaders from their tribe and to harbour bad  feelings about people from other communities according to Tervil Okoko of Kenya Union of Journalists (Nderitu,2008).

These days, radio that brings in gossip is bound to flourish than the one that rigidly sticks to BBC-style bulletins, because customer is king and advertisers follow the numbers (Bosire, B.2012).

This explains why international stations in Kenya, namely British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Voice of America, Radio France Internationale, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Channel Africa, DeutschVelle Radio, China International Radio and many others, are desperately struggling to survive.

These stalwarts of media have steadily lost audience to a new crop of local vernacular FM channels, established after the airwaves were liberalized in the 1990s. Since then, radio has been forced to adapt to the audience’s tastes and trends, something the vernacular radio does.

FM technology is a revolution in both rural and urban slum Kenya. It has propelled vernacular radio stations offering stiff competition to radio stations broadcasting in English and Kiswahili. English radio stations appeal to the elite and the ruling class urbanites and have locked out the bulk of the populace.

The emergence of Kass FM, a Kalenjin vernacular station with a sister station in Washington DC has been a revolution among the over 5 million Kalenjin listeners.
The Kass FM and other vernacular stations are enjoying overwhelming support among all the 42 communities in Kenya (Cheruiyot, 2008).

How do vernacular radio stations deliver the hoi polloi from the fangs of ignorance and bribery?
The intelligentsia for the first time moved to such radio stations to lecture the masses in their mother tongue. Radio stations became universities while villages became lecture halls. For example, Kass FM Washington DC brought together Kalenjin academics in diaspora through teleconferencing to pump new and revolutionary ideas into the villages of Kalenjin community. Through the able leadership of Dr. Kipkoech Sambu, Egyptiologist of repute, Kass FM Washington DC station became to the Kalenjin what NASA has been to the US space exploration.
Grand topics like leadership, economics, politics, theology, anthropology, technology, law, Egyptiology, cosmology, entrepreneurship, medicine ,globalization name it were explored.

"Radio is very local,” said Communications consultant Michael Otieno, who is the general manager of Hill & Knowlton Strategies. “It has evolved from being a channel for transmitting news and information from a central source which was mostly the know-it-all government to being a medium where we can talk about issues happening in the neighbourhood. It’s our verbal gossip column where we talk about who is sleeping with who, we talk about our most intimate issues, fears and eccentricities. To sum it up crudely, morning and afternoon radio is where the nation comes together for group therapy.”

Most international radio channels are government-funded and thus managed by rigid bureaucrats and managers who have an editorial brief that does not necessarily resonate with the local conditions.

Local stations, on the other hand, are headed by creative and entrepreneurial minds driven by the profit motive and displaying eccentric tendencies only tolerated as long as they do not frighten advertisers (Bosire, 2012). Bosire goes on to give an example: Mr Otieno, a fan of Classic 105,a  local radio, says: “What would you rather listen to while held up in traffic on Mombasa Road, a channel that is telling you about a shooting in Denver Colorado, or about your local priest busted with the holier-than-thou choir girl?”

This is not to trivialise international incidents, but the international news must be so compelling, for example, the historic election of Obama as the president if the United States for it to compete with local news about the latest antiques of Mike Sonko, gossip and trivia.

In local FM radio, themes and stories abound that cannot be allowed in BBC or any other international radio station where the rules are rigid, programming is subjected to tough academic standards.

Audience friendly content has also helped local FM radios because programme managers are working with a defined audience and thus can package content to match the market demands, unlike international channels where it could take several years to effect changes.

Content is king and will always drive the audience, said Mr Jared Obuya, a former BBC journalist and current Kenya Union of Journalists’ secretary general. Media experts have argued that so-called “relevance” has driven many editors and producers crazy, compelling them to package programmes and bulletins based on consumer value and appeal rather than significance (Bosire, 2012)

The biggest segment of audience in Kenya is Swahili and vernacular listeners, who are more fascinated by interactive phone-in programmes, discussing topical issues, music and some carefully chosen news segments.

That is why Royal Media Services (RMS), which runs at least 14 radio stations, including 12 vernacular channels, controls 34% of the radio market, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation 18%, Radio Africa Group and Nation Media Group controls about 6% each, according audit firm Deloitte in a study called “Competition Study – the Broadcasting Industry in Kenya”. (Mlupi, 2010).

When the government liberated the media in the 1990s, newly established FM stations started offering competition to KBC, which had ceded ground because it could be easily be manipulated and international channels – mainly BBC, DW Radio and VOA – were the only source of unbiased news (Bosire, 2012).

This liberalization came with political pluralism, which allowed the newly created entities to position themselves as the alternative source of news. This forced KBC radios to start shedding their gothic past as the radio market was cut to several bite-size business-friendly niches. As it remodelled and streamlined to suit the new consumer tastes amid competition from the FMs, the biggest loser were the giant radios, unable to change and adapt faster because of the state bureaucracy and sheer size.

The competition for numbers got dizzying when many phones came with FM receivers, increasing the audience 10-fold. Nobody would tune in to the hourly BBC or VOA hourly news bullets when a local FM presenter, in a brief interlude, updates the latest international news, gossip and anything that would be happening.

Now, even local FM radio stations Twitter and Facebook pages where they update news and engage debate. According to a 2010 study, “The Media We Want: The Kenyan Media Vulnerability Study”, by Peter Oriare, Rosemary Okello-Orlale and Wilson Ugangu, radio remains the leading media in Kenya, with the audience preferring vernacular stations as opposed to English, Swahili or French, languages preferred by international radios.

“Kenya’s audiences can access diverse media choices but they are heavily fragmented. Audience habits, preferences and patterns affect media behaviour. Kenya’s media consumers use radio the most, followed by television and newspapers. They expose themselves to more than one channel and media per day,” they said.

That was 2010, now the numbers are higher. Kenyans have adapted to mobile telephony quickly as manifested by their use of mobile-phone banking such as M-PESA, but many still prefer ethnic language media to English and Kiswahili radio stations. They demand media loyalty and ignore media that are unable to satisfy their unique political susceptibilities and sensitivities.

Audiences in Kenya change quickly, forcing the media to adapt to their needs and interests promptly. Although media literacy is low, trust in the media to report accurately on political issues is very high,” the report added. The researcher sought to find out how well the vernacular radio has succeeded in this.

The largest share of the country’s at least Sh65 billion advertising revenue is consumed by local commercial radios, giving them the much-needed muscle to wrestle audience from their international rivals by offering promotional free things such as mobile phones, airtime, free lunches, holiday trips and even cash rewards (Bosire, 2012).  Bosire further argues that fortunately, BBC, VOA and other channels cannot match that. “Media revenue from advertising has steadily grown since 2003; and is consistent with the growth of additional segments of the media.

Although the government – easily the largest spender in the Kenyan economy – has a tendency to punish independent and critical media through denial of advertising, other private advertisers use their financial muscle to have their way with the media on sensitive matters that touch on them  (Bosire, 2012).

State-subsidised international broadcasters understand and respect the principles of advertising, and therefore find it hard to compete with the locals, which target a defined audience segment.

For example, a vernacular radio targeting only one tribe can momentarily adjust to meet market demands, unlike the BBC targeting all Swahili speakers in East and Central Africa or English speakers across Africa to adjust effectively and suite the audience tastes and expectations because its coverage zone is too big.

The concern of this study was to find out what has caused the increased acceptance of vernacular   radio station in Kenya.

1.2 Statement of the problem

 In recent years, there has been an explosion in the number of radio stations broadcasting in Kenya and Kenyans have embraced them rapidly. Statistics show that 68% of Kenyans listen to vernacular radio stations for more than 10 hours a week (Kimutai, 2011). The current study sought to find out factors contributing to the popularity of these radio stations.

1.3 Objectives of the study

In this study the specific objectives were to:
(a) Establish the relationship between language and likeability of vernacular radio station.

(b)   Establish how aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity.     

 (c) Determine the attitude of the audience to the content aired by the vernacular radio.

(d) Determine the factors contributing to the popularity of vernacular radio stations in Kenya.

1.4 Research questions

The following research questions were formulated from the objectives of the study:

        i.            What is the relationship between language used by a radio station and its likeability?

      ii.            How do aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity?

    iii.            What is the attitude of audience to the content aired by this radio?

    iv.            What factors contribute to the popularity of vernacular radio stations in Kenya?

1.5 Hypothesis of the study

There is a significant relationship between Muuga FM and the Meru language it uses in

transmitting its programmes.

1.6 Justification of the study           

Acknowledging that radio is the main source of information to most Kenyans, the findings of this study would:

           1. help vernacular radio owners and journalists to create content that suits their listeners.

           2. assist owners if this mass medium to gain commercially by providing attractive

                programming that   will attract large audiences that will consequently attract more
               advertisers.

1.7 Scope of the study          
The study was  carried out in Muungoni Village in Mucwa Sub-Location in Chuka Division in Tharaka-Nithi County in Kenya. It attempted to find out what factors have contributed to the popularity of vernacular radio stations in Kenya and the impact to their audiences. Listeners of Muuga FM, a radio station broadcasting in Meru Language, participated in the study. Data was collected using questionnaire from these audiences (Appendix 1).

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATUTRE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

This chapter addresses theoretical review, conceptual framework and reviews existing literature. It also shows the relationship between vernacular radio and language, culture as well the regional appeal of this electronic mass medium. The popularity of vernacular radio is looked at in terms of audience size, hours of listening and participation in programmes. Extraneous variables analyzed are influence of vernacular language as well as vernacular illiteracy.

2.1Theoretical Review

 This study was based on Uses and Gratification Theory. Uses and gratifications approach is an influential tradition in media research. The original conception of the approach was based on the research for explaining the great appeal of certain media contents. The core question of such research is: Why do people use media and what do they use them for? (McQuail, 1983).  There exists a basic idea in this approach: audience members know media content, and which media they can use to meet their needs.

In the mass communication process, uses and gratifications approach puts the function of linking need gratifications and media choice clearly on the side of audience members. It suggests that people’s needs influence what media they would choose, how they use certain media and what gratifications the media give them. This approach differs from other theoretical perspectives in that it regards audiences as active media users as opposed to passive receivers of information. In contrast to traditional media effects theories which focus on “what media do to people” and assume audiences are homogeneous, uses and gratifications approach is more concerned with “what people do with media” (Katz, 1959). It allows audiences personal needs to use media and responds to the media, which is determined by their social and psychological background. In this study, the researcher acknowledged that audience of the vernacular radio deliberately chose this medium.

Uses and gratifications approach also postulates that the media compete with other information sources for audience’s need satisfaction (Katz et al., 1974a). As traditional mass media and new media continue to provide people with a wide range of media platforms and content, it is considered one of the most appropriate perspectives for investigating why audiences choose to be exposed to different media channels (LaRose et al., 2001).

The approach emphasizes audiences’ choice by assessing their reasons for using a certain media to the disregard of others, as well as the various gratifications obtained from the media, based on individual social and psychological requirements (Severin & Tankard, 1997). As a broader perspective among communication researches, it provides a framework for understanding the processes by which media participants seek information or content selectively, commensurate with their needs and interests (Katz et al., 1974a). Audience members then incorporate the content to fulfill their needs or to satisfy their interests (Lowery & Nabila, 1983).

Needs and Gratifications

Uses and gratifications approach emphasizes motives and the self-perceived needs of audience members. Blumler and Katz (1974) concluded that different people can use the same communication message for very different purposes. The same media content may gratify different needs for different individuals. There is not only one way that people uses media. Contrarily, there are as many reasons for using the media as there are media users.

Basic needs, social situation, and the individual’s background, such as experience, interests, and education, affect people’s ideas about what they want from media and which media best meet their needs. That is, audience members are aware of and can state their own motives and gratifications for using different media. McQuail, Blumler, and Brown (1972) proposed a model of “media-person interactions” to classify four important media gratifications: (1) Diversion: escape from routine or problems; emotional release; (2) Personal relationships: companionship; social utility; (3) Personal identity: self-reference; reality exploration; value reinforces; and (4) Surveillance (forms of information seeking). The researcher was of the view that vernacular radio meets needs of its listeners, which are not met by other media. He also felt that low education levels might also contribute to preference of vernacular media.

