APPLYING LOCAL SOLUTIONS 
TO LOCAL PROBLEMS: 
Radio Listeners 
as Agents of Change
October 25, 2010
This publication was produced with funding provided by the United States Agency for International 
Development under Task Order DFD-I-07-05-00244-00 Reference IQC DFD-I-00-05-00244-00. It 
was prepared by Karen Greiner, PhD, for Equal Access, and in collaboration with FHI 360 (FHI 
360 has acquired the programs, expertise, and assets of AED). 
Submitted to: Madeline Williams, COTR, USAID West Africa, mawilliams@usaid.gov
Moussokoro Kane, Technical Advisor, USAID West Africa, mkane@usaid.gov
 
 
APPLYING LOCAL SOLUTIONS TO 
LOCAL PROBLEMS: RADIO 
LISTENERS AS AGENTS OF CHANGE1
An evaluation of the impact on listeners of radio programming in Chad 
and Niger under the United States Agency for International 
Development (USAID) Peace through Development Project (PDEV). 
Prepared by: Karen Greiner, Ph.D., University of South Florida, Department of Communication 
October 25, 2010 
Contracted under DFD-I-00-05-00244-00 Task Order No. 7 
DISCLAIMER 
The author‟s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States 
Agency for International Development or the United States Government 
 
1
 The first part of this title refers to the strategy recommended by counter-insurgency expert David Kilcullen in his 
book The accidental guerilla: Fighting small wars in the midst of a big one (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 
pp. xvi, 15). 
 
Contents 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 1
METHODOLOGY................................................................................................................................ 3
BACKGROUND.................................................................................................................................... 4
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS – IMPACT OF METHODOLOGY USED ..........................18
LISTENER ACCOUNTS .................................................................................................................19
Listeners engage in group discussion............................................................................................................ 20
Listeners share what they learn from the radio.......................................................................................... 25
Listeners make changes in their lives ........................................................................................................... 29
Listeners initiate community action ............................................................................................................. 30
Listeners make policy decisions..................................................................................................................... 36
DESIGN AS IMPACT .......................................................................................................................39
CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................42
ANNEX 1: LIST AND NUMBER OF FOCUS GROUPS AND INDIVIDUAL 
INTERVIEWS ........................................................................................................................................ 1
ANNEX 2: RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................................................. 1
List of Figures 
Figure 1: Names, foci and formats of radio programs in Chad and Niger........................................... 8
Figure 2: How the radio shows are created (four basic phases) ........................................................... 9
Figure 3: Mariam and Falmata, two community reporters in Moussouro Chad ............................. 12
Figure 5: Listening club coordinator Lawan Boukar with a map representing the location of 137 
listening clubs radio and other program-related activities. On the right, a key outlining the types 
and numbers of activities. ............................................................................................................................ 15
Figure 6: Listening club members at the house of Elsa Kotto ............................................................. 16
Figure 7: A continuum of engagement ...................................................................................................... 20
Figure 8: The library in Birni N‟Konni Chad: A listening club gathering place ................................. 25
Figure 9: Ahmat Adoum Mahamat with his poem about AIDS ........................................................... 28
Figure 10: A photo sent to PDEV by Abdoulahi‟s listening club in Illela Niger ............................... 32
Figure 11: Listening Club President with the official club by-laws ...................................................... 35
Figure 12: Simplified conceptual graphic of the PDEV program design. ............................................ 39
Figure 13: Breakdown of radio show content and how it is generated and circulated. ................ 41
1
Executive Summary 
 In depth research, including 46 field interviews and 16 focus groups, indicates that the media 
component activities of the United States Agency for Development‟s (USAID) PDEV program have 
achieved significant impact in strengthening moderate voices and improving information flow among 
citizens on peace and tolerance. These examples were observed in a wide range of settings and 
investigated in sufficient detail to indicate the positive impacts reported here are likely replicated widely 
in PDEV target areas. 
This report documents the results of a two-month field research evaluation in Niger and Chad 
on the media component of the Peace Through Development (PDEV) program funded by USAID under 
the Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP). Equal Access, a non-governmental 
organization (NGO) specializing in development communications, implements the media component of 
the PDEV project and works in collaboration with the Academy for Educational Development (AED) to 
1) improve local governance in target communities; 2) empower at-risk youth to become active 
participants in their communities and the economy; and 3) render superfluous ideologies that promote 
violence. 
 The major activity of the PDEV media component is the production four radio programs (two in 
Niger and two in Chad), which are broadcast by a network of PDEV radio partners in each country. The 
radio programs are supplemented by community-level activities including the organization of listening 
clubs, the training of community reporters and ongoing training and material support offered to radio 
station partners in both Chad and Niger. 
The evaluation was designed to determine the attitude towards and impact of EA‟s programs 
amongst those who are aware of and listening to the radio programs – i.e., amongst audiences where 
the program was successfully received. The evaluation was conducted using qualitative methods due to 
the emphasis of this approach on seeking an in-depth understanding of changes in individual knowledge, 
skills, behavior within a specific social context. 
 This report documents numerous examples of individuals and communities where PDEV has had 
a significant impact by galvanizing governmental action against corruption, amplifying moderate voices to 
advocate for inclusion and youth agency that leads to the youth engagement in political and civic 
processes with local leaders and community members. The listeners interviewed described a wide range 
of actions and initiatives undertaken as a result of listening to the PDEV radio programs. Their accounts 
suggest that although exact actions and initiatives vary by community, the radio shows do serve as an 
impetus for community level engagement in the many thousands of communities PDEV reaches in Chad 
and Niger. 
 This report presents qualitative data that shows the PDEV media component has had impact in 
two of the three result areas outlined in their performance monitoring plan (PMP). The radio programs 
1) improve information flow among citizens on peace and tolerance (result 3.1) and 2) strengthen 
moderate voices (Result 3.2). The radio programs achieve these results by fostering and strengthening 
“civic culture.” The “civic culture” building approach adopted in the production of the radio programs is 
gradual and informed by extensive community input and consultation. The radio programs rarely 
explicitly address issues such as terrorism or directly attempt to “render superfluous” “ideologies 
promoting violence” (Result 3). As a result, the content of individual radio program episodes could be 
criticized as too far removed from the more “hard edged” goals of the PDEV initiative. However, by 
strengthening “civic culture,” the programs improve the quantity and quality of citizen participation and 
democratic expression and create a platform for moderate voices (from the capital city and from the 
regions), directly achieving PDEV project goals. Through these impacts, the PDEV media component is 
doing important work that serves to address drivers of negative behaviors and may prevent the 
emergence of more extreme and violent forms of expression from emerging. The gradual, “civic 
culture” building approach employed by the media teams in Chad and Niger has allowed the radio 
2
programs to become established within the communities and the programs are now positioned to delve 
into new content areas (including more direct discussion of violent extremism) with the experience of 
ongoing, credible and culturally tailored programming to build on. 
 This report highlights the importance of 1) the impact on listeners of the radio programs which I 
illustrate by providing a selection of listener narratives and actions and 2) the design of the PDEV media 
component. The design of the PDEV media component is important because it facilitates extensive 
community participation ranging from the conception and creation of content to discussion of content in 
families and communities. The responsiveness of this approach has led to strong ownership of the 
programs by the audience resulting in observed impact in terms of dialogue and attitudinal and behavior 
changes resulting from the program. Finally, new actions and initiatives undertaken by listeners that are 
catalyzed by the program are illustrated in the “listener accounts” section of this report. 
3
Methodology 
 This two-month long qualitative evaluation was conducted as a precursor to a large respondent 
quantitative survey which is planned in Chad and Niger in early 2011. The evaluation was conducted 
using qualitative methods due to the emphasis of this approach on seeking an in-depth understanding of 
changes in individual knowledge, skills, behavior within a specific social and cultural context.2 Unlike 
quantitative methods, like surveys or “questionnaires,” which offer respondents fixed choices within 
pre-determined categories, qualitative methods are appropriate for exploring and documenting unique 
experiences and unanticipated outcomes. 3 The types of questions I asked respondents were sufficiently 
open-ended to enable me to discover and document several different types of outcomes, with each 
specific outcome as unique as the listener narrative I use to illustrate it. My line of questioning involved 
extensive probes. When listeners appeared to near the end of their account, I would use an open-ended 
probe to encourage them to keep talking. For example, in the case of my interview with a listening club 
president in which he described a clean-up activity led by his club, I asked several times: “And then what 
happened?” Each “and then what?” yielded a new layer to his story. On other occasions I began 
conversations with very broad questions, like: “Why do you listen to the radio?” and only asked specific 
questions about PDEV radio programs once an initial round of general questions had taken place. My 
aim was to ask broad questions and let respondents tell me what they found important. A narrow line of 
inquiry often limits the topics of discussion unhelpfully. 
 Many of the in-depth, individual interviews were a follow on to larger, “focus group” interviews. 
Focus groups are useful for generating a lot of information and interaction on a specific topic in a short 
amount of time.4 In this case, the specific topic was the PDEV radio shows, and the main goal, from my 
perspective, was to generate enough interaction to identify listeners and topics to pursue for more 
information. Since qualitative methods aim for depth of perspective with fewer individuals rather than 
less information in large quantities, the focus groups were crucial for identifying listeners to follow up 
with during one-on-one interviews. When focus groups were very small, 3-4 individuals, I call these 
interviews “small group” interviews. These interviews were more akin to individual interviews because I 
was able to spend more time asking questions to specific individuals. (See Annex 1 for detailed 
information on the number and location of respondents for the focus groups, and then the total number 
of individual interviews). 
Within the category of individual interviews I include radio station partners, radio station 
community advisory group members, and Equal Access staff members. These individuals were not the 
focus of the evaluation, but they provided very useful information in many cases and in other cases, the 
meetings were held for reasons of protocol (meaning it would have appeared disrespectful not to meet 
with them). Also included in the number of individual interviews are several people who attended focus 
groups. 
 I present the results of the interviews following the conventions of ethnography; I offer fewer 
voices, but spend a great deal of time with each. Of the dozens of listeners I spoke with, either 
individually or in small groups, I have chosen a small number of narratives to share here. 
I believe that the listener accounts I have selected demonstrate, in great detail, what listeners do with 
what they learn from the PDEV radio programs produced by Equal Access and the variety of ways what 
they learned has affected them. My research was specifically directed by Equal Access to focus on 
 
2
 Baker, Quinton, Davis, Denise, Gallerani, Ron, Sanchez, Victoria, and Viadro, Claire. An evaluation framework for 
community health programs. (Durham, NC: The Center for the Advancement of Community Based Public Health: 
2000), p. 41. 
3
 Patton, Michael Quinn. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage publications, 2002), 
p. 14. 
4
 David Morgan, Focus groups as qualitative research (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 1997), p. 8. 
4
whether the programming had impact against the PDEV goals where it was fully received by the audience so 
it is important to note that this assessment is not an evaluation of how broadly the PDEV programs are 
reaching Chadians and Nigeriens. That question will be assessed through the large respondent survey 
early next year, although my research suggests the program is reaching a large audience. 
 The data presented in this report was collected through direct observation, a review of project 
materials including scripts and reports, and interviews with individuals and groups as outlined in table 2.1 
above. Since the primary focus of the evaluation was to gauge the impact of PDEV radio programming 
on listeners, I give priority in this report to what I learned from conversations with listeners and 
listening clubs/groups. The interviews conducted in Chad and Niger with in-country Equal Access staff, 
radio station personnel, members of the Content Advisory Groups (CAG) and community reporters 
are the basis for my analysis regarding the Equal Access program design, which has impact in the form of 
much greater levels of participation than one would expect in the production, circulation and 
subsequent discussion of radio show content. The PDEV media program design is extremely “porous,” 
by which I mean that it has “multiple and continuous entry points and opportunities for involvement.”5 I 
will return to the importance of this design element of the program throughout the report and I provide 
more details of the program design in the second half of the report. 
Background 
 This report documents the results of a two-month field evaluation on the impact of PDEV radio 
programs on listeners in Chad and Niger (June-July, 2010). Equal Access has partnered with the 
Academy for Educational Development (AED) to implement the communication component of the 
Peace through Development Project (PDEV) funded by USAID West Africa through the Trans-Saharan 
Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP), an interagency (DOD, State, USAID) initiative established “to 
assist potentially vulnerable regional partners to constrict the tactical and strategic operating 
environment of terrorists in Northwestern Africa.”6 
Based on research conducted in the Sahel region, USAID designed PDEV to have activities and 
programming focused on three areas: 1) good governance; 2) social and economic empowerment of 
youth and 3) media and outreach support.7 This report focuses on the impact of one component of the 
PDEV project, which is the media and outreach component implemented by Equal Access in Chad and 
Niger. The stated objectives for the media and outreach component of the PDEV project include: 
 
 Result 3: Ideologies promoting violence are rendered superfluous 
 Result 3.1: Improved information flow among citizens on peace and tolerance 
 Result 3.2: Moderate voices strengthened.8 
The focus on increasing access to information and “moderate voices” as a means to counter extremist 
ideologies signals a shift from theories suggesting that violent extremism should be addressed by 
focusing on macro-level “root causes” such as poverty and unemployment. “Root cause” approaches are 
difficult to implement because of the immense resources they require, and have received criticism as 
failing to adequately account for the motivations for violent extremism. 
 A USAID-commissioned report on counter-extremism notes that populations experiencing 
poverty and unemployment are very large and yet only a small number from these populations react 
 
5 Karen Greiner, “Participatory communication processes as „infusions of innovation‟: The Case of Scenarios from 
Africa,” In T. Tufte & F. Enghel (Eds). Teens engaging with the world: Media, communication and social change. 
(Gothenburg, Sweden: NORDICOM, 2009), p. 276. 
6
 USAID request for task order proposals for PDEV project, p. 1. 
7 USAID, “Countering extremism and terrorism in the Sahel,” 2005. See PDEV/RFTOP p. 3.
8
 PDEV Performance monitoring plan (PMP) approved by USAID June 2010, pp. 9-10. 
5
with violence.9 As an alternative to explanations based in “root causes” and “underlying conditions,” 
USAID has commissioned exhaustive research that identifies four set of inter-related “drivers” which 
can lead to violent extremism, summarized as follows: 
1. Personal relationships, social bonds and group dynamics; 
2. The quest for dignity, recognition and respect (not only for oneself, but also for one‟s 
community and one‟s culture) and the perception that one is being denied all of that at both a 
collective and personal levels; 
3. Historical legacies of foreign domination and oppression; and 
4. Perceptions of an unjust international system through which Muslims and Muslim culture are de￾valued and subordinated.10
A report prepared by the RAND Corporation, a non-profit institution specializing in research and 
analysis, suggests that strategic communication can address some of these “drivers.” Rand analyst 
Michael Egner argues that strategic communication can: 
1. Ease short-term frustrations among vulnerable populations before they harden into long-term 
grievances, 
2. Foster resistance to extremist messages; and 
3. Reduce the perceived legitimacy and social acceptance of violence.11
Strategic communication cannot undo a “legacy of foreign occupation” but it can help foster positive 
social networks, provide opportunities for individuals to gain respect and recognition, increase the 
circulation of moderate voices and perspectives, and offer positive representations of Muslims and local 
culture. 
 Although Chad and Niger have been assessed as being on the very lowest end of a violent 
extremism threat continuum,12 both countries have experienced internal violence in the recent past. 
The Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno withstood an attempted coup in February 2008 while the 
Nigerien government of President Mamadou Tandja was overthrown in a military coup in February 
2010.13 Incidents of kidnapping were also reported in both Chad14 and Niger, with the latter country 
gaining unfortunate notoriety when French humanitarian aid worker Michel Germaneau, kidnapped in 
Niger in April 2010, was killed three months later in Mali by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghbreb (AQIM).15
The September 2010 kidnapping in Arlit, northern Niger, of seven individuals including citizens from 
France, Togo and Madagascar has added to the climate of insecurity which led French President Nicolas 
Sarkozy to label the entire Sahel region “extremely dangerous.” 16 The situation in Niger has been 
further heightened by the apparent statements of Osama Bin Laden on October 27, 2010, linking the 
 
