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This article examines how board politics undermine the participatory mandate of community radio by constraining journalistic autonomy in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Focusing on selected community radio newsrooms, it asks how governance structures and board-level political and commercial interests shape editorial decisions, news agendas, and practices of self-censorship. The study adopts an integrated theoretical approach that combines the political economy of communication with field theory and professional role theory to connect structural ownership dynamics with everyday newsroom struggles over authority and voice. Using a qualitative multiple case study design, it draws on semi-structured interviews with journalists and board members, newsroom observation, and analysis of governance and editorial documents. The findings develop the notion of a governance filter to describe how board interventions privilege elite priorities, narrow the range of legitimate community voices, and discipline dissenting journalists. The article advances theory on media ownership and journalistic autonomy and offers practical insights for community radio governance, regulation, and training.
Wonder Juniper (Tue,) studied this question.