Another subdivided version of the audience’s motivation was suggested by McGuire (1974), based on a general theory of human needs. He distinguished between two types of needs: cognitive and affective. Then he added three dimensions: “active” versus “passive” initiation, “external” versus “internal” goal orientation, and emotion stability of “growth” and “preservation.” When charted, these factors yield 16 different types of motivations which apply to media use (Item 1).

Item 1.A structuring of 16 general paradigms of human motivation (McGuire, 1974).

Katz, Gurevitch and Haas (1973) developed 35 needs taken from the social and psychological functions of the mass media and put them into five categories:

1. Cognitive needs, including acquiring information, knowledge and understanding;
2. Affective needs, including emotion, pleasure, feelings;
3. Personal integrative needs, including credibility, stability, status;
4. Social integrative needs, including interacting with family and friends; and
5. Tension release needs, including escape and diversion.

Congruously, McQuail’s (1983) classification of the following common reasons for media use:

Information

• finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world
• seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices
• satisfying curiosity and general interest
• learning; self-education
• gaining a sense of security through knowledge

Personal Identity

• finding reinforcement for personal values
• finding models of behavior
• identifying with valued others (in the media)
• gaining insight into oneself

Integration and Social Interaction

• gaining insight into the circumstances of others; social empathy
• identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging
• finding a basis for conversation and social interaction
• having a substitute for real-life companionship
• helping to carry out social roles
• enabling one to connect with family, friends and society

Entertainment

• escaping, or being diverted, from problems
• relaxing
• getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment
• filling time
• emotional release
• sexual arousal (p. 73)

These dimensions of uses and gratifications assume an active audience making motivated choices.

McQuail (1994) added another dimension to this definition. He states:

Personal social circumstances and psychological dispositions together influence both … general habits of media use and also … beliefs and expectations about the benefits offered by the media, which shape ... specific acts of media choice and consumption, followed by ... assessments of the value of the experience (with consequences for further media use) and, possibly ... applications of benefits acquired in other areas of experience and social activity (p. 235).

This expanded explanation accounts for a variety of individual needs, and helps to explain variations in media sought for different gratifications.

Gratifications sought (GS) and gratifications obtained (GO)

The personal motivations for media use also suggest that the media offer gratifications which are expected by audiences. These gratifications can be thought of as experienced psychological effects which are valued by individuals. Palmgreen and Rayburn (1985) thus proposed a model of the gratifications sought (GS) and gratifications obtained (GO) process shown in Item  2.

Item 2. An expectance-value model of media gratifications sought and obtained (Palmgreen and Rayburn, 1985).

The model distinguishes between GS and GO. Thus, where GO is noticeably higher than GS, we are likely to be dealing with situations of high audience satisfaction and high ratings of appreciation and attention (McQuail, 1983).

To investigate the relationship between GS and GO, Palmgreen et al. (1980) conducted a study of gratifications sought and obtained from the most popular television news programs. The results indicated that, on the one hand, each GS correlated either moderately or strongly with its corresponding GO; on the other hand, the researchers found that the gratifications audiences reportedly seek are not always the same as the gratifications they obtain (Palmgreenet al., 1980). A later study conducted by Wenner (1982) further showed that audiences may obtain different levels of gratifications from what they seek when they are exposed to evening news programs.

Media Dependency Theory                               

Media dependency theory, also known as media system dependency theory, has been explored as an extension of or an addition to the uses and gratifications approach, though there is a subtle difference between the two theories. That is, media dependency looks at audience goals as the origin of the dependency while the uses and gratifications approach emphasizes audience needs (Grant et al., 1998). Both, however, are in agreement that media use can lead to media dependency. Moreover, some uses and gratifications studies have discussed media use as being goal directed (Palmgreen, Wenner&Rosengren. 1985; Rubin, 1993; Parker & Plank, 2000).

Media dependency theory states that the more dependent an individual is on the media for having his or her needs fulfilled, the more important the media will be to that person. DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach (1976) described dependency as the correlating relationship between media content, the nature of society, and the behaviour of audiences. It examines both macro and micro factors influencing motives, information-seeking strategies, media and functional alternative use, and dependency on certain media (Rubin and Windahl, 1982).

As DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach (1989) suggested, active selectors’ use of the media to achieve their goals will result in being dependent on the media. Littlejohn (2002) also explained that people will become more dependent on media that meet a number of their needs than on media that provide only a few ones. “If a person finds a medium that provides them with several functions that are central to their desires, they will be more inclined to continue to use that particular medium in the future” (Rossi, 2002).

The intensity of media dependency depends on how much people perceive that the media they choose are meeting their goals. These goals were categorized by DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach (1989) into three dimensions which cover a wide range of individual objectives: (1) social and self understanding (e.g., learning about oneself, knowing about the world); (2) interaction and action orientation (e.g., deciding what to buy, getting hints on how to handle news or difficult situation, etc.); (3) social and solitary play (e.g., relaxing when alone, going to a movie with family or friends).DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach (1989) also suggested that more than one kind of goal can be activated (and satisfied) by the same medium.

Dependency on a specific medium is influenced by the number of media sources available to an individual. Individuals should become more dependent on available media if their access to media alternatives is limited. The more alternatives there are for an individual, the lesser is the dependency on and influence of a specific medium (Sun et al., 1999).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.2 Conceptual framework

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE Vernacular radio Language Culture Regional appeal

Intervening variables ·         foreign languages ·         vernacular illiteracy

           

                                                                       

DEPENDENT VARIABLE Popularity of vernacular radio ·         Audience size ·         Hours of listening ·         Audience participation in programming

The conceptual framework above underscores the fact that popularity of vernacular radio is greatly dependent on the language it uses to transmit its programmes, vernacular language. In this framework, vernacular radio is the dependent variable whereas popularity of vernacular radio is the dependent variable.

Aspects of vernacular radio that can influence its popularity include the language itself, culture transmitted or portrayed by the language as well as the regional appeal of the radio station.

Popularity of a radio station can be gauged by the size of the audience it boasts of, the average hours the audience listens to it and the level of audience participation in radio programmes like call-ins.

2.3 Vernacular radio

Vernacular radio refers to radio that broadcasts in language that is native or local in a particular region. The latest media research from Kenya reveals that radio is still the preferred media. According to latest statistics from media research company, Synovate conducted under the Kenya Audience Research Foundation (KARF), radio leads in overall media consumption followed by the mobile phone, television, newspapers, and the internet respectively (Kimutai, 2011).

The study carried out on a population sample of 8 504 showed that 93% of the sample had listened to radio in the last seven days. Further, more people in Kenya are now listening to more than one radio station - about 54% and the average time spent listening per day is 6 hours.

An interesting highlight of the findings is the top ratings for vernacular radio stations. Kenya has two national languages - English and Swahili, and over 42 tribes which when subdivided triples the number of spoken dialects in Kenya. 68% of people sampled listened to vernacular stations for more than 10 hours a week for vernacular far more than those who listened to stations broadcasting in English.  According to the report, top radio broadcasting languages by time spent listening are Luo (28%), Swahili (26%), Kikuyu (25%), Kalenjin (24.8%), and Kamba (22%) - stations that receive more than three hours a day of core listeners.
Royal Media Services Group has carved out a particular niche in this area. The company began in 1999 with its flagship station, the very popular Radio Citizen, which transmits in Kenya’s national language Swahili and targets the “common man.” The group’s current stable of 11 stations includes nine vernacular outlets: Inooro (Kikuyu),  Ramogi (Luo), Mulembe (Luhya), Musyi (Kamba), Muuga (Meru), Chamgei (Kalenjin ), Egesa (Kisii),  Wimwaro (Embu) and Bahari FM (Swahili and Mijikenda) .

Charles Njoroge, director general of the Communications Commission of Kenya -- the body in charge of licensing and regulating broadcasters -- said the growing number of vernacular radio stations is driven by demand from listeners. He said it all started in the early 1990s, when national broadcaster KBC Radio would air programs in different languages at different times.

“Media owners discovered there was demand for vernacular radio stations, owing to the popularity of the select programs aired in vernacular languages,” Njoroge said. 

The CCK director general dismissed concerns that the proliferation of vernacular stations indicated a failure by Kenyans to unite around common language or languages. Building a sense of national unity is a political priority in the wake of widespread post-election violence in 2008-
2009 that was driven largely by ethnic divisions.

Rather, Njoroge argued that vernacular stations are a way to preserve local cultures and traditions which are being diluted by Western influences.  “Vernacular radio stations are one of the platforms to protect Kenya’s diverse languages and cultures,” he said.

2.3.1 Language and mass communication

Language is the development of the basic form of communication between human beings, and in a society. Moreover, just as it is the basic form, it is also the most developed. We cannot communicate in any real sense without language, other than through gestures; we do communicate through some non-verbal forms like the visual arts - painting and sculpture - and through dance, but the culmination of true, articulate, communication is through language. It could take a number of forms, of course. It could be unvarnished, workaday prose, it could be poetry, it could be drama; but all of these are forms of language, written, spoken and read. Other than the availability of signals, one factor that determines the choice of radio station that audiences listen to is the language of broadcasting. Among the questionnaire respondents in a research that was conducted in Kieni West Divisionin central Kenya dominated by the Kikuyu community 71% picked a Kikuyu vernacular station as their favourite station (Gathigi , 2009). Those who preferred vernacular stations cited the ability to comprehend content as one of the major reasons behind their choice. To the older population, the emergence of vernacular radio broadcasting has provided an avenue where for the first time they could listen to the radio on their own without relying on an intermediary. The old broadcasting system in which radio broadcast mainly in English and Swahili left out a huge section of the older population. They had to rely on those who could understand the languages to tell them what was going on. The following comments reflect some of the views of the older people. For Beatrice, an 85-year old grandmother from Mahiga, the new broadcasting has changed the radio. “The good thing about the new Kikuyu stations is that even as old people, we can now listen to the radio without asking anyone to explain what was said. I will just sit there with my radio and get everything that is said. Before, things were very different, the radio was a device that just made noises, now it speaks to me.” Stephen Ndungo, a 62-year old from Mahiga explained this too, contrasting the old times when there was little to choose from and the current times where there are many choices of radio stations. “The local language stations are good because before we had KBC that broadcast in English and Swahili and not everyone is educated or can speak Swahili or English. So there will always be a time when people listen to the radio but miss something. But since the day we got local language broadcasting, there is no way you will hear someone asking what was said because even little children now can say I heard this and that on the radio. So the local languages make life and radio listening easy.” Struggling with English is not restricted to those who said they did not understand the language at all. Some listeners said that despite understanding English, they have not attained the proficiency level where they are able to understand everything that is said on the radio. From those who reported a modest understanding to teachers and young people who have a higher proficiency, these sentiments were shared across the board. Michael, a 20-year-old teacher at a local primary school who is also waiting to join university said that language is critical in influencing his choice of stations. “Some stations, based on my level of understanding of the language (English), sometimes I may not understand the news. Even when I want to listen to the news, sometimes the use of English is a little too complicated. If I listen to news from Easy FM for example, I cannot comprehend the language without straining. So I end up tuning to a Kikuyu station because I can easily understand.” Agatha, a 55-year old teacher at Mahiga primary school captures the language situation through what she calls “deep meanings” she gets and the “taste” of her language, Kikuyu, compared to English and Swahili. She also talks of “feeling the language getting” in her that signifies cognitive proximity to the speech as it is delivered and the ease with which listeners understand their language. For some listeners, the choice of language is determined by those who are around you and the language norms. Young listeners like 23-year old Bernard Mutugi from Mweiga pointed to what they view as the sensitivity of Kikuyu language, which they believe mutes discussion of topics that are freely addressed in other languages. Culturally, there are shared language norms that have to be adhered to. When a language that is deemed as inappropriate in the Kikuyu culture is heard on the radio, young people feel uncomfortable if they are in the company of older people. However, there is no such discomfort if one is in the presence of her or his peers. However, it all depends on which language is being used on the radio as Mutugi explained. “Based on what is being discussed on the radio, like in Kiss 100, there are things that can be freely said in English. But if the language of broadcasting was Swahili or Kikuyu, it would feel shameful to listen. So I can laugh without hiding and without losing respect. When some issues in English are delivered in Kikuyu language, they are very sensitive and I will feel uncomfortable. Also, because of the people around me, there are things that when said in Kikuyu, with my mother present, will sound offensive. But the same things can be said in English and I can still listen with her.” Young people on the other hand argue that Kikuyu language, like the culture, is more conservative while English language is liberal in the discussion of taboo topics and muted discussions identified in the preceding section. They feel more uncomfortable using the vernacular language to discuss sexual issues than older people. Even concepts that are not necessarily considered unacceptable in the day-to-day speech are hard for many young people to use while the elder people do not have the same problem. Mr. Kariuki, a 68 year old from Mweiga argues that Kikuyu language is not necessarily blunt; instead, it is the young people who do not understand their culture. “Our language is not blunt. I think some parents have taught their children that our language is blunt. Our children have lost our culture and that is making things so difficult. One day I told a young man something and he was so mad because he thought I had insulted him by telling him he depends on his mother. When I went to visit his home, he was asked to prepare me a cup of tea but refused and said I insulted him. When he repeated what I had said, his mother reprimanded him asking him who else he depended upon.” It is also interesting to note how some of the young listeners view Kikuyu broadcasting. Some are resistant to their language on the radio. For them, the language is too mundane; they hear it every day in their lives and would rather listen to something different. Some do not even want to be associated with listening to Kikuyu stations because among their peers it is not considered a “cool” thing to do. In contrast, listening to English language FM stations has a sense of prestige. According to Joseph Mathenge, a 22-year-old male from Endarasha, listening to Kikuyu stations for a young man feels awkward. “Even girls are not impressed when they find you listening to Kikuyu stuff”. Ndugi, a 24 year old from Mwiyogo thinks there is too much Kikuyu on the radio. For Ndugi, such presence results in people all over the country learning the language that erodes any uniqueness of the Kikuyu community. “I don’t know how I feel about Kikuyu stations because I do not listen to Kikuyu stations. And after all, these Kikuyu talk has gone overboard making me feel like I can turn off the Kikuyu stations. As the Kikuyu people we need a way we can communicate among ourselves, be different and symbolize ourselves as Kikuyu. But now the language is being spoken so much by four stations such that even Kisii or other communities understand Kikuyu and from the way things are going, they will all be speaking Kikuyu. If you go to a different place these days and meet a Kisii, Kamba, or Kalenjin, they are all speaking Kikuyu. In a few years to come, everyone will be speaking Kikuyu language fluently.” These comments illustrate a feeling of protectionism. Ndugi feels that the Kikuyu people ought to keep their language to themselves. However, there is also an aspect of resistance that does not necessarily come out openly. It is a kind of discomfort that some people, especially the young feel with their vernacular language. There is a desire to feel different from the rest. In many cases, disassociating with the “local” makes these young people feel different and one way of doing that is using a different language for communication, such as English, which is considered “prestigious”. When asked, many young people expressed the desire to move away from the village, probably to join their friends in the urban areas where life is considered more flashy and interesting. Also there are assumptions that more employment opportunities exist in the urban areas. As Githinji, a 40-year old farmer from Endarasha explained, since many young people do not manage to go away from the village physically, the consumption of urban content serves as a psychologically compensatory act that partly fulfils their wish. The researcher was interested to know to what extent Meru language attracted listeners in Mucwa Sub-location.

