Description:
Community radio station established and run by farmers is expected to function as a broadcast service in order
to meet with their information needs. This goal can be achieved if it is used extensively. Therefore, this paper
aims to report an investigation about the patterns of use of community radio service for farmers, notably in West
Java, Indonesia. 25% of Radio Remaja’s and Radio Whisnu’s audience were taken as samples. Both of the
broadcast services are situated respectively in the village Majasari district of Sliyeg and the village of Arjasari
district of Patrol, regency of Indramayu West Java. Correlational descriptive method was applied to gather,
analyze, and interpret the data about the radios’ frequency and duration of listening and participation. The
hypothesis was tested using Rank Spearman and Chi Square tests. The preliminary results of the research show
that there are high frequency and duration of listening but low in participation. The most sought-after program is
infotainment with more than 90% listeners. The conclusion can also be drawn that the patterns of use of
community radio service are correlated with factors of age, formal education, farming status, and mass media
ownership.
Keywords: radio; community; information; farmers