9 USAID, “Guide to the drivers of violent extremism” (Washington DC: USAID/MSI, 2009), p. iv. 
10 USAID, “Guide to the drivers of violent extremism,” pp. v-vi. 
11 Here I have abridged Egner‟s original five-point list. See Egner, Michael. “Social-science foundations for strategic 
communications in the global war on terrorism” in Paul Davis and Kim Cragin (eds.) Social science for 
counterterrorism: Putting the pieces together (Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation, 2009), p. 324. 
12 Both are listed as “negligible.” USAID. Development assistance and counter-extremism: A guide to programming
(Washington DC: USAID/MSI, 2009), p. 73 (Annex A). 
13 Yonah Alexander Maghreb and Sahel terrorism: Addressing the rising threat from Al-Qaeda and other terrorists in North 
and West/Central Africa (Arlington, VA: Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, 2010), pp. 21-22; pp. 55-57 (Chad); pp. 
62-63 (Niger). http://www.potomacinstitute.org/attachments/524_Maghreb%20Terrorism%20report.pdf
14 Ibid., p. 55. 
15 “Al-Qaeda kills French hostage,” Al Jazeera (English edition) July 26, 2010. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/ 
africa/2010/07/201072519292114510.html
16 Maïa de la Baume, “French Citizens Among 7 Seized in Niger,” The New York Times, September 17, 2010: A7. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/world/africa/17niger.html
6
kidnappings in Arlit to Muslim grievances in France and to France‟s involvement in the war in 
Afghanistan.17 
 Research documenting that violent extremists often come from countries without a legitimate 
and democratic political process which suffer from “endemic” corruption18 and a lack of “civil and 
political liberties” (such as freedom of expression; democratic elections, citizen participation in political 
processes)19 is the basis for USAID‟s search for programmatic approaches that seek to prevent or 
mitigate extremism before it takes hold in counties like Chad and Niger. Social change interventions 
where success is measured by a negative or “non-event,” such as the non-transmission of HIV or the 
absence of extremism and violence represent a measurement challenge. Proving what does exist and 
what has occurred is often an easier task. A marketing campaign to sell a new device, for example, can 
use sales figures to measure the campaigns effectiveness. A girls‟ education project can count increases 
in the number of school-age girls enrolled in classes. But how does one prove that something might have 
happened and now, post-intervention, will not? 
 In the case of measuring the effectiveness of efforts aimed at preventing or mitigating violent 
extremism – that is, the act of self-expression through violence - one solution is to turn to the “proxy” 
indicator of the presence of “civic culture,” which I define as peaceful self-expression and democratic 
participation in community life. 
In a 2005 Foreign Policy article, political scientist Gregory Gause notes that while there may be 
no evidence that democracy itself uniformly curtails extremist violence there is evidence that acts of 
extremist violence “are less frequent when democratic political participation is high.” (emphasis added).20
This distinction is important. It is also fortunate for individuals and institutions interested in promoting 
peace and positive social change for the simple reason that it is much easier to promote democratic 
participation, (or “civic culture,”), at the individuals and community level than it is to effect structural, 
macro-political change. 
Communication is a critical tool in fostering individual and community level change. 
Communication is credited with positive outcomes in social change projects ranging from water 
conservation in Jordan21 to civic participation for women in Bangladesh.22 Radio, the communication 
medium under discussion in this report (together with related activities), has been cited by listeners 
themselves as the direct inspiration for decisions to abandon the practice of female genital cutting in 
Sudan23 and to create literacy classes for lower-caste citizens in the Bihar region of India.24 This latter 
example, from the “Taru” radio drama broadcast in India from 2002-2003, is of particular interest due 
to the similarity of that program to PDEV media programming in Niger and Chad; a mixture of “Air 
cover and ground mobilization,”25 or mass media in the form of radio broadcasts and inter-personal and 
 
17 New York Times, October 27, 2010. 
18 USAID, “Guide to the drivers of violent extremism,” p. 27.
19 USAID. Development assistance and counter-extremism, p. 17, 
20 Gregory F. Gause . “Can Democracy Stop Terrorism?” Foreign Affairs, (September/October, 2005), p. 65. 
21 Gregory R. Niblett, “Research as promotion: Jordan water efficiency program, 2000-2005,” in Philip Kotler and 
Nancy R. Lee (Eds.), Social marketing: Influencing behaviors for good, 3rd edition (Los Angeles, CA: SAGE 
publications, 2008), p. 71. 
22 Sara Stuart and Renuka Bery, Powerful grass-roots women communicators: Participatory video in Banladesh in 
Jan Servaes, Thomas Tufte and Shirley A. White (Eds.), Participatory communication for social change (Los Angeles, 
CA: SAGE publications, 1996). pp. 197-212. 
23 Karen Greiner, Arvind Singhal, and Sarah Hurlburt, “With an antenna we can stop the practice of female genital 
cutting": A participatory assessment of Ashreat Al Amal, an entertainment-education radio soap opera in 
Sudan. Investgacion y Desarrollo, 15(2), 226-259. 
24 Arvind Singhal, “Riding high on Taru fever: Entertainment-education broadcasts, ground mobilization, and service 
delivery in rural India” (The Hague: OXFAM/NOVIB, 2010), p. 8. 
25 Arvind Singhal, Devendra Sharma, Michael Papa and Kim Witte “Air cover and ground
mobilization: Integrating entertainment-education broadcasts with community listening 
and service delivery in India,” in Arvind Singhal, Michael J. Cody, Everett Rogers and Miguel Sabido
7
small group communication in the form of community listening groups. Using the detailed qualitative 
examples in this report, I will demonstrate that the PDEV media activities have been successful in 
increasing democratic participation (“civic culture”) and as a result address drivers of violent extremism.
Equal Access‟s role in the PDEV project is to develop and deliver community radio programs 
that support USAID‟s goals of improved access to objective information, promote civic education, 
provide opportunities for “broad Muslim engagement”26 and avenues for the expression of moderate 
voices.27 The media programming directly supports extensive PDEV community development initiatives 
in each country. To provide an illustration of how the different components of the PDEV program work 
in tandem I give the example of the “Peace Festival” (Festival pour la Paix) held in Faya, Chad at the end 
of my one-month stay in the country. The three-day festival involved a variety of activities meant to 
valorize local culture and traditions and promote peace and tolerance in the city of Faya, located in the 
extreme-north of Chad, approaching the Libyan border. One activity included a showcase of traditional 
dancing; an important component of the festival given that according to local authorities, there has been 
no public dancing in Faya for several years.28 PDEV radio producers accompanied the PDEV program 
team and broadcast large portions of the event live in Faya on Radio Palmeraie, a radio station partner, 
and via telephone link with community and other radio stations in the capital city of N‟Djamena. Other 
forms of collaboration involve the inclusion and discussion of PDEV activities into the story lines of the 
two weekly radio programs which are the central media activity. For example, the radio show 
producers have incorporated recordings of inter-religious dialogue round tables organized by the PDEV 
programs and a discussion of these dialogues in their broadcasts. 
 In Chad and Niger, Equal Access has in-country media teams whose core activity is the 
production and distribution of two half-hour weekly radio shows which focus on youth and good 
governance. Additional activities related to the radio shows in both Chad and Niger include the 
formation of listening groups, the creation of mechanisms to capture audience feedback and thematic 
proposals via “Frontline” software that captures and aggregates text messages. In addition, the PDEV 
media teams have delivered training to radio station partners on how to implement listener call-in 
shows after PDEV radio programs and how to produce their own radio shows, on PDEV themes, in one 
of three formats: “Micro” Program (3 minutes each), “Debate & Discussion” and “Public Broadcast,” 
which are recorded in the setting of public community gatherings and then edited for subsequent 
broadcast. Below I provide a short outline of the PDEV produced radio programs currently being 
broadcast in Chad and Niger. 
Chad Niger
Language(s) Arabic
(Goran in progress)
Haoussa, Zarma, Tamashek, French
Radio 
program 
name & 
focus
Chabab al Haye
Youth
Dabalaye
Good 
Governance
Gwadaben Matassa
Youth
Hantsi
Good Governance
Format Magazine + 
Situational drama
Magazine + Serial 
drama
Magazine + 
Situational drama
Serial Drama*
Notes Situational drama 
refers to storylines 
Serial drama 
refers to 
*In late July 2010 
the producers of 
 
(Eds.), Entertainment-education and social change: History, research, and practice (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum 
Associates, 2003), pp. 351-374. 
26 USAID. Development assistance and counter-extremism, p. 74 (Annex A). 
27USAID PDEV RFTOP, p. 4. 
28 This was reported by the Prefet of Faya to PDEV Chad Country Representative, Jill Morris, and shared with me 
during my debriefing in the country. The Prefet linked the absence of public dancing to the rising influence of more 
conservative religious leaders. 
8
that are unique to 
each episode
storylines that 
evolve over 
several episodes, 
“soap opera” 
style. 
Hantsi began 
including recorded 
comments from 
listeners and 
segments from 
partner call-in 
shows at the end 
of each episode. 
Figure 1: Names, foci and formats of radio programs in Chad and Niger 
 
The media teams are now in their second year of production for the two core programs. Each team is in 
the process of developing one additional radio show, which in Chad is called “Chabab Wal Din,”(“Youth 
and Faith,”) a 26-episode series focused on religious issues for a youth audience and in Niger, a 26-
episode series called “Sada Zumuntchi” (“Promoting solidarity” in Haoussa) which will address intra and 
inter religious dialogue.29
 As would be expected in two countries with different languages, cultures, political contexts and 
histories, the media teams in Chad and Niger put their distinctive stamp on the youth and good 
governance content while still operating within similar formats. Indeed, I believe that one of the 
strengths of the PDEV media program design is the country-specific, local-culture-infused nature of each 
radio program. Below I provide a graphic of components of the 100% in-country process, in descending 
sequential order, followed by a description of contributors to the process. A brief review of the 
components and contributors involved in the creation of the radio shows allows me to set the stage and 
cast of characters which I believe will facilitate understanding of material presented in later sections. 
 The basic sequence of the creation of PDEV radio programs is comprised of three phases: 1) 
community input, a process of seeking local perspectives and suggestions on content; 2) production, 
which includes collaborative script writing, community reporting and the recording of local theater 
troupes for the radio dramas; and 3) review, which involves a vetting process whereby local 
professionals, community leaders and citizens provide feedback on existing scripts and recorded 
episodes and make suggestions, when necessary, for changes or refinement. Figure 2 below summarizes 
the phases and participants. 
 
29 Revised and approved Media Component SOW submitted to USAID December 2009. 
9
Figure 2: How the radio shows are created (four basic phases) 
In Chad and Niger the radio shows are created with the participation of dozens of individuals of varied 
backgrounds and ages from both the capital city and the regions. I provide a brief description of my 
understanding of the roles and contributions of several groups: 
Stakeholders 
 Before the radio shows are scripted and recorded the PDEV media teams in Chad and Niger 
meet with a group of 30-50 men and women who attend a one-two day-long working session to suggest 
specific content and themes to be addressed, working from the PDEV themes related to good 
governance, tolerance, citizenship and peace. The presence of important community and religious 
leaders at the initial stakeholders meeting ensures that the members of civil society are apprised of the 
content of the radio programs and have the opportunity to make suggestions. The stakeholders are the 
first set of voices to begin shaping the content for the radio program and the act of seeking input at the 
earliest possible stage establishes the element of the programs I identify as contributing most to their 
success – their porous and inclusive design. 
Content Advisory Group (CAG) 
 From the larger group of stakeholders, a group of the more enthusiastic and helpful members 
are invited to join a Content Advisory Group (CAG). In Chad, both the youth and good governance 
shows are served by the same group of advisors whereas in Niger, each show has its own CAG. I noted 
that while an additional CAG requires more logistical and scheduling effort, it also doubles the amount 
of resource people available to the producers. I say “resource people” due to an observation I made in 
each of the CAG monthly meetings I attended (one in Chad and one in Niger), which was that beyond 
suggestions about script content, CAG members also recommend specific individuals to be interviewed, 
such as medical specialists, government officials or representatives from community associations. I 
provide below a brief look (or “listen”) to some of the comments made during the CAG meeting I 
attended in N‟Djamena Chad on June 3, 2010. (See text box on next page). 
10
What happens during a CAG meeting?
The meeting I attended had representatives from the National Youth Congress, UNICEF, the 
Ministry of Communication, and Association of Chadian NGO‟s. One CAG member, not in 
attendance, sent his written comments on the suggested script themes to the Producers prior to 
the meeting. Here is a selection of comments which were made in relation to various proposed 
topics including female circumcision, youth employment, tolerance, the AED/PDEV “Peace 
Festival,” and the internet:
“You should drop the internet theme. Youth simply do not have access – especially in the 
regions.”
“Who are you inviting? [For the tolerance program] We have to be sure that we invite 
someone who really knows Islam.”
“You need to be sure to get the women involved [in the Peace Festival] Isn‟t this years‟ 
“Miss Chad” is from Faya? She should be invited.
Is Arabic the appropriate language for discussing the Peace Festival in Faya? Should we not 
be doing it in Goran? [Language spoken in Faya and the Kanem region]
“You should be careful with this topic [female circumcision]. If you come to the region 
where I am from you will note that all the girls are circumcised.”
“You should invite a female medical doctor [for female circumcision topic]. I can 
recommend a good person if you need it. 
As I listened to the CAG members‟ comments it occurred to me that the CAG was a sort of 
“cultural safety net.” The cautionary comments signaled to the Producers (who are largely from 
N‟Djamena or the southern region of Chad) what topics might be delicate (female circumcision), 
inappropriate (internet) and what guests should be chosen with great care (religious leaders for 
program on tolerance). The fact that several CAG members, during the meeting, pulled out their 
phone and provided names and numbers for potential guests shows how having a Content 
Advisory Group greatly increases the number of contacts at the producers disposal. “Tell them I
gave you their number,” one CAG member told a Producer. As in many countries, relationships 
matter in Chad, and CAG members contribute not only their relationships but also their 
professional, cultural, linguistic and regional expertise. 
11
Producers 
 The Producers are the backbone of the PDEV radio shows: They develop the themes to be 
treated, conduct formative subject-matter research, write the scripts, and conduct the bulk of the guest 
interviews.30 Documenting the extent and importance of the contribution of the Producers would 
require a separate evaluation. I should include, however, that a commonality shared by each Producer I 
met was a desire to contribute to their community. Prior to coming to PDEV most of the Producers 
were already working as professional journalists and radio presenters. Many said that they applied to 
work with the PDEV project out because they wanted to “do more” for the community. Several 
commented that their work with PDEV, including the training they would receive, would allow them 
contribute to their communities immediately and to continue contributing, as a result of new skills they 
were learning, once the project concluded. 
Young producers 
In Niger four young people had been promoted from “Community Reporter” (see below) and 
were working closely with producers in the creation of content for the radio shows. The young 
producers had responsibilities ranging from proposing and interviewing guests for the show to 
presenting content, including the performance of short “skits” to illustrate the themes presented in the 
radio show. One young woman from N‟Djamena, Zenab Hassan, took me to meet Mariam, a social 
worker who she had interviewed for a show on unplanned pregnancy. I asked Zenab how she thought of 
the social worker as an interviewee. She said: “Mariam is part of my extended family. She works at a 
social services center run by the Ministry of Social Action. I thought to myself that a social worker 
would be well placed to speak about the topic of unplanned pregnancy. And many people do not know 
about the centers and the social services they offer.” When we arrived at the center I asked Mariam 
how she felt about having been a guest on the radio show. “People came up to me afterward and 
congratulated me for being on the show. They said: „We heard your voice on the radio, you explained 
things very well.‟” Mariam‟s colleague, Amina Mahamat, added that she felt that Mariam having been 
invited on the radio helped raise awareness about the existence of centers like theirs and the services 
they offer. “We help many young women. We go to their houses and talk to their families so that they 
will not put them out on the streets [in cases of pregnancy]. It is helpful to us if more people can 
become aware of what we do here.”
Community reporters 
 One of the most interesting and unique features of the PDEV media program design is the 
training of community members, including many young people, as “community reporters.” Community 
reporters31 (CRs) are citizens who have been trained in the basics of community journalism, including 
how to approach people for interviews, how to present oneself professionally, how to pose different 
types of questions, and how to use the “Zoom H2” digital recorders that each CR is equipped with 
during training. Each Zoom recorder comes with a thin memory card that CRs remove once they have 
finished conducting citizen interviews and then send in an envelope to the PDEV office, usually by one of 
the buses or “bush taxis” that make frequent trips between the regions and the capital. Most radio 
projects I have evaluated or studied involve the broadcasting of content that is recorded exclusively in 
the capital city. The inclusion of community reporters in the project design means that voices from the 
regions, and from average citizens in the regions, are sent to the capital to be included in the recorded 
broadcasts that reach a national audience. As an illustration of just how far voices can travel because of 
Community Reporters I share the example of Abdraman Moussa, a teacher and community reporter in 
 
30 When I was in Chad, I noted that the Producers there were also doing a great deal of the sound editing for their 
shows. I suspect that this gives them useful professional experience but may take a toll in terms of workload. 
31 There are approximately 45 Community Reporters working in each country, 10-12 in the capital cities and the 
remaining CRs are spread out in various PDEV regions throughout each country. 
12
Delemanga, a village about 55 kilometers from Moussouro, in Northern Chad, which is itself about 300 
kilometers from the N‟Djamena, Chad‟s capital. 
Abdraman explained that he is alerted by text message that there are new questions to pose to 
citizens for the “Vox Pop” segment of the radio show, he generally travels the 55 kilometers to 
Moussouro by bus to pick up a fresh memory card at Radio Moussouro, the PDEV radio partner that 
serves as a hub for Community Reporters. He then makes the return trip and spends some time 
converting the questions from French to local languages so they will make sense to people in the 
surrounding villages. On occasion, Abraman rents a horse for the day so that he can travel to remote 
villages to ask the “Vox Pop” questions. He records short interviews in whichever language villagers 
prefer to speak in, Arabic, Goran or Kanembou, and then returns by bus to Moussouro to drop of the 
memory card containing the interviews back at the radio station. After speaking with Abdraman I 
estimated that he spends nearly half of what he receives from PDEV to cover costs related to his work 
on transport, whether for horse rental or bus fare to and from Moussouro. He said he does it because 
“the work is important” and because “people want to express themselves.” He is satisfied with the 
work, he says, because he is “contributing to his community,” and I believe that it his desire to help his 
community rather than economic interest that is driving his Community Reporter work. 
 