 2.3.2. The Relationship between communication and culture

The term “culture” refers to the complex collection of knowledge, folklore, language, rules, rituals, habits, lifestyles, attitudes, beliefs, and customs that link and give a common identity to a particular group of people at a specific point in time.

The researcher was concerned about to what extent culture transmitted through the vernacular language contributes to popularity of vernacular radio. The relationship between communication and culture is a very complex and intimate one. First, cultures are created through communication; that is, communication is the means of human interaction through which cultural characteristics— whether customs, roles, rules, rituals, laws, or other patterns—are created and shared. It is not so much that individuals set out to create a culture when they interact in relationships, groups, organizations, or societies, but rather that cultures are a natural by-product of social interaction. In a sense, cultures are the “residue” of social communication. Without communication and communication media, it would be impossible to preserve and pass along cultural characteristics from one place and time to another. One can say, therefore, that culture is created, shaped, transmitted, and learned through communication. The reverse is also the case; that is, communication practices are largely created, shaped, and transmitted by culture.

 This study sought to find out how favourably the vernacular radio is viewed and therefore liked by its audience for conforming to their culture

All institutions within society facilitate communication, and in that way, they all contribute to the creation, spread, and evolution of culture. However, communication media such as radio play a particularly important role. Because media extend human capacities for creating, duplicating, transmitting, and storing messages, they also extend and amplify culture-building activities.

 In Canada, Gerald S. Doyle Bulletin, was a programme that transmitted messages sent by listeners who listened to Newfoundland radio that broadcast in vernacular. ‘Purposefully obscure language’( deliberate use of language with hidden meaning) was allegedly a significant feature of the messages broadcast on the Gerald S. Doyle Bulletin, and certain unique or humorous personal messages purportedly broadcast on the Bulletin have entered into Newfoundland oral tradition, and are repeated and shared like jokes and legends during reminiscences about outport life(Franklin, 2009). As Philip Hiscock has observed,

                                                                                             

For over thirty years [the Bulletin] retained a large audience and injected into the folklore  of Newfoundland a rich and varied corpus of verbal play. In a manner similar to the collection and telling of jokes, excerpts from remembered message programmes are passed on for entertainment, and enlightenment about Newfoundland’s past culture (Hiscock 1988: 53).

Here the channelling of telegraphic into radiophonic communication, private into public, scatters the grains (the original meaning of the term ‘broadcast’) of lore. This ‘publication’ of messages means that they ‘belong’ to a wider community that can then relate and repeat them freely, and adapt them, if they choose. The humour of the remembered, repeated (and, perhaps, in the process of oral transmission, refined) messages resides in the various ways in which they deviated from the conventional formula. The unconventional and figurative language of some messages can be attributed to a sense of humour on the part of the sender, or the necessity for economy in phrasing a telegram. Some allowed all kinds of possible interpretations of what the sender really meant. For example, one message was sent by a man to his wife, letting her know that he could not return home that day because he had to wait to complete their purchase of a household item: “Won’t be home tonight, hung up on stove” (quoted in Hiscock 1988: 56). Some of the humorous messages can be attributed to mistakes made during the scripting or relaying of the messages, which sheds light on the ‘cherishing’ of ‘amateur’ standards in local or regional radio. Franklin (2009),  has highlighted the popularity of amateur hours and local interaction in the programming of the small private stations in that (Canadian) province in the 1930s:

 “As imperfect as [the] announcers were, they nevertheless served to remind listeners that those who spoke to them over the air were one of them. Less than proficient renderings of the news or announcements of local events reinforced the notion that announcers were members of the community, doing the best they could through a medium that reflected the community and was responsive to its needs and wishes. If people felt close to their flawed announcers and error-prone stations – and there is abundant evidence that they did – then it was because they saw both as an extension, an integral part, of themselves. That is why they believed they had a legitimate say in programming…”

 

It has been noted that listeners to riddles, jokes and other folkloric forms become not merely participants but even creators of meaning when the message is not explicit; “to project themselves into the text in order to invest the empty spaces with meaning” (Levine 1992: 1386). Each and every Bulletin listener had had his or her interest piqued, and imagination fired, by “interstices that need connecting, ambiguities that need resolution, imprecisions that need clarity…” (Levine 1992: 1384).Thus the interpretation of the Bulletin was in many instances a collective process, as has typically been the case with the small group exchange of folklore, and this is entirely congruent with the way in which the programme contravened what we might term the normative model of broadcasting, which is typically unidirectional in flow and often private in its domestic mode of ‘consumption’.

Folklore was created both despite and because the vernacular was channelled, and in the process shaped by communications media such as the telegraph and the radio, which are conventionally associated with heavily standardised varieties of speech. It can be observed that the communicative network created by the Bulletin is an excellent example of what Walter Ong has referred to as ‘secondary orality’ in the age of electronic technology; “This new orality has striking resemblances to the old in its participatory mystique, its fostering of a communal sense, and even its use of formulas” (Ong 1988: 136).

The researcher wished to find out how Meru culture is transmitted by and contributes to the popularity of vernacular radio station.

2.3.3 Regional appeal of vernacular radio

Vernacular radio stations broadcast chiefly using a local language to a target
audience that understands the language of broadcast. Vernacular stations tend to
broadcast to a community that is also defined by a common culture. The content such as
news and different types of programs is mainly in the vernacular language. The degrees
to which the stations use the language vary from station to station. For some stations such
as Inooro FM, a Kikuyu station, the broadcasts are in the Kikuyu language. The
presentation, news and informational programs, and all the music played on Inooro FM
are in the Kikuyu language

Most vernacular stations tend to assume a regional nature because settlement
patterns in Kenya are such that people of a given ethnic group are concentrated in one
settlement region. Thus, the Luo audience is found in the Nyanza around Lake Region,
the Kalenjin in the Northern and Southern Rift while the majority of Kikuyu audience is
found in Central Kenya region. Vernacular stations in Kenya have started gaining the
highest listenership in areas where their languages of broadcasts are widely spoken.
Inooro FM is the most listened to station in
Central Kenya ahead of two other Kikuyu stations, Kameme FM and Coro FM. In Lake
Region, Ramogi FM that broadcasts in Luo language has the highest listenership. Kass
FM that broadcast in Kalenjin language is the most listened to station in Central Rift
Valley area while Muuga FM, a Meru language station dominates the Upper Eastern

The researcher wished to find out to what extent this assertion of regional  appeal holds.

2.4 Popularity of vernacular radio

Vernacular radio has become very popular in Kenya. Below are concepts examined  in an attempt to understand this variable.

2.4.1 Audience size

The latest media research from Kenya reveals that radio is still the preferred media. According to these findings, there are top ratings for vernacular radio stations. Kenya has two national languages - English and Swahili, and over 42 tribes which when subdivided triple the number of spoken dialects in Kenya. 68% of people sampled listened to vernacular stations for more than 10 hours a week for vernacular far more than those who listened to stations broadcasting in English (Kimutai, 2011).

2.4.2. Hours of listening

The researcher needed to find out how long audiences listen to vernacular radio .According to Gathigi (2009), who investigated the listening habits of audiences to vernacular radio, an examination of the Kieni West audience’s radio listening habits suggests that they are related to the stations’ programming formats. Kieni West audience’s listening habits also conform to the listening trends of the wider Central Kenya audience. These habits are influenced by factors such as availability of the audience to listen when the programme is on air, the relevance of the programme content, and the popularity of the programme based on the content and presenter(s). The radio audience in Kieni West chooses programs from multiple stations. People listen to the radio more during certain times of the day when they are available and are likely to make sure that they tune into their preferred programme when it is on air. Most radio listening occurs in the early morning hours before people start their daily activities and in the evenings after work. No major differences were found between the amount of time people spend listening to the radio during the weekdays (Monday to Friday) and during the weekend (Saturday and Sunday). On average, respondents to the questionnaire spend an average of 6.8 hours on weekdays compared to 6.4 hours on weekend day.

Many listeners are free from their work during the weekends
and one would expect that they would listen more during this time. However, this is not
case and various explanations were given. Some women reported that they are likely to
be busy during the weekends because they have to take care of the children who are not
in school. During the weekdays, mothers spend the day alone at home but this changes
during the weekend when children are at home. For people who have formal
employment such as teachers and administrators, the “free time” during the weekend
does not actually amount to being free. This time is used to perform other duties that they
are not able to fulfill during the weekdays. During the weekends, it is common to find
men doing various activities at home such as doing domestic repairs, taking care of
animals, or working on the farm, among others. For others like Gerald Karimi, a 38 year
old casual worker and a father of three, the weekend is spent with the family and working
on the farm as he reported.

“The weekend is the only time I am ever at home. The rest of the week, I leave home very early before 6:00 am when it is still dark and will not come dark until 8:00 pm when it is dark again. I do not even get to see what is happening around my compound. Also, most of the times I will come home and the children are sleeping, same when I leave in the morning. The weekends are therefore sort of busy for me and it is hard to find time to pay much attention to the radio. I spend the weekend with my children, talk to them, play, and sometimes take them to visit relatives and such things. I also use the weekend to work around the farm. You will find me mending fences and putting up or repairing animal structures.”

In comparing the average number of hours spent listening on the radio across gender, this
research found that male listeners spend an average of 7.2 hours on weekdays while
women listeners spend 6.2 hours. During the weekend, female and male listeners spend
almost an equal average time with 6.5 hours and 6.4 hours respectively.

