Community radio

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Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio
broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting.
Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of
interest. They broadcast content that is popular and relevant to a local,
specific audience but is often overlooked by commercial or mass-media
broadcasters. Community radio stations are operated, owned, and
influenced by the communities they serve. They are generally nonprofit
and provide a mechanism for enabling individuals, groups, and
communities to tell their own stories, to share experiences and, in a
media-rich world, to become creators and contributors of media.
In many parts of the world, community radio acts as a vehicle for the
community and voluntary sector, civil society, agencies, NGOs and
citizens to work in partnership to further community development aims,
in addition to broadcasting. There is legally defined community radio (as
a distinct broadcasting sector) in many countries, such as France,
Argentina, South Africa, Australia and Ireland. Much of the legislation
has included phrases such as "social benefit", "social objectives" and
"social gain" as part of the definition. Community radio has developed
differently in different countries, and the term has somewhat different
meanings in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Canada,
and Australia.
India
In India the campaign to legitimise community radio began in the mid-
1990s, soon after the Supreme Court of India ruled in its judgment of
February 1995 that "airwaves are public property".[3][dead link] This
inspired groups across the country; however, only educational (campus)
radio stations were originally permitted (under a number of conditions).
Anna FM was India's first campus "community" radio station. Launched
on 1 February 2004, it is run by the Education and Multimedia Research
Centre (EMRC); all programmes are produced by Media Science
students at Anna University.
On 16 November 2006, the government of India implemented new
Community Radio Guidelines,[13] which permit NGOs and other civil
organizations to own and operate community radio stations. About
4,000 community radio licenses are being offered across India,
according to government sources. By 30 November 2008, the Ministry
of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India had
received 297 applications for community radio licenses (including 141
from NGOs and other civil organizations, 105 from educational
institutions and 51 for "farm radio" stations to be run by agricultural
universities and agricultural extension centers, or Krishi Vigyan
Kendras). Of these, 107 community radio stations have been cleared for
licensing through the issuance of Letters of Intent. 13 Grant of
Permission Agreements (GOPA) have been signed with license
applicants under the new plan.
By 30 November 2008, there were 38 operational community radio
stations in the country. Of these, two are run by NGOs and the rest by
educational institutions. The first community-based radio station
licensed to an NGO (as distinct from campus-based radio) was
launched on 15 October 2008, when Sangham Radio[dead link] in
Pastapur village, Medak district, Andhra Pradesh state went on the air
at 11:00 am. Sangham Radio, which broadcasts on 90.4 MHz, is
licensed to the Deccan Development Society (DDS) (an NGO which
works with women's groups in approximately 75 villages in Andhra
Pradesh). The community radio station is managed by General and
Algole Narsamma. The second NGO-led community radio station in
India was launched on 23 October 2008 at Taragram in Orchha,
Madhya Pradesh state. Named Radio Bundelkhand[dead link] after the
Bundelkhand region of central India where it is located, the radio station
is licensed to the Society for Development Alternatives (DA) (a Delhi-
based NGO). Radio Bundelkhand also broadcasts on 90.4 MHz for four
hours a day (including two hours of repeat broadcasts).
According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 47
community radio stations were operational in India by 1 November 2009
(including 45 campus-based stations and two CRS run by NGOs). By
December 2009, the number of CR stations run by civil groups had
increased to seven:
Sangham Radio (Pastapur, Medak District, Andhra Pradesh)
Radio Bundelkhand (Orchha, Madhya Pradesh)
Mann Deshi Tarang (Satara, Maharashtra)
Namma Dhwani (Budikote, Karnataka)
Radio Mattoli (Wayanad, Kerala)
Kalanjiam Samuga Vanoli (Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu)
Barefoot (Tilonia, Rajasthan)
Radio Banasthali ( Banasthali, Rajasthan)
By 4 December 2009, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had
issued Grant of Permission Agreements (GOPA) for 62 community
radio stations. Most of the GOPAs were issued to educational
institutions.
Community Radio Sarang on 107.8 is managed by the Mangalore
Jesuit Educational Society (MJES) and run by St. Aloysius College
(Autonomous), Mangalore (a coastal town in southern Karnataka).