 Figure 3: Mariam and Falmata, two community reporters in Moussouro Chad 
 
Radio partners and Local producers 
 In Chad and Niger the PDEV media teams work with a network of local and national radio 
stations who broadcast each of the PDEV radio programs once a week (for a total of two PDEV radio 
programs broadcast by each station per week). Beyond their role as broadcasters of PDEV radio 
programs, radio station partners have also been trained to conduct call-in programs following the 
broadcast of PDEV radio programs. The call-in programs serve to build “civic culture” in that they 
increase the circulation of voices that are flowing at the community level. The call-in shows allow 
individuals and groups in remote regions and villages to comment on and discuss PDEV programming via 
their telephone calls, which are broadcast to the entire community. This additional programmatic 
feature enables community members to become active listeners, listeners who have the opportunity to 
weigh in on the issues discussed on the radio and to relate them to their local context. This additional 
programming element also typifies the PDEV media component approach of ensuring the radio 
programs are strong vehicles for the voices of the communities they serve – directly addressing PDEV 
goals such as increasing political participation and dialogue as a way of ameliorating grievances. 
13
 Radio partners have received equipment and training that allow them to digitally record, edit 
and finalize their own content. Radio partners have the opportunity to put their skills to work by 
becoming “local producers” which involves proposing their own PDEV-related content. During my field 
research, PDEV media teams in Chad and Niger were in the process of selecting “local production” 
partners based on a competitive application process. The “local production” programs have great 
potential to tailor PDEV-related themes to local contexts and to further increase the circulation of local 
voices, which I argue is akin to building “civic culture.” Below I present a brief introduction to a local 
producer and his approach to developing PDEV-related content. 
14
 
Listening clubs 
 
In both Chad and Niger, “listening clubs” have begun meeting regularly to listen to PDEV radio programs 
in a group setting. While I was in Niger, the number of listening clubs had reached 137. The Niger PDEV 
media team explained to me that most of the listening clubs had formed organically by emerging from 
pre-existing social groups called “Fadas,” which are small community groups that have traditionally 
existed but that did not have specific activities to provide cohesion. Many of the listening club members I 
spoke with in Niger explained how the PDEV radio programs served as a catalyst and a reason to meet 
more regularly which gave the “Fadas” new momentum and purpose. During my time in Chad I noted 
that the Community Reporters were taking the lead in organizing listening clubs in their communities. A 
follow-on evaluation would be useful to assess how many listening clubs are operating, how many 
members are in each and what impact membership in these clubs may have on listeners. The PDEV 
media team in Niger includes a “listening club” coordinator which has enabled the Niger media team to 
keep track of how many clubs exist, who leads them and what activities they engage in. The Chad team 
would benefit from creating a similar position. 
A visit to a radio partner trained in “local production”
Akouete Kodjo Amadou, the Director of programming at Anfani radio in Niamey Niger, is an Equal 
Access trained local producer. In discussion with him, I learned that Akouete is a seasoned 
journalist with more than a dozen years of experience. 
“So did you learn anything new at the training,” I asked, suspecting that the answer might be no. 
“Yes, I did. I learned something very useful. I learned how to incorporate recorded segments into a 
session with invited guests.” I asked him to give me a concrete example to illustrate what he meant. 
He explained that the first show he was creating as an Equal Access “local producer” was in format 
of “discussion and debate.” He continued:
“It‟s going to be about human rights and equality under the law. I‟ve already recorded “person on 
the street” interviews with citizens and I will play these interviews for my guests, some of whom 
will be government officials, when they come to the studio to record their contribution to the 
show. So the segment with the invited guests will include their reaction to the pre-recorded 
citizens‟ comments. These reactions and ensuing discussion will be recorded and that is how the 
show will be produced.” 
“So you are bringing citizens‟ voices to the ears of the State,” I observed. 
“Yes. And also to civil society. There will be jurists and human rights association representatives as 
invited guests as well.” 
After my conversation with Akouete I made this observation in my written field notes: “Local 
producers also designing for community inclusion in their radio programs.” Akouete was actively 
fostering “civic culture” at the local level. 
15
Figure 4: Listening club coordinator Lawan Boukar with a map representing the location of 
137 listening clubs radio and other program-related activities. On the right, a key outlining 
the types and numbers of activities.
 
 In this next section I introduce several listeners and discuss their accounts which illustrate the 
range of actions and initiatives inspired by PDEV radio programs. The listening clubs themselves are an 
example of the kinds of community actions that have been galvanized by the PDEV media component. I 
describe my interaction with Elsa Kotto, a listener and listening club president in Niger to introduce the 
listener accounts section. 
Author Michael Cunningham suggests that “no two readers ever read the same book.”32 Books, 
like any form of communication, may be created with one intention and then interpreted in another or 
multiple ways. The accounts of two residents of the Pays Bas neighborhood in Niamey, Niger illustrate 
this phenomenon. Both listened to a PDEV radio drama on the topic of forced marriage on their local 
radio station. For one resident it was a compelling and important tale, nothing further. But for Elsa 
Kotto, an avid listener in her late twenties,33 the story about forced marriage was her story. Elsa 
explained how the father in the show, Habibou, forced his daughter Zelika into a marriage she didn‟t 
want. Elsa then gave a much longer version of the story, which was her own personal account. She 
described how she had been forced to marry a much older man who then decided to relocate to 
Nigeria. One day Elsa fled her marriage and made her way back to Niger, depending on the kindness of 
strangers for food and transportation along the way. Elsa is the President of a listening club that meets 
weekly to listen to PDEV radio programs. On the day I met her I was accompanied by Lawan Boukar, 
coordinator of the 137 (and counting) PDEV listening clubs, groups of community members that meet 
regularly to listen together to one or both of the PDEV radio shows. 
On a second visit to the Pays Bas neighborhood with Lawan, Elsa again met us in her home. This 
time she had gathered all of the members of her listening club, and several members of two neighboring 
clubs, Club Kamamini and Club Natachi. 
 
32 Michael Cunningham, “Found in translation,” The New York Times, October 3, 2010, p. WK10. 
33 Unlike survey research instruments that include detailed demographic information, qualitative interviews with 
strangers are often designed to first build trust and then proceed as informal conversation. The topic of Elsa‟s 
exact age did not come up in conversation and I generally do not ask unless exact age is relevant to the study. 
16
 Figure 5: Listening club members at the house of Elsa Kotto 
During this second visit to Elsa‟s house I learned many interesting things about women‟s 
preferences related to the PDEV radio show. I learned, for instance, that several of the listening club 
members present at Elsa‟s listened to the show in two languages, Zarma and Haoussa, even when that 
meant listening to the same episode twice. I also learned that the women thought that Zeinab, a 
character in the serial radio drama “Hantsi,” was, as they put it: “krikridi krikridi,” very nice, explained 
Lawan, translating from Haoussa. Zeinab, one of the protagonists in the “transparency” storyline of the 
Hantsi serial drama was also described as “a good model” “a hard worker” and “a good person.” 
Understanding which characters listeners like and identify with can have important implications for 
future scripts.34 But the most interesting thing I learned that day in the Pays Bas neighborhood was the 
fact that Elsa used her radio and the content it delivers as a peace-making tool. As is often the case in 
qualitative research, this piece of interesting information came up in casual conversation rather than in 
direct response to an interview question. 
“It‟s because of this one here,” Elsa began, laughing and pointing a woman seated on a mat a few 
feet from her. 
“She was always fighting with her neighbors.” 
Elsa said that she brought her radio to her fight-prone neighbor and asked the other surrounding 
neighbors to join. 
“I said to them: „You should listen to this show.‟” 
 
34 I shared with the Producers of Hantsi in Niger that many of the women I spoke to in the Pays Bas neighborhood 
appreciated and identified with Zeinab. I shared this with them because I knew from previous conversations with 
the producers that Zeinab was designed to model positive behaviors such as honesty and integrity. 
17
And this is how a group of neighbors, convoked by Elsa, began listening to Hantsi, the PDEV serial 
drama featuring Habibou, Zelika and Zeinab. 
The “fighting neighbors” no longer fight Elsa explained as the neighbors-in-question nodded 
nearby in agreement. The content of the radio program could very well be a deciding factor given that 
the main story lines in Hansti are peace and tolerance, transparency and citizenship. And yet I cannot say 
for sure whether it was the content of the show or the act of listening together that led them to make 
peace. Perhaps it was a combination of these two factors? Or was it Elsa‟s urging alone? It was difficult 
to know but Elsa‟s “radio intervention” intrigued me nonetheless. As did the range of her actions related 
to listening to show. So far the show had 1) sparked a lengthy personal narrative about her experience 
with forced marriage; 2) led to discussions with other Club members about various characters and their 
behaviors; and 3) provided an occasion to intervene in a dispute between two neighbors. Later I would 
learn that Elsa had been invited to the next Content Advisory Group meeting at the suggestion of Hadi, 
a PDEV “Community Reporter” who is very active in the Pays Bas neighborhood. The Content Advisory 
Group is made up of community members from various professions and walks for life who meet once 
monthly to give feedback and suggestions to the Producers of the PDEV radio programs. When I saw 
Elsa at the CAG meeting a week later I greeted her and asked how the meeting was going. 
“It‟s good. I am sharing my experiences and giving suggestions” she said. In other words, Elsa had 
evolved from a “mere” listener to host of new, more active roles: She had become a facilitator of 
dialogue (as listening club President), a peace-maker (as concerned neighbor), and a contributor to the 
development of community radio programs (as a CAG participant). One strength of the design of the 
PDEV media component is that it allows for a continuum of participation from motivated community 
members like Elsa, facilitating community action towards peaceful resolution of programs and greater 
participation. 
“But is Elsa a typical listener?” one might ask. The answer is that no listener is “typical.” Like Elsa, 
all listeners are living and listening in a unique context under a particular set of historical and cultural 
circumstances. This has implications for attempts to influence and measure human behavior. 
RAND corporation analysts suggest that in the social sciences, “reliable prediction is usually 
inappropriate.”35 There are too many variables driving human behavior to ensure prediction: humans 
don‟t always behave as we expect them to or as we might want them to. Science that measures things 
rather than people can be more precise. The rate of automobile production, for example, is predictable 
because the assembly line can be standardized and mechanized and thus easily controlled and measured. 
This is what makes efforts to foster social change different, and often more difficult, than types of change 
that involve static, material objects. This difference can be likened to the difference between building a 
bridge and building democracy. 
This means that making predictions or generalizations based on the behavior of Elsa Kotto (or 
any other listener for that matter) is not advisable. However, there are certain types of human behavior, 
in this case behavior of radio listeners, that resemble behavior described in literature on radio listeners 
in different contexts. These “types of behavior” are what I describe in this report. This report 
represents my effort to put the voices of the people I spoke with in Niger and Chad into conversation 
with literature related specifically to communication for social change and also more general theoretical 
and empirical social science literature on human behavior. The aim is to provide a detailed account of 
what listeners do with PDEV radio programming: How it affects them and, in some cases, how it inspires 
them to change and/or become agents of change. Detailed information about how the PDEV radio 
shows are produced and broadcast will follow to help contextualize the radio program content and to 
also illustrate how the PDEV media program design generates interesting outcomes in itself, in particular 
 
35 Paul Davis and Kim Cragin (eds.) Social science for counterterrorism: Putting the pieces together (Santa Monica, 
CA: Rand Corporation, 2009), p. xl. 
18
by fostering “civic culture” by increasing access to information and opportunities for citizens to voice 
their viewpoints and questions in public, mediated form. 
 Writing in the field of Public Health, McLeroy and colleagues have created a typology of 
health promotion interventions that are “community based.” They note that behind the term 
community based” there is a wide variation in what, exactly, is the role of the community. They observe 
that “the term community based often refers to community as the setting for interventions.”1 The 
community-as-setting is a largely geographical definition. This type of intervention occurs in the 
community, but may not be of the community, meaning that the community may have no role in 
implementing the intervention. The next type of intervention described by McLeroy et al. is community￾as-target: “In this model, health status characteristics of the community are the targets of 
interventions.”1 In this instance, community level health indicators, such as the amount of park space per 
capita or the community air quality levels, are targeted for improvement. Here, community is a unit of 
analysis and a target for change. McLeroy and colleagues then describe the final two types of 
intervention, which are community-as-resource, and community-as-agents. 
 The two types of intervention are both rooted in the understanding that “community ownership 
and participation is essential for sustained success” in population-level outcomes.36 McLeroy et al. note 
that interventions that approach the community as agents for change are the least common of the four 
types: 
“Although closely linked to the model just described [community as resource], the
 emphasis in this model is on respecting and reinforcing the natural adaptive, 
 supportive and developmental capacities of communities...These naturally 
 occurring units of solution meet the needs of many, if not most, community 
members without the benefit of direct professional intervention” (emphasis in
 the original).37
McLeroy et al. conclude their article by advocating for inclusion of these “naturally occurring units of 
solution” into social change interventions. Taking this approach requires faith in the community. One has 
to believe that the community has the capacity to act on its own behalf and interventions should be 
designed to make the most of the strengths of the community. By investing in “local production” I 
conclude that PDEV media teams are confident in the ability of radio partners to act as agents of change 
in their communities. I believe that this expanded role for radio partners, to include producer in addition 
to broadcaster, is quite significant. 
Summary of Findings – impact of methodology used 
This concept of community members as “agents” is relevant to the discussion of the design of 
the PDEV Programs as a way of examining the levels and types of participation and democratic 
expression the programs make possible. I believe the PDEV program design facilitates levels and types of 
participation that address several of the projected results submitted to USAID by AED/EA in their 2010 
performance monitoring plan. Rather than a largely passive one-way communications tool, the radio 
programs and associated activities are designed to maximize audience input and interactivity, directly 
resulting in impact that addresses PDEV goals. Specifically, 
Result 2.2: “Expansion of informal and formal social groups for youth” through the 
sustained promotion of organized listening clubs; 
 
36 McLeroy, K., Norton, B., Kegler, M., Burdine, J. & Sumaya, C. (2003) „Community Based Interventions‟,
American Journal of Public Health 93(4): 529-533.
37 McLeroy et. al., „Community based interventions,” p. 530.
19
Result 2.3: “Increased youth civic participation,” through the participation of dozens of 
community reporters and the actions of listeners as will be detailed in the next section of this 
report; 
Result 3.1: “Improved information flow among citizens on peace and tolerance,” 
through the targeted participation of moderate religious authorities and representatives from 
civil society and the government sector on radio programs dedicated to issues of peace and 
tolerance; 
Performance indicator 23: “Number of radio stations producing and broadcasting their 
own programs incorporating PDEV messaging,” through training and support offered to 
“local production” radio partners; and finally
3.2 “Moderate voices strengthened,” through strategic invitations to participate in the new 
religion-themed radio program and ongoing invitations to moderate religious leaders, civil 
society representatives and civil servants to participate as guests on the youth and good 
governance radio programs. 
Clearly, increasing the number of voices in circulation in a democracy is an important objective and the 
PDEV media component is designed to maximize impact in this area. Now I highlight some of those 
voices, the voices of listeners, to share what they are saying and whether this illustrates that PDEV is 
achieving its goals of countering violent extremism. 
Listener accounts 
I now shift to the results of my conversations with listeners in Chad and Niger. I have “curated” 
these stories, meaning that I have selected them from among dozens of interesting accounts. I share the 
narratives that, in my opinion, best illustrate what listeners do with what they learn from PDEV radio 
programs. Another way to state “what they do” with the information is to say “how they have been 
impacted” by PDEV programs. I grouped listener behaviors into five categories, five “types” of action, 
each of which is illustrated with one or more listener accounts: 
1. Listeners engage in group discussion; 
2. Listeners share what they learn from the radio; 
3. Listeners make changes in their lives; 
4. Listeners initiate community action; and, finally (and exceptionally) 
5. Listeners make or influence policy decisions. 
It is important to point out that even the first two stages of the five stages above directly achieves a 
number of PDEV project goals which focus on increased dialogue, beyond that impact is very significant 
as I observed numerous examples of stages three and four and even examples of stage five, changes in 
policy, which is remarkable given the setting and the relatively short time the programs have been 
broadcast. 
I present the accounts of listeners from Chad and Niger together. I could see no benefit to future 
programming to disaggregate what I learned because I see the two programs as having equally 
competent media teams and performing roughly on par with one another. I believe that if the Niger 
model is more “robust” it is because the team in Niger started slightly earlier, has had fewer logistical 
barriers38 and benefits from cultural advantages such as the existence of “Fadas,” informal social groups 
 