 2.4.3. Audience Participation

The vernacular broadcasting format identified  research by Gathigi  (2009) is found in the
Kikuyu radio stations These stations carry content that can be termed as all-inclusive and
balanced between information, education, and entertainment. This kind of programming
is common on Kikuyu vernacular stations that include Bahasha FM, Coro FM, Inooro
FM and Kameme FM. The programmes in these stations are arranged to compete with other vernacular stations hence they are highly similar. The vernacular stations open at 5:00am, playing Christian inspirational music until 6:00am when the news headlines are read. During this hour, listeners also call in to send early morning greetings and dedications. The morning show falls between 6:00am and 9:00am and is one of the most important segments. Morning shows on the Kikuyu vernacular stations consist of information in the form of news briefs at the top of the hour and a full news bulletin at 7:00am. The morning content includes music, talk, review of the major newspapers top stories, and constant traffic updates. Because the morning shows attract higher sponsorship from advertisers, there are various sponsored games where listeners call in to win money and other prizes.

The session after 4:00pm has more talk and game shows where listeners call in
to win prizes, as well as constant traffic updates because of proximity to Nairobi where
they have a sizeable audience (Gathigi, 2009).

2.5 Foreign language influence

Popularity of vernacular radio has been hampered by young people refusing to listen to vernacular radio. They feel it is “cool” (a sign of civilization) to listen to stations broadcasting in English. (Gathigi, 2009).

2.6 Vernacular illiteracy

A significant number of young people born and brought up in towns do not learn their mother tongue. With rapid rural to urban migration, vernacular radio may experience declining audience in future.

2.7 Summary

From the literature review done, it is clear that vernacular radio is a player in radio market in Kenya. Language appears to be a dominant factor in contributing to the popularity in this mass medium. The researcher found that this review very essential in conducting the research.

2.8 Research gaps

In the literature review, the following gaps were noted:

1. There was no adequate explanation as to why even people who understand

   English and Kiswahili insist on listening to vernacular radio.

2. Little attention has been given on why certain listeners still do not switch completely to

   vernacular radio stations a significant percentage still listen to non-vernacular radio.

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

In this chapter, procedures that were used to collect and analyze data were discussed. These include research design, population, sample all the way to data analysis and presentation.

3.1 Research design

The research design used in this study was case study design. This is a study that seeks to describe a unit of study in detail, in context and holistically. It is a way of organizing educational data and looking at the object to be studied as a whole. In   a case study, a great deal can be learned from a few examples of the phenomena under study.

In this study, Muungoni Village in Mucwa Sub-Location in Chuka Division was used to represent the Meru community.

3.2 Population

Mucwa Sub-location has a population of 2732 according to 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census (P. 72).  This formed the target population from which the sample was drawn .This geographical area has 8 villages. When the total population was divided by 8, a total of 342 respondents were needed in the study.  The 342 respondents were got from Muungoni Village and from these a sample would be drawn.

 

3.3 Sampling frame

Sampling frame was developed based on details of population obtained from the office of statistics in Chuka. This is population of 342.

3.4 Sampling technique and sample

Sampling technique that was used in this study was simple random sampling. In this technique, a researcher uses a relatively small clearly defined population. According to Kasomo (2009, P 31) sample size depends on factors such as the number of variables in the study ,the type of research design, the method of data analysis and the size of accessible population. For descriptive studies, this author suggests that 10% of the accessible population is enough. Based on this, the researcher will use a sample of 34 from a population of 342.

3.5 Research Instruments

The researcher used a questionnaire to collect data, (Appendix I).  The questionnaire was intended to offer the advantage of uniformity to all respondents as they give the same questions (Mugenda&Mugenda, 1999).

3.6 Data collection procedure

Questionnaires were administered physically by the researcher. Where there were challenges of literacy the researcher posed the questions to the respondents and filled the questionnaires himself. The questionnaire restricted the respondent to the necessary answers and thus avoided time wastage.

3.7 Pilot tests

To determine the effectiveness of the questionnaire, the researcher issued ten questionnaires to some residents of Ndagani Market who listened to Muuga FM. Ndagani is not located in the area of study.

 

 

 

3.8 Data processing and analysis

  Data collected was both qualitative and quantitative. Consequently, the data was  analyzed using descriptive and quantitative statistics. The results were presented using tables. This  was done with the help of Microsoft excel where percentages were used.

 

                                           

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA COLLECTION, ANALYZING AND PRESENTATION

4.0 Introduction                 

This chapter presents the findings of the study on popularity of vernacular radio. Muuga FM, a radio station broadcasting in Meru language was used as a case study. In this study a total of 34 Meru speaking respondents were sampled from Mugoni Village of Mucwa sub-location in Tharaka Nithi County. These respondents were aged between 15 and 69. Out of these, 16 were males whereas 18 were females.

The objectives of this study were to:

(a) establish the relationship between language and likeability of vernacular radio station,

(b) establish how aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity,        

(c) determine the attitude of the audience to the content aired by the vernacular radio and;

(d) determine the factors contributing to the popularity of vernacular radio stations in Kenya.

 

4.1 Data collection instruments

The researcher used a questionnaire to collect data, (Appendix I).  The questionnaire was intended to offer the advantage of uniformity to all respondents as they give the same questions. (Mugenda&Mugenda, 1999).

4.2 Methods of data analysis

 Data analysis was done with the help of Microsoft excel where percentages were used.

4.3 Data/information presentation

The findings are presented in tables where percentages are used. The presentation is as follows.

4.3.1 Establishing the relationship between language and likeability of vernacular radio

The results for this study are summarized and explained in the tables below. The first objective of the study was to establish the relationship between language and likeability of vernacular radio station. The results are summarized in the table below

Table 1

Language and likeability of vernacular radio               

		Number	%
Hours of listening	1-3	24	70.58823529
(Total no=34)	4-5	7	20.588
	6	1	2.941
	Over 6	2	5.882
Influence of language on choice of radio	Strongly influences	25	75.757
(Total no=33)	Fairly influences	8	24.242
	Never influences	0	0

From the table above, the study found out that about 71% of the audience sampled listen to   Muuga FM for 1-3 hours per day while 21% listen between 4-5 hours. 3% listen for 6 hour whereas only 6% listen to the station for over 6 hours daily.

The influence of vernacular language has a very strong influence on popularity of vernacular radio. Table 1 shows that a whopping 76% are strongly influenced by vernacular language to choose Muuga FM with 24% being fairly influenced by the language used.  Thus all listeners sampled are influenced in varying degrees to listen to vernacular radio. According to Gathigi (2009), vernacular contributes to popularity of vernacular radio among certain listeners.

4.3.2 Establishing how aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its

          popularity.

The second objective of the study was to establish how aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity .Table 2 summarizes the findings.

         

 Table 2

 How aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity

		Number	%
Culture(Number=33)	Yes	32	96.96969697
	No	1	3.03030303
Influence of culture on listening to radio (Number=33)	Strongly influences	27	81.81818182
	Fairly influences	4	12.12121212
	Never influences	2	6.060606061

         

The influence of culture on likeability of vernacular radio is immense. A whopping 96% of the listeners sampled feel the station’s content contains Meru culture whereas only 3% do not feel so. Furthermore, 82% are strongly influenced by this culture, 12% are fairly influenced by it whereas only 6% are not at all influenced by the culture.  In Canada, local culture strongly contributed to popularity of Newfoundland vernacular radio (Franklin, 2009).

4.3.3 Determining the attitude of the audience to the content aired by vernacular radio

The third objective was to determine the attitude of the audience to the content aired by vernacular radio. The results are summarized in the table below.

Table 3
		Number	%
Like content broadcast	Yes	33	97.05882353
(Total number=34)	No	1	2.941176471
Content is helpful	Very helpful	26	76.47058824
(Total number=34)	Fairly helpful	17	50
	Not helpful	1	2.941176471
Content broadcast relate to day to day activities of Meru people(Total no. 33)	Yes	31	93.93939394
	No	2	6.060606061

97% of listeners sampled like content broadcast by vernacular radio whereas only 3% do not as summarized in table 3. The table further shows that 76% of the listeners find the content very helpful, 50% find it only fairly helpful whereas only 3% find it not helpful at all.  Additionally a whopping 94% feel the content broadcast relates to the day-to-day activities of the Meru people with only 6% disagreeing.

4.3.4 Determining the factors contributing to the popularity of vernacular radio         

100% of listeners like vernacular radio because it airs local news.  93% like the station because it shows Meru culture whereas 6% do not feel so. 93% like this mass medium because it uses vernacular whereas 7% are not influenced by vernacular. The results are summarized in table 4 below.

Table 4
		Number	%
Reporting local news	Yes	29	100
(Total number=29)	No	0	0
Shows Meru culture	Yes	29	93.5483871
(Shows Meru culture=31)	No	2	6.451612903
Uses vernacular language	Yes	27	93.10344828
(Total number=29)	No	2	6.896551724

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMEDATIONS

5.0 Introduction

The purpose of this study was to gauge the popularity of vernacular radio and factors contributing to this popularity. This chapter presents summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations.

5.1 Summary of the findings

On the basis of analyzed data, presented in chapter (4), and the study’s objectives, the following are the major findings of the study.

5.1.1 Language and likeability of vernacular radio

The study revealed a direct relationship between vernacular and likeability of vernacular radio. Language was found to greatly increase popularity of vernacular radio.

5.1.2 Culture and vernacular radio

 The study revealed that culture contributes to likeability of vernacular radio. Culture of a particular ethnic group makes the community to have a common identity and vernacular radio broadcasts enhance this.

5.1.3 Attitude of listeners to content broadcast by vernacular radio

The study revealed an overwhelmingly positive attitude of the audience to broadcasts of vernacular radio. They like the content broadcast by this medium and find it very helpful.

5.1.4 Factors contributing to popularity of vernacular radio

The study revealed that the following factors contribute to popularity of vernacular radio: it uses vernacular to broadcast programmes, reports local news and shows local culture.

5.2 Conclusion

The research shows that:

·         vernacular language attracts listeners who speak in the language,

·         listeners identify with and love their culture and;

·         vernacular radio is popular.

5.3 Recommendations

The study recommends that:

·         vernacular radio must include content directly related to their local audiences to remain popular.

·         vernacular radio is an appropriate medium to reach local communities by those who intend to so, for example the government.

5.3.1 Recommendations for further research

The findings in this study are not exhaustive. The study is based on a single community. Furthermore the factors identified especially language and culture can be investigated fully on their own.

The researcher suggests research to be carried out on the following areas

(a)How language contributes to popularity of vernacular radio.

(b)The impact of vernacular radio broadcasts on listeners.  

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     network evening news programs and 60 Minutes. Communication Research, 9, 539-560.POPULARITY OF VERNACULAR FM RADIO BROADCASTING IN MUCWA SUB-LOCATION IN CHUKA DIVISION:  A CASE STUDY OF MUUGA FM

ABSTRACT

Radio is a popular and most widespread mass medium in Kenya. Recent studies have indicated that vernacular radio is very popular in Kenya.  The purpose of this study was to find out factors contributing to this popularity.   The research design used in this study was case study design. This is a study that seeks to describe a unit of study in detail, in context and holistically. It is a way of organizing educational data and looking at the object to be studied as a whole. In   a case study, a great deal can be learned from a few examples of the phenomena under study. Muuga FM, a radio station broadcasting in Meru Language was used as a case study. The research was conducted in Muungoni Village in Muucwa Sub-location in Tharaka-Nithi County. A sample population of 34 respondents was used in this study. Out of these, 16 were males whereas 18 were females. Questionnaires were administered physically by the researcher. Where there were challenges of literacy, the researcher posed the questions to the respondents and filled the questionnaires himself. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Percentages were used to analyze data. The study revealed that vernacular radio is very popular in areas where its language of broadcast can be understood. Factors that make vernacular radio popular include use of vernacular, reporting local news and exhibiting culture of the community in question. The study recommends that vernacular radio must include content directly related to their local audiences to remain popular. Furthermore vernacular radio is an appropriate medium to reach local communities by those who intend to so, for example the government.

           

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

The last few years have seen a rapid mushrooming of vernacular radio stations in Kenya. This is after the liberalization of the Kenyan electronic media environment in the1990s. Radio is the most widespread means of mass communication in Kenya. According to latest statistics from media Research Company, Synovate, conducted under the Kenya Audience Research Foundation (KARF). Radio leads in overall media consumption at 93% (Kimutai, 2011). This trend can be attributed to the growth of FM radio stations in the country offering a variety of programming that includes music and talk shows. 68% of those sampled listen to vernacular radio stations for   more than 10 hours a week.

