‘I HEARD IT ON THE RADIO’ : Giving Voice To Audiences Through Radio Talk Shows In Liberia

Abstract: This thesis explores the experiences of radio talk show participants in Liberia, using the Okay Morning Rush of Okay FM as a case study. The thesis probes the Liberian perspective of how talk shows give voice to citizens in public discourses and the resulting experiences for both the participants and the society. It considers the theoretical and analytical scope of Habermas public sphere and Goffman’s framing theory to understand the values and impacts of talk shows in the people’s everyday lives. The thesis construes talk show as a public sphere based on the definition of the terms as a democratic instrument and not its limitations like those of the bourgeoisie public sphere. Using Braun & Clarke’s (2012) thematic analysis, 13 semi-structured interviews are explored. Data analysis finds Okay Morning Rush to be a modern public sphere that transcends the boundaries of elites and laypeople and brings anyone available in society to the public glare to get heard. This feat is the kind of inclusiveness that remains a deficit and limiting feature of the Habermas-inspired public sphere. The thesis can claim and generalize that talk shows do not only give voice to audiences (including marginalized citizens) in Liberia but also offer them a genuine sense of multiple subjective identities as influencers and interlocutors in the country’s democratic and civic spaces. It is a finding of this thesis that political efficacy is intensified in Liberia among talk show callers. Political efficacy subsequently reinforces their political and civic engagements as active participants in the democratic processes, such as exercising their voices to call for change, question, or hold public officials accountable for their (in)actions. It concludes that the media needs to get those missing voices into the public sphere by being diversified with the framing of topics to evoke inclusive participation if they should not reintroduce the exclusionary practices of the bourgeoisie public sphere in a modern way. As a pioneer in audience research in Liberia (the first-ever study on talk shows and audience experience), the thesis contributes new knowledge about media and audiences in Liberia. Equally, it lays the foundation for more future audience studies by the researcher and others.