38 I experienced a “logistical” barrier first hand when the Chadian President ordered the construction of a new 
road in the capital that “necessitated” the bulldozing of the AED/Equal Access office, including the recording studio 
that had been built by the PDEV project due to avoid the ongoing cost of renting an external studio. The entire 
office was razed within one week of the plans for the road being announced. I was told that this type of decision 
20
for young people that have been easily converted into PDEV listening clubs. The programs may have 
similar designs and different types of outcomes because each program is operating within a different 
cultural, political and economic system. The accounts from both countries are presented together and 
there is a logical progression to the order of presentation. 
I see these accounts as progressing along a continuum, beginning with the discussion of radio 
content with fellow listeners and then discussion with non-listeners (thus widening the circle). Next we 
have listeners acting, creating and organizing themselves. Action is then broadened to include other 
community members. And finally, in the case of one listener who is also a government official, action is 
taken at the policy level. By presenting these listener accounts on a continuum I aim to suggest a 
progression in levels of engagement, from discussion to action, and in scope, from individual to 
collective. I do believe that dialogue has a value unto itself. However, I cannot suggest that generation of 
dialogue is the same type of impact as the impetus to enforce policy. Each type of impact is of value, but 
some types of impact have wider repercussions, and I place these farther along the continuum, toward 
the end of this report. I also discuss one case where the impact of the radio show on the listener was 
limited to provoking reflection, without discussion or action. 
Figure 6: A continuum of engagement 
 By helping listeners to move through a positive path to social change, a clear alternative to the 
drivers to violent extremism (such as feelings of powerlessness, exclusion or humiliation) is created. 
Listeners engage in group discussion 
 While in Mossouro Chad, I listened to PDEV radio programs in group settings on two 
occasions: the first time with community members and a colleague-interpreter, with the express 
intention of following the call-in show, and the second time at the house of a female Community 
Reporter, so that I could observe and experience how women listened to the show as a group.39 Achta 
Abakar is a Moussoro community reporter in her early twenties. She lives with her husband in a house 
that is grouped with six other houses in a compound that shares an interior courtyard. Achta had 
mentioned to me that she listens to the PDEV programs faithfully. She added: “You should come have 
tea and listen with us – we all listen together, outside in the courtyard.” 
 When I arrived I found a courtyard full of women and children. I was invited to sit on a mat was 
served tea as Achta set up the radio in the courtyard. We were joined by several other women and as 
the the first part of the Chabab al Haye broadcast began. The show began with a “magazine,”; two 
presenters speaking with one another, presenting information in the form of a dialogue. Achta translated 
the main points of the program for me as another 4-5 adult women of different ages listened nearby on 
another courtyard mat while tending to their small children. At one point Achta stopped translating and 
made a sign telling me to stop talking. We had entered the drama portion of the program. About 8 
minutes went by in total silence and then suddenly everyone but me and the children burst out laughing 
and then began conversing rapidly all at once. Later Achta explained that the theater part had been 
particularly well done that evening. “And what was the topic?” I asked. “It was about undesired 
pregnancy” she explained. “And it was funny?” I asked in surprise. She replied: “The topic wasn‟t funny 
 
was “typical.” When I commented on the surprising equanimity of Equal Access/Chad Director Zara Yacoub, she 
responded: “Growing up in Chad you are raised to be ready for anything” (and she was). 
39 I listened to the radio shows on many other occasions, either live while being recorded or in the studio with 
PDEV media team staff members. I could follow programs in French but required interpretation when the radio 
programs were in other languages, which was not always available and thus limited my listening ability somewhat. 
21
but the characters were very skillful – and the words they used made us laugh.” I never learned the 
exact content of the drama part of the program but I had seen what it instigated: the program led to 
three generations of women openly discussing a taboo topic – together, and in front of their children. 
Communication for social change scholar Arvind Singhal suggests that dialogue in a group setting can 
increase group members‟ sense of “collective efficacy.” Writing in the context of his own evaluation of 
the impact of radio programs on listeners in India, he writes that “discussions, dialogue, and 
conversations among audience members regarding the content of a media program can clarify doubts, 
overcome inhibitions, and provide a sense of collective efficacy to act.40
Borrowing from the work of theorist Albert Bandura, he defines collective efficacy as: 
“the degree to which individuals in a system believe that they can organize and execute 
courses of action required to achieve collective goals. Collective efficacy helps to promote 
meaningful social change because such change is embedded within a network of social influences…For 
this process to begin people need to believe that they can solve their mutually-experienced problems 
through unified effort.”41
This perspective suggests that group dialogue is a precursor to group action. It is through 
dialogue with others that individuals begin to see that they have the potential to act as a group to effect 
change in their communities. 
 Dialogue on topics relevant to the community, including taboo topics like unplanned pregnancy, 
begin subtly shifting social norms about what can and cannot be discussed in public. Media programs help 
“break taboos” because they can introduce, from afar and over the airwaves, topics that individuals 
normally shy away from. Media programs can also depict types of behavior that can serve as a model to 
listeners. Albert Bandura observes that media programs can help foster the belief in audiences that their 
fate is not pre-determined, that they can affect change in their own lives. He writes: “People must be 
prepared for the obstacles they will encounter by modeling protypic problem situations and effective 
ways of overcoming them.42 Peaceful and tolerant modes of dialogue can also be “modeled” in media 
programs. Of course listeners, as unpredictable human beings, are ultimately in charge of what they do 
with information they hear on the radio. I met one listener, a young man attending high school in 
N‟Djamena, who served as a reminder that all listeners will not react in the “desired” way to media 
content that aims to have persuasive, pro-social effects. This young man spoke up in a large focus group 
meeting with more than twenty individuals to give his opinion on a story line that another listener had 
just mentioned as being particularly relevant to them. 
“I do not agree with that storyline.” He said. “I do not think it is a good idea to send girls to 
school and I told my father this – I told him that I was against him sending my sisters to 
school.” 
This comment elicited several groans and dismissive hand gestures from other members of the group 
(the inevitable downside of focus group discussions, group dynamics). Out of respect for this young 
man‟s right to his own opinion, and mindful of the group dynamic, I continued the discussion without 
probing further for the time-being. When the focus group was over I approached the young man and 
asked him why he believed that girls should not go to school. 
 
40 Singhal, “Riding high on Taru fever,” p. 9.
41 Singhal, “Riding high on Taru fever,” p. 9.
42 Albert Bandura, “Social cognitive theory,” in Arvind Singhal, Michael J. Cody, Everett Rogers and Miguel Sabido 
(Eds.), Entertainment-education and social change: History, research, and practice (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum 
Associates, 2003), p. 81.
22
“Because when girls go to school they get harassed by boys. I do not want my sisters to get 
harassed.” 
This young man‟s comments reflect two things: 1) That communication often fails to overcome 
deeply held beliefs or beliefs instilled through experience or during years of socialization; and 2) 
communication cannot easily address social norms at the structural level, such as the phenomenon of 
girls being disrespected in public, institutional settings. The young man did not explain whether his belief 
resulted from personal experience, from observation or from socialization. He did say that he was a 
faithful listener of the Chabab al Haye youth program. Regarding the Chabab al Haye storyline on the 
value of girls‟ education the listener had clearly reflected on the topic, but expressed that preventing the 
harassment of his sisters was of more importance to him than their attending school The fact that this 
young man liked the show and yet had not changed his opinion is a helpful reminder that communication 
projects can promote thought and discussion and can even changes in attitude and behavior, but cannot 
directly address structural-societal issues such as the public harassment of women and girls. 
23
 
In Birni N‟Konni Niger I learned about another type of group discussion related to PDEV radio 
programs. Amadou Moukaila, President of the “Friends of the Library” listening club, explained that the 
library is the site of regular gatherings for a group of young people that listen to both of the PDEV radio 
Theorizing communication effects
Most researchers who study the agenda-setting effects of mass media agree that while the media may not 
always influence what we think, it can certainly influence what we think about.* As communication 
researchers have moved away from more “direct effect” theories that are associated with research on 
propaganda and referred to as the “hypo-dermic” model or “magic bullet” model of directly influencing 
audiences via mass media,1 the claims about what, exactly, media can achieve have become more 
modest.1 Scholars no longer accept that information can be “injected” wholesale into the minds of a 
passive audience. As early as 1980 a foundational United Nations document commonly referred to as 
“The MacBride Report” criticized “social engineering” attempts “by those who feel responsible for 
shaping societies and human minds.”**
Communication scholar Silvio Waisbord suggests that mass media is now viewed for its ability to raise 
awareness, and ideally, also promote potentially generative discussion. He writes: 
The media are extremely important in raising awareness and knowledge about a given 
problem. They are able to expose large numbers of people to messages and generate 
conversation among audiences and others who were not exposed.***
In his article summarizing decades of scholarship on the use of communication for development, 
Waisbord states that the idea of promoting both mass media and interpersonal channels is a widely￾accepted and recommended practice. A study on radio listeners in the under-resourced Bihar region of 
India similarly concluded that while the state-sponsored radio program disseminated important 
educational messages, the program‟s impact was increased considerably by virtue of the creation of 
multiple “spaces for discussion and dialogue” among listeners.**** The drama segments of each of Equal 
Access‟s radio programs are useful for introducing new ideas and educational content, and when done 
skillfully and in culturally respectful ways, can foster dialogue and group discussions – on even 
controversial topics. There is a vast literature on the use of mass-mediated drama to promote the kinds 
of interpersonal discussion that can eventually lead to sustainable behavior and social change.1 Listening 
to Chabab al Haye at Achta‟s house together with the women in her extended family allowed me witness 
it in action. What the lively discussion in the courtyard may lead to is unknown. But I am certain that had 
they not listened to the radio program, a tri-generational discussion on undesired pregnancy would have 
most likely not taken place. 
* McCombs, Maxwell and Shaw, Donald. “The agenda-setting function of mass media.” In David Protess 
and Maxwell McCombs (eds.) Agenda setting: Readings on media, public opinion and policymaking. (Hillsdale, 
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1991), p. 18. 
** For a helpful summary of the evolution of this thinking see Bineham, Jeffrey L. “A historical account of 
the hypodermic model in mass communication.” Communication Monographs 55 (1988): pp. 230-246.
***Joseph Klapper makes an early argument along these lines. See Klapper, Joseph. The effects of mass 
communication. (Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1960).
***The MacBride report takes its name from Sean MacBride, president of the 15-member “International 
commission for the study of communication problems.” The official citation is: Many voices, one world: 
Towards a new, more just and more efficient world information and communication order (New York, 
UNESCO: 1980), p. 86. 
****Waisbord, Silvio. “Five key ideas: coincidences and challenges in development communication.” In 
Oscar Hemer and Thomas Tufte (eds.) Media and glocal change: Rethinking communication for development.
(Buenos Aires: CLASCO, 2005), p. 81.
24
programs, Hantsi and Gwadaben Matassa. “Some of us listen here in the library, but most listen at home 
and then we meet here and hold discussions about various themes.” “And are the discussions always 
about the show?” I asked Amadou. 
 
“Yes, for the most part. But sometimes we invite guest speakers to provide additional 
 information about the topic from the show. Recently we had a meeting about youth 
 participation in the political process. The main topic of discussion was about how many 
 politicians call on young people to help them during the election period but then they forget 
about us after the election is over.”
“And were any politicians invited to the discussion?” I asked. 
 
“No. It‟s hard for us young people to speak to them [politicians] directly. For now we are 
discussing amongst ourselves, talking about how get more involved.”
 
Amadou described to me the Gwadaben Matassa episode about youth and political participation that he 
had listened to and discussed with his club. According to Amadou, the listening club members are still in 
the discussion stage, but there is consensus that they want to become more active. 
The “stages of change” theory, sometimes referred to as the “transtheoretical model” 
developed by Proschaska and DiClemente posits that behavior change is a process rather than an event.
43 Proschaska and DiClemente‟s model suggests that communicators should endeavor to move 
individuals along a “continuum of change” which begins with pre-contemplation, when the individual is not 
even considering change, then contemplation, preparation and finally action (the desired behavior 
change).44 The stages of change theory offers an alternative to out-of-favor media effects theories that 
posited a “magic bullet” immediate and direct effect on individual behavior. We can plot Amadou and 
the other listening club members along the continuum by stating that they are somewhere between the 
contemplation and preparation stages. Because of existing hierarchies in the structure of political parties 
in Niger (and in many countries in the world) it is not evident that Amadou and his peers will be able to 
participate in the political process as they hope. Attempting participation is still a form of action. If they 
move to that stage, the radio program on youth participation will be partially responsible. As things 
stand now, the radio program has served as a catalyst for discussion and preparation, which are pre￾cursors to action. 
 
43 Prochaska James, and DiClemente Carlo. The transtheoretical approach: crossing traditional boundaries of 
therapy.(Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin; 1984). 
44 Some versions of the stages of change model include a fifth stage, maintenance, which occurs when there is no 
relapse and the desired behavior change is maintained. For an easily accessible summary of this theory see the 
National Cancer Institute‟s online publication: “Theory at a glance: A guide for health promotion practice, p. 15. 
http://www.cancer.gov/PDF/481f5d53-63df-41bc-bfaf-5aa48ee1da4d/TAAG3.pdf
25
 
Figure 7: The library in Birni N’Konni Niger: A listening club gathering place
Listeners share what they learn from the radio 
 As previously noted by Waisbord, mass media have the ability to “generate conversation among 
audiences and others who were not exposed” (emphasis added).45 I learned from three listeners in 
N‟Djamena Chad that listening to PDEV radio shows led to important conversations with non-listeners 
– conversations they hoped would change lives. High school student Oumar Sanda is confident that he 
changed the life of his female cousin when he used information gained from an PDEV radio show to 
convince her father that she was too young to be married. 
“My uncle wanted to give my cousin in marriage to his friend – and she is 14 and he is 42. He 
began preparing the marriage. He talked to us, me and my brother, about his plans. And I 
told him: „No, my uncle…that‟s not normal. Your daughter is going to have to stop 
studying…and the man already has one wife. Your daughter is not mature yet – she is only 14.‟ I 
told my uncle that his daughter was also risking her health – because she is too young, and 
her body may not support having a child. She may get the…how do you say in 
French…Vestive…Vestule?”
“Fistule?” I asked (fistula). 
“Right. La fistule. And my family listened to me. I told them about how I had heard on the radio, 
the PDEV program, they talked about early marriage, and they talked about letting the child 
mature before getting married so that she doesn‟t have problems…and about how girls should 
finish school. 
“Which program was it?” I asked. 
“It was Dabalaye, tribune positif” (tribune positif – positive foundation in English – is a tag line 
of the radio program).46 When I shared what I learned with the program they understood the physical 
difficulties the girl can have [in childbirth]…and that is where I learned about fistula. And I told my 
Uncle what I heard. My mother supported me. And the marriage was cancelled. Everyone supported 
 