.However, vernacular radio stations have had their dark side in Kenyan history. President Moi's tenure as independent Kenya's second President witnessed a heightened sense of tribal xenophobia. In August of 2000, he declared that all vernacular FM radio stations were to be banned altogether arguing that they promoted ''tribal chauvinism and undermined national unity’ (Nderitu, 2008).

The researcher did not agree with this but felt that it is the content broadcast by a radio station that could promote these vices not the language used to transmit the messages. Moi directed the Attorney General to draw legislation that would force radio stations to broadcast only in the two recognizable national languages namely English and Kiswahili. However, the then Minister of Information, Johnstone Makua, successfully countered the proposal in a ministerial statement saying that, “vernacular is part of Kenyan culture and there is nothing we can do about it”.

This free speech controversy became a major issue in Rwanda during the genocide there in 1994.The Rwandan conflict was exacerbated by a  broadcast message broadcast on the notorious  Radio Mille Collines (RMC) during call-in shows  where  the minority Tutsi community was derogatively referred to as 'cockroaches' by the Hutus who were the numerically dominant tribe.' Kill the Inkotanyi' (cockroaches) went a chilling clarion call on RMC. Within the months of the tribal instigated madness a total of 850,000 people were killed, victims of tribal messages
broadcast over radio.

Understandably, when the recent ethnic clashes in Kenya threatened Kenya as a unitary state, Moi's unheeded concern looked perceptive. Long before national elections were held in December, year 2007,  vernacular radio stations were already igniting ethnic consciousness among listeners,'' urging them to support political leaders from their tribe and to harbour bad  feelings about people from other communities according to Tervil Okoko of Kenya Union of Journalists (Nderitu,2008).

These days, radio that brings in gossip is bound to flourish than the one that rigidly sticks to BBC-style bulletins, because customer is king and advertisers follow the numbers (Bosire, B.2012).

This explains why international stations in Kenya, namely British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Voice of America, Radio France Internationale, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Channel Africa, DeutschVelle Radio, China International Radio and many others, are desperately struggling to survive.

These stalwarts of media have steadily lost audience to a new crop of local vernacular FM channels, established after the airwaves were liberalized in the 1990s. Since then, radio has been forced to adapt to the audience’s tastes and trends, something the vernacular radio does.

FM technology is a revolution in both rural and urban slum Kenya. It has propelled vernacular radio stations offering stiff competition to radio stations broadcasting in English and Kiswahili. English radio stations appeal to the elite and the ruling class urbanites and have locked out the bulk of the populace.

The emergence of Kass FM, a Kalenjin vernacular station with a sister station in Washington DC has been a revolution among the over 5 million Kalenjin listeners.
The Kass FM and other vernacular stations are enjoying overwhelming support among all the 42 communities in Kenya (Cheruiyot, 2008).

How do vernacular radio stations deliver the hoi polloi from the fangs of ignorance and bribery?
The intelligentsia for the first time moved to such radio stations to lecture the masses in their mother tongue. Radio stations became universities while villages became lecture halls. For example, Kass FM Washington DC brought together Kalenjin academics in diaspora through teleconferencing to pump new and revolutionary ideas into the villages of Kalenjin community. Through the able leadership of Dr. Kipkoech Sambu, Egyptiologist of repute, Kass FM Washington DC station became to the Kalenjin what NASA has been to the US space exploration.
Grand topics like leadership, economics, politics, theology, anthropology, technology, law, Egyptiology, cosmology, entrepreneurship, medicine ,globalization name it were explored.

"Radio is very local,” said Communications consultant Michael Otieno, who is the general manager of Hill & Knowlton Strategies. “It has evolved from being a channel for transmitting news and information from a central source which was mostly the know-it-all government to being a medium where we can talk about issues happening in the neighbourhood. It’s our verbal gossip column where we talk about who is sleeping with who, we talk about our most intimate issues, fears and eccentricities. To sum it up crudely, morning and afternoon radio is where the nation comes together for group therapy.”

Most international radio channels are government-funded and thus managed by rigid bureaucrats and managers who have an editorial brief that does not necessarily resonate with the local conditions.

Local stations, on the other hand, are headed by creative and entrepreneurial minds driven by the profit motive and displaying eccentric tendencies only tolerated as long as they do not frighten advertisers (Bosire, 2012). Bosire goes on to give an example: Mr Otieno, a fan of Classic 105,a  local radio, says: “What would you rather listen to while held up in traffic on Mombasa Road, a channel that is telling you about a shooting in Denver Colorado, or about your local priest busted with the holier-than-thou choir girl?”

This is not to trivialise international incidents, but the international news must be so compelling, for example, the historic election of Obama as the president if the United States for it to compete with local news about the latest antiques of Mike Sonko, gossip and trivia.

In local FM radio, themes and stories abound that cannot be allowed in BBC or any other international radio station where the rules are rigid, programming is subjected to tough academic standards.

Audience friendly content has also helped local FM radios because programme managers are working with a defined audience and thus can package content to match the market demands, unlike international channels where it could take several years to effect changes.

Content is king and will always drive the audience, said Mr Jared Obuya, a former BBC journalist and current Kenya Union of Journalists’ secretary general. Media experts have argued that so-called “relevance” has driven many editors and producers crazy, compelling them to package programmes and bulletins based on consumer value and appeal rather than significance (Bosire, 2012)

The biggest segment of audience in Kenya is Swahili and vernacular listeners, who are more fascinated by interactive phone-in programmes, discussing topical issues, music and some carefully chosen news segments.

That is why Royal Media Services (RMS), which runs at least 14 radio stations, including 12 vernacular channels, controls 34% of the radio market, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation 18%, Radio Africa Group and Nation Media Group controls about 6% each, according audit firm Deloitte in a study called “Competition Study – the Broadcasting Industry in Kenya”. (Mlupi, 2010).

When the government liberated the media in the 1990s, newly established FM stations started offering competition to KBC, which had ceded ground because it could be easily be manipulated and international channels – mainly BBC, DW Radio and VOA – were the only source of unbiased news (Bosire, 2012).

This liberalization came with political pluralism, which allowed the newly created entities to position themselves as the alternative source of news. This forced KBC radios to start shedding their gothic past as the radio market was cut to several bite-size business-friendly niches. As it remodelled and streamlined to suit the new consumer tastes amid competition from the FMs, the biggest loser were the giant radios, unable to change and adapt faster because of the state bureaucracy and sheer size.

The competition for numbers got dizzying when many phones came with FM receivers, increasing the audience 10-fold. Nobody would tune in to the hourly BBC or VOA hourly news bullets when a local FM presenter, in a brief interlude, updates the latest international news, gossip and anything that would be happening.

Now, even local FM radio stations Twitter and Facebook pages where they update news and engage debate. According to a 2010 study, “The Media We Want: The Kenyan Media Vulnerability Study”, by Peter Oriare, Rosemary Okello-Orlale and Wilson Ugangu, radio remains the leading media in Kenya, with the audience preferring vernacular stations as opposed to English, Swahili or French, languages preferred by international radios.

“Kenya’s audiences can access diverse media choices but they are heavily fragmented. Audience habits, preferences and patterns affect media behaviour. Kenya’s media consumers use radio the most, followed by television and newspapers. They expose themselves to more than one channel and media per day,” they said.

That was 2010, now the numbers are higher. Kenyans have adapted to mobile telephony quickly as manifested by their use of mobile-phone banking such as M-PESA, but many still prefer ethnic language media to English and Kiswahili radio stations. They demand media loyalty and ignore media that are unable to satisfy their unique political susceptibilities and sensitivities.

Audiences in Kenya change quickly, forcing the media to adapt to their needs and interests promptly. Although media literacy is low, trust in the media to report accurately on political issues is very high,” the report added. The researcher sought to find out how well the vernacular radio has succeeded in this.

The largest share of the country’s at least Sh65 billion advertising revenue is consumed by local commercial radios, giving them the much-needed muscle to wrestle audience from their international rivals by offering promotional free things such as mobile phones, airtime, free lunches, holiday trips and even cash rewards (Bosire, 2012).  Bosire further argues that fortunately, BBC, VOA and other channels cannot match that. “Media revenue from advertising has steadily grown since 2003; and is consistent with the growth of additional segments of the media.

Although the government – easily the largest spender in the Kenyan economy – has a tendency to punish independent and critical media through denial of advertising, other private advertisers use their financial muscle to have their way with the media on sensitive matters that touch on them  (Bosire, 2012).

State-subsidised international broadcasters understand and respect the principles of advertising, and therefore find it hard to compete with the locals, which target a defined audience segment.

For example, a vernacular radio targeting only one tribe can momentarily adjust to meet market demands, unlike the BBC targeting all Swahili speakers in East and Central Africa or English speakers across Africa to adjust effectively and suite the audience tastes and expectations because its coverage zone is too big.

The concern of this study was to find out what has caused the increased acceptance of vernacular   radio station in Kenya.

1.2 Statement of the problem

 In recent years, there has been an explosion in the number of radio stations broadcasting in Kenya and Kenyans have embraced them rapidly. Statistics show that 68% of Kenyans listen to vernacular radio stations for more than 10 hours a week (Kimutai, 2011). The current study sought to find out factors contributing to the popularity of these radio stations.

1.3 Objectives of the study

In this study the specific objectives were to:
(a) Establish the relationship between language and likeability of vernacular radio station.

(b)   Establish how aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity.     

 (c) Determine the attitude of the audience to the content aired by the vernacular radio.

(d) Determine the factors contributing to the popularity of vernacular radio stations in Kenya.

1.4 Research questions

The following research questions were formulated from the objectives of the study:

        i.            What is the relationship between language used by a radio station and its likeability?

      ii.            How do aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity?

    iii.            What is the attitude of audience to the content aired by this radio?

    iv.            What factors contribute to the popularity of vernacular radio stations in Kenya?

1.5 Hypothesis of the study

There is a significant relationship between Muuga FM and the Meru language it uses in

transmitting its programmes.

1.6 Justification of the study           

Acknowledging that radio is the main source of information to most Kenyans, the findings of this study would:

           1. help vernacular radio owners and journalists to create content that suits their listeners.

           2. assist owners if this mass medium to gain commercially by providing attractive

                programming that   will attract large audiences that will consequently attract more
               advertisers.

1.7 Scope of the study          
The study was  carried out in Muungoni Village in Mucwa Sub-Location in Chuka Division in Tharaka-Nithi County in Kenya. It attempted to find out what factors have contributed to the popularity of vernacular radio stations in Kenya and the impact to their audiences. Listeners of Muuga FM, a radio station broadcasting in Meru Language, participated in the study. Data was collected using questionnaire from these audiences (Appendix 1).

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATUTRE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

This chapter addresses theoretical review, conceptual framework and reviews existing literature. It also shows the relationship between vernacular radio and language, culture as well the regional appeal of this electronic mass medium. The popularity of vernacular radio is looked at in terms of audience size, hours of listening and participation in programmes. Extraneous variables analyzed are influence of vernacular language as well as vernacular illiteracy.

2.1Theoretical Review

 This study was based on Uses and Gratification Theory. Uses and gratifications approach is an influential tradition in media research. The original conception of the approach was based on the research for explaining the great appeal of certain media contents. The core question of such research is: Why do people use media and what do they use them for? (McQuail, 1983).  There exists a basic idea in this approach: audience members know media content, and which media they can use to meet their needs.

In the mass communication process, uses and gratifications approach puts the function of linking need gratifications and media choice clearly on the side of audience members. It suggests that people’s needs influence what media they would choose, how they use certain media and what gratifications the media give them. This approach differs from other theoretical perspectives in that it regards audiences as active media users as opposed to passive receivers of information. In contrast to traditional media effects theories which focus on “what media do to people” and assume audiences are homogeneous, uses and gratifications approach is more concerned with “what people do with media” (Katz, 1959). It allows audiences personal needs to use media and responds to the media, which is determined by their social and psychological background. In this study, the researcher acknowledged that audience of the vernacular radio deliberately chose this medium.

