Position Paper 2 - Radio

Hannah Diffee

Professor Reppert

Foreign Language Media in America

Oct. 2024

Position Paper 2 - Radio

In the digital era, radio remains a powerful source of information and entertainment. Radio stations broadcast to at least five billion people worldwide, according to a 2016 United Nations report. The medium is shared through simple receivers or built-in vehicle stereo systems, making it highly accessible. Traditional media formats such as radio, television, and newspapers may be the only options in countries lacking widespread internet access.

Norway

Norway is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, with a population of 5.3 million and a total area of 148,729 square miles. It shares borders with Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Nearly half of Norway's residents live in the south, in the region surrounding Oslo, and approximately 2/3 of the country's terrain is mountainous. The country is a constitutional monarchy.

Norway is a fantastic example of press freedom. The nation ranks 1st on the Reporters without Borders World Press Freedom Index, boasting a vibrant media market in which journalists do not fear being targeted or harmed for their work. Norway's constitution guarantees freedom of the press, and the country's media market operates according to a code of ethics.

Internet Access

Internet penetration in the country is currently 99.6% (2024), making it the second most connected country in the world after the Netherlands. Approximately 96% of Norwegian households had internet access in 2021.

Graph: "Share of the population with access to the internet in Norway from 1997 to 2022"

Social media is popular across Norway. The country has around 5 million active social media users, with YouTube as the most popular platform.

Radio in Norway

Radio reached an average of 85% of Norwegians per week in 2021, and 2.9 million people aged 10+ tuned in daily (Nielsen).  Norway's radio stations are primarily operated by four media companies: NRK, P4, Radio Norge, and Radio 1. NRK, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is a state-run media company that offers three national TV programs and 13 national radio programs. The organization also produces online news, videos, and podcasts. NRK has a radio app that lets users easily watch videos and engage with the content they are interested in. 

More than 200 local radio stations exist in Norway. In 2017, the country began switching all radio broadcasts from FM to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), making it the first country in the world to completely transition to digital radio. DAB was created to solve the intermittency issues of traditional radio, providing more channels and better sound quality. Advantages of this radio format include

• More stations
• Automatic tuning
• Better audio quality
• Extra features (wifi, song information)

Eritrea

Eritrea is a country in the Horn of Africa (Eastern Africa), bordered to the south by Ethiopia and to the east by Sudan. It has a total area of 46,757 square miles. Sources disagree about Eritrea's population, with estimates between 3.4 million and 5.8 million. The government has never conducted an official census.

Eritrea ranks 180/180 on the World Press Freedom Index. Since transitioning to a dictatorship in September 2001, the country has banned all independent media outlets. Under the strict control of the Ministry of Information, existing media "relays the regime's propaganda," often keeping citizens in the dark about important issues.  Although freedom of the press is guaranteed by Eritrea's constitution, it is not enforced. The country is known for imprisoning journalists for lengthy time periods in less-than-satisfactory conditions. Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak was arrested on September 23, 2001, and has been held "incommunicado" ever since without trial. 

"Like all of Eritrean society, the media are subject to the absolute arbitrariness of President Issayas Afeworki, guilty of crimes against humanity, according to a UN report from June 2016."

Internet Access
Eritrea is one of the world's poorest countries, leaving many citizens without internet or digital devices. In January 2024, only 26.6% of the population, 1.01 million, had internet in their homes. The country is one of the least connected in Africa, above only 10 of the continent's 54 countries. For many years, this statistic was lower. In 2014, Aaron Berhane, co-founder of Eritrea's first independent news outlet, shared that "it isn't allowed to have internet access in your home. So even if they want, they can't afford it. And the internet cafes are monitored by security agents, so people often don't feel comfortable enough to read or open any website." While the country has made strides to provide internet access to citizens, information circulated by the media is biased and reflects the government's values.

Graph: Individuals using the Internet (% of population) - Eritrea

At the beginning of 2024, Eritrea was home to 13.8 thousand social media users, 0.4% of the total population. 

Source: Data Reportal Digital 2024 Overview

Radio in Eritrea
Approximately 81% of Eritreans listen to the radio regularly, according to a DW Akademie survey.

The government maintains three radio stations:

• Radio Bana - educational broadcast
• Zara FM - music broadcast
• Dimtsi Hafash (Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea) - nationalist news and information broadcast

Due to the media's unreliability, many Eritreans rely on outside sources to stay informed. Radio Erena is Eritrea's "only independent and impartial radio broadcaster." The station was founded in 2009 by Biniam Simon, a former journalist for the state-owned network Eri-TV. Simon took refuge in France and, with the help of Reporters without Borders, found financial support and an office for the station in Paris. Erena broadcasts news in Tigrinya (Eritrea's most common language) and Arabic. Erena uses a mobile app, satellite, and internet to reach Eritrean listeners. DW Akademie found that Radio Erena is held in high regard by Eritreans. 80% of respondents agreed that the radio station was trustworthy and provided correct knowledge from within the country. However, the station often struggles to reach rural audiences and younger Eritrean citizens. 

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