Studio Kalangou - Niger - Fondation Hirondelle - Media for Peace and Human Dignity

Studio Kalangou is a two-hour daily radio news programme on Niger, which has been offering daily news bulletins in 5 languages (French, Haoussa, Zarma, Tamashek and Peulh), a major debate and dialogue programme "Le Forum", and magazines on everyday issues since January 2016. Since the beginning of 2023, an additional hour of programming has been produced live at noon. Studio Kalangou's ambition is to inform and encourage dialogue between the various components of society "at the pace of Niger", in order to contribute to the development efforts of one of the poorest countries in the world, at the heart of the Sahelian crises.

Studio Kalangou's programme, produced from its central newsroom in Niamey by around fifty Niger journalists, is broadcast by a network of partner radio stations in every region of the country. 52 private and community radio stations relay the studio's live broadcasts, with a potential audience of more than half the country's population. Seven television stations are also partners in the project.

The Studio Kalangou team is made up of around fifteen journalists and translators working in its central newsroom and a network of around fifty correspondents across the country. The project is being implemented in collaboration with the Réseau des Radios Communautaires (RACOM) and the Association des Promoteurs de Radios et Télévisions Privées du Niger (APRTPN). Ongoing training for journalists and studio technicians is a key element of the project, to ensure that it is locally based and sustainable. Specific training courses are also provided for journalists from partner radio stations, who come to the studio for intensive courses. Students are also welcomed for practical training.

Objective

Provide Niger’s population, in all regions of the country, with independent, professional, relevant and accessible radio news, information and dialogue programs in the country’s main languages.
Support the development of local radios and the capacity of journalists in areas where radio is the main means of being informed and participating in public life.

Results

600 hours of radio programs per year
1100 articles published online annualy
3600 posts on social networks per year
100'000 Facebook fans ; more than 10'000 followers on Twitter
52partner radio stations
189 journalists and 61 technicians trained in 2022
Population covered: 10 Million

Resources

Team: 1 Fondation Hirondelle representative, 1 national editor-in-chief of Studio Kalangou, 70 Niger journalists, technicians, managers and administrative staff

Annual budget : CHF 1,622,367

Financial resources :

Switzerland (SDC Mandate)
Switzerland (SDC Programme Contribution)
United Kingdom (FCDO - CSSF)
European Union (EIDHR)
UNICEF
GIZ (ProRES)
Czech Republic
United States Embassy
University of Sheffield
IFPIM- International Fund for Public Interest Media
Private donations
Income generated

View the embedded image gallery online at:
https://www.hirondelle.org/en/studio-kalangou-niger-en#sigProId5200dc602e

Testimonies :

"With Studio Kalangou, people really like our radio. They even think that it was another radio that merged with our radio, but we explain that it is a partnership. At our radio station, we do not provide news. But it was with Kalangou that we began to give information and that is what astonishes the population (…) people appreciate it a lot, they even say that our radio has grown now. There are even some who are jealous of it. But really, in the village, people listen a lot."

The director of Radio Marhaba, in the south of Niger, partner of Studio Kalangou.

"What I retain from the Studio Kalangou programmes is the information on conflict resolution methods. They give us information on the ways and means to resolve disputes with others".

Listener, Radio Azourou, Tchirozerine, July 2022