Uses and gratifications approach also postulates that the media compete with other information sources for audience’s need satisfaction (Katz et al., 1974a). As traditional mass media and new media continue to provide people with a wide range of media platforms and content, it is considered one of the most appropriate perspectives for investigating why audiences choose to be exposed to different media channels (LaRose et al., 2001).

The approach emphasizes audiences’ choice by assessing their reasons for using a certain media to the disregard of others, as well as the various gratifications obtained from the media, based on individual social and psychological requirements (Severin & Tankard, 1997). As a broader perspective among communication researches, it provides a framework for understanding the processes by which media participants seek information or content selectively, commensurate with their needs and interests (Katz et al., 1974a). Audience members then incorporate the content to fulfill their needs or to satisfy their interests (Lowery & Nabila, 1983).

Needs and Gratifications

Uses and gratifications approach emphasizes motives and the self-perceived needs of audience members. Blumler and Katz (1974) concluded that different people can use the same communication message for very different purposes. The same media content may gratify different needs for different individuals. There is not only one way that people uses media. Contrarily, there are as many reasons for using the media as there are media users.

Basic needs, social situation, and the individual’s background, such as experience, interests, and education, affect people’s ideas about what they want from media and which media best meet their needs. That is, audience members are aware of and can state their own motives and gratifications for using different media. McQuail, Blumler, and Brown (1972) proposed a model of “media-person interactions” to classify four important media gratifications: (1) Diversion: escape from routine or problems; emotional release; (2) Personal relationships: companionship; social utility; (3) Personal identity: self-reference; reality exploration; value reinforces; and (4) Surveillance (forms of information seeking). The researcher was of the view that vernacular radio meets needs of its listeners, which are not met by other media. He also felt that low education levels might also contribute to preference of vernacular media.

Another subdivided version of the audience’s motivation was suggested by McGuire (1974), based on a general theory of human needs. He distinguished between two types of needs: cognitive and affective. Then he added three dimensions: “active” versus “passive” initiation, “external” versus “internal” goal orientation, and emotion stability of “growth” and “preservation.” When charted, these factors yield 16 different types of motivations which apply to media use (Item 1).

Item 1.A structuring of 16 general paradigms of human motivation (McGuire, 1974).

Katz, Gurevitch and Haas (1973) developed 35 needs taken from the social and psychological functions of the mass media and put them into five categories:

1. Cognitive needs, including acquiring information, knowledge and understanding;
2. Affective needs, including emotion, pleasure, feelings;
3. Personal integrative needs, including credibility, stability, status;
4. Social integrative needs, including interacting with family and friends; and
5. Tension release needs, including escape and diversion.

Congruously, McQuail’s (1983) classification of the following common reasons for media use:

Information

• finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world
• seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices
• satisfying curiosity and general interest
• learning; self-education
• gaining a sense of security through knowledge

Personal Identity

• finding reinforcement for personal values
• finding models of behavior
• identifying with valued others (in the media)
• gaining insight into oneself

Integration and Social Interaction

• gaining insight into the circumstances of others; social empathy
• identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging
• finding a basis for conversation and social interaction
• having a substitute for real-life companionship
• helping to carry out social roles
• enabling one to connect with family, friends and society

Entertainment

• escaping, or being diverted, from problems
• relaxing
• getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment
• filling time
• emotional release
• sexual arousal (p. 73)

These dimensions of uses and gratifications assume an active audience making motivated choices.

McQuail (1994) added another dimension to this definition. He states:

Personal social circumstances and psychological dispositions together influence both … general habits of media use and also … beliefs and expectations about the benefits offered by the media, which shape ... specific acts of media choice and consumption, followed by ... assessments of the value of the experience (with consequences for further media use) and, possibly ... applications of benefits acquired in other areas of experience and social activity (p. 235).

This expanded explanation accounts for a variety of individual needs, and helps to explain variations in media sought for different gratifications.

Gratifications sought (GS) and gratifications obtained (GO)

The personal motivations for media use also suggest that the media offer gratifications which are expected by audiences. These gratifications can be thought of as experienced psychological effects which are valued by individuals. Palmgreen and Rayburn (1985) thus proposed a model of the gratifications sought (GS) and gratifications obtained (GO) process shown in Item  2.

Item 2. An expectance-value model of media gratifications sought and obtained (Palmgreen and Rayburn, 1985).

The model distinguishes between GS and GO. Thus, where GO is noticeably higher than GS, we are likely to be dealing with situations of high audience satisfaction and high ratings of appreciation and attention (McQuail, 1983).

To investigate the relationship between GS and GO, Palmgreen et al. (1980) conducted a study of gratifications sought and obtained from the most popular television news programs. The results indicated that, on the one hand, each GS correlated either moderately or strongly with its corresponding GO; on the other hand, the researchers found that the gratifications audiences reportedly seek are not always the same as the gratifications they obtain (Palmgreenet al., 1980). A later study conducted by Wenner (1982) further showed that audiences may obtain different levels of gratifications from what they seek when they are exposed to evening news programs.

Media Dependency Theory                               

Media dependency theory, also known as media system dependency theory, has been explored as an extension of or an addition to the uses and gratifications approach, though there is a subtle difference between the two theories. That is, media dependency looks at audience goals as the origin of the dependency while the uses and gratifications approach emphasizes audience needs (Grant et al., 1998). Both, however, are in agreement that media use can lead to media dependency. Moreover, some uses and gratifications studies have discussed media use as being goal directed (Palmgreen, Wenner&Rosengren. 1985; Rubin, 1993; Parker & Plank, 2000).

Media dependency theory states that the more dependent an individual is on the media for having his or her needs fulfilled, the more important the media will be to that person. DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach (1976) described dependency as the correlating relationship between media content, the nature of society, and the behaviour of audiences. It examines both macro and micro factors influencing motives, information-seeking strategies, media and functional alternative use, and dependency on certain media (Rubin and Windahl, 1982).

As DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach (1989) suggested, active selectors’ use of the media to achieve their goals will result in being dependent on the media. Littlejohn (2002) also explained that people will become more dependent on media that meet a number of their needs than on media that provide only a few ones. “If a person finds a medium that provides them with several functions that are central to their desires, they will be more inclined to continue to use that particular medium in the future” (Rossi, 2002).

The intensity of media dependency depends on how much people perceive that the media they choose are meeting their goals. These goals were categorized by DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach (1989) into three dimensions which cover a wide range of individual objectives: (1) social and self understanding (e.g., learning about oneself, knowing about the world); (2) interaction and action orientation (e.g., deciding what to buy, getting hints on how to handle news or difficult situation, etc.); (3) social and solitary play (e.g., relaxing when alone, going to a movie with family or friends).DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach (1989) also suggested that more than one kind of goal can be activated (and satisfied) by the same medium.

Dependency on a specific medium is influenced by the number of media sources available to an individual. Individuals should become more dependent on available media if their access to media alternatives is limited. The more alternatives there are for an individual, the lesser is the dependency on and influence of a specific medium (Sun et al., 1999).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.2 Conceptual framework

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE Vernacular radio Language Culture Regional appeal

Intervening variables ·         foreign languages ·         vernacular illiteracy

           

                                                                       

DEPENDENT VARIABLE Popularity of vernacular radio ·         Audience size ·         Hours of listening ·         Audience participation in programming

The conceptual framework above underscores the fact that popularity of vernacular radio is greatly dependent on the language it uses to transmit its programmes, vernacular language. In this framework, vernacular radio is the dependent variable whereas popularity of vernacular radio is the dependent variable.

Aspects of vernacular radio that can influence its popularity include the language itself, culture transmitted or portrayed by the language as well as the regional appeal of the radio station.

Popularity of a radio station can be gauged by the size of the audience it boasts of, the average hours the audience listens to it and the level of audience participation in radio programmes like call-ins.

2.3 Vernacular radio

Vernacular radio refers to radio that broadcasts in language that is native or local in a particular region. The latest media research from Kenya reveals that radio is still the preferred media. According to latest statistics from media research company, Synovate conducted under the Kenya Audience Research Foundation (KARF), radio leads in overall media consumption followed by the mobile phone, television, newspapers, and the internet respectively (Kimutai, 2011).

The study carried out on a population sample of 8 504 showed that 93% of the sample had listened to radio in the last seven days. Further, more people in Kenya are now listening to more than one radio station - about 54% and the average time spent listening per day is 6 hours.

An interesting highlight of the findings is the top ratings for vernacular radio stations. Kenya has two national languages - English and Swahili, and over 42 tribes which when subdivided triples the number of spoken dialects in Kenya. 68% of people sampled listened to vernacular stations for more than 10 hours a week for vernacular far more than those who listened to stations broadcasting in English.  According to the report, top radio broadcasting languages by time spent listening are Luo (28%), Swahili (26%), Kikuyu (25%), Kalenjin (24.8%), and Kamba (22%) - stations that receive more than three hours a day of core listeners.
Royal Media Services Group has carved out a particular niche in this area. The company began in 1999 with its flagship station, the very popular Radio Citizen, which transmits in Kenya’s national language Swahili and targets the “common man.” The group’s current stable of 11 stations includes nine vernacular outlets: Inooro (Kikuyu),  Ramogi (Luo), Mulembe (Luhya), Musyi (Kamba), Muuga (Meru), Chamgei (Kalenjin ), Egesa (Kisii),  Wimwaro (Embu) and Bahari FM (Swahili and Mijikenda) .

Charles Njoroge, director general of the Communications Commission of Kenya -- the body in charge of licensing and regulating broadcasters -- said the growing number of vernacular radio stations is driven by demand from listeners. He said it all started in the early 1990s, when national broadcaster KBC Radio would air programs in different languages at different times.

“Media owners discovered there was demand for vernacular radio stations, owing to the popularity of the select programs aired in vernacular languages,” Njoroge said. 

The CCK director general dismissed concerns that the proliferation of vernacular stations indicated a failure by Kenyans to unite around common language or languages. Building a sense of national unity is a political priority in the wake of widespread post-election violence in 2008-
2009 that was driven largely by ethnic divisions.

Rather, Njoroge argued that vernacular stations are a way to preserve local cultures and traditions which are being diluted by Western influences.  “Vernacular radio stations are one of the platforms to protect Kenya’s diverse languages and cultures,” he said.

