People
Radio and the spoken word
Somalis trust the spoken word: radio, poetry, voice notes and respected speakers carry news and ideas faster than print. In a 2014 survey almost every second adult in Somalia listened to BBC radio, and about a third of listeners tuned in on their mobile phones.
The force
Somali was not officially written until the 1970s (Media Landscapes). For centuries, history, law, news and argument travelled as poetry and speech. Somalis are often called a nation of poets. That habit is still strong, and phones have made it stronger.
Inside the country
- Radio reach. A survey from May to July 2014 found that almost every second adult listened to BBC radio, about 1.7 million listeners, making it the most-listened international service and one of the most trusted (Radio Today).
- How people listen. About 70% listened on FM, about a third through mobile phones, and more than half of BBC Somali's web traffic came from phones (same source).
- What people want. In a 2013 survey, 95.7% of audiences wanted religious content, 94.8% health, 83% arts and culture and 81.6% education (Media Landscapes).
- Trusted voices. The same source says traditional religious leaders "remain highly credible".
- Video now. TikTok reaches 37.7% of adults, more than Facebook (DataReportal). Somali-language education channels, such as waxkabaro Academy and Elmi Online Academy, are among the top YouTube channels in the country (vidIQ).
- Listening back. Radio Ergo, a humanitarian station, sends weekly reports built from listeners' phone feedback (Radio Ergo).
What is not known
We found no national radio survey after 2014, so those figures are old.
Who rode it fast
Kenya's farming TV show Shamba Shape Up reached about 8 million viewers. It fed an SMS and call-centre service, iShamba, with 500,000 subscribers, and 428,000 households took up a farming practice it showed (Mediae).
Why it is a tailwind
Information that comes by voice, from a trusted speaker, in Somali, reaches people who do not read well and people on basic phones. Adult literacy was 53.7% in 2022, and only 20.5% among nomadic families (NBS Facts and Figures 2022). Audio reaches all of them.
What it means for young Somalis
A young Somali poet, presenter or creator with a phone can speak to the whole country. The oldest Somali way of sharing ideas is also the newest.
Sources
- Media Landscapes · medialandscapes.org
- Radio Today · radiotoday.co.uk
- DataReportal · datareportal.com
- vidIQ · vidiq.com
- Radio Ergo · radioergo.org
- Mediae · mediae.org
- NBS Facts and Figures 2022 · nbs.gov.so
Gathered in our research record “Foundational tailwinds”. Wikipedia is used only as a backup.
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