1 Vol. 18 No. 2 March 2014 A Newsletter of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia In this issue Guest Column 2 Spotlight On 5 Worth While Web 6 CEMCA News 7 Case Study 13 Regional Round Up 16 Book Review 18 SMART Tips 19 Research Shows 21 Technology Tracking 22 Forthcoming Events 24 From Director’s Desk I am happy to report to you that the Community Radio Technology Course consisting of 9 modules and 12 videos was released during the 4 th National Community Radio Sammelan organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the month of March 2014. I thank all the course contributors, editors, producers and particularly the Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd (BECIL) for their support in making this happen. As per our policy, all these are available as Open Educational Resources. While you will see reports of our activities in this issue and on our website, I would like to highlight the Community Radio Video Challenge as one of the most significant initiatives taken up by CEMCA to promote CR amongst the young people of India. We are lucky to have the right kinds of partners for all our activities, and I would like to thank each one of them for their faith on us. Partnership is one of our key strategies to implement our activities, and we believe that working together increases the value of our collective resources. We hope that you will like this issue of EduComm Asia. As indicated always, we look forward to your feedback to serve you better. Do write to us about what you want to see more in the Newsletter, and how you can be part of the team of contributors. Dr. Sanjaya Mishra W e are happy to bring to you this issue of EduComm Asia covering mostly on the thematic area of Community Radio. We are thankful to Toby Mandel for his contribution to the Guest Column in this issue, where he highlights the need for appropriate regulation for a robust CR sector. Form a comparative perspective Toby provides us useful advice to think and aspire for. In the case study section, we highlight the example of Farm Radio International and its impact on improving Agriculture practices using Community Radio. We also present to you the extract of a research on Community Radio Practices in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific, which indicates that 38% of CR stations in the survey are run by NGOs. In Asia, this is above 60%. We list some of the web resources for Web Radio in the Worth While Web section. In the Technology Tracking we present the mobile interactive voice response technology of Gram Vaani as a tool to improve community participation. There is also a book review related to Community Radio in this issue. We focus on the Hunar Project of the National Institute of Open Schooling in the Spotlight section to highlight its significant impact in improving access to quality skill development amongst minority girls. In the SMART Tips, we present to you how to use social media in citation and referencing. We also share with you the other regular features, including the activities of CEMCA.
Transcript
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Vol. 18 No. 2 March 2014 A Newsletter of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia
In this issue
Guest Column 2
Spotlight On 5
Worth While Web 6
CEMCA News 7
Case Study 13
Regional Round Up 16
Book Review 18
SMART Tips 19
Research Shows 21
Technology Tracking 22
Forthcoming Events 24
From Director’s Desk
I am happy to report to you that the CommunityRadio Technology Course consisting of 9modules and 12 videos was released during the4th National Community Radio Sammelanorganized by the Ministry of Information andBroadcasting in the month of March 2014. Ithank all the course contributors, editors,producers and particularly the BroadcastEngineering Consultants India Ltd (BECIL) fortheir support in making this happen. As per ourpolicy, all these are available as OpenEducational Resources.
While you will see reports of our activities inthis issue and on our website, I would like tohighlight the Community Radio Video Challengeas one of the most significant initiatives takenup by CEMCA to promote CR amongst theyoung people of India. We are lucky to have theright kinds of partners for all our activities, and Iwould like to thank each one of them for theirfaith on us. Partnership is one of our keystrategies to implement our activities, and webelieve that working together increases thevalue of our collective resources.
We hope that you will like this issue ofEduComm Asia. As indicated always, we lookforward to your feedback to serve you better.Do write to us about what you want to see morein the Newsletter, and how you can be part ofthe team of contributors.
Dr. Sanjaya Mishra
We are happy to bring to you
this issue ofEduComm Asia covering
mostly on the thematic area of CommunityRadio. We are thankful to Toby Mandel for hiscontribution to the Guest Column in this issue,where he highlights the need for appropriateregulation for a robust CR sector. Form acomparative perspective Toby provides ususeful advice to think and aspire for. In the casestudy section, we highlight the example of FarmRadio International and its impact on improvingAgriculture practices using Community Radio.We also present to you the extract of a researchon Community Radio Practices in Africa, Asia,Latin America and the Pacific, which indicatesthat 38% of CR stations in the survey are run byNGOs. In Asia, this is above 60%. We list someof the web resources for Web Radio in theWorth While Web section. In the TechnologyTracking we present the mobile interactive voiceresponse technology of Gram Vaani as a tool toimprove community participation. There is also abook review related to Community Radio in thisissue.
We focus on the Hunar Project of the NationalInstitute of Open Schooling in the Spotlightsection to highlight its significant impact inimproving access to quality skill developmentamongst minority girls. In the SMART Tips, wepresent to you how to use social media incitation and referencing. We also share with youthe other regular features, including theactivities of CEMCA.
