RFPA Awards recognises importance of youth reporters

Taetso Mphalehlele (17), a member of the Children's Radio Foundation's Young Reporters Network, will accept the first prize for the Youth Category on behalf of his team from Greater Lebowakgomo FM, a community radio station in Limpopo.

A powerful tool of communication

According to Children's Radio Foundation's executive director Mike Rahfaldt, "Radio is a powerful tool of communication in the continent with young people forming a large percentage of listeners. Awarding the Youth Category prize to these young reporters recognises how essential it is for young people to add their voices about issues that affect and resonate with them and their peers."

Mphahlele alongside Thato Rachamose (17) and Chris Chuee (17) researched, produced and presented the winning programme on 'Cyberbulling' on their weekly show, 'Boomtalk'. "We'd noticed that there were a lot of people who were affected by bullying on Facebook and other social media networks," says Rachamose.

The three classmates have been members of the Young Reporters Network, a project of the Children's Radio Foundation and UNICEF, since 2011.

Since it was established, the Young Reporters Network has trained more than 180 youth reporters at 14 community radio stations across South Africa. CRF works in five countries across Africa, with over 1300 young reporters broadcasting in 25 languages across 68 projects, reaching more than 7 million listeners across the continent.