THE EFFECT OF DIVERSIFIED PRIVATE BROADCASTING MEDIA ON MALAWI BROADCASTING CORPORATION’S PERFORMANCE DURING GENERAL ELECTIONS

Abstract

This study investigated whether increased number of private broadcasting media in Malawi has changed the public broadcaster MBC‟s national elections coverage. The choice of the research was motivated by market structure theory in economics that increased number of actors in a market brings in competition leading to improved efficiency over time such as accurate and balanced reporting. The study interviewed a total of 280 randomly selected respondents of at least 18 years of age in Blantyre, Mangochi, and Zomba in Southern Region of Malawi. The analysis of the data collected showed that a small proportion of the respondents (about 3%) were of the view that MBC complied fully with broadcasting standards and norms, in contrast to 62% of the respondents who reported that the private media complied with the standards and norms. On media diversity, the study learnt that there were 78 registered broadcasters in Malawi as of 2014, consisting of 54 radio and 24 television stations. Despite this high diversity, the study found limited knowledge by respondents of broadcasting media diversity with only 13% of the respondents knowing more than 21 media broadcasters. This may be partly explained by the fact that 45% of the total licensed broadcasters have limited geographical coverage while 31% are not yet operational. The results on examining the influence of the increased number of private media on MBC‟s election coverage showed that media diversity has not changed the tendency of the state broadcaster- MBC of being biased in its coverage of national elections but has, on the other hand, given citizens varied sources of information. While these results are not in tandem with market structure theory in economics that the study was premised; they are in conformity with the political economy surrounding media ownership i.e. to advance political agenda and attain fame and not necessarily to serve the public with accurate information. One of the key recommendations from the research is that the media fraternity should advocate for safeguards on the use of the public media in the country by making it more autonomous. This would assist that state broadcaster complies with standards and norms as it has been found out that increased number of private media despite having other benefits may not change the observed status quo.