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Guest Column...
Regulations for a RobustCommunity Radio Sector
By Toby Mendel
It is now widely, if not quite universally,recognised that strong communitybroadcasting, and community radio inparticular, is an important element of adiverse media environment which servesthe right of members of the public both toexpress themselves and to receive theinformation and ideas they need. This isreflected in international standards andstatements about broadcasting, as well asnational law and practice in this area.
At the same time, the specific regulatorymeasures that States have adopted tofacilitate the development of thecommunity radio sector differ widely.Some reflect better practice – in termsboth of being aligned with internationalstandards and of supporting thedevelopment of a robust community radiosector – while others fail to meet thesestandards.
This Guest Column provides an overviewof the key international standards in thisarea, and assesses the various differentissues and approaches regarding betterpractice regulation of community radio. Itdraws on the book, Tuning intodevelopment: International comparativesurvey of community broadcasting
regulation,1 which surveys the practice ofthirty different countries from everyregion of the world. Like the book, itassesses practice in three different areas,namely: namely recognition, definitionand form; access and licensing; andfunding and sustainability.
International Standards
International standards governingcommunity media are largely derived fromprimary guarantees of freedom ofexpression. The Universal Declarationon Human Rights (UDHR)2 is the leadingstatement of international human rights.Although, as a UN General AssemblyResolution, it is not formally legallybinding on States, parts of it, includingthe guarantee of freedom of expression atArticle 19, are widely regarded as havingacquired legal force as customaryinternational law. Article 19 states:
Everyone has the right to freedom ofopinion and expression; this rightincludes the right to hold opinionswithout interference and to seek, receiveand impart information and ideasthrough any media and regardless offrontiers.
This guarantee was translated into formallegal protection for freedom of expressionby Article 19 of the InternationalCovenant on Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR),3 a treaty ratified by 167 States asof March 2014.
These guarantees refer to a number ofgeneral standards which are relevant tocommunity radio. Among other things,these require regulatory bodies to beindependent of both government and themedia, and impose strict limits on anyrestrictions on what may be broadcast bycommunity radios.
However, the general standard which ismost significant for community radio isthe obligation on States to promote media
diversity. Indeed, most of the specificstandards relating to community mediathat have been developed throughinternational standard setting are derivedfrom the idea of diversity. There has beenextremely broad endorsement of the ideaof diversity as a key element of the rightto freedom of expression.Jurisprudentially, diversity derives fromthe multi-dimensional nature of freedomof expression, which protects not only theright of the speaker (to ‘impart’information and ideas) but also the rightof the listener (to ‘seek and receive’information and ideas).
To give proper effect to the right of thelistener implies that he or she is able toreceive a diversity of information andideas, since information from just onesource would not represent a right butsimply a one-dimensional flow. A diversity
1 Mendel, Toby (2013). Tuning into development: International comparative survey of communitybroadcasting regulation, Paris, UNESCO, Available at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/resources/publications-and-communication-materials/publications/full-list/tuning-into-development-international-comparative-survey-of-community-broadcasting-regulation/.
2 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 217A (III), 10 December 1948.3 UN General Assembly Resolution 2200A (XXI), adopted 16 December 1966, in force 23 March
1976.
Diversity derives from the multi-
dimensional nature of freedom
of expression, which protects
not only the right of the speaker
(to ‘impart’ information and
ideas) but also the right of the
listener (to ‘seek and receive’
information and ideas)
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of information and ideas, in turn, dependson a diversity of types of media whichreflect different viewpoints andperspectives in society. There are manystatements by authoritative internationalactors that support this idea. To quotejust one, the special internationalmandates on freedom of expression adopta Joint Declaration on a freedom ofexpression issue every year. Their 2007Joint Declaration on Diversity inBroadcasting included the followingstatement:
Different types of broadcasters –commercial, public service andcommunity – should be able to operateon, and have equitable access to, allavailable distribution platforms. Specificmeasures to promote diversity mayinclude reservation of adequatefrequencies for different types ofbroadcasters, must-carry rules, arequirement that both distribution andreception technologies arecomplementary and/or interoperable,including across national frontiers, andnon-discriminatory access to supportservices, such as electronic programmeguides.
Recognition, Definition and Form
It is central to the whole idea of promotingcommunity radio that the legal frameworkprovide for special rules for this sector –which are different from those that applyto either commercial or public servicebroadcasting – as a precondition toproviding for needs such as speciallicensing frameworks and funding. This isclearly dependent on a precise definitionof community radios or broadcasters. Inpractice, legal definitions andrequirements for community broadcastersare divided broadly into three main areas:form (requirements regarding the structurewhich the broadcaster must take); link tothe community (the ways in which thebroadcaster must demonstrate itsrelationship with the community); andpositive content standards (i.e.
requirements that community radio stationcarry content which is deemed to be“relevant” to the community).