45 Waisbord,“Five key ideas,” p. 81. 
46 I confirmed that this was the Dabalye tag line by consulting a script. I reviewed the script for Dabalaye show 
number 39 titled: “Le PDEV: Halte a la violence et a l‟intolérance, oui pour le développement.”
26
me [in my discussion with my uncle]. My big brother also supported me. And he listens to the 
program too.” 
Oumar explained that his female cousin, Mariam, was still living at home, continuing her studies. His 
successful intervention against the marriage of his young cousin echoes findings reported in an evaluation 
of Taru, the Entertainment Education radio drama that was referenced earlier in this report (p. 10). The 
evaluation cites the case of Shailendra Singh, a rural medical practitioner who intervened to stop a child 
marriage in his village after hearing a storyline on that topic in the radio drama. The exact details of the 
fictional stories broadcast in Chad and India undoubtedly differed, but raising the issue on the airwaves 
led to similar and important outcomes in both countries. The challenge is having the time and human 
resources to “track down” these impact stories. For every Oumar or Shailendra Singh evaluators are 
able to interview how many listeners with impact narratives are not accessed? 
Sitting next to Oumar was Abakar Adoum, another Dabalaye listener. I had met Oumar and 
Abakar the previous day at a large meeting with 24 listeners when I held a large focus group discussion 
about the radio programs. Each listener had been called to attend using the phone number they 
provided when they sent a text message to the PDEV phone lines dedicated to gathering listener 
feedback on Dabalaye and Chabab al Haye. I had asked Abakar to the follow up meeting because of 
something he had said at the larger meeting about listening to the program with his father. I asked 
Abakar to give me more detail on why and how he listened to the program. 
“The drama parts – I really like them. They help raise awareness. And the program gives a lot of 
good arguments. I wanted my dad to listen to the program with me so I bought him batteries 
[for his radio] so we could listen together. One day I said „Listen Dad [to the program]. People 
are evolving. My dad said they should play the program more often – like 4-5 times a day.” 
I asked Abakar why he wanted his father to listen to the program. He said his father refuses to let him 
marry outside of his ethnicity. He wanted his father to hear more tolerant, more “evolved” ideas. He 
thought that listening to Dabalaye would expose him to these ideas. 
Abakar‟s account interested me because of his deliberate use of the radio program to try to 
persuade his father to be more tolerant. To ensure that his father would listen he bought batteries for 
the radio and asked his father to listen along with him. Luckily for Abakar his father liked the program. 
Will his father continue listening? Will he eventually allow Abakar to marry outside of his ethnicity? 
These questions were not answered during my stay in Chad. However, there is evidence in literature on 
youth and community development to suggest that once young people have a positive experience 
communicating and being heard by adults, they are more likely to continue that practice. Shelden Zeldin, 
a professor of human development, writes: 
 When youth have the opportunity to engage with peers and friends in a structured and safe 
environment, receive safe emotional support from adults and experience a sense of community, 
they are more likely to remain engaged and report positive outcomes.47 
Abakar did not express that he received “emotional support” from his father after listening to the radio 
program with him but the fact that his father liked the program and was willing to listen with his son is 
encouraging. A listener I had spoken with before meeting Abakar shared with me that in Chad, “most 
people feel that if something is on the radio, it must be true.” Abakar seems to be hoping that his father 
will share this sentiment. Regardless of the subsequent actions or attitude of Abakar‟s father, his account 
helps us understand how and why he made use of and shared the information he learned about in the 
program. The unpredictable nature of human behavior and motivation means that other listeners might 
 
47 Sheperd Zeldin, “Youth as agents of adult and community development: Mapping the processes and outcomes of 
youth engaged in organizational governance,” Applied Developmental Science 8:2 (2004); 76. 
27
make different (or no) use of the same information. Abakar‟s account cannot demonstrate what is 
probable but it can show what the radio show makes possible. 
 Another listener from the large focus group that I sought out for a follow up meeting was 
Ahmat Adoum Mahamat, a young man in his early twenties. Ahmat caught my attention in the focus 
group when he shared that he had written and memorized a poem about AIDS based on information he 
learned from an episode of Chabab al Haye. I had asked the group: “Do you think that radio programs 
can affect the way people think and behave?” Many people responded yes but were not able to provide 
personal examples. “What about first person examples?” I asked the group. Ahmat raised his hand and 
mentioned his poem. He then recited the poem in Arabic for the other focus group members. 
 At the follow up meeting I asked him why he had written the poem. He responded as follows: 
“My parents live in Bangui [Central Africa]. When I lived there with them I was a peer educator 
with Unicef. I tried to do something like that here [in N‟Djamena Chad] but I had no success. I 
heard the information about Aids on the radio, on Chabab al Haye. I wanted to share the 
information with my friends – because they don‟t listen to the radio and they don‟t understand 
anything about Aids. So I wrote the poem and then I recited it to many of them. I have it 
memorized.” 
Ahmat‟s poem is mostly a cautionary tale about the dangers of Aids. It does not relate specific 
information about modes of transmission, but it stresses that Aids can affect anyone and was designed 
to raise awareness among his friends. 
 
Where do you come from Aids? 
 You make the world suffer 
 You evolve without obstacle 
 You are without nationality, without pity. 
 You kill rich and you kill poor 
You aren‟t black or white or yellow
 You hit men, women and children. 
 Aids, the entire world is fighting against you, your end is near. 
At the end of my interview with Ahmat I asked him what plans he had for his life. “I want to be a 
doctor,” he replied. He is already a health educator, I thought to myself, despite the fact that no one has 
hired or trained him to be. He used what was available, which is information from the radio, and he 
converted it to poetry and started spreading the message, one friend at a time. In this sense, Ahmat is 
not a passive consumer of mass media, nor did the radio inspire him to do something totally new. 
Listening to the Chabab al Haye episode on Aids gave him the information, and perhaps motivation, 
needed to return to his peer educator role. 
 Ousman, Abakar and Ahmat all shared information they got from PDEV programs with family 
and friends. Ousman strategically shared his new knowledge of fistula to persuade his uncle not to marry 
his 14 year-old daughter. Ahmat esteemed that his friends who didn‟t listen to the radio needed to learn 
about the dangers of Aids and so he re-packaged the information and shared it with any friend that 
would listen. Abakar‟s case is a bit different. He thought the information he heard on Dabalaye about 
peace and tolerance between different ethnicities was important and rather than trying to convince his 
father he had his father listen to the radio with him, in hopes that the tolerance messages would 
continue and that his father would change his views. 
 Communication theorists have studied what audiences do with information from mass media, 
what “uses and gratifications” their experience with mass media provides. In an article titled “Uses of 
mass communication by the individual,” Katz et al. writes: 
 
28
Compared with classical effects studies, the uses-and-gratifications approach takes the media 
consumer rather than the media message as its starting point, and explores his communication 
behavior in terms of his direct experience with the media. It views the members of the audience as 
actively utilizing media contents, rather than being passively acted upon by the media.48 
This view of an active audience making use of mass mediated information is aligned with the accounts of 
Ousman, Abakar and Ahmat. Each young man made use information he heard on a PDEV radio program. 
The information found most “useful” in the cases they described was different for each of them. The
implication of this is that there is no “one size fits all” approach to using mass media for social change. A 
program focusing solely on health may have taught Ousman about fistula and helped Ahmat fine tune his 
poem on AIDS but it would not have helped Abakar in his efforts to persuade his father to be tolerant 
of other ethnicities. Presuming a diverse audience with diverse needs and potential uses for mass 
mediated information allows producers of media to inspire a wide range of behaviors. Communication 
theory can help explain these behaviors but not predict them. To predict one would have to be familiar 
with the needs and aims of all audience members, an impossible task. 
 Figure 8: Ahmat Adoum Mahamat with his poem about AIDS
 
48 Katz, Elihu, Blumler, Jay and Gurevitch, Michael. “Uses of mass communication by the individual,” in Walter P. 
Davison and Frederick Yu (eds) Mass communication research: Major issues and future directions New York Praeger, 
1974), p. 12. 
29
Listeners make changes in their lives 
 Communication theories claiming that direct and immediate behavior change effects can result 
from mass media interventions have mostly fallen from favor. Yet, there are nonetheless cases when 
mass media have indeed had instant and profound effects on individuals. Returning to the “stages of 
change” continuum, there are cases of individuals moving from pre-contemplation (not considering a 
change) directly to action when they hear a message they find exceptionally persuasive. For instance, I 
spoke with three individuals in two different cities in Niger who said they stopped using drugs after 
listening to an episode of the PDEV program Gwadaben Matassa. That particular radio program featured 
an interview by a community reporter of a registered nurse who outlined the harmful effects drugs can 
have on the human body. A young man named Ali in Magaria, a small town bordering Nigeria in south￾east Niger said all his friends called him “the Jamaican,”49 because he was known for using drugs. He said 
he once regularly took “Tramol” a term that likely refers to “Tramadol,” a pain-killer in pill form that is 
inexpensive and readily available according to several young people I spoke with in Niger.50 My 
conversation with Ali went as follows: 
“So you were taking Tramol?”
“Yes.”
“But you knew it was bad for you?”
“Yes.”
“And your parents and your friends had urged you to stop?”
“Yes.”
“So what is it about the radio episode that made you stop?” I asked. 
He responded at length: 
 
“My parents and my friends had already asked me to stop and I had refused. One day I had 
taken the drug and I was lying down, listening to Gwadaben Matassa about the consequences of taking 
drugs. On the show they talked about consequences like liver disease and that people can become 
crazy from taking drugs, and it made me really think…I thought a lot about it, and about what my 
parents and friends had already told me, and I thought maybe they are right and I should 
stop. So I stopped. And you know that people here call me “Ali the Jamaican” because everyone 
here knows that Jamaica is a country with drugs. Now that I have abandoned drugs and alcohol I 
feel good and in shape – like I‟ve re-entered the world…and I now run a business and I‟m back in 
my community and I‟m proud of having stopped. There are a lot of friends who stopped taking 
drugs after listening to that show – I can‟t even count how many because they are very 
numerous.” 
 Aristotle has written extensively on the art of crafting persuasive arguments. In his classic work 
On Rhetoric he identifies three “modes of persuasion” that can be applied to any subject. Artistotle‟s 
persuasion triad is comprised of Ethos, the character and expertise of the speaker, Logos, the logical 
argument being made, and Pathos, the appeal to the public‟s emotions.51 Ali‟s family and friends had made 
emotional appeals, imploring him to stop taking drugs, which had no effect. When a medical professional 
discussed the biological, physical and mental consequences of drug abuse on the radio Ali decided 
 
49 Ali‟s story, in short form, is recounted in the Equal Access document “Synthèse des Focus Group Discussion 
(FGD) à Maradi, Zinder, Agadez et Tahoua du 12 au 28 Octobre 2009, p. 13. I followed up with Ali in order to 
learn why, exactly, the radio emission caused him to stop taking drugs. 
50 I am not 100% certain that “tramol” is the same as Tramidol, but I am certain that it is readily available as I was 
told this repeatedly and heard a road-side coffee seller offering to put it in the coffee of one of his clients for a 
minimal extra charge. 
51 Aristotle, On rhetoric: A theory of civic discourse (New York: Oxford Univesity Press, 1991), pp. 37-38. 
30
immediately to stop. The combination of a credible medical source (ethos) and an evidence-based 
argument (logos) led to Ali‟s behavior change. Two additional young men from Aguie, a nearby town 
with several listening clubs told similar stories; each cited the intervention of the medical professional 
and the detailed description of the drug‟s harmful effects on the body as the main motivation for 
quitting. Yahaya Dan Bawa, from Aguie, stated: 
“Others tell you and you don‟t listen. But when you hear the information on the radio, and you 
hear about the medical problems you can have, you start worrying and thinking „what if that happens to 
me?‟”
Nodding in agreement next to Yahaya stood Maman Moutari, a member of Yahaya‟s listening club. He 
explained that his case was the same. He heard the program and decided to stop taking drugs. In my 
experience, such cases of immediate behavior change are quite rare. I felt compelled to ask Maman a 
follow up question: “And you weren‟t already considering stopping?” He replied: “Everyone had told me 
to stop and I refused. It was hearing the medical consequences that convinced me.”
Theories such as the “hypodermic needle” model or “magic bullet” arguing that mass media can 
cause direct causal effects on audience members may have fallen out of favor and yet may still have their 
tenets supported by direct empirical evidence. Ali, Yahaya and Maman are three examples of such 
evidence. Each abandoned Tramol after hearing an episode of Gwadaben Matassa on the medical 
consequences of the drug. The similarity in their stories about the impact of learning about medical 
consequences from a medical professional suggest that while some radio listeners may be moved by 
emotion-inducing drama, other listeners are more effectively persuaded with the expertise of “real life” 
professionals. Dozens of conversations with young people in Niger and Chad convinced me that 
listeners are eager for “conseilles” (advice) and information. With more than a year of broadcasts “in 
the can,” Equal Access has established the credibility required to provide advice and information on a 
wide range of educational topics. 
 The narratives of Ali, Maman and Yahaya demonstrate that radio show content can lead to 
direct, individual-level change. This next illustration demonstrates the radio show‟s capacity to inspire 
collective action. This next narrative also shows that it is very difficult to predict what parts of a 
storyline will inspire a listener. 
Listeners initiate community action 
Abdoulahi Aboubacar is the President of the listening club “Fada Lumière Couture” in Illela, 
Niger. Inspired by an episode of Gwadaben Matassa, his listening club took the initiative to organize a 
clean up on the streets of the town. Abdoulahi explained how the idea came about: 
 
“In the drama part of one of the episodes of Gwadaben Matassa there was a character who 
was a donut seller. One of the donut seller‟s clients told her that he didn‟t want to buy her donuts 
because her stand was just in front of a ditch filled with trash. The donut seller told the client 
„The ditch is not my responsibility – it is the Mayor‟s responsibility.‟ 
When we heard that episode we began talking about how in our city the Mayor has been 
doing a lot to clean up the city, including the ditches (les canevaux). We said amongst ourselves: 
„Why not help out the Mayor in the cleaning effort?‟
Abdoulahi explained how he and his fellow listening club members paid to have an 
announcement read on the radio inviting other citizens to help with the planned clean up. 
Neighborhood leaders and residents participated, each contributing what they could, whether labor, 
materials or cold water. The Mayor gave a wheelbarrow to Abdoulahi‟s listening club and another local 
political leader (Chef de Canton) joined the club on the clean-up day and helped out by sweeping. 
Aboudalahi explained that not everyone understood their actions. “One person said to me „You are a 
tailor, why are you cleaning the streets?‟ But I think that it is important to lead by example. Others may 
31
join in, or be inspired do something else.” This case demonstrates that even “negative modeling” (or the 
absence of action) in a storyline can lead to action. The story of the donut seller was not a direct 
message to go out and organize a clean-up, but it did get Abdoulahi thinking about the importance of 
sanitation. 
 The clean-up initiative of the club continues to have impact. The listening club has included a 
clean-up day for their immediate neighborhood in their weekly activities. Their example also had policy 
implications. The Mayor of Illela told Abdoulahi that he was inspired by their clean up day and thus had 
instituted a 4000 cfa fine (about 8 USD) for littering or throwing trash in the ditches. According to 
Abdoulahi, the Mayor now regularly invites listening club members to participate in community actions 
that are sponsored by the city or by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The collaboration 
between Abdoulahi‟s listening club and the Mayor, and their collaboration with the local Marabout 
(which I will describe shortly) are exemplify on a small scale a PDEV program result which is “increased 
collaboration of public, private, and civil society sectors” (result 1.2), and increased youth civic 
participation (result 2.3).52
 Writing on the role of youth as agents in community development, Zeldin has noted that 
participation is a means for youth to “gain respect, a sense of belonging and importance.”53 In addition, 
youth engagement in the community can lead to “positive changes in personal identity and efficacy,” and 
increases in community connections.54 The perception of self-as-change-agent is amplified, Zeldin noes, 
when youth completed tasks in collaboration with powerful adults.”55 By initiating the local clean up, the 
Illela listening club set an example. By inviting others to join them, including “powerful” adults like the 
mayor, their prestige grows by association. 
 The sequence of events in Illela also demonstrates how acts of social change are unpredictable. 
In this instance, the PDEV radio show, together with the Mayor‟s ongoing initiatives in Illela, jointly 
inspired the listening club to initiate the clean-up effort. Several community members, including high 
profile local leaders, joined the club-led action which, in turn, led to the Mayor instituting a new fine for 
littering and resulted in him seeking the contribution of listening club members in additional community 
actions. This chain of events is not only unpredictable but also non-replicable. The chances of the exact 
confluence of circumstances repeating in another time or place are minimal. What is exciting, however, 
is the idea that new versions of social change may be set off in similar circumstances. Westley, 
Zimmerman and Patton, professionals working in program design and evaluation, recommend openness 
to unplanned-for, emergent outcomes when assessing an intervention. “The narrow goal orientation of 
much traditional evaluation,” they write, “can result in missing important unanticipated outcomes.”56 
They argue that innovative program designs require: 
 
Evaluating short-term desired outcomes (how and where are we making progress?) while 
also rigorously watching out for unanticipated consequences, unpredicted (and unpredictable) side 
effects, spinoffs and ripples emanating from interventions (what is happening around and beyond 
our hoped-for results?).57 
 
Tracking down the “ripples” of an intervention is a task well-suited to in-depth, ethnographic methods 
involving open-ended questions rather than fixed-choice scales, as would be found on a survey. In the 
 
52 PDEV Performance monitoring plan (PMP) approved by USAID June 2010. 
53 Sheperd Zeldin, “Youth as agents of adult and community development: Mapping the processes and outcomes of 
youth engaged in organizational governance,” Applied Developmental Science 8:2 (2004); pp. 80-81. 
54 Zeldin, “Youth as agents,” pp. 81-82. 
55 Zeldin, “Youth as agents,” p. 82.
56 Francis Westley, Brenda Zimmerman, and Michael Quinn Patton, Getting to maybe: How the world is changed. 
(Toronto, Canada: Vintage, 2006), p. 238. 
57 Westley, Zimmerman and Patton. Getting to maybe, p. 238. 
32
case of Abdoulahi, I used open-ended questions to query him at length about his club‟s clean-up 
initiative. He had already sent photos of the event to PDEV media team in Niamey and thus they were 
aware that it had happened. I wanted to know more about how it came about and what “ripples” it may 
have caused. 
 Figure 9: A photo sent to PDEV by Abdoulahi’s listening club in Illela Niger
 I learned from Abdoulahi that an additional unpredictable outcome of the listening club‟s clean￾up action in Illela was the formation of new relationships. Abdoulahi mentioned this when I asked him if 
anything new had come about after the clean-up event. 
 
