Academy for Educational Development

Washington, D.C., October 7, 2005 — According to the author of a new book on the role of radio in development, the proven power of the medium has yet to be used to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

“Radio is still the most ubiquitous source of regular information for people,” says William A. Smith, AED executive vice president and coauthor of Radio: A Post Nine-Eleven Strategy for Reaching the World’s Poor. “It could be used much more effectively for AIDS prevention, democracy building, and economic development.”

Along with coauthor Stephen Sposato, Smith aims to change the perception that radio is an outdated technology by documenting its evolution from a one-way medium that only delivers information to one that has served as a catalyst for bringing people together to discuss common problems and solutions.

The book will be launched with an October 12 event at AED, where Smith and Sposato will lead a discussion and sign copies.

In the book, Smith provides many concrete examples of the medium’s utility, including the use of radio during a campaign to build and repair 750,000 latrines throughout Tanzania.

“Radio created a large number of discussion groups at the same time, which was impossible really with any other medium,” says Smith.

The book also looks at the role radio has played in promoting the effective and safe use of oral rehydration solution in villages throughout The Gambia. A radio program called “Happy Baby Lottery,” conceived as part of the AED Mass Media and Practices project, helped to educate mothers on how to prepare the sugar, salt and water solution properly by engaging them in a competition with other villages.

“I wanted to make the point that radio could deal with very tough, hard behavioral matters,” Smith affirms. “We need to challenge producers to use the power of radio to convene, so listeners will act.”

With this book, Smith hopes to revive innovative but forgotten uses of radio in development work–applications such as teaching people skills and getting them to come together for group discussions.

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