In almost all cases, community radios arerequired to operate on a not-for-profitbasis, which is a natural requirementgiven the foundational idea that they areowned and managed by the community(so that any profits should be returned tothe community). Most countries alsorequire community radios to have a legalform, although the rationale for this isunclear and some countries allow forlicensing of non-legal entities. Somecountries recognise government bodiesas operators of community radios, whileothers prohibit this, thereby reflectingbetter practice, for communitybroadcasters are not the same as publicservice broadcasters.
Community broadcasters can servedifferent types of communities, but thedominant approach globally is to focus ongeographic communities. In manycountries, the law includes very general,and ultimately aspirational, exhortationsregarding the link to the community, suchas that the radio must be responsive tocommunity needs. Inasmuch as these areultimately unenforceable, they should notbe included in formal legal frameworks.Some countries prescribe very specificmodalities for community involvement,such as an annual general communitymeeting. While a potentially robust meansof ensuring the goal of involvement, thesemay also be excessively rigid, thereby
excluding some radios which do actuallyhave strong community links. A moreflexible approach is to look at the overalllink to the community, which wouldinclude formal and informal governancestructures, involvement of the communityin management and programmeproduction, and responsiveness ofprogramming to community needs.
In terms of positive content standards,one again finds too many generalexhortations – for example to producediverse or educational programming –which are hard to enforce and henceinappropriate as legal requirements. Somecountries impose more specific rules,such as quotas for locally producedcontent or content in local languages.Any such rules clearly need to be tailoredto the particular circumstances of thecountry and even community.
Access and Licensing
As with definitions, three main issues arerelevant in the area of access andlicensing, namely reservation offrequencies, licensing procedures andtechnical conditions. Better practice is toreserve some (an equitable portion) of thefrequency spectrum for communityradios, based on the understanding thatthese entities cannot compete openly forspectrum with commercial radios. Thereare many models for this. One is toprovide for specific frequencyreservations, usually expressed as apercentage, such as 20 or 30 percent ofthe frequency band. This has theadvantage of clarity and predictability butit is also rigid inasmuch as needs willalmost certainly differ from one locationto another. Another approach is to imposea general requirement on the regulator toreserve equitable frequencies forcommunity radios. This is more flexiblebut works only if the regulator activelyprotects frequencies for communityradios. In yet other countries, minimumquotas are set, such as at least one or fivepercent, along with a requirement for the
A more flexible approach is to
look at the overall link to the
community , which would include
formal and informal governance
structures, involvement of the
community in management and
programme production, and
responsiveness of programming
to community needs.
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regulator to allocate frequencies fairlyamong the different types ofbroadcasters.
Better practice is to provide for expedited,light procedures for licensing communityradios. These may either be writtendirectly into the primary legislation or leftto the regulator to be developed as amatter of policy. These proceduresnormally involve both less onerousapplication requirements and expeditedprocessing of applications. In manycountries, applications may be either inresponse to a call for tenders or receivedon an ad hoc basis. This allows forflexibility in tailoring the licensing processto the local context.
Many countries impose certain specialtechnical conditions on communitylicensees. A common rule is shorterlicensing periods for community radios or,in some countries, a shorter initial‘developmental’ licence, which allows theradio to try to get off the ground,followed by a longer ‘regular’ licence.Some countries also impose requirementsof minimum hours of daily broadcastingon community radios, for example of fouror six hours of programming.
Many countries impose power and rangerestrictions on community radios, whilethis is prohibited in other countries. Thisis a difficult issue, involving competinginterests such as access to frequencies,financial viability for commercial stationsand technical standards. The impositionof rigid, across-the-board restrictions willoften be difficult to justify, since theserules need to take into account factorssuch as the size of the target community,suggesting that this issue should be leftto the discretion of the regulator. Also, inmany countries the restrictions areunnecessarily limiting, and cannot bejustified by reference to any legitimateinterest.
Funding and Sustainability
Once again, regulatory regimes regarding
funding and sustainability may be brokendown into three main categories: waivingor reducing fees; rules regardingfundraising by community radios; andpublic subsidies or funds for communityradios.
Many countries provide a total or partialfee waiver for community radios, ascompared to commercial radios, in relationto either or both of the licence applicationfees and ongoing (annual) licence fees.This is a fair reflection of the communitystructure of these broadcasters and thevery limited funds that are generallyavailable to them.