“Because of it [the clean-up efforts], the club was very visible in the community. One day a 
Marabout‟s (religious leader) came to see us. He said he had seen us listening to the radio as a 
group and asked us about the radio programs.”
Aboulahi went on to explain how the listening club solidified their new relationships with the 
Marabout when a club member financed materials and other members donated their labor to make 
needed repairs at the Marabout‟s mosque. I was intrigued by Abdoulahi‟s account of this new 
relationship and collaboration. With one community action, the listening group had succeeded in 
forming relationships with two prestigious sectors in Illela; local government and a local religious 
authority. Interested in learning more about the club‟s ability to build new relationships, I asked 
Abdoulahi to put me in touch with Malam Saadou Assoumane, the Marabout he had spoken about. It 
was understandable that the young men and women of the listening club were proud to have been 
approached by a respected religious leader.58 To complete the picture, I wanted to learn how the 
Marabout saw this new relationship. 
 
58 In a Community Youth Mapping (CYM) exercise led by Nigerien youth, more than 80% (average) of the young 
people surveyed said they felt their opinions were not taken into account. Relationships with respected elders can 
represent, for young people, a step toward gaining community respect. See «Restitution de la cartographie 
33
 Malam Saadou Assoumane is a religious leader (or “Marabout,” the term Abdoulahi used, which 
is commonly used in Niger) who presides over daily prayers in a local mosque in Illela. Malam explained 
that every Saturday he gathers with other local religious leaders to discuss the Koran and, in particular, 
issues of peace and tolerance as taught in the Koran. When I asked Malam what he thought about his 
relationship with Abdoulahi and the other members of the listening club, he responded at length: 
 
“In the Arab countries where people are killing themselves, with the “kamakazis” that is not 
true Islam. Islam never said to do any of that. Islam promotes peace through the words of the 
Prophet. And when Abdoulahi puts on his radio, there are often people near the mosque 
waiting for the call to prayer and we can all hear the radio. I realized that the shows he listens to 
on the radio are preaching the same thing I am.” 
“How So?” I asked
“Religion recommends peace and tolerance and the radio show does too. It is like the radio is 
doing our job. I told Abdoulahi, „I am also interested in what the radio is saying. We can listen 
and evolve together.‟ Nowhere in the Koran does it say that we should promote violence. Religious 
leaders should promote peace –that is our duty. But we do not have the capacity to diffuse the 
message as far – but the radio lightens our load because it can speak in a loud voice and the radio has 
a long reach.” 
Malam went on to explain that with the help of Abdoulahi and his listening club, they had 
renovated the neighborhood mosque. Malam also mentioned that he had begun meeting regularly with 
six other religious leaders to listen to the show with them. 
He said: 
“The shows Hantsi and Gwadaben, they are very pertinent during the vacation periods because 
young people listen and they can do activities. For young people who are not employed, it gives them 
something to do.” 
“Do you have any suggestions for the producers of the show?” I asked, as our conversation was 
wrapping up. 
“Keep stressing peace in the shows. Even peace within the family, with the wife and children, the 
need to treat one another always with respect. And I think the shows should be re-diffused 
again and again. People are listening here in Illela.”
Malam was not the first person to have suggested re-diffusing the radio programs. Whether due 
to the quality of the programs or a dearth of mass media options (or both), many listeners expressed a 
strong desire to hear the shows more often. Given the nature of Malam‟s comments about the 
complementary nature of PDEV radio programs and his work as a religious leader I am confident that 
the addition of a new radio show featuring religion-related topics will be a welcome addition. 
I learned of a second example of listeners initiating community action in Tessaoua, a city about 
500km from Niamey, Niger‟s capital. I found this example particularly encouraging because it involves 
young people creating a government-recognized organization dedicated to development in the 
 
communautaire par les jeunes dan la communauté de Niamey, » PDEV-Niger, AED/USAID : (2009), p. 19, Tableau 
3. 
34
community. This example also highlights the importance of the listening clubs as a springboard to 
community involvement. 
The President of “Listening Club Zamani Z Gwadaben” in Tessaoua is a young man named 
Oumarou Ibrahim, who goes by the nickname “Coach.” The Zamani Z club has 15 members, 11 men 
and 4 women, ranging in age from 18 to 30 years old. I met Oumarou along with the Presidents of two 
other listening clubs at the studio/offices of Radio Tarmamua, PDEV‟s community radio partner in 
Tessaoua. I asked each of the Presidents if they recalled specific episodes of Hantsi or Gwadaben that 
they had found particularly relevant and/or interesting. Oumarou said that he had been greatly 
influenced by a Gwadaben Matassa episode on young people and participation in the democratic 
process. He then opened a folder that he had brought with him and handed me a set of documents. He 
explained: 
“These are the official by-laws of our organization. We had our listening club formally 
 registered with the city. We have teachers in our club, and so we have begun giving literacy 
classes to primary school students in their homes.”
Article 5 of the club‟s by-laws listed their objectives. I copied down several of them and list them here: 
1. Engage in activities that support socio-economic and cultural development with the aim of 
fighting against poverty. 
2. Develop a training program on literacy for community members. 
3. Put in place a clean-up program. 
4. Implement awareness campaigns. 
I asked Oumarou why the listening club decided to offer classes and plan other activities. He 
responded: “The radio program is a contribution. We also wanted to contribute. We organized 
[formally] because we thought that if we believe in change we should start with ourselves.” I asked 
Oumarou and the other club Presidents what suggestions they had for PDEV headquarters in Niamey. 
Oumarou said that financial support for the listening clubs would be welcome. “We have a lot of 
activities we want to implement – like a clean-up.” I shared with the Presidents how Abdoulahi and his 
club received a wheel-barrow from the Mayor and volunteers from within the community. I did not say 
it directly to Oumarou but I was hoping to plant the seed that Club Zamini Z had everything they 
needed, in their own community, to continue their activities. Judging from the literacy classes they are 
currently offering, I am believe that they already know this. 
Yet Oumarou‟s suggestion resonates with comments I heard repeatedly while speaking with 
listeners in Niger, most of whom were members of Hantsi or Gwadaben listening clubs. One listening 
club Presidents in Aguie, for example, said that his club wanted financial support to travel to neighboring 
villages to conduct “awareness caravans,” sharing the content of the Equal Access radio programs with 
those outside the broadcast zone of the local community radio station. This comment illustrates the 
desire of the listening club members to become more involved in their community. It also demonstrates 
their awareness that the radio broadcast, which they clearly view as an asset, does not reach some of 
the surrounding communities and they want to help bring the content to them. 
A listening club president in Zinder also expressed a desire for additional activities. He said he 
would like to get together with other listening club Presidents and members in the region, and he 
expressed that PDEV support would help facilitate that. The members of listening club “Katanga Hantsi” 
in Agadez reported that they hold regular discussions with other community members about topics like 
35
forced marriage and also go door to door to try to raise awareness about keeping the neighborhood 
clean and the importance of education for children.59 
 Figure 10: Listening Club President with the official club by-laws 
 On my trip to the regions outside of the capital, I was accompanied by Lawan Boukar, a newly 
hired “Listening Club Coordinator” who had been a community reporter in Zinder.60 Each time we met 
with listening club Presidents and members Lawan explained that PDEV was planning to provide small 
portable radios and a supply of batteries to each club. I suspect that the clubs that have already begun 
organizing activities know they can be self sufficient but I believe that formal recognition, validation and 
support would encourage them greatly. For those young people who are unemployed and yet eager to 
contribute to their communities, financial support would allow them to participate without having to use 
their own meager funds to pay for bus fare or materials. 
 The involvement of young people in their communities represents a shift in their role from 
passive listeners to active promoter of change. In Change: Principles of problem formation and problem 
resolution, Watzlawick et al. distinguish between “first-order change” which they state „occurs within the 
given system which itself remains unchanged‟ and “second-order change” which occurs when the system 
itself changes.61 Both Abdoulahi in Illela and Oumarou in Tessaoua changed the systems in their 
communities when, as young people, they were recognized as agents of change, a role normally reserved 
for authority figures. By challenging the established norms about who can initiate (not just implement) 
civic action, the listening clubs of Abdoulahi and Oumarou modeled a new level of engagement, and 
 
59 This interview was conducted by phone (in Haoussa) by Lawan Boukar. I was unable to travel to Agadez due to 
logistical problems (heavy rains on the road and also security issues). 
60 Lawan was the community reporter who interviewed the nurse about the harmful effects of drug use. He 
provided information that was very helpful when speaking with the former “Tramol” users who had been affected 
by that Gwadaben Matassa episode. 
61 Paul Watzlawick, John Weakland and Robert Fisch, Richard. Change: Principles of problem formation and problem 
resolution (New York: W.W. Norton, 1974), p. 11
36
offered what Singhal et al. describe as “a new story” about how change happens, a story that may inspire 
others, leading to amplification through adaptation and emulation.62 
 The initiative taken by the young listening club members in Illela and Tessaoua signals their 
ability to shift from being targets for social change to agents and initiators of social change.63 That the 
community members involved are unpaid youths who hold no position of authority makes their actions 
even more extraordinary. Also noteworthy is that the phenomenon of youth becoming agents of 
change, acting collectively to contribute to the well-being of their community helps to counter several 
potential drivers of violent extremism such as “boredom and idleness,”64 “social exclusion”65 and a lack 
of positive social networks.66 Noted communication theorist Manuel Castells describes social exclusion 
as a process rather than a condition.67 As such, social exclusion is reversible, and it can be addressed by 
the strategic use of communication. Social exclusion, Castells suggests, is a phenomenon in which 
individuals 
“…are bypassed by flows of wealth and information and ultimately deprived of the basic 
 technological infrastructure that allows [them] to communicate, innovate, produce, 
 consume and even live in today‟s world.”68 
While inequalities in “flows of wealth” are very difficult to address, flows in communication are less so. 
Given the description of social exclusion provided by Castells, augmenting opportunities for individuals 
and groups to communicate, innovate and produce are particularly worthy. As Nobel Prize-winning 
author Amartya Sen has suggested, there are many identities that are “relevant for a person‟s self 
understanding,” and to the extent that a person‟s identity as a citizen engaged in “responsible political 
action” can be fostered, the chances of these active citizens being recruited for violent or illicit activities 
is decreased.69
Put in PDEV project terms the initiative of the like the Illella listening club represents an increase 
in the number of young people participating in civic activities (result 2.3, # 16). Further, the visible 
nature of their civic activities, cleaning the city in plain view of all citizens, is likely to increased the 
number of citizens stating youth groups make positive contributions to society (Result 2.2, #15).70
Listeners make policy decisions 
An individual I interviewed who had been a guest on “Dabalaye,” the radio show about good 
governance produced by PDEV Chad, turned out to be a listener – a listener powerful enough to affect 
government policy. Hamai Makore heads what used to be known as the “Moralization” office, an office 
within a branch of government now called the “Ministry of public hygiene and the promotion of good 
governance.” He described his role as that of an “ethics overseer,” someone charged with monitoring 
government transparency and the utilization of public funds and equipment. Makore said that an 
important part of his job was communicating with the public, for which he relied upon mass media 
 
62 Singhal, Arvind, Rao, Nagesh, and Pant, Saumya Entertainment-Education and Possibilities for Second-Order Social 
Change Journal of Creative Communications 1; (2006): 272-274. 
63 Here I am adapting terminology used by McLeroy et al. in their article "Community-based interventions," 
American Journal of Public Health 93.4 (2003), p. 530. 
64 USAID, “Guide to the drivers of violent extremism,” pp. v, 23, 38. 
65 USAID, “Guide to the drivers of violent extremism,” p. 22
66 RAND, Social science for counterterrorism,” p. 312
67 Manuel Castells “The rise of the fourth world,” in David Held and Anthony McGrew (eds.), The global 
transformations readers: An introduction to the globalization debate, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000), p. 350 
68 Manuel Castells “The rise of the fourth world,” p. 350
69 Amartya Sen, Identity and violence: The illusion of destiny (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2006), pp. 168, 83 
70 AED PDEV Performance monitoring plan (PMP) submitted to USAID April 26, 2010.
37
outlets – radio and television primarily (internet penetration in Chad is less than 2%).71 He confirmed 
what I had been told in the Equal Access office by a producer, which was that he had been invited to 
appear on Dabalaye to discuss proper and improper use of state vehicles.72 “And what was the result of 
your appearance on the show?” I asked. 
“Speaking on the PDEV show was a big help. It had a big impact on our mission because of the 
quantity and diversity of listeners we were able to reach. We have a big problem here in Chad 
with people mis-using state vehicles. You can see cars parked in front of bars or state-owned 
trucks filled with wood that people have purchased for their own use. Some state workers use 
the vehicles in ways they shouldn‟t during work hours. And as civil servants it‟s not dignified 
from a moral standpoint. Three years ago our office instituted a policy prohibiting the use of 
state vehicles for transporting wood or coal and also from parking in front of bars during office 
hours. When the [PDEV] show on the use of public goods aired with my interview on the use of 
state vehicles we started enforcing the policy that had been dormant. The Minister sent out a 
memo and held a big press conference announcing that people needed to be aware that the 
policy was now going to be applied in earnest.” 
“And what happened when the policy began being enforced?” I asked
“The police started towing cars that weren‟t being used properly – it didn‟t matter if it was a 
Minister‟s car. If the car was misused they took it away from that person and gave it to another 
service. We had a big awareness campaign and involved opinion leaders from different sectors –
neighborhood chiefs, Sultans, Imams, and so on. And many of my acquaintances called me to tell 
me that they heard me on the radio and that they were in agreement with what we were 
doing.” 
“So, overall, how do you feel about your participation on the radio show?”
 
“You have to communicate with the media that people use most. Our mission can only have 
long-term impact by using mass media and PDEV supports our work in that sense. The show is 
useful for the authorities because [it allows us to] hear the reaction of listeners to our policies 
when people record their opinions with the Vox Pops [“on the street” interviews with average 
citizens]. It helps us know how our decisions are received. The Minister has listened to 
Dabalaye. He told me so when I told him I had been asked to be interviewed for the show.”
I was greatly interested to learn that the Minister knew and had listened to the Dabalaye radio 
show. Of particular interest was Hamai Makore‟s comment that civil servant-colleagues listened to the 
show to hear the reactions of citizens to their policy decisions. It was evident from Makore‟s earlier 
comments that the state used mass media to communicate its policies and values to the general public 
and his final comments demonstrate that the public can use the same medium to respond. For this two￾way communication to take place, media producers should invite the general public to express 
themselves and communicate with the state through segments like the Vox Pops and citizen interviews. 
In a Rand Foundation publication on social science and counterterrorism, a chapter on the use of 
strategic communication recommends involving community members to help “fine tune” strategic 
messages and the stresses the importance of soliciting, collecting and incorporating audience feedback.73
Equal Access takes follows this recommendation and takes it one step further by giving citizens access 
 
71 The CIA Factbook reference page for Chad states that out of a population of 10,300,000 only 130,000 have 
access to the internet (1.26%). https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cd.html 
72 Dabalaye Episode 20: Usage of public goods: State vehicles. 
73 Egner, Michael. “Social-science foundations,” p. 336. 
38
(albeit edited access) to the airwaves. When citizens communicate directly with other citizens and with 
the state through their participation in PDEV radio programs they add authenticity and credibility to the 
program, which is what the recommended community involvement described above is designed for. 
39
Design as impact 
 This report focuses mainly on radio listeners, not radio partners. Yet after spending two months 
learning about Equal Access programs in Chad and Niger I came to believe that the design of the media 
program allows levels of participation and democratic expression that are important outcomes in their 
own right. To explain what I mean, I present a simplified and then more complete graphic outlining the 
PDEV radio program. 
 
