Men Between: The Role of Zambian Broadcasters in Decolonisation

Heinze, Robert (2014). Men Between: The Role of Zambian Broadcasters in Decolonisation. Journal of Southern African Studies, 40(3), pp. 623-640. Routledge 10.1080/03057070.2014.909663

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This article traces the history of a group of Zambian broadcasters who established the first radio station in the country and made their mark on broadcasting for years to come. It describes their contribution to modern Zambian culture and to nationalist mobilisation. African broadcasters developed formats, ways of presenting and choices of music that appealed to Zambian listeners and established new, authentically local styles. While radio quickly established itself as an integral part of everyday life and culture in the colony, its effect was highly ambivalent. Broadcasters at the same time undermined and enforced the colonial project of using the medium as a transmitter of modernisation ideology.

The article explores Thomas Turino’s characterisation of this team as ‘cosmopolitans’ and shows how they were influenced by BBC ideas of journalism and modernisation ideology. To do so, it analyses the relationships African broadcasters had with Europeans in senior positions and with colonial and postcolonial governments. This shared value system brought these Zambian broadcasters into conflict with the post-independence government and its plans to bureaucratise radio, despite their nationalist commitment and strong support for the United National Independence Party (UNIP) before independence.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of History and Archaeology > Institute of History > Modern and Contemporary History
06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of History and Archaeology > Institute of History > Modern and Contemporary History > Zeitgeschichte

UniBE Contributor:

Heinze, Robert

Subjects:

900 History
900 History > 960 History of Africa

ISSN:

0305-7070

Publisher:

Routledge

Funders:

[UNSPECIFIED] UniBern Forschungsstiftung

Language:

English

Submitter:

Robert Heinze

Date Deposited:

08 Sep 2014 12:21

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:35

Publisher DOI:

10.1080/03057070.2014.909663

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.54029

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/54029

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