'Paroles de vie': Christian radio producers in the Republic of Benin

Abstract

In the Republic of Benin, we are currently witnessing an enormous proliferation of religious radio broadcasting in various forms, especially with regard to Pentecostal churches. Apart from already established Christian broadcasters such as Radio Immaculée Conception, Radio Alléluia or Radio Maranatha, operating on a regional or even on a national scale, various smaller groups and individual pastors, mainly from evangelical and Charismatic churches, are increasingly contracting broadcasting hours with public, private or community radio stations. Furthermore, many pastors have started to record CDs with prayers and gospel sounds to broadcast, or hire professional media production companies to ensure a large media coverage of their appearances in various media. On the one hand, these strategies represent a particular form of media appropriation, an attempt to obtain a greater share in the changing public sphere, and are part of the growing competition between various religious media actors, especially with regard to their ambitions of moral guidance. On the other hand, these programmes could be seen as stages for creative individual religious actors, among them also laymen, offering moments of self-assertion and granting social prestige.

Radio Call-In Shows on Intimate Issues in Benin: “Crossroads of Sentiments”

“…The liberalization of the media following the democratic renewal ( renouveau démocratique ) of 1990 led to a considerable variety of media outlets such as community radio stations and independent newspapers (Grätz 2000, 2010). A new media law in 1997 also enabled the establishment of independent radio and television stations, including religious broadcasters (Adjovi 2001; Grätz 2003, 2011b), which are licensed by the supreme media board, the Haute Autorité de l’Audiovisuel et de la Communication (HAAC). Currently a variety of stations, including private, religious, and community stations, operate particularly in the urban centers of Cotonou or Parakou.…”

Christian religious radio production in Benin: The case of Radio Maranatha

“…This essay analyses religious media not only as inter-positioned channels of communication or means of transmission, but as central agencies shaping religious fields, as social-technological ensembles of institutions, actors, meanings and infrastructures. 1 It presents a case study on Radio Maranatha, a Christian broadcaster in the middle-sized town of Parakou in northern Benin (see Grätz, 2011). Examining contemporary religious radio production and its contents, it addresses the field of religious radio programming in the Republic of Benin, where the establishment of religious radio stations became possible thanks to a process of media liberalisation in the 1990s (Grätz, 2009(Grätz, , 2011see De Witte, this volume).…”

“…1 It presents a case study on Radio Maranatha, a Christian broadcaster in the middle-sized town of Parakou in northern Benin (see Grätz, 2011). Examining contemporary religious radio production and its contents, it addresses the field of religious radio programming in the Republic of Benin, where the establishment of religious radio stations became possible thanks to a process of media liberalisation in the 1990s (Grätz, 2009(Grätz, , 2011see De Witte, this volume). There are altogether four licensed Christian broadcasters in the country.…”