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By Andy Gladding, Ed.D.
WMCA 570 / WNYM 970 Radio, NY
WRHU 88.7 FM, Hofstra University
Chief Engineer

Following the 2024 election cycle, there has been a flurry of conversation and speculation over the diminishing role linear media played in deciding the outcome of high-profile national races. With both the Trump and Harris teams choosing to heavily engage with social media influencers, digital media outlets and podcasters, campaign operatives have demonstrated that they are willing to shift their political ad spending into newer forms of broadcast messaging. This has called into question just how much influence and effectiveness legacy media has over audiences in the current media market.

However, not every country shares this perception. In 2020, WRHU Radio Hofstra University in New York formed an alliance with 89.5FM Bush Radio in Cape Town, South Africa. Bush Radio is the oldest community radio station in South Africa, having long been an established voice for the Cape Town area since the early 1990s. With programming in three languages and a highly diverse staff, the station is deeply ingrained in the fabric of the Cape Town media space. The parallel goals of WRHU and Bush Radio, specifically emphasis on local journalism, community programming and educational radio training, provided a strong foundation for the stations to build this joint venture. The purpose of this partnership was to explore the power and reach of community radio in each station’s respective broadcast area. Since the inception of this relationship, both stations have enjoyed a continuous flow and exchange of ideas, goals and programming, even co-producing a weekly show called “1World Radio,” which highlights news, talk and music content featured WRHU and Bush Radio.

Bush Radio journalists Jasnine Roberts, Lydia Marwanqana, Renato Van Schalkwyk, and Adrian Louw tour the Salem Radio New York facilities with chief engineer Andy Gladding (pictured in rear) and assistant production manager Alex Garrett (pictured in front).

As part of this alliance, the stations were able to engage in a radio exchange program commencing just before the 2024 U.S. elections. With monies gained from a cultural grant, Bush Radio sent five radio journalists abroad to New York and Washington, DC to cover the national elections. The purpose of this trip was for the Bush Radio journalists to have the opportunity to see the American democratic process up close and later report their findings back to the Cape Town listening audience.

During the New York leg of their journey, I had the pleasure of offering our colleagues from WRHU’s “sister station” an up close and personal look at some of the New York’s finest broadcast institutions. The Bush Radio journalists, using WRHU as their base of operations, had the chance to visit New York Public Radio, Salem Media of New York, Long Island News Radio and fellow NCE broadcasters at WHPC and WCWP. Bush Radio members had the opportunity to interview local politicians, interface with student journalists and even participate in some radio broadcasts, including AM970’s “The Arthur Aidala Power Hour” “The One Leg Up Podcast” with Alex Garrett and WRHU’s Hofstra’s Morning Wake Up Call.

At the beginning of their visit, the Bush Radio team had a number of pre-conceived notions about the American electoral process, national media and cultural ideals. They were all aware of the large impact that American media has had on the rest of the world, with most of their impressions of the USA generally rooted in older idioms of American pop culture, specifically things they had seen on MTV, NBC, ABC and other international network programming originating from the United States. They believed the American elections were similar to the south African cycle, with campaigns lasting only for a few months and a generally receptive population to the post-election outcomes.

However, after spending some time in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Long Island conducting interviews and analyzing news reporting during their visit, their perspective was much different. The Bush Radio journalists were amazed at the drastic differences in reporting they saw across different news outlets. They observed that different stations were geared to provide favorable reporting to targeted audiences, which was something they noted didn’t happen back in South Africa. They were also surprised at how divided and polarized Americans were, summing the experience to how people would choose sides as if they were rooting for a favorite football or soccer team. Finally, they noticed that while the national media seemed to be coalescing around Harris as their preferred candidate, the polling was pointing towards a Trump victory. The stark differences between the bias of the media verses the national momentum was also surprising to them.

According to the Bush Radio journalists, they felt that linear network and community broadcasting carried a much larger influence back home than it did in the United States. They believed that this was partially because much of their domestic population does not have access to broadband internet, which meant that many still relied on terrestrial broadcasting to receive their information. However, they also observed that many people they spoke to had developed a distrust of the media. The South African journalists believed that much of this sentiment stemmed from apparent media bias, since the national reporting didn’t seem to accurately reflect the polling trends. They also pointed out that due to the wide array of media outlets and digital content providers that were available to the public, there seemed to be a dilution of credibility across all media sources, as the sheer volume of stories made it difficult for people to fact check all of the decentralized information.

However, the Bush journalists also observed that many Americans held the First Amendment in high regard. Freedom of speech and expression is a relatively young concept in post-apartheid South Africa. The journalists were amazed at the confidence and accessibility Americans presented when it came to sharing personal opinions or thoughts. This, according to the Bush Radio journalists, was not a widely accepted practice back home.

Many of the journalists were also amazed at the willingness of different groups to cross “traditional cultural lines” to vote for candidates that were from different ethnic backgrounds. They noted that back home, voters from specific racial backgrounds would generally align with candidates that were of a similar race. According to the journalists, this demonstrated that the idea of being “American” alongside the marketing of a candidate was a unique force that could work against ingrained or learned racial stereotypes and biases.

Despite the contentious nature of the elections and the high level of emotion generated by the outcome, the Bush Radio folks believed that the American democratic process was indeed intact and that their role as community radio journalists was now more important than ever. They noted that if they could be the “standard-bearers” of the news and produce reliable and credible content, it would draw greater listenership to their linear programming. According to the journalists, credibility was the most important element a radio station could have, especially as people around the world look for new ways to consume information. They acknowledged the fact that regardless of our cultural differences, they saw a similar passion for broadcasting and community service among their radio counterparts in New York, especially after interfacing with the students at WRHU. They also learned a very valuable lesson during their visit, specifically that New York pizza has the power to bring opposing groups together, as it was their observation this celebrated cuisine seemed to be served at every management meeting that required uncomfortable discussions or decision making. As one of the Bush journalists exclaimed after enjoying his first slice, “this pizza could solve all of the world’s problems.”

As a continuation of the WRHU-Bush Radio partnership, members of WRHU have been invited to travel to Cape Town in February and participate in the reporting on the results of the South African elections. Based on the feedback from the South African journalists, I am confident that this experience will be just as rewarding and exciting as it was for the Bush Radio participants.

1World Radio airs every Tuesday between 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm on WRHU, Radio Hofstra University.

Dr. Andrew Gladding is the chief engineer of the Salem Media stations in New York City – WMCA 570 / WNYM 970 – as well as WRHU 88.7 FM, Hofstra University, where he also serves as a lecturer on communications.  He can be reached at 516-527-0764 or andyg@nycradio.com.