Radio Sarang is campus radio, in that it is based in an educational
institution; it is oriented towards local communities as well, producing
programs with, for and by farmers, fishermen, hospital patients, vendors
and service providers such as bicycle repairmen and cobblers. Radio
Sarang broadcasts in Konkani, Kannada, Tulu, and English daily, and in
Malayalam, Beary (the mother tongue of local Muslims) and Hindi on a
weekly basis. It also broadcasts in Punjabi, by request of the local Sikh
community. Since 15 June 2010, the CR station broadcasts 14 hours a
day from 6:30 to 20:30. The format includes talks, interviews, phone-ins,
songs, poetry, stories and chat shows. Richard Rego, SJ is founder and
director of the station.
Banasthali Radio was the first community radio station licensed in the
state of Rajasthan. Reaching out to areas within the radius of 10-15Km,
it primarily covers the north-eastern part of Tonk district. Banasthali
Radio has been operating since January 2005 as a campus radio
station for students. The transmission reaches 50 villages surrounding
the campus; students started outdoor recordings as part of the
extension activities of Vidyapeeth. The FM radio station is known as
RADIO BANASTHALI and broadcasts radio programs for 12 hours daily
currently and focuses on topics of entertainment,education, health,
nutrition, environment, agriculture, depicting folk, art, culture rural and
community development.
To create a common platform for the local communities of Supi in
Uttarakhand, TERI launched Kumaon vani (a community radio service)
on March 11, 2010. Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva inaugurated
the community radio station, the first in the state. Kumaon Vani airs
programmes on the environment, agriculture, culture, weather and
education in the local language and with the active participation of the
communities. The station covers a radius of 10 km, reaching an
audience of almost 2,000 around Mukhteshwar.[14]
Jnan Taranga (90.4 FM), the first community radio service in
northeastern India, began regular broadcasts November 20, 2010.
Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University[dead link], Guwahati,
Assam, aired the first programme on 28 January 2009 as an
experimental broadcast. Jnan Taranga literally means "knowledge
wave".
Under the 2006 community radio policy, any not-for-profit "legal
entity"except individuals, political parties (and their affiliates), criminal
and banned organizationscan apply for a CR license. Central funding
is not available for such stations, and there are stringent restrictions on
fundraising from other sources. Only organisations which have been
registered for a minimum of three years old and with a proven track
record of local community service may apply. License conditions
implicitly favour well-funded stations over inexpensive low-power
operations, several of which (Mana Radio in Andhra Pradesh and
Raghav FM in Bihar, for example) operated successfully on shoestring
budgets before the imposition of a community radio policy.
The licence entitles them to operate a 100-watt (ERP) radio station, with
a coverage area of approximately a 12-km radius. A maximum antenna
height of 30 meters is allowed. Community radio stations are expected
to produce at least 50 percent of their programmes locally, as much as
possible in the local language or dialect. The stress is on developmental
programming, although there is no explicit ban on entertainment. News
programmes are banned on community radio in India (as they are on
commercial FM radio). However, the government recently clarified that
certain categories of news are permitted on radio, including sports news
and commentaries, information on traffic and weather conditions,
coverage of cultural events and festivals, information on academic
events, public announcements pertaining to utilities such as electricity
and the water supply, disaster warnings and health alerts. Five minutes
of advertising per hour is allowed on community radio. Sponsored
programs are not allowed, except when the program is sponsored by
the government at the local or state level.
Activists and community workers from across the country have banded
together under the aegis of the Community Radio Forum of India[dead
link] to coordinate training and support for community radio stations, and
to work for a more proactive community radio policy. The Community
Radio Forum, India, was registered as a Society and Trust on 26
February 2008. In the meantime, mobile telephone operators have
begun to offer commercial broadcast services over GSM, evading
government restrictions built around traditional concepts of broadcasting
technology.
By 1 July 2010, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced
that 715 applications for CR licenses had been received, including 104
under the old campus-radio guidelines. 231 Letters of Intent were
issued (including 63 under the old guidelines). Grant of Permission
Agreements were signed with 102 applicants, and 68 community radio
stations were on the air. 107 applications were rejected, and 377
applications were being processed.