Submit a Manuscript to the Journal
Communicatio: South African journal for communication theory and research

For a Special Issue on
100 Years of Regular Radio Broadcasting in South Africa

The year 2024 marks a hundred-year presence of regular radio broadcasting in South Africa. In recognition of this major broadcasting history and milestone, Communicatio: South African Journal for Theory and Research hereby wishes to invite article submissions for a special issue that is themed “100 Years of Regular Radio Broadcasting in South Africa.” In his chapter titled “Wireless Comes to South Africa,” Eric Rosenthal (1974, 1) expands on the history of radio in this country by noting that “at the hour of nine on the evening of 1 July 1924, as the chimes rang out from the clock on the old Johannesburg Post Office, South Africa entered a new era of communication, the era of broadcasting.” Tracing the location of this development to the then Stuttaford’s department store at the corner of Pritchard and Rissik streets, he argues that a group of musicians broke into song and that performance “marked the beginning of the first programme of regular broadcasting by the new radio station JB” (Rosenthal 1974, 1). Acknowledging the larger-than-life role that has been played by radio broadcasting in South Africa, this special issue invites different submissions that reflect the presence and legacy of South African radio broadcasting in the last hundred years. This special issue would like to interrogate how radio broadcasting in the last hundred years has shaped the many facets of the South African public sphere.

It is, however, important that we acknowledge that regular radio broadcasting did not only find resonance in South Africa. It was a medium embraced by the entire African continent. It is also worth mentioning that the entire African continent has a complicated colonial history with radio as a broadcasting medium (Fanon 1965; Mano 2011; Olurinnisola 2002; Teer-Tomaselli 2001). Still, radio on the African continent has remained the top medium in the 21st century because of its ability to instantly adapt to the rapidly changing living conditions of our continent (Mano 2011). On this continent, the advantage of radio is its ability to overcome the barriers that challenge: poverty, illiteracy and linguistic diversity. The medium is relatively cheap (compared to other media formats), it is portable, and it can be listened in many contexts. In some circumstances it is also credited with helping to build sustained capacities, institutions and practices that enhance democracy for its often-marginalised constituency who at times consists of the poor that live in rural and semi-urban areas (Salaza and Hammer 2008).

For this special issue, we seek scholarly contributions that reflect on the latest and cutting-edge theory, research and practice within the field of regular radio broadcasting in South Africa. Articles that reflect theory or case studies that reflect the day-to-day operations of radio within the context of South Africa are especially encouraged.

The special issue invites contributions that explore and investigate themes such as, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Radio and health communication in South Africa (HIV/AIDS, Covid-19 and other health issues)
• Ethnic identities and radio in South Africa
• The role and history of community radio in South Africa
• Radio as a public and commercial broadcasting medium in South Africa
• Radio and religion in South Africa
• Broadcasting colonialism and apartheid through radio
• Radio and the anti-apartheid struggle
• Radio as a public-sphere platform in South Africa
• Whiteness and Blackness in South African Radio
• Radio and Queer activism
• Radio and the discourse of working-class issues
• Radio drama and the reflection of social issues in South Africa
• Emerging issues in radio broadcasting

The special issue will welcome any other theme that relates to everyday practices of radio in South Africa.

Length of Abstracts and Articles

• Abstracts should be 200 words
• Articles should be 6 500–8 000 words

Please submit abstracts to the special issue’s corresponding editor, Prof. Siyasanga M. Tyali ([email protected])

For additional information on the structure of articles etc., authors are encouraged to read the instructions to authors as they appear on the website of Communicatio: South African Journal for Theory and Research:
https://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=RCSA

Important Dates

• Deadline for submitting abstracts: 1 March 2023
• Notification of accepted abstracts: 30 March 2023
• Deadline for full papers: 30 July 2023
• Expected date of publication: 30 March 2024

All papers will go through a peer review process.

Special Issue Editors

• Siyasanga M. Tyali, Professor and Head: Department of Communication Science, University of South Africa (Unisa)
• Melusi Mntungwa, Lecturer, Department of Communication Science, University of South Africa (Unisa)

References

Fanon, F. 1965. A Dying Colonialism. Translated by H. Chevalier. New York: Grove Press.

Mano. W. 2011. “Why Radio Is Africa’s Medium of Choice in the Global Age.” In Radio in Africa: Publics, Cultures, Communities, edited by L. Gunner D. Ligaga, and D. Moyo, 102–116. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.

Olurinnisola, A. 2002. “Community Radio: Participatory Communication in Postapartheid South Africa.” Journal of Radio Studies 9 (1): 126–145. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15506843jrs0901_11

Rosenthal, E. 1974. You Have Been Listening … A History of the Early Days of Radio Transmission in S.A. Cape Town: Purnell.

Salazar, L., and C. Hammer. 2008. “Community Radio: Supporting Local Voices through the Airwaves.” In Development Communication Source Book: Broadening the Boundaries of Communication, edited by P. Mefalopulos, 180–194. Washington, DC: World Bank.

Teer-Tomaselli, R. 2001. “Who Is the “Community” in Community Radio? A Case Study of Community Radio Stations in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. In Media, Democracy and Renewal in Southern Africa, edited by K. Tomaselli and H. Dunn, 231–254. Colorado Springs: International Academic Publishers.

Abstracts must be send directly to Special Issue editors

Final articles  must be uploaded to ScholarOne.  Authors must select "special issue" and then search for "100 Years of Regular Radio Broadcasting in South Africa" when submitting their paper to ScholarOne.

Instructions for AuthorsSubmit an Article