The Effects of Errors from Radio News Bulletin on Communication in Selected Audiences in Kenya
- July 10, 2019
- Posted by: RSIS
- Category: Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue VI, June 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186
The Effects of Errors from Radio News Bulletin on Communication in Selected Audiences in Kenya
Mugambi, Allan
Department of Humanities, University of Embu, P.O Box 6-60100, Embu, Kenya
Abstract: – The purpose of news in mass media is to inform, entertain and promote values, knowledge and right attitudes in the society. The informative function is key in the news bulletin broadcast. Radio is a major source of transmitting information in many parts of the world and more so in the rural areas. Kenya is not an exception to this phenomenon. A big number of the Kenyan citizens live in the rural areas practicing agriculture and livestock keeping for their livelihood. Majority are low income earners and cannot afford television sets or newspapers for their informative needs, thus depending on radio for entertainment, news and knowledge needs. Radio aims at delivering relevant information to different audiences across the divide. The target audience is diverse in terms of cognitive competence as well as expectations. The language of communication is therefore expected to be precise, simple and able to be understood by all the listeners. This research investigated the effect of errors from radio news bulletin on communication among different audiences in Kenya. The language under investigation was Kiswahili which is both an official and a national language in Kenya. This research was guided by relevant theory according to Spelber and Wilson (1985, 1995, and 1998). This theory posits that successful communication occurs when the expectations of the sender and the recipient are met and that the mind uses the most direct and shortest channel to achieve this objective. The information is therefore expected to be relevant and without ambiguity to avoid overtaxing the brain of the recipient. Accordingly, errors have the potential of impacting negatively on the transmission of relevant information. Errors in news bulletin can distort information, create confusion and lead to poor understanding. Four categories of respondents were purposefully sampled for this research. These included respondents from primary school level, secondary school, university and post school. Focus group discussions were used to test the understanding of selected news from two radio stations in Kenya namely Radio Citizen and Kenya Broadcasting Station (KBC).The findings revealed that errors distorted information and caused wrong interpretation among the listeners. The effect of errors on communication was higher among the primary school respondents than in other categories. The post school respondents were least affected by errors because of their exposure and contextual interpretation of meaning as opposed to their counterparts in school. This research can be used by policy makers in the media industry to address communication gaps brought about by the use of incorrect and ambiguous words especially in news broadcast. It can also be used by linguists to highlight the effect of errors on the audience.
Key words: news bulletin, relevance, errors, communication
