Radio and political change

Listening in contemporary Morocco

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3979439
AutoresAli Sonay (0000-0002-6722-7336, autor de correspondencia)
Año2017
Volumen22
Número3
Páginas411-434
Fecha de publicación2017-05-27
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal of North African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1362-9387 • E-ISSN: 1743-9345
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13629387.2017.1307903
OpenAlexW2605920699
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas24

Among the effects of the Arab uprisings on Morocco were the adoption of a new constitution and the emplacement of an Islamist-led coalition government. Despite these significant changes, the internal discussion on democratic change and increased political participation and freedom is ongoing. The media are both one of the major subjects and the forum of this debate. An important development has been the liberalisation of the previously state-controlled radio sector in 2005, with 13 private radio stations having been established in addition to the already existing public stations. As the restructuring of the audiovisual sector is a recent phenomenon, this paper asks how contemporary Moroccan audiences responded: What do they listen to and why? In order to answer this question, fieldwork was conducted for a period of three months, primarily interviewing taxi drivers as a major cohort of radio listeners. In addition, an online survey of students’ listening preferences helped to contrast the taxi-driver findings with those relating to a younger generation. Theoretically, the paper approaches the topic by looking at the ‘uses and gratifications’ theory in an authoritarian context. The findings indicate that newly established private radio stations enjoy wide popularity and thereby are challenging the public stations’ position

Active listening · Authoritarianism · Context (archaeology · Democracy · Geography · Government (linguistics · Political science · Politics · Popularity · Private sector · Public relations · Social media · Sociology · Uses and gratifications theory · African history and culture studies · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Law · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts