DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2016.v04i08.018

Pages: 941-945

Kenya has undergone experiences of disunity and fragmentation based on identifiable factors such as ethnicity and tribalism. The media has the lead role in ensuring the country remains united if its developmental role is to be achieved under a peaceful environment. This article therefore, examines radio audience as imagines communities and how such communities as Salaams Clubs can be utilised as uniting tools in Kenya. The article’s argument is derivative and wades through the following key questions 1) what are the features of ‘imagined communities’ as espoused by Anderson? 2) What are the characteristics of imagined media audience? 3) How is audience imagined and mediated by radio as seen in Salaams Clubs? And 4) what could be the value of Salaams Clubs in uniting Kenyan audience and cultivating nationhood? Benedict Anderson’s concept of nations as ‘imagined communities’ in appreciating radio audiences anchoring on the Salaams Clubs is adopted. The article advances the argument that mediation applies to radio audiences who are, first and foremost, an imagined community, which as argued by many, can never be homogenous. That radio audience forms a multiplicity of dynamic identities. In the process of imagining and mediating, radio like all other mediums brings the audience together for purposes beyond their imagination such as sharing feelings, experiences and belongingness. The article is aimed at contributing to knowledge on the conceptualisation of mass audiences and the internal benefit of such a process to them, which is one of the key issues in the study of mass communication.