IJMMT

hat is This About?

Yarmouk Radio Project 

Anticipated Outcomes: Improved quality of broadcast journalism graduates who now have real-world experience in the broadcast sector. Improved quality of journalism instruction, where students now have hands-on experience as a manifestation of the more traditional lectures. Increased and enhanced streams of information for the local community served by the radio station. Increased coverage of local events that are relevant to the lives of the citizenry. Increased understanding of reform efforts by improving and increasing the dissemination of information.

This station and newsroom will be supported by the university and will be both a forum for training as well as an outlet to the people of Irbid, providing programs addressing the needs of the local community. The Yarmouk Radio Project will be led by the WKU-based project manager and will involve some of the visiting professors as well as in-country training and management of the launch of the radio station.

At least two of the Yarmouk professors will be identified as faculty managers for the radio station and be given additional training on station management, drawing from the deep experience of Western’s Public Broadcasting. The program development for the radio station will include outreach to the community and the creation of a community radio board of directors to provide guidance to the station on local needs and to seed a sense of ownership among the local citizenry.

Yarmouk University has committed to providing a location for the station, construction and maintenance, and operating costs. The project manager will return for follow-on training and will evaluate the station’s progress as well as provide any additional support.

The initial broadcasts will be limited to one hour a day, but the goal will be to produce several hours of programming per day by the time the station has been on the air for six months. Yarmouk Radio will provide opportunities for professional development and training for student broadcasters.

Creating the radio station and expanding the capacity of the university provides training opportunities that would go beyond the school of journalism. While changes to curriculum and improving the scholastic environment will eventually pay dividends in the middle to long-term, for immediate impact there is a need for professional development through adult continuing education and professional training. Yarmouk University has expressed interest in creating a media training institute. The investments to be made as part of this project will go a long way in helping the university achieve this goal.

Currently, the radio outlet serving Irbid is a branch of the state broadcaster. The community station will provide an alternative to Jordan radio. Expanding the information streams to the community can only serve to enhance the overall information climate in the region. This will serve the interests of the community and efforts to improve the environment for democratic reform in Jordan. Improving access to information that is based on verifiable fact is a key feature of democratic development. Without this component a government of the people is destined to fail as there can be no accountability of government structures or the people who manage them.

The station will also emphasize the importance of local news, which is often shunted aside in an Arab media context which tends to focus on international, national and regional news. The advent of the satellite broadcasters has also focused attention on the broader issues at the expense of local coverage. In a vain attempt to compete with the “Al Jazeeras” a disproportionate emphasis is placed on the coverage of international, national and regional issues.