2.3.1 Language and mass communication

Language is the development of the basic form of communication between human beings, and in a society. Moreover, just as it is the basic form, it is also the most developed. We cannot communicate in any real sense without language, other than through gestures; we do communicate through some non-verbal forms like the visual arts - painting and sculpture - and through dance, but the culmination of true, articulate, communication is through language. It could take a number of forms, of course. It could be unvarnished, workaday prose, it could be poetry, it could be drama; but all of these are forms of language, written, spoken and read. Other than the availability of signals, one factor that determines the choice of radio station that audiences listen to is the language of broadcasting. Among the questionnaire respondents in a research that was conducted in Kieni West Divisionin central Kenya dominated by the Kikuyu community 71% picked a Kikuyu vernacular station as their favourite station (Gathigi , 2009). Those who preferred vernacular stations cited the ability to comprehend content as one of the major reasons behind their choice. To the older population, the emergence of vernacular radio broadcasting has provided an avenue where for the first time they could listen to the radio on their own without relying on an intermediary. The old broadcasting system in which radio broadcast mainly in English and Swahili left out a huge section of the older population. They had to rely on those who could understand the languages to tell them what was going on. The following comments reflect some of the views of the older people. For Beatrice, an 85-year old grandmother from Mahiga, the new broadcasting has changed the radio. “The good thing about the new Kikuyu stations is that even as old people, we can now listen to the radio without asking anyone to explain what was said. I will just sit there with my radio and get everything that is said. Before, things were very different, the radio was a device that just made noises, now it speaks to me.” Stephen Ndungo, a 62-year old from Mahiga explained this too, contrasting the old times when there was little to choose from and the current times where there are many choices of radio stations. “The local language stations are good because before we had KBC that broadcast in English and Swahili and not everyone is educated or can speak Swahili or English. So there will always be a time when people listen to the radio but miss something. But since the day we got local language broadcasting, there is no way you will hear someone asking what was said because even little children now can say I heard this and that on the radio. So the local languages make life and radio listening easy.” Struggling with English is not restricted to those who said they did not understand the language at all. Some listeners said that despite understanding English, they have not attained the proficiency level where they are able to understand everything that is said on the radio. From those who reported a modest understanding to teachers and young people who have a higher proficiency, these sentiments were shared across the board. Michael, a 20-year-old teacher at a local primary school who is also waiting to join university said that language is critical in influencing his choice of stations. “Some stations, based on my level of understanding of the language (English), sometimes I may not understand the news. Even when I want to listen to the news, sometimes the use of English is a little too complicated. If I listen to news from Easy FM for example, I cannot comprehend the language without straining. So I end up tuning to a Kikuyu station because I can easily understand.” Agatha, a 55-year old teacher at Mahiga primary school captures the language situation through what she calls “deep meanings” she gets and the “taste” of her language, Kikuyu, compared to English and Swahili. She also talks of “feeling the language getting” in her that signifies cognitive proximity to the speech as it is delivered and the ease with which listeners understand their language. For some listeners, the choice of language is determined by those who are around you and the language norms. Young listeners like 23-year old Bernard Mutugi from Mweiga pointed to what they view as the sensitivity of Kikuyu language, which they believe mutes discussion of topics that are freely addressed in other languages. Culturally, there are shared language norms that have to be adhered to. When a language that is deemed as inappropriate in the Kikuyu culture is heard on the radio, young people feel uncomfortable if they are in the company of older people. However, there is no such discomfort if one is in the presence of her or his peers. However, it all depends on which language is being used on the radio as Mutugi explained. “Based on what is being discussed on the radio, like in Kiss 100, there are things that can be freely said in English. But if the language of broadcasting was Swahili or Kikuyu, it would feel shameful to listen. So I can laugh without hiding and without losing respect. When some issues in English are delivered in Kikuyu language, they are very sensitive and I will feel uncomfortable. Also, because of the people around me, there are things that when said in Kikuyu, with my mother present, will sound offensive. But the same things can be said in English and I can still listen with her.” Young people on the other hand argue that Kikuyu language, like the culture, is more conservative while English language is liberal in the discussion of taboo topics and muted discussions identified in the preceding section. They feel more uncomfortable using the vernacular language to discuss sexual issues than older people. Even concepts that are not necessarily considered unacceptable in the day-to-day speech are hard for many young people to use while the elder people do not have the same problem. Mr. Kariuki, a 68 year old from Mweiga argues that Kikuyu language is not necessarily blunt; instead, it is the young people who do not understand their culture. “Our language is not blunt. I think some parents have taught their children that our language is blunt. Our children have lost our culture and that is making things so difficult. One day I told a young man something and he was so mad because he thought I had insulted him by telling him he depends on his mother. When I went to visit his home, he was asked to prepare me a cup of tea but refused and said I insulted him. When he repeated what I had said, his mother reprimanded him asking him who else he depended upon.” It is also interesting to note how some of the young listeners view Kikuyu broadcasting. Some are resistant to their language on the radio. For them, the language is too mundane; they hear it every day in their lives and would rather listen to something different. Some do not even want to be associated with listening to Kikuyu stations because among their peers it is not considered a “cool” thing to do. In contrast, listening to English language FM stations has a sense of prestige. According to Joseph Mathenge, a 22-year-old male from Endarasha, listening to Kikuyu stations for a young man feels awkward. “Even girls are not impressed when they find you listening to Kikuyu stuff”. Ndugi, a 24 year old from Mwiyogo thinks there is too much Kikuyu on the radio. For Ndugi, such presence results in people all over the country learning the language that erodes any uniqueness of the Kikuyu community. “I don’t know how I feel about Kikuyu stations because I do not listen to Kikuyu stations. And after all, these Kikuyu talk has gone overboard making me feel like I can turn off the Kikuyu stations. As the Kikuyu people we need a way we can communicate among ourselves, be different and symbolize ourselves as Kikuyu. But now the language is being spoken so much by four stations such that even Kisii or other communities understand Kikuyu and from the way things are going, they will all be speaking Kikuyu. If you go to a different place these days and meet a Kisii, Kamba, or Kalenjin, they are all speaking Kikuyu. In a few years to come, everyone will be speaking Kikuyu language fluently.” These comments illustrate a feeling of protectionism. Ndugi feels that the Kikuyu people ought to keep their language to themselves. However, there is also an aspect of resistance that does not necessarily come out openly. It is a kind of discomfort that some people, especially the young feel with their vernacular language. There is a desire to feel different from the rest. In many cases, disassociating with the “local” makes these young people feel different and one way of doing that is using a different language for communication, such as English, which is considered “prestigious”. When asked, many young people expressed the desire to move away from the village, probably to join their friends in the urban areas where life is considered more flashy and interesting. Also there are assumptions that more employment opportunities exist in the urban areas. As Githinji, a 40-year old farmer from Endarasha explained, since many young people do not manage to go away from the village physically, the consumption of urban content serves as a psychologically compensatory act that partly fulfils their wish. The researcher was interested to know to what extent Meru language attracted listeners in Mucwa Sub-location.

 2.3.2. The Relationship between communication and culture

The term “culture” refers to the complex collection of knowledge, folklore, language, rules, rituals, habits, lifestyles, attitudes, beliefs, and customs that link and give a common identity to a particular group of people at a specific point in time.

The researcher was concerned about to what extent culture transmitted through the vernacular language contributes to popularity of vernacular radio. The relationship between communication and culture is a very complex and intimate one. First, cultures are created through communication; that is, communication is the means of human interaction through which cultural characteristics— whether customs, roles, rules, rituals, laws, or other patterns—are created and shared. It is not so much that individuals set out to create a culture when they interact in relationships, groups, organizations, or societies, but rather that cultures are a natural by-product of social interaction. In a sense, cultures are the “residue” of social communication. Without communication and communication media, it would be impossible to preserve and pass along cultural characteristics from one place and time to another. One can say, therefore, that culture is created, shaped, transmitted, and learned through communication. The reverse is also the case; that is, communication practices are largely created, shaped, and transmitted by culture.

 This study sought to find out how favourably the vernacular radio is viewed and therefore liked by its audience for conforming to their culture

All institutions within society facilitate communication, and in that way, they all contribute to the creation, spread, and evolution of culture. However, communication media such as radio play a particularly important role. Because media extend human capacities for creating, duplicating, transmitting, and storing messages, they also extend and amplify culture-building activities.

 In Canada, Gerald S. Doyle Bulletin, was a programme that transmitted messages sent by listeners who listened to Newfoundland radio that broadcast in vernacular. ‘Purposefully obscure language’( deliberate use of language with hidden meaning) was allegedly a significant feature of the messages broadcast on the Gerald S. Doyle Bulletin, and certain unique or humorous personal messages purportedly broadcast on the Bulletin have entered into Newfoundland oral tradition, and are repeated and shared like jokes and legends during reminiscences about outport life(Franklin, 2009). As Philip Hiscock has observed,

                                                                                             

For over thirty years [the Bulletin] retained a large audience and injected into the folklore  of Newfoundland a rich and varied corpus of verbal play. In a manner similar to the collection and telling of jokes, excerpts from remembered message programmes are passed on for entertainment, and enlightenment about Newfoundland’s past culture (Hiscock 1988: 53).

Here the channelling of telegraphic into radiophonic communication, private into public, scatters the grains (the original meaning of the term ‘broadcast’) of lore. This ‘publication’ of messages means that they ‘belong’ to a wider community that can then relate and repeat them freely, and adapt them, if they choose. The humour of the remembered, repeated (and, perhaps, in the process of oral transmission, refined) messages resides in the various ways in which they deviated from the conventional formula. The unconventional and figurative language of some messages can be attributed to a sense of humour on the part of the sender, or the necessity for economy in phrasing a telegram. Some allowed all kinds of possible interpretations of what the sender really meant. For example, one message was sent by a man to his wife, letting her know that he could not return home that day because he had to wait to complete their purchase of a household item: “Won’t be home tonight, hung up on stove” (quoted in Hiscock 1988: 56). Some of the humorous messages can be attributed to mistakes made during the scripting or relaying of the messages, which sheds light on the ‘cherishing’ of ‘amateur’ standards in local or regional radio. Franklin (2009),  has highlighted the popularity of amateur hours and local interaction in the programming of the small private stations in that (Canadian) province in the 1930s:

 “As imperfect as [the] announcers were, they nevertheless served to remind listeners that those who spoke to them over the air were one of them. Less than proficient renderings of the news or announcements of local events reinforced the notion that announcers were members of the community, doing the best they could through a medium that reflected the community and was responsive to its needs and wishes. If people felt close to their flawed announcers and error-prone stations – and there is abundant evidence that they did – then it was because they saw both as an extension, an integral part, of themselves. That is why they believed they had a legitimate say in programming…”

 

It has been noted that listeners to riddles, jokes and other folkloric forms become not merely participants but even creators of meaning when the message is not explicit; “to project themselves into the text in order to invest the empty spaces with meaning” (Levine 1992: 1386). Each and every Bulletin listener had had his or her interest piqued, and imagination fired, by “interstices that need connecting, ambiguities that need resolution, imprecisions that need clarity…” (Levine 1992: 1384).Thus the interpretation of the Bulletin was in many instances a collective process, as has typically been the case with the small group exchange of folklore, and this is entirely congruent with the way in which the programme contravened what we might term the normative model of broadcasting, which is typically unidirectional in flow and often private in its domestic mode of ‘consumption’.

Folklore was created both despite and because the vernacular was channelled, and in the process shaped by communications media such as the telegraph and the radio, which are conventionally associated with heavily standardised varieties of speech. It can be observed that the communicative network created by the Bulletin is an excellent example of what Walter Ong has referred to as ‘secondary orality’ in the age of electronic technology; “This new orality has striking resemblances to the old in its participatory mystique, its fostering of a communal sense, and even its use of formulas” (Ong 1988: 136).

The researcher wished to find out how Meru culture is transmitted by and contributes to the popularity of vernacular radio station.

2.3.3 Regional appeal of vernacular radio

Vernacular radio stations broadcast chiefly using a local language to a target
audience that understands the language of broadcast. Vernacular stations tend to
broadcast to a community that is also defined by a common culture. The content such as
news and different types of programs is mainly in the vernacular language. The degrees
to which the stations use the language vary from station to station. For some stations such
as Inooro FM, a Kikuyu station, the broadcasts are in the Kikuyu language. The
presentation, news and informational programs, and all the music played on Inooro FM
are in the Kikuyu language

Most vernacular stations tend to assume a regional nature because settlement
patterns in Kenya are such that people of a given ethnic group are concentrated in one
settlement region. Thus, the Luo audience is found in the Nyanza around Lake Region,
the Kalenjin in the Northern and Southern Rift while the majority of Kikuyu audience is
found in Central Kenya region. Vernacular stations in Kenya have started gaining the
highest listenership in areas where their languages of broadcasts are widely spoken.
Inooro FM is the most listened to station in
Central Kenya ahead of two other Kikuyu stations, Kameme FM and Coro FM. In Lake
Region, Ramogi FM that broadcasts in Luo language has the highest listenership. Kass
FM that broadcast in Kalenjin language is the most listened to station in Central Rift
Valley area while Muuga FM, a Meru language station dominates the Upper Eastern

The researcher wished to find out to what extent this assertion of regional  appeal holds.

2.4 Popularity of vernacular radio

Vernacular radio has become very popular in Kenya. Below are concepts examined  in an attempt to understand this variable.

2.4.1 Audience size

The latest media research from Kenya reveals that radio is still the preferred media. According to these findings, there are top ratings for vernacular radio stations. Kenya has two national languages - English and Swahili, and over 42 tribes which when subdivided triple the number of spoken dialects in Kenya. 68% of people sampled listened to vernacular stations for more than 10 hours a week for vernacular far more than those who listened to stations broadcasting in English (Kimutai, 2011).

2.4.2. Hours of listening

The researcher needed to find out how long audiences listen to vernacular radio .According to Gathigi (2009), who investigated the listening habits of audiences to vernacular radio, an examination of the Kieni West audience’s radio listening habits suggests that they are related to the stations’ programming formats. Kieni West audience’s listening habits also conform to the listening trends of the wider Central Kenya audience. These habits are influenced by factors such as availability of the audience to listen when the programme is on air, the relevance of the programme content, and the popularity of the programme based on the content and presenter(s). The radio audience in Kieni West chooses programs from multiple stations. People listen to the radio more during certain times of the day when they are available and are likely to make sure that they tune into their preferred programme when it is on air. Most radio listening occurs in the early morning hours before people start their daily activities and in the evenings after work. No major differences were found between the amount of time people spend listening to the radio during the weekdays (Monday to Friday) and during the weekend (Saturday and Sunday). On average, respondents to the questionnaire spend an average of 6.8 hours on weekdays compared to 6.4 hours on weekend day.

