This 28-page working group report from the Center for International Media Assistance, National Endowment for Democracy, United States (US), describes results of a meeting on the impact of community radio, as well as the role and challenges of community radio development within the larger context of media development. The group included community radio developers and activists, representatives from donor and implementing organisations, as well as scholars and policymakers, who met to form recommendations on whether and how to address community radio development within larger assistance initiatives.


The group discussed creating an enabling environment for community radio development, issues related to the sustainability of community radio stations, and appropriate assistance strategies that donors and implementers should consider, against a background of first-hand accounts of where and why community radio has been effective.

Major findings include:

• a recommendation to regard media as a distinct sector for development rather than as an auxiliary of larger development projects, and, within media development, to recognise community radio as a source of empowerment, especially for disenfranchised and marginalised groups in society.
• recognition of the importance of broad community participation in the ownership and control of the station so that programming responds to the diverse needs of the community.
• a need to encourage governments to adopt and enforce legislation and regulations necessary for community radio to operate where local need and potential is present, but a conducive legal and political environment for community radio development is absent.
• for the development field, especially donors, a need for long-term commitment and coordinated efforts for the institutional development of community radio, including:
  
  
  1. financial sustainability solutions, for example, a well-coordinated pooled funding source, or a microcredit loan system for community radio development that is not subject to donor priorities; and
  2. alternative funding strategies and development models that encourage sustainability due to the limits of donor support for the long term. The report recommends that donors should provide equipment and technological support adequate for the local setting, and comprehensive training preparing funding recipients for sustainability even in changing environments.

  
  
  

• the importance of networks of community radio stations which could exchange programming and create national news and information programmes, and professional associations which could establish professional codes of ethics, identify training needs, and establish training programmes. They can also serve as advocates for the sector, soliciting more funds for development. Associations and networks can thus become focal points for donor assistance.
• the opportunity for the media assistance community to bring new technology prospects to community radio development through digitisation and the internet.

Through summaries of panel presentations the report documents the participatory and horizontal nature of community radio, illustrated by this slogan from Mongolia: “Your radio is listening”. Examples from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, as well as research-based statistical studies, are used to demonstrate that community radio is effective in risk management, democratisation, empowerment of women and refugees, and behavioural changes, including those focused on women’s rights promotion, HIV rates reduction, family planning, reproductive health issues, and prevention of child trafficking. The working group recognised radio as a tool for getting information to rural, illiterate, and economically poor communities, and particularly recognised the effectiveness of education-entertainment style soap operas or "telenovelas".


Infeasible and inadequate contexts for community radio development cited here include places where a government doesn't understand the importance of reaching out to rural sectors. One participant suggested engaging elected and appointed officials to create a strong link between government and local media. Participants observed that in post-conflict areas like Rwanda and Kosovo, where community radio had been seized for a tool of inciting violence, that media developers were resorting to using commercial models to try to achieve some of the same goals that a community radio project might try to reach. The group cautioned against imposing models on communities and recognised the power of broadcasting local content in local languages. Panellists also stated that guidelines for development of community radio, particularly referring to the Middle East and North Africa region, "will matter only after there is legal reform allowing for the licensing and establishment of independent community radio stations." Concluding this panel, "one implementer strongly cautioned against supporting initiatives where there is clear evidence that the majority does not protect the rights of the minority within the community and will take advantage of community radio to further reinforce the disparity, be it on ethnic, political, or social basis."


Panels on challenges and on ensuring an enabling environment for community radio reiterated the issue of sustainability, suggesting that funders be open to unconventional solutions, including technical and engineering solutions, that may be feasible for local settings. The example of an internet-based radio channel in Jordan demonstrated a way of circumventing prohibition of independent radio. Later, a commercial model was used to bring voice to local issues when non-commercial radio was not available. Participatory establishment of guidelines of community licensing, including frameworks for community representation and low licensing fees, also need to address transparency of application and licensing. Implementation of regulations is a concern, even when enabling policies are established. Participants cautioned against cumbersome accounting and auditing regulations, drawing energy away from the goal of serving the community.

CIMA website.