When the government censors your media, what do you do? Lessons from SW Radio Africa

I had the honour of presenting to the AIB Awards Dinner in London today. The AIB is the Association of International Broadcasters and I met many fascinating people in the broadcast TV and radio industries. But one story touched my heart on so many levels.

Zimbabwe is one of the poorest nations in the world (perhaps the poorest on a given day) which is struggling with a collapsed economy, a corrupt government and sheer desparation when nothing works.

When I visited Zimbabwe last year I actually experienced the long lines to the cash machines when cash was given out in big stacks simply because printed money had almost no value. (Inflation was 15,000 percent during the MONTH of October 2007. Our Western inflation rates are in the 5 percent range, annually. Yes, that is not a typo, it was 15 THOUSAND percent inflation in just one month...)

So in that kind of world, especially when few have the luxuries of TV (or internet) for their news, and where even printed papers are easily too expensive, radio is particularly valuable.

So of course, Zimbabwe's government being what it is, there is no free press inside Zimbabwe. (I hate censorship.) But in neighboring South Africa, there is a small radio station, SW Radio Africa, who calls itself "the independent voice of Zimbabwe" which broadcasts news into Zimbabwe on shortwave (ie "international") radio.

And then it comes as no surprise, that the Zimbabwe government blocks the radio transmissions thus censoring SW Radio Africa's broadcasts. (Did I happen to mention, that I hate censorship.)

Well, the good folks over at SW Radio Africa decided to bypass the broadcast channel, and use SMS text messaging to send daily news mailings to those Zimbabweans who sign up for the service. Bear in mind, in Africa internet and PC penetrations are negligable so mobile phones are the only viable alternate means to reach a mass population. (Ah the mobilist in me is so delighted by this innovation. Good for you SW Radio Africa, great idea, congratulations!)

Well, here is the beautiful part. As the Zimbabweans cannot afford to pay for receiving SMS text messages, the service is free for any who sign up. What SW Radio Africa then needs, is sponsors to help pick up the costs of these news message mass mailings. (Now my heart really goes out to this venture...)

They had over 6,000 people signed up a few weeks ago and are adding 100 every day with close to 8,000 people today.

So, I am very happy that SW Radio Africa won the AIB award for Most Creative Marketing Concept. My warmest congratulations!

And now a suggestion. If your company has a budget to help support the developing world, or if you personally would like to make a difference for some in Africa, here is a simple, little project by a little radio station, which yields concrete immediate benefits. They are adding 100 new members to their audience every day, and they cannot support this level of growth without more sponsors. Do consider if you can join in and support SW Radio Africa. There are people in Zimbabwe, whose government censors their news, who would love to be able to get some outside information of what is happening. You can help bring some light to this dark part of Africa today.

Check out their website at

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

And finally to my fellow bloggers. I sometimes ask you friends to chip in and help spread a story. Now again, I ask that you please join in and help support Zimbabwe receive news. Please help spread the word and urge people to join and contribute to this cause. This is not "curing cancer" or solving world hunger or creating world peace. This is just helping bring news to a people hungry for some information. And sponsoring can help with very modest amounts.

Congratulations SW Radio Africa for an innovative marketing (distribution channel/media) campaign to circumvent government censorship.

Comments

[Henre]

Hi Tomi, I'm the author of Mobilemarketingsa.com and was sourcing information on my next blog post. Being from South Africa myself, and completely ignorant to the happenings in Zimbabwe as you mentioned here, your post has added tremendous value to my cause and to the innovation that is mobile communications.

The internet is coming on in leaps and bounds in South Africa, but it is evident that we are one of the few countries in Africa with this luxury...Luxury because our bandwidth cost is still extortionate compared to first world countries.

Your post speaks volumes about the importance of mobile, especially when considering how businesses such as swradioafrica.com go to great lengths to add value to their customers lives.

Kudos to you and thanks for the reminder on the influence of mobile right here on my own continent. I can honestly say that us new media marketers tend to keep an eye on US and European markets for intel to implement here and sometimes neglect to spot the obvious opportunities that present itself in our country.

Check out my blogs if you wish, would love to hear your opinion.

Regards,
Henre

[Tomi T Ahonen]

Thank you Henre for spreading the word. I visited your blog, its well written and thought-provoking.

I also mentioned your posting at Forum Oxford where I'm hoping to start a small discussion around this.

Tomi Ahonen :-)

[Badger Gravling]

In addition to blogging etc, it's also on Digg...
http://digg.com/politics/ZIMBABWE_Shortwave_radio_comes_to_the_rescue