Community Radio Rides a Popularity Wave
Writing by admin on Thursday, 15 of February , 2007 at 11:08 pm
The time for Community Radio has truly come. The tremendously enthusiastic response that the exhibition on “Community Radio: Innovation, low cost solutions and access” got at the BES Expo -2007 earlier this month in New Delhi, India, demonstrated this loud and clear. The exhibition, organized by UNESCO in collaboration with Plan India, OneWorld South Asia and Care India was an attempt to create awareness about Community Radio and show case low cost technology that can be used to set up radio stations.
The exhibition was held against the backdrop of the new Community Radio policy allowing NGOs and not-for-profit organizations to set up community radio stations for development purposes.
The uniquely designed stall at Hall 10 in New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan Exhibition Complex sought to create an ambience of a rural community radio station and highlighted the fact that setting up radio stations need neither be complex nor costly. In fact, the stall ran a special live broadcast `Hamari Awaaz FM 89.9 Mhz’ from the Radio-station-in-box. The “box”, measuring around 55×50 cm contains a mixer, CD/Cassette player, a 30W FM transmitter, antenna and a laptop with the added possibility of multimedia programming and access services. The 30W transmitter can be tuned to any frequency within the FM band by a very simple setting process. Developed by the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union, with UNESCO assistance the “box” is a self sufficient broadcasting and production tool and will cost Rs 3 lakh, minus import duty.
Also on display was a suitcase radio – a handy portable suitcase that could function as a full-fledged radio station. A member of Mandakini ki Awaaz, a community radio group from Uttarakhand that conducted the live broadcast, also showed how a radio station can be made soundproof - with papier mache egg-trays and thermacol!
“The time for Community radio has come,” declared the Honourable Minister for Urban Development S Jaipal Reddy, Chief Guest at a half-day Forum on this topic, treating ongoing applications and best practices in this field with a view to determining the way forward in support of a budding industry, organized during the exhibition. He said although the media in India is overcrowded and getting louder each day, there is still something missing - ie presence of community radio reflecting the concerns of the community.
Mr. Reddy said it was necessary to make community radio stations cheaper to make the concept of community radio popular and useful. “For this, we need to innovate more and be aware of what is already available.” He said the media had the potential to make stars and superstars and community radio could help discover the potential star in every young person.
The minister also pointed out the relevance of community radio in dealing with local issues. “All needs are not necessarily national. There are many issues that are locally relevant and can only be taken up at local levels. Community radio can be an effective tool in doing this,” he said.
In competition with some of the most exclusive, high tech and highly priced exhibits, the popularity of the community radio stall increased with every passing day. Over 500 people visited the stall – that included representatives from NGOs, educational institutions, student groups, radio equipment manufacturers and researchers. “ Everyone wanted to know how a community can start a radio station – what are the procedures and what are the costs involved,” informed the organisers of the stall.
Jocelyne Josiah, Communication and Information Advisor, Asia, UNESCO, said the world was divided into those who loved radio and those who had yet to discover it. She said if iPod and other cutting edge technology were one side of the media spectrum, radio was on the other extreme. However, its importance lay in its incredible reach and the fact that it was capable of touching the soul.
Presentations on existing community radio applications and practices like the E-Tuk Tuk that was used in remote communities in Sri Lanka and Radio-station-in-a-Box were made at the Forum.
“This overwhelming response has encouraged us to support such interactive exhibitions in other states too,” said Ms Josiah.
This article originally appeared in the UNESCO WebWorld news service. Click here to view the original article.
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