Impact of Community Radio on Public Awareness of Government Policy Agenda in Nigeria

Abstract

Scholars have maintained that since the advent of alternative media, community-based media have ensured media pluralism, diversity of content and the representation of society’s different groups and interests. The research examines the impact of community radio on public awareness of government policy agenda. It discusses the functions and convergence views on community radio and community journalism, and the argument on the need for community radio that would strictly be devoted to the coverage of issues and events in the rural and semi-urban communities where people still have limited access to media messages. The study further examines the functions of community radio, as well as the objectives of community journalism in national development. We adopted the Development Media theory as framework because community media create the atmosphere for audience participation in relation to issues of rural and national development.

Keywords: Community radio, media, public awareness, national development, policy agenda