Many listeners are free from their work during the weekends
and one would expect that they would listen more during this time. However, this is not
case and various explanations were given. Some women reported that they are likely to
be busy during the weekends because they have to take care of the children who are not
in school. During the weekdays, mothers spend the day alone at home but this changes
during the weekend when children are at home. For people who have formal
employment such as teachers and administrators, the “free time” during the weekend
does not actually amount to being free. This time is used to perform other duties that they
are not able to fulfill during the weekdays. During the weekends, it is common to find
men doing various activities at home such as doing domestic repairs, taking care of
animals, or working on the farm, among others. For others like Gerald Karimi, a 38 year
old casual worker and a father of three, the weekend is spent with the family and working
on the farm as he reported.

“The weekend is the only time I am ever at home. The rest of the week, I leave home very early before 6:00 am when it is still dark and will not come dark until 8:00 pm when it is dark again. I do not even get to see what is happening around my compound. Also, most of the times I will come home and the children are sleeping, same when I leave in the morning. The weekends are therefore sort of busy for me and it is hard to find time to pay much attention to the radio. I spend the weekend with my children, talk to them, play, and sometimes take them to visit relatives and such things. I also use the weekend to work around the farm. You will find me mending fences and putting up or repairing animal structures.”

In comparing the average number of hours spent listening on the radio across gender, this
research found that male listeners spend an average of 7.2 hours on weekdays while
women listeners spend 6.2 hours. During the weekend, female and male listeners spend
almost an equal average time with 6.5 hours and 6.4 hours respectively.

 2.4.3. Audience Participation

The vernacular broadcasting format identified  research by Gathigi  (2009) is found in the
Kikuyu radio stations These stations carry content that can be termed as all-inclusive and
balanced between information, education, and entertainment. This kind of programming
is common on Kikuyu vernacular stations that include Bahasha FM, Coro FM, Inooro
FM and Kameme FM. The programmes in these stations are arranged to compete with other vernacular stations hence they are highly similar. The vernacular stations open at 5:00am, playing Christian inspirational music until 6:00am when the news headlines are read. During this hour, listeners also call in to send early morning greetings and dedications. The morning show falls between 6:00am and 9:00am and is one of the most important segments. Morning shows on the Kikuyu vernacular stations consist of information in the form of news briefs at the top of the hour and a full news bulletin at 7:00am. The morning content includes music, talk, review of the major newspapers top stories, and constant traffic updates. Because the morning shows attract higher sponsorship from advertisers, there are various sponsored games where listeners call in to win money and other prizes.

The session after 4:00pm has more talk and game shows where listeners call in
to win prizes, as well as constant traffic updates because of proximity to Nairobi where
they have a sizeable audience (Gathigi, 2009).

2.5 Foreign language influence

Popularity of vernacular radio has been hampered by young people refusing to listen to vernacular radio. They feel it is “cool” (a sign of civilization) to listen to stations broadcasting in English. (Gathigi, 2009).

2.6 Vernacular illiteracy

A significant number of young people born and brought up in towns do not learn their mother tongue. With rapid rural to urban migration, vernacular radio may experience declining audience in future.

2.7 Summary

From the literature review done, it is clear that vernacular radio is a player in radio market in Kenya. Language appears to be a dominant factor in contributing to the popularity in this mass medium. The researcher found that this review very essential in conducting the research.

2.8 Research gaps

In the literature review, the following gaps were noted:

1. There was no adequate explanation as to why even people who understand

   English and Kiswahili insist on listening to vernacular radio.

2. Little attention has been given on why certain listeners still do not switch completely to

   vernacular radio stations a significant percentage still listen to non-vernacular radio.

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

In this chapter, procedures that were used to collect and analyze data were discussed. These include research design, population, sample all the way to data analysis and presentation.

3.1 Research design

The research design used in this study was case study design. This is a study that seeks to describe a unit of study in detail, in context and holistically. It is a way of organizing educational data and looking at the object to be studied as a whole. In   a case study, a great deal can be learned from a few examples of the phenomena under study.

In this study, Muungoni Village in Mucwa Sub-Location in Chuka Division was used to represent the Meru community.

3.2 Population

Mucwa Sub-location has a population of 2732 according to 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census (P. 72).  This formed the target population from which the sample was drawn .This geographical area has 8 villages. When the total population was divided by 8, a total of 342 respondents were needed in the study.  The 342 respondents were got from Muungoni Village and from these a sample would be drawn.

 

3.3 Sampling frame

Sampling frame was developed based on details of population obtained from the office of statistics in Chuka. This is population of 342.

3.4 Sampling technique and sample

Sampling technique that was used in this study was simple random sampling. In this technique, a researcher uses a relatively small clearly defined population. According to Kasomo (2009, P 31) sample size depends on factors such as the number of variables in the study ,the type of research design, the method of data analysis and the size of accessible population. For descriptive studies, this author suggests that 10% of the accessible population is enough. Based on this, the researcher will use a sample of 34 from a population of 342.

3.5 Research Instruments

The researcher used a questionnaire to collect data, (Appendix I).  The questionnaire was intended to offer the advantage of uniformity to all respondents as they give the same questions (Mugenda&Mugenda, 1999).

3.6 Data collection procedure

Questionnaires were administered physically by the researcher. Where there were challenges of literacy the researcher posed the questions to the respondents and filled the questionnaires himself. The questionnaire restricted the respondent to the necessary answers and thus avoided time wastage.

3.7 Pilot tests

To determine the effectiveness of the questionnaire, the researcher issued ten questionnaires to some residents of Ndagani Market who listened to Muuga FM. Ndagani is not located in the area of study.

 

 

 

3.8 Data processing and analysis

  Data collected was both qualitative and quantitative. Consequently, the data was  analyzed using descriptive and quantitative statistics. The results were presented using tables. This  was done with the help of Microsoft excel where percentages were used.

 

                                           

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA COLLECTION, ANALYZING AND PRESENTATION

4.0 Introduction                 

This chapter presents the findings of the study on popularity of vernacular radio. Muuga FM, a radio station broadcasting in Meru language was used as a case study. In this study a total of 34 Meru speaking respondents were sampled from Mugoni Village of Mucwa sub-location in Tharaka Nithi County. These respondents were aged between 15 and 69. Out of these, 16 were males whereas 18 were females.

The objectives of this study were to:

(a) establish the relationship between language and likeability of vernacular radio station,

(b) establish how aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity,        

(c) determine the attitude of the audience to the content aired by the vernacular radio and;

(d) determine the factors contributing to the popularity of vernacular radio stations in Kenya.

 

4.1 Data collection instruments

The researcher used a questionnaire to collect data, (Appendix I).  The questionnaire was intended to offer the advantage of uniformity to all respondents as they give the same questions. (Mugenda&Mugenda, 1999).

4.2 Methods of data analysis

 Data analysis was done with the help of Microsoft excel where percentages were used.

4.3 Data/information presentation

The findings are presented in tables where percentages are used. The presentation is as follows.

4.3.1 Establishing the relationship between language and likeability of vernacular radio

The results for this study are summarized and explained in the tables below. The first objective of the study was to establish the relationship between language and likeability of vernacular radio station. The results are summarized in the table below

Table 1

Language and likeability of vernacular radio               

		Number	%
Hours of listening	1-3	24	70.58823529
(Total no=34)	4-5	7	20.588
	6	1	2.941
	Over 6	2	5.882
Influence of language on choice of radio	Strongly influences	25	75.757
(Total no=33)	Fairly influences	8	24.242
	Never influences	0	0

From the table above, the study found out that about 71% of the audience sampled listen to   Muuga FM for 1-3 hours per day while 21% listen between 4-5 hours. 3% listen for 6 hour whereas only 6% listen to the station for over 6 hours daily.

The influence of vernacular language has a very strong influence on popularity of vernacular radio. Table 1 shows that a whopping 76% are strongly influenced by vernacular language to choose Muuga FM with 24% being fairly influenced by the language used.  Thus all listeners sampled are influenced in varying degrees to listen to vernacular radio. According to Gathigi (2009), vernacular contributes to popularity of vernacular radio among certain listeners.

4.3.2 Establishing how aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its

          popularity.

The second objective of the study was to establish how aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity .Table 2 summarizes the findings.

         

 Table 2

 How aspects of culture depicted by vernacular radio contribute to its popularity

		Number	%
Culture(Number=33)	Yes	32	96.96969697
	No	1	3.03030303
Influence of culture on listening to radio (Number=33)	Strongly influences	27	81.81818182
	Fairly influences	4	12.12121212
	Never influences	2	6.060606061

         

The influence of culture on likeability of vernacular radio is immense. A whopping 96% of the listeners sampled feel the station’s content contains Meru culture whereas only 3% do not feel so. Furthermore, 82% are strongly influenced by this culture, 12% are fairly influenced by it whereas only 6% are not at all influenced by the culture.  In Canada, local culture strongly contributed to popularity of Newfoundland vernacular radio (Franklin, 2009).

4.3.3 Determining the attitude of the audience to the content aired by vernacular radio

The third objective was to determine the attitude of the audience to the content aired by vernacular radio. The results are summarized in the table below.

Table 3
		Number	%
Like content broadcast	Yes	33	97.05882353
(Total number=34)	No	1	2.941176471
Content is helpful	Very helpful	26	76.47058824
(Total number=34)	Fairly helpful	17	50
	Not helpful	1	2.941176471
Content broadcast relate to day to day activities of Meru people(Total no. 33)	Yes	31	93.93939394
	No	2	6.060606061

97% of listeners sampled like content broadcast by vernacular radio whereas only 3% do not as summarized in table 3. The table further shows that 76% of the listeners find the content very helpful, 50% find it only fairly helpful whereas only 3% find it not helpful at all.  Additionally a whopping 94% feel the content broadcast relates to the day-to-day activities of the Meru people with only 6% disagreeing.

4.3.4 Determining the factors contributing to the popularity of vernacular radio         

100% of listeners like vernacular radio because it airs local news.  93% like the station because it shows Meru culture whereas 6% do not feel so. 93% like this mass medium because it uses vernacular whereas 7% are not influenced by vernacular. The results are summarized in table 4 below.

Table 4
		Number	%
Reporting local news	Yes	29	100
(Total number=29)	No	0	0
Shows Meru culture	Yes	29	93.5483871
(Shows Meru culture=31)	No	2	6.451612903
Uses vernacular language	Yes	27	93.10344828
(Total number=29)	No	2	6.896551724

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMEDATIONS

5.0 Introduction

The purpose of this study was to gauge the popularity of vernacular radio and factors contributing to this popularity. This chapter presents summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations.

5.1 Summary of the findings

On the basis of analyzed data, presented in chapter (4), and the study’s objectives, the following are the major findings of the study.

5.1.1 Language and likeability of vernacular radio

The study revealed a direct relationship between vernacular and likeability of vernacular radio. Language was found to greatly increase popularity of vernacular radio.

5.1.2 Culture and vernacular radio

 The study revealed that culture contributes to likeability of vernacular radio. Culture of a particular ethnic group makes the community to have a common identity and vernacular radio broadcasts enhance this.

5.1.3 Attitude of listeners to content broadcast by vernacular radio

The study revealed an overwhelmingly positive attitude of the audience to broadcasts of vernacular radio. They like the content broadcast by this medium and find it very helpful.

5.1.4 Factors contributing to popularity of vernacular radio

The study revealed that the following factors contribute to popularity of vernacular radio: it uses vernacular to broadcast programmes, reports local news and shows local culture.

5.2 Conclusion

The research shows that:

·         vernacular language attracts listeners who speak in the language,

·         listeners identify with and love their culture and;

·         vernacular radio is popular.

5.3 Recommendations

The study recommends that:

·         vernacular radio must include content directly related to their local audiences to remain popular.

·         vernacular radio is an appropriate medium to reach local communities by those who intend to so, for example the government.

5.3.1 Recommendations for further research

The findings in this study are not exhaustive. The study is based on a single community. Furthermore the factors identified especially language and culture can be investigated fully on their own.

The researcher suggests research to be carried out on the following areas

(a)How language contributes to popularity of vernacular radio.

(b)The impact of vernacular radio broadcasts on listeners.  

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