Radio Okapi

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Radio Okapi is a radio network that operates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On an annual budget of USD$4.5 million, a staff of 200 provide news and information to the entire urban population of the DRC.

History

Radio Okapi was created by the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) and the Swiss NGO Fondation Hirondelle. The agreement between MONUC and the Congolese government foresaw the creation of a radio network to inform the Congolese population of the MONUC's efforts. MONUC and the Fondation Hirondelle submitted a plan in 2001 to the United Nations, and the radio network went live on 25 February 2002.[1]

In 2011 The Economist said that Radio Okapi was "one of Africa’s most admirably independent radio services".[2]

Mary Myers, in the essay "Well-Informed Journalists Make Well-Informed Citizens: Coverage of Governance Issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo," said that the radio station "raised the bar for other indigenous radio and TV stations in the country."[3] Other area radio stations copied Radio Okapi's news gathering techniques, program concepts, and formats. Myers also said "Although Radio Okapi can be a thorn in the government's side at times, its stance of promoting peace and democracy and the strong role it plays in civic education have led to its recognition, even by the Minister of Information, as a national asset that the Democratic Republic of Congo [sic] could ill afford to lose."[3]

Transmitters

Radio Okapi provides programming in five languages, transmitting all day every day on:[4]

Sources

In film

  • Radio Okapi, radio de la vie, is a documentary produced by Pierre Guyot, 2006. It premiered on TV5 in June 2006. It examines the work of Breuil Munganga, a journalist at Radio Okapi.[5] It has been selected by many festivals in France, Canada, Central African Republic and Burkina Faso.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Radio Okapi - Qui sommes nous?" (in French). Radio Okapi. Retrieved 2008-04-24. 
  2. ↑ "Congo’s election: That sinking feeling: A general election in the Democratic Republic of Congo may end in tears", The Economist, dated 26 Nov 2011. Retrieved on 15 February 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Myers, Mary. "Well-Informed Journalists Make Well-Informed Citizens: Coverage of Governance Issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo." Printed in: Odugbemi, Sina and Taeku Lee (editors). Accountability Through Public Opinion: From Inertia to Public Action. World Bank Publications, 2011. 155. Retrieved from Google Books on 15 February 2012. 0821385569, 9780821385562.
  4. ↑ "Radio Okapi: The project". Fondation Hirondelle. Retrieved 2008-04-25. 
  5. ↑ Catherine Bédarida, «Une radio pour la paix», article and interview with Pierre Guyot Le Monde supplement TV&Radio 7–8 January 2007, page 5. Guyot recalls the birth of Radio Okapi survient eight years before the Rwanda genocide, in the course of which Radio des Mille Collines had encouraged the massacres.
  6. ↑ Radio Okapi, radio de la vie was selected at:

External links

See also


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