 
Figure 11: Simplified conceptual graphic of the PDEV program design. 
This simplified graphic is not tailored to a specific radio program in Chad or Niger. It illustrates 
the components that nearly all the radio programs have in common, which are: 
Top left corner: 
1. They begin with a stakeholder workshop where topics are identified and discussed; 
2. They benefit from regular Content Advisory Group (CAG) where specific topics are 
discussed in detail, scripts are shared and sample broadcasts are reviewed; 
3. They are shaped by the actors and director during recording sessions; 
Grey box, with circles representing those who in addition to Equal Access producers provide content 
for the show: 
4. The scripts are written by producers and then recorded with input and sound from civil 
society and the state (monologues, recorded or in-studio interviews), and the voices of 
community reporters and citizens, via Vox Pop interviews; 
White box: 
5. The programs are sent in CD or digital format to dozens of radio partners 
PDEV
Radio Programs
Stake holders, CAGs, actors/director
Radio
partners
Listeners
Call-in
SMS
Civil society
State
CRs/Listeners
40
6. The radio partners diffuse each program once a week to their local listeners (or national 
listeners in the case of National radio stations or short wave broadcasters) 
Set of four circles: 
7. Listeners can give feedback, comments and ask questions by a) calling their local station, 
some of which host on-air call-in programs and/or b) expressing themselves via SMS (text) 
message to the dedicated phone numbers Equal Access mentions in the recorded programs 
and documents using the Frontline SMS-receipt software. The two arrows demonstrate how 
there are two different “generative loops” circulating listeners voices and perspectives, one 
directed at local radio stations and one directed at Equal Access Producers in the capital 
city. 
 
I borrow the term “generative loop” from French Sociologist Edgar Morin who used the term 
to describe the genesis of newness among interacting agents.74 I use the term “generative loop” rather 
than feedback because my discussions with listeners and radio station partners, and my analysis of 
written comments submitted by listeners via text message, taught me that listeners do more than 
provide “feedback,” which is an exclusively reactive term. They also “feed-forward,” they offer new 
ideas and new perspectives. Often listener input takes the form of a notification of action: “Look what 
we are doing in our town,” as was the case with Abdoulahi, the listening club President in Illela, Niger. 
 The graphic below represents PDEV radio programs in Niger, which is Equal Access at its most 
“robust.” Robust because it involves several elements that are still developing or have not been 
developed in Chad, such as the listening clubs, the use of pre-recorded listener feedback in programs (as 
in Hantsi 2.0) and the “local production” programs, which are a collaboration between PDEV Niamey 
and ten partner radio stations who are in the process of producing their own shows after receiving 
production training at PDEV headquarters. I provide the content breakdown of the two programs, 
Gwadaben Mattassa (the youth-oriented program) and Hantsi (the Good Governance-related program) 
in order to show how many different elements one program can contain. Gwadaben Matassa is 
particularly “porous” in the sense that it allows for a maximum of voices to be heard and to circulate. 
Listeners can “hear themselves” via Vox Pops and through content and salutations from SMS messages 
embedded into scripts And, importantly, the Vox Pops and listener-provided content bring regional 
voices to the capital, which are included in the recorded programs and then circulated nation-wide, thus 
reversing the typical “capital to region” flow of information. 
 
74 Edgar Morin, Method: Towards a study of humankind. Vol. 1: The nature of nature (New York: Peter Lang, 
1977), pp. 190, 224. 
41
 
Figure 12: Breakdown of radio show content and how it is generated and circulated. 
Of particular interest are the sections of the graph that illustrate the input into the content of 
the shows that is provided by civil society and the state (via interviews and round table participation) 
and by Community Reporters through their “Vox Pop” interviews with listeners and by listeners 
themselves via Vox Pop segments but also by the suggestions and feedback they provide through their 
text messages to the PDEV media team which are captured by a specialized software called “Frontline.” 
75
I highlight the design of Equal Access programs because I believe that the highly participatory 
process allows for unprecedented levels of input from a wide range of individuals including Stakeholder 
workshop participants, Content Advisory Group members, actors, producers, directors, members of 
civil society, representatives of the State, community reporters, citizens, listeners and members of 
listening clubs. It is precisely this input that gives Equal Access radio programs their culturally 
appropriate “national” flavor, which can be contrasted with a type of internationally-funded 
communication that one Rand Analyst describes disparagingly as “careless or heavy-handed 
propaganda.”76 The Equal Access programs have an extremely “porous” design, which can be defined as 
a design that allows “multiple and continuous entry points and opportunities for involvement.”77 
Consider, for instance, the number of opportunities that citizen and listeners have for 
expressing themselves: 
 
75 I believe that the use of Frontline by the PDEV media teams in Chad and Niger is quite novel and thus worthy of 
more in-depth study and analysis. Future evaluations may want to consider looking at the Frontline system to 
better understand its use and potential. 
76 Egner, “Social-science foundations for strategic communications,” p. 325.
77 Greiner, Karen. Participatory communication processes as infusions of innovation: The case of „Scenarios from 
Africa‟ in Thomas Tufte and Florencia Enghel (ed.) Youth engaging with the world: Media, communication and social 
change (Gothenburg, Sweden: Nordicom, 2009), p. 276.
Civil 
society State
CRs/Listeners
Broadcast by 
radio
partners
Listeners & 
clubs
Call-in
Broadcast by 
radio 
partners
Listeners & 
clubs
Recorded call-in & SMS Call-in
42
1) Citizens express themselves on the air when they are interviewed by a community reporter 
for a “vox pop.”
2) Citizens may be asked to record longer-form “monologues” with a community reporter. 
3) Citizens who are members of civil society (representatives of NGOs, professional 
associations, bi-lateral organizations, etc.) or representatives of the State may be invited to 
the studio for an on-air roundtable, or an interview, or may be interviewed at their place of 
business by a producer or community reporter. 
4) Citizens who are also listeners can respond to radio programs by calling their local station, 
which may be broadcast live, or recorded for later use when local partner stations submit 
their recordings to program producers in the capital 
5) Citizens who are also listeners can write or a text message to the PDEV Frontline system, 
which is regularly reviewed by EA staff members who either a) respond to questions or 
comments and/or b) incorporate for use in a future script, either in the acknowledgement 
section or in a drama dialogue.78 
Additional voices and viewpoints will be put into circulation with the advent of two new religion 
radio programs in production in each country as well as a series of “local production” shows, for which 
radio partners will shift from exclusively broadcasting PDEV radio shows to creating their own, PDEV￾themed shows for broadcast. I believe that the new programming, including “local production” 
programs, will increase and extend, both geographically and thematically, the reach of the PDEV-related 
messages and discussions. 
Conclusion 
Summary of Findings: 
The non-linear (or porous) approach to facilitating behavior change in the PDEV media 
component design is effective in achieving impact against PDEV goals such as increased dialogue 
and participation as it embodies the social change the programs seek to encourage. 
Although PDEV programs often only tangentially address “hard edged” topics such as terrorism, 
they are effective at addressing the drivers of violent extremism in their audience and do achieve 
clear outcomes in line with PDEV program goals. 
The content of the radio shows is responsible for the actions and initiatives of listeners that I 
describe in this report. This range of “actions and initiatives” caused by the programs is evidence of the 
impact the shows have had on listeners. How the content is produced and circulated is, I contend, of 
equal importance. The PDEV radio shows are the product of a “porous” design, a design that invites 
multiple stakeholders to contribute their ideas, cultural knowledge and personal relationships to help 
create content that is culturally relevant because it is 100% “home grown.” One of the most interesting 
“findings” during my two-month visit to the field was how the design of the PDEV media program 
multiple “generative loops,” or circulation of voices that not only brought information and opinion from 
the capital city to the regions, but that brought rural and small village voices into the capital where it 
could be broadcast to the entire nation. This is reflective of the design of the PDEV project itself and 
embodies the theory underlying PDEV – that increased dialogue and participation attenuate drivers to 
 
78 EA producers in both Chad and Niger described a number of ways they use listener feedback sent by SMS. For 
example, Dabalaye (good governance/Chad) producer Nemerci Denemadji told me that she often calls listeners 
and asks them questions about comments they made via text message to explore new story ideas or details for 
scripts in-progress. 
43
violent extremism. The PDEV media component is reflecting the changes it is working to facilitate in 
Chad and Niger. 
The “porous” – or inviting – design results in a highly de-centralized and democratic media 
product. The project and the products they produce are inclusive to a degree that I have not seen 
previously or elsewhere. I believe that an important impact of the radio shows on listeners is evidenced 
by the multiple examples of listeners organizing and making changes in their lives and in their 
communities. The project could have a potential “macro-level” impact on other organizations seeking to 
foster social change by documenting and disseminating its design for creating democratic, 100% local 
media content that increases the amount and variety of community voices in circulation. 
 The report provides a detailed account of what listeners do with PDEV radio programming: 
How it affects them and, in some cases, how it inspires them to change and/or become agents of change. 
The PDEV media program design generates interesting outcomes in itself, in particular as related to 
fostering “civic culture” by increasing access to information and opportunities for citizens to voice their 
viewpoints and questions in public, mediated form. Importantly this links directly to both the PDEV 
project design, which focuses heavily on improving participation, amplifying moderate voices and 
engaging audiences to take positive actions and to current best practices in improving community 
engagement. 
Literature on youth and democracy suggests that the more young people are engaged in their 
communities, the greater their sense of worth and “well-being.” Community psychology scholars Evans 
and Prilleltensky further explain the effect of engagement on “well-being”: 
 
To experience well-being, youth and adults alike first have to experience affirmation. 
Affirmation comes from, among other things, an acknowledgment of young person‟s 
 strengths, voice, and choice… we have feelings and actual experiences of empowerment 
 whereby citizens feel and are in control of helping, healing, and community building 
 processes.79 
They continue: 
 Youth gain skills, a sense of belonging, and a deeper understanding of themselves and their 
world through social action. Youth are more inclined to act as they develop skills, interpersonal 
competencies, and sociopolitical awareness. Furthermore, as agents of change, youth bring their skills, 
energy, and creativity to the joint endeavor of creating just communities.80
This description of the relationship between agency and well-being suggests the existence of a 
“virtuous circle,” the more young people act the more they gain confidence and skills. With greater 
confidence and skills, young people are increasingly inclined to act. The challenge for the designers of 
social change interventions is to create multiple and varied opportunities for young people, and 
community members in general, to contribute to their communities. Social change literature has 
established a link between group dialogue and the development of “collective efficacy,” which can be 
defined as group members‟ belief in their own ability to effect change in their communities.81
Interventions that increase opportunities for people to gather, express their viewpoints and discuss 
ideas with others can be seen as a potential step in the direction of action. In my observations I 
document numerous examples of PDEV programming leading directly to increased interaction and often 
 
79 Scot D. Evans and Isaac Prilleltensky, “Youth and democracy: Participation for personal, relational and collective 
well-being,” Journal of Community Psychology 35.6 (2007), p. 688. 
80 Evans and Prilleltensky, “Youth and democracy,” p. 690.
81 See Albert Bandura, Social learning theory (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc.), p. 79. See also: Arvind 
Singhal, “Riding high on Taru fever: Entertainment-education broadcasts, ground mobilization, and service delivery 
in rural India” (The Hague: OXFAM/NOVIB, 2010), p. 8
44
community action. All community members should be encouraged to be agents of change in their 
communities, there is a particular value in designing interventions to include and inspire young people. 
Scholars have noted that throughout the world – not just in the Sahel - young people face considerable 
obstacles when trying to participate, whether socially, economically or politically.82 Frustrated by the 
lack of legitimate democratic participation, young people can turn to violence, as was the case in Senegal 
in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as explained here by Mamadou Diouf: 
 This new generation felt excluded from the postcolonial munificence and its sites of 
 sociability, e.g., recognition, the rights to free speech, work, and education, and although 
 a numerical majority, as youth, they were reduced to political silence. This youth is actually 
behind political violence, which ranges from urban riots to Islamic fundamentalist armies, and is 
spearheading armed conflicts and criminal actions of random violence, looting, student strikes; it uses 
violence to express its disillusionment with the outcome of the restoration of democratic rule.83
Beyond frustration at the lack of avenues for genuine political participation, young people are 
also vulnerable to being recruited for violent and/or illicit for simple reasons of boredom and “idleness.” 
In his book The Accidental Guerilla, Counter-insurgency expert David Kilcullen shares the comments of a 
young farmer who had spontaneously joined in a battle on the side of the Taliban against a patrol of 
American troops: 
“But, they said, when a battle was right there in front of them how could they not join in? Did 
we understand just how boring it was to be a teenager in a valley in central Afganistan?”84
Any parent understands that keeping young people busy keeps them out of trouble. But beyond 
“keeping teens out of trouble” we can also envision social change interventions as opportunities to 
benefit from their knowledge, energy and their creativity. All community members, in fact, have the 
potential to contribute. This is evidenced in the multiple levels of participation and action made possible 
by the design of the PDEV programs. The Content Advisory Groups include members of the highest 
professional classes, medical doctors, ministry officials and representatives from the United Nations. 
Community Reporters conduct interviews in their community, they serve as mediators in community 
disputes,85 they are sought out to give advice, they help organize listening clubs,86 and they identify 
members of civil society for extended interviews in the radio programs.87 Many PDEV radio partners are 
now engaged in additional program-related activities ranging from hosting call-in shows to give listeners 
the chance to publicly voice their perspectives to the production of their own PDEV-themed shows. 
There is evidence that radio show listeners, the focus of this report, are also an active and dynamic 
group. They discuss taboo topics, they write didactic poetry, they advocate for family members, they 
enforce government policies and they clean up their lives and their neighborhoods. Even the young man 
who could not be swayed from his view that girls should not attend school took the time to voluntarily 
 
82 Judith Bessant, “Mixed messages: Youth participation and democratic practice,” Australian Journal of Political 
Science 39.2 (2004): 387. See also: Shawn Ginwright, and James “From assets to agents of change: Social justice, 
organizing, and youth development ,” New directions for youth development 96 (2002), pp. 27-46.
83 Mamadou Diouf “Urban youth and Senegalese politics: Dakar 1988- 1994,” Public Culture 8: (1996): 229.
84 David Kilcullen, The accidental guerilla (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 40. 
85 I want to acknowledge Hadi, the community reporter from the Pays Bas neighborhood in Niamey, for sharing his 
experiences and for spending the day as our guide and companion in the neighborhood. 
86 Here I am again thinking of Hadi and also of the incredibly dynamic community reporter from Zinder, Nassirou 
Boukari. 
87 The very enterprising Zenaba Hassan took the initiative to interview a local social worker who intervened in the 
storyline about unplanned pregnancy. Zenaba has been promoted from community reporter to “junior producer” 
in recognition of motivation and abilities. 
45
participate in a focus group discussion to share his views on the radio shows. All of these observed 
impacts, move communities away from the drivers of violent extremism and towards peaceful processes 
to address challenges through advocacy and cooperation. 
Borrowing a concept from popular culture, I conclude this report by suggesting that the design 
of the Equal Access media programs are in many ways akin to the “Field of Dreams” built by Kevin 
Costner‟s character in the 1989 Hollywood movie of the same name. “If you build it, they will come,” 
the character is told by a mysterious voice throughout the movie. Costner razes his corn crops to build 
a baseball field and then waits, to see who comes. Eventually, as prophesied, legendary players come to 
the field to play. The premise of the film is that in order for these talented players to play, someone had 
to believe they would come. This belief fueled the effort to build the field. A “porous” social change 
intervention is like a Field of Dreams: it is a creation fueled by faith in others and designed to invite 
action. Building a “Field of Dreams” does not guarantee that others will act; but it does make it possible. 
Community members, unpredictable humans that they are, decide the rest. They decide to get involved 
and to become agents of change. A well designed social change intervention makes participation more 
than possible, it makes it easy. A text message, a phone call, a short interview, a discussion with family 
members under the stars: listeners have a myriad of opportunities to express themselves; they must 
simply decide to do so. My two months of interactions with the PDEV audience indicates to me that 
many thousands of Chadians and Nigeriens are making the choice to participate, starting with the act of 
listening to the program and moving on to dialogue, advocacy and community led-change. The “field of 
dreams” has been created and many are now contributing their own voices to help their communities 
find peaceful and positive solutions to their challenges and turn away from the path of violence and 
extremism. 
1
Annex 1: List and Number of Focus Groups and Individual Interviews 
 
