Two Smockey Concerts Broadcast on Burkina Faso’s Airwaves
Related project
Faso MediaAs part of the Faso Media initiative, CFI and UNALFA (Burkina Faso's national union of free audiovisual media outlets) organised live radio coverage, in Burkina Faso, of two concerts performed by the rapper Smockey on 10 and 11 April 2015, and also broadcast a programme aimed at encouraging citizens to vote.
Thousands of Burkinabés flocked to Tiefo Amoro Square in Bobo Dioulasso and Revolution Square in Ouagadougou to listen to Smockey and other artists – both from Burkina Faso (SamsK' le Jah, Smarty, Art Melody, Awa Boussim) and other countries (Soum Bill, les Patrons de Côte d'Ivoire, Didier Awadi) – perform, with the concerts marking the launch of the campaign 'Après ta révolte, ton vote' (After you rebel, you vote).
Thanks to this radio coverage, the concerts' main message, namely that of inciting the people of Burkina Faso to register en masse on the electoral roll, has resonated loudly throughout the country. Over 30 radio stations – all partners to the Faso Media initiative – were able to simultaneously broadcast the two concerts live after having each been equipped with a satellite reception kit by the initiative. Further upstream, several journalists who attended the most recent training session held by CFI and UNALFA presented a live radio programme aimed at encouraging citizens to vote in the upcoming elections, which was translated into regional languages. In the words of a magistrate who was invited to speak on the programme, "it is essential that the public benefits from the lists having been revised so that it can forge an electoral identity and thus play an active role in the process for ending the transition".
"These programmes, together with concerts being broadcast live, are a first for Burkina Faso," says Ousmane Ouattara, the Chief Editor of the Banfora-based radio station Radio Munyu. "They've proven to be a major hit not only with the listeners in the country, but also with Burkinabés living abroad." The country's radio network will continue to receive support from the Faso Media initiative, with the next step being the production and simultaneous broadcasting of public political debate programmes.
http://www.sidwaya.bf/m-5572-musique-smockey-offre-deux-concerts-gratuits-au-peuple-burkinabe.html
