RADIO REVERENCE: THE ROLE OF RELIGIOUS-BASED RADIO STATIONS IN PROTECTING ZANZIBAR’S CULTURAL HERITAGE IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION

Abstract

Globalization and outside cultural influences increasingly threaten the retention of Zanzibar's unique cultural heritage rooted in Islamic, African, and Arab traditions developed over centuries along Indian Ocean trade routes. Within this context, Zanzibar's religious-based radio stations have rapidly gained prominence as contemporary guardians strive to both preserve and thoughtfully evolve cultural practices to retain relevance amidst accelerating homogenization. This mixed-methods study explores the complex roles religious radio plays in protecting threatened Zanzibari heritage, along with the key challenges they face, through a survey of 100 respondents and interviews with 20 media experts. Results reveal the majority of respondents rely heavily on religious radio for culture-focused programming and believe these stations bear primary responsibility for heritage safeguarding despite format limitations, globalized pressures, and resource constraints. Experts cite religious radio roles such as providing cultural awareness, promoting moral and spiritual values, facilitating cultural dialogue, and helping to overcome cultural diversity as pivotal for sustaining endangered cultural elements through context-rich oral narratives. However, challenges in lack of budget, specialized cultural personnel, digital archiving capabilities, and youth engagement threaten progress. By credibly adapting traditions and positioning culture as a modern public good, Zanzibar's faith-based stations may yet advance inclusive cultural dynamism. This study, therefore, illuminates an overlooked sphere upholding indigenous identities amidst accelerating deterritorialization. Findings inform regulatory policies and unveil nuanced programming tactics for strengthening sustainable cultural development in an era where preserving heritage requires globalized solutions but starts locally.