Type/location #/type of respondents Notes
CHAD
Focus group, N‟Djamena 24 listeners 9 female, 15 male
Focus group, N‟Djamena 11 community reporters 6 female, 5 male
Focus group, Mao 7 community reporters 2 female, 5 male
Focus group, Mousouro 9 community reporters 5 female, 4 male
Individual interviews 22 8 female, 14 male
Chad subtotal 73 30 female, 43 male
NIGER
Focus group, Niamey 10 Listening club presidents 2 female, 8 male
Focus group, Niamey 7 Community reporters 2 female, 5 male
Focus group, Niamey (Pays Bas) 20 Listening club Presidents and members 20 female
Focus group, Niamey (Pays Bas) 6 Listening club Presidents and members 6 male
Small group, Konni 3 Listening club presidents 3 male
Small group, Tessaoua 3 Listening club presidents 3 male
Small group, Maradi 4 Listening club members 4 male
Focus group, Aguie 15 Listening club Presidents & members 3 female, 12 male
Focus group, Zinder 5 Community reporters 3 female, 2 male
Small group, Zinder 3 Listening club presidents 3 male
Focus group, Mirriah 5 Listening club Presidents & members 5 male
Small group, Magaria 4 Listening club Presidents & members 2 female, 2 male
Individual interviews* 24 7 female, 17 male
Niger subtotal 109 39 female, 70 male
Total 182 69 female, 113 male
Note: * This includes phone interviews with Listening 2 club presidents (1 Agadez, 1 Arlit) and one 
community reporter in Agadez who could not be interviewed in person due to logistical and safety issues. 
The total number represents individuals I met with. In larger focus groups, each individual had the 
opportunity to speak but in some cases individuals spoke very little or not at all. 
1
Annex 2: Recommendations 
I include here two types of recommendations: 1) specific suggestions to be considered for immediate 
implementation and 2) conceptual recommendations that are applicable beyond one concrete situation 
and are meant to guide long-term practice. 
Here is a preview of the recommendations offered: 
Specific:
Work to increase the listenership of State actors and to document existing examples of “State-as￾listener.”
Create visual geographic representations of PDEV media programs activity 
Conceptual:
Use “pull” rather than “push,” when possible. 
Expand on what is already working 
Consider the “return on investment” of each planned activity
Experiment with new evaluation methods 
Specific 
1. Work to increase the listenership of State actors and to document existing 
examples and of “State-as-listener.”
The PDEV media programs, as they are currently designed, allow many sectors in Chadian and 
Nigerien society to communicate with one another via the radio programs and the responses and follow 
on discussions invited by the programs. The PDEV media teams have worked diligently and creatively to 
ensure that the State, civil society and the general public are included in PDEV media programs via 
recorded interviews, round table discussions and vox pop segments recorded by Community Reporters. 
This table illustrates the variety of sectors communicating with one another via PDEV media programs 
and associated activities: 
Communication patterns: Who is communicating with whom and how?
Output Reception Mode of transmission
1. PDEV media General public Hantsi/Godaben/Sada Zumuntchi
2. PDEV media State, Civil 
society
Hantsi/Godaben/Sada Zumuntchi
3. PDEV media Radio Partners Trainings, material and technical support 
4. State, Civil 
society
General public Recorded interviews, round table participation (diffused via 
the radio programs)
5. General 
public
General public Call-in programs (diffused via local radio stations), 
discussion in listening clubs or in homes (interpersonal 
communication)
6. General 
public
PDEV media Vox pops, SMS, lettres, appels
7. General 
public
Radio Partners Call-in, visits to stations, letters, text messages
8. General 
public
State, civil society Vox Pop segments, recorded call-in segments that are 
embedded into programs (Hantsi 2.0) 
After reviewing several scripts and listening to radio programs I noted that the majority of 
communication is designed to foster individual-level behavior change. The general public is encouraged 
2
to be more tolerant, to register their daughters in school, to seek entrepreneurial activities, to register 
to vote, be aware of the dangers of drugs and alcohol, etc. Increasing the amount of listeners who State 
actors and have decision making power is a step toward fostering systemic level change. The State can 
create incentives or remove barriers for parents wishing to enroll their daughters in school, for 
example. Imagine a listener who complains during a call-in show that the voter registration table in their 
village was staffed by illiterate workers. If State employees are active listener of the radio program the 
voices of the general public may motivate them to make changes in practice. The radio programs can 
serve to bring the voices of the general public to the ears of the State in a safe and anonymous way. 
PDEV media producers have done an excellent job of “democratizing” the airwaves by greatly increasing 
the number and types of voices that access the airwaves. A parallel effort should be made to increase 
the number of “State ears” listening to the voices of the general public. 
2. Create visual geographic representations of PDEV media program activity 
 The hand-drawn map of Niger depicting the location and number of various PDEV media 
activities that is featured in figure 5 of this report (p. 16) is a very compelling demonstration of the far 
reach and decentralized nature of PDEV media activities. 
Figure 13: Listening club coordinator Lawan Boukar with a map representing the location 
of 137 listening clubs radio and other program-related activities in Niger. On the right, a 
key outlining the types and numbers of activities.
The key next to the map outlines the activities and actors that are present in various cities and villages 
including: 1) radio partners, 2) local production activities, 3) listening clubs, 4) Community Reporters, 5) 
Young Producers, 6) Voluntary diffusion (which are radio stations that requested to broadcast PDEV 
media programs but who are not formal PDEV partners), and 7) call-in shows. 
If the PDEV media teams are able to more formally map their activities I believe it will lead to an 
impressive depiction of the various “circulations of voices” and levels of engagement that are occurring 
throughout (and beyond) the PDEV area of operation. The locations and number of Listening Clubs 
alone would be worthy of mapping for they show the great number of cities and villages, far from the 
capital city, that have groups of listeners who are regularly listening to and discussing PDEV content. 
These group discussions of PDEV content are a form of peaceful, democratic expression that foster and 
strengthen local civic culture. 
3
Conceptual 
3. Use “pull” rather than “push,” when possible. 
I borrow the conceptualization of “pull” and “push” from technology theorist Peter Morville88
who likens “push” to advertising messages that come toward us, whether we want them or not. 
Billboards, television and radio ads and spam in our email inbox are forms of push: they are difficult to 
avoid and they often invade our space. Pull, on their other hand, functions when we willingly seek out 
information. When we Google a word to find a definition or go to You Tube to watch a video we are 
being drawn in by the quality of the information we are seeking, we are pulled toward the information 
and we go seek it by choice. I liken “push” to invasion or going out to the objective, and “pull” to 
invitation, finding ways to have the objective come to you. 
For PDEV media programs embracing a philosophy of “pull” over “push” could be useful in the 
following three situations, which I offer here as illustrative examples: 
1) Imagine that you need to get listener input on a particular topic, perhaps you want to know 
what listeners in a particular region think about early marriage, for example. You can “push” by 
having a staff member go to the region or call listeners to ask them questions, or you can design 
a question for broadcast and ask listeners to send their responses via SMS message, which will 
then be captured and aggregated by Frontline. The “push” method may be more certain 
(because you can keep pushing until you get what you need), but the “pull” method requires 
fewer human resources and can yield data in excess of your expectation or need. 
2) Imagine that you need to increase the number of stations broadcasting your radio program. 
Perhaps you seek to expand into a new geographic region. You can go toward the radio stations 
with mention of a contract (“push”) or you can invite all non-partner radio stations to solicit the 
radio programs if they wish to broadcast them voluntarily (with no remuneration). The results 
of both the “push” and the “pull” method can be reported upon as achievements, yet the results 
of “push” only allow you to document increases in partners whereas the “pull” method would 
allow you to document increases in partners who came to you and who are broadcasting the 
programs at no extra cost (beyond production and duplication costs) to the program. 
3) Imagine that you want to increase the number of listening clubs in a given region. You can ask 
Community Reporters to organize listening clubs (push) or you can invite listeners, on the air, 
to contact their local Community Reporter (pull, and be sure to give the CR phone number on 
the air) if they are interested in forming a listening club. The end result can be the same but the 
pull method requires less work from the CR and may lead to more sustainable listening clubs 
because they formed organically and voluntarily, by invitation. 
In truth, “push” and “pull” can work in together: push gives you a greater amount of certainty and pull 
can help conserve human resources. I recommend using “push” when certainty is required or when time 
constraints are pressing and “pull” whenever you can afford to take more time and are interested in a 
larger response than would be possible via “push” methods. (If you ask a question on the air you can get 
more responses than if you had to call each listener individually to ask the question). 
4. Expand and strengthen what is already working 
 One of the strengths of the PDEV media programs is the number of different individuals 
involved in the creation, broadcast and organized reception of the programs: PDEV media program staff, 
Radio station partners, Content Advisory Group members, Community Reporters, Young Producers 
and Listening Club presidents are all involved in some capacity in the PDEV media component. The 
 
88 Morville, P. Ambient findability. Cambridge: O‟Reilly, 2005, pp. 98-107. 
4
PDEV media teams are already “expanding on what is working” by training Radio partners in “Local 
Production,” in the use of Adobe Audition software and in the technical and content aspects of hosting 
local “call in” shows. This model of finding ways to reinforce and strengthen capacity with existing 
partners is recommended for other collaborators as well (and I believe this is already happening). For 
example, I learned that training sessions for Community Reporters are frequent and ongoing and 
training and information sessions for Listening Club Presidents (in Niamey) had already begun.89 When I 
was conducting interviews with different stakeholders in Niger and Chad I heard many comments about 
the desire to connect with counterparts in other parts of the country, both near and far. I believe that 
the organization of various “counterpart exchange” events at the regional level would be gratifying to 
collaborators and they would also be a potential source of evaluation data. For example, if Community 
Reporters from several cities met at the regional capital (and I believe this has already been done with 
Crs in Agadez, Arlit and Tahoua in Niger) they can exchange experiences and also share their concerns 
and success stories with PDEV staff. 
Several Listening Club Presidents I spoke with in Niger also expressed a desire to “do more” in 
their communities. Each President had a different idea of what form “doing more” would take and I 
recommend finding a mechanism, perhaps a small grant competition, for funding small Listening Club 
projects. Listening Club Presidents or Community Reporters could be charged with documenting each 
funded project and the resulting data could be incorporated into evaluation reports or even shared with 
local and national media via press releases. Documenting and disseminating news of civic engagement on 
the part of community members may also motivate and inspire others to additional acts of civic 
engagement. 
5. Consider the “return on investment” of each planned activity
The PDEV media teams have finite resources to work with. Each planned activity should be 
considered in terms of the amount of resources required to implement it (the investment) in relation to 
the yield, or “return” on that investment. Questions to consider: 
1) What are the financial and human resources required for this activity? 
2) What are the potential gains? 
All activities should be planned with a return in mind whether the return take the form of increased 
press coverage (an event), benefit to PDEV partners (a training), benefit to PDEV staff (a professional 
development activity), benefit to listeners and documentation opportunity (a small-grant competition for 
listeners and Listening Clubs). Ideally, each activity can be planned and maximized to have several 
returns. For example, a small-grant competition could be beneficial to listeners and communities, it 
could yield good press coverage and it could yield data and images for evaluation purposes and it could 
have inspirational effects (that would be hard to measure but could increase the number of applicants if 
a second grant competition was organized). An example of an activity with only a small return is an 
event that yields only press coverage but that does not work toward achieving project goals or directly 
benefit listeners or PDEV partners. 
Large Investment, large return Large investment, small return
Small investment, large return Small investment, small return
 
89 I believe that the existence, in Niger, of a specific “Listening Club Coordinator” position is a great asset that 
counterparts in Chad may want to consider, budget permitting. 
5
When planning activities it can be helpful to keep the “return on investment” ratio in mind. A large 
return on a small investment is ideal. Sometimes a large return requires a large investment. To be 
avoided are large investments with small returns (grey box). It is up to PDEV management and staff to 
discuss and determine whether an investment is too large or a return too small to make an activity 
worthy of implementation. The concept of “return on investment” (ROI) is also useful when designing 
instruments for collecting data from partners and collaborators. When designing data collection 
instruments, such as feedback forms, the following questions should be considered: 
1) How much “investment” am I asking of the respondent to fill out this form? (Is it too long? Will 
its depth discourage the respondent?) 
2) How will I use the information I am asking for? (In other words, what “return” is expected from 
the form?) 
3) How much investment is required in terms of human resources to process the data on the 
form? In other words, if you design a form or a process that requires someone in the office to 
manage that data it is important that the data be put to use. If the data is not useful one needs 
to consider whether it is worth the time to collect and process it. 
2d: Experiment with new evaluation methods 
I share the following story about the use of “markers” for evaluation purposes as an example of 
one type of “experiment” with evaluation methods for the PDEV media team to consider: 
Keeping the challenges of evaluation in mind, the producers of Soul City, a pro-social television 
drama implemented in South Africa, left nothing to chance when they embedded “markers” into 
the story line. Markers are “distinctive elements of a message that are identifiable,” such as a 
new name for an existing product an entirely new behavior.90 Producers of Soul City introduced 
and modeled the behavior of “pot banging” (not a current practice in South Africa), whereupon 
neighbors would gather at the site of domestic abuse to “bang pots” to bring shame and 
attention upon the abuser. The modeled behavior broke with the social norm of silence and 
non-intervention in cases of domestic violence, a purportedly “private affair.” After the 
episode with this “marker” aired, several cases of pot-banging were reported as was one 
variation, which involved “bottle banging” by patrons in a bar. 1 In similar fashion, producers of a 
pro-social radio drama in St. Lucia were able to measure that the name of the brand of condoms 
they introduced in their story line (“Catapult”) could be identified by 28% of listeners and 
even 13% of non-listeners, demonstrating that even beyond direct exposure to the program the 
new brand name for condoms was also travelling inter-personally. The idea of introducing 
unique and recognizable markers may be of interest to PDEV media producers in Chad and 
Niger as an additional means of measuring impact. 
I also believe that the Frontline SMS-capture software has great potential for evaluation 
purposes. PDEV media team members are best placed to determine which questions can be posed in 
order to get which types of information. (Different “seeds” will yield different “crops.”) I recommend 
some experimentation with Frontline for evaluation purposes. I believe that PDEV media staff can create 
questions that will be useful to them in their work while also being of use as evaluation data. Short 
questions embedded in recorded programs are a small investment that can potentially yield a large 
return. 
 
90 Singhal, A. and Rogers, E. (2002). “A theoretical agenda for entertainment education,” Communication Theory
12(2): p. 131 
6
Below is a reflection on 1) the purpose of questions in general and 2) different types of 
questions, potential responses, and how various responses can be utilized.91 
On pose des questions aux auditeurs pour…
1. Savoir que les gens écoutent et d‟ou ils écoutent (ainsi on peut éventuellement les 
féliciter/remercier). 
2. Savoir ce qu‟ils pensent les auditeurs sur des sujets spécifiques. 
3. Savoir quelles sont les sujets que les auditeurs trouvent très pertinent. 
4. Donner l‟opportunité aux auditeurs de proposer des thèmes (qui peuvent nous donner des 
idées pour les scripts). 
5. Donner l‟opportunité aux auditeurs de poser des questions 
Question Réponse Utilisation
1. Qui est le personnage de 
Hantsi qui peut être un modèle 
pour les Nigériens ? Envoyer 
un SMS avec le mot « Modèle » 
suivi par le nom de personnage. 
Zeinab: 247 (95%)
Zelika: 7 (3%)
Habibou: 5 (2%) 
Confirmer les perceptions des 
auditeurs envers les 
personnages. 
2. Vous nous écoutent de quelle 
ville/village?
Niamey: 120
Maradi: 45
Konni: 35
Magaria: 12
Savoir la ou on nous écoute
bien et savoir quelle régions il 
faut encourager d‟écouter 
davantage
3. Parmi les suivant, quel thème 
de Gwadaben avez-vous le plus 
apprécié? (Réponde avec la 
lettre seulement)
A. Assainissement 
(40%)
B. Violence faite aux 
femmes (30%)
C. Drogue (8%)
D. Autre (2%)
Savoir quelles sont les 
émissions qui sont apprécié 
pour savoir lesquelles traduire 
en Français ou rediffuser ou 
traite encore. 
4. Votre ville/village a-t-il une très 
bonne gouvernance ? Si ou, 
envoyer le nom du votre 
ville/village pour le nominer aux 
prix bonne gouvernance. A 
mettre dans le SMS, les lettres 
BG et puis le nom de votre 
ville/village 
Aguie (20 nominations)
Kantche (5 nominations)
Avoir des informations qui aide 
à reconnaitre la bonne 
gouvernance – pour féliciter et 
encourager. 
5. Avez-vous été personnellement 
impacté par une émission 
d‟Equal Access ? Avez-vous 
change d‟idée, de 
comportement ou été inspire à 
l‟action dans votre 
communauté? Si oui, envoyez 
un SMS avec IMPACT et puis 
votre nom et nom de 
ville/village
IMPACT, Mariama, Maradi Avoir des pistes à suivre pour 
la prochaine évaluation 
d‟impacte. On peut appeler et 
prendre leur témoignage ou 
envoyer un RC pour 
enregistrer…
6. Etes-vous dans la fonction 
publique ? On veut vous 
Fonctionnaires Savoir combien des auditeurs 
nous avons a la fonction 
 
91 This is a slightly abridged version of information presented to the PDEV media team in Niger in late July 2010. 
7
saluer ! Envoyez-nous votre 
nom et ville par SMS. SVP, 
mettez les lettres FP au début 
de votre message pour que 
nous sachions de quoi s‟agit. 
Pour chaque 10 réponses reçus 
nous allons donner un T-shirt 
et casquette Equal Access pour 
encourager nos auditeurs a la 
fonction publique. 
publique