Many countries do not impose anylimitations on how community radios canraise (commercial) funding. Some,however, use an interesting approachwhereby community radios are free tofundraise as they may wish, butrestrictions are imposed if they want tohave access to public funding sources,whether in the form of a dedicatedcommunity radio fund or publicadvertising. This requires communityradios to decide on their fundraisingmodel: either commercial or more publiclyfunded. Better practice is to allowcommunity radios to carry
advertisements, without which their basicsustainability is at risk, but somecountries limit the amount of advertising,either to that imposed on all radios or withstricter limits.
In many poorer countries, most financialsupport for community radios in practicecomes from international donors. Whilethere are disadvantages to this, and somecountries have imposed limits on it, it isalso often simply a reflection of localcommercial realities. In many countries,including some developing countries, adedicated fund has been established tosupport the growth of the communityradio sector. Such funds may come eitherfrom public monies or via a cross-subsidyfrom commercial broadcasters. This isclearly good practice, as it not onlypromotes sustainability but also allowscommunity radios to concentrate onprogramming as opposed to fundraising.
As the above makes clear, regulatingcommunity radio is a complex matterinvolving many dimensions. In mostcases, the overriding goal has been to putin place rules that strike an appropriatebalance between pursuing legitimateregulatory objectives – such as ensuringa strong link to the target community –while allowing sufficient flexibility toallow aspirant community radios to getstarted and to operate effectively. Somesort of regulator will be at the very centreof almost any system of regulation. It isessential that this regulator meetinternational standards of independence.All too often, this is not the case, leadingto a situation where community radiossuffer from far too much governmentinfluence.
The imposition of rigid, across-
the-board restrictions will often
be difficult to justify , since these
rules need to take into account
factors such as the size of the
target community , suggesting
that this issue should be left to
the discretion of the regulator .
Toby Mendel is the Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy, an international
human rights NGO based in Canada. Prior to that, he was Senior Director for Law at ARTICLE
19, an NGO. He has provided expertise on the right to information to a wide range of
organisations including the World Bank, various UN and other intergovernmental bodies, and
numerous governments and NGOs in countries all over the world. He can be reached at
toby[at]law-democracy[dot]org
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Hunar Project of National Institute of OpenSchooling
By Sukanta Kumar Mahapatra
Spotlight On...
The process of globalization has emergedas an important force in the changinglabour market in recent decades. Not onlythe size and volume of workforce hasincreased in formal sector but increase oflabour force is also marked in the informalsector. On the other hand, women’semployment has increased in mostcountries, whereas men’s employment haseither stagnated or has declined driven bynew demands and new expectations in theglobalised economy. Over the years, theearning averages of women with loweducation are declining compared to thewomen with high education. Girls andwomen belonging to socially andeconomically weaker sections suchScheduled Castes and Muslim women aremost deprived among all segments ofpopulation in India. According to an ORG-Marg Muslim Women’s Survey —commissioned by the Nehru MemorialMuseum and Library, New Delhi —conducted in 2000-2001 in 40 districtsspanning 12 states, it was found that theenrolment percentage of Muslim girlchildren is a mere 40.66 per cent. As aconsequence, the proportion of Muslimwomen in higher education is a mere 3.56per cent, lower even than that ofscheduled castes (4.25 per cent). On all-India basis, 66 per cent Muslim women arestated to be illiterate. In India, highpercentages of Muslim women drop outfrom school education.
To address this burning issue, NationalInstitute of Open Schooling (NIOS) hastaken special measures for the educationaldevelopment of Muslims as a whole.
Realizing that minorities face number ofconstraints in education, the specialminority cell within NIOS was created in2006. The cell plays an important and vitalrole for implementation of NPE 1986, andProgramme of Action (POA) 1992. It ismaking efforts to bring out of schoolMuslim children within the fold ofeducation through alternative schoolingby accreditation of Maktabs andMadarsa. Minority Cell therefore hasbecome a major instrument of policyintervention forGovernment of Indiafor improvingeducational accessfor Muslim Minoritiesat school level in thelight of therecommendations ofSachhar Committeeand Prime Minister’s15 Point Programme.The Minority Cell ofNIOS grantsaccreditation onrelaxed normsespecially developed
for minority institutions. This has helpedto link traditional educational institutionslike Madarsas, Maktabs and Darul-Ul-Uloom into mainstream education. TheNational Commission for MinorityEducational Institutions (NCMEI) hadsigned MoU with the NIOS to create awider network of study centres inrecognized and registered Madrassas.
Looking at the prospect of developing theeducational and employment status ofMuslim women, NIOS has launched a skilldevelopment programme called “Hunar”with the objective of encouraging schooleducation and development of skillsamong Muslim women. The project wasinitiated in Bihar in collaboration withBihar Education Project Council (BEPC) toimpart skill training to Muslim girls inseven vocational courses from 2008-09session. A total of 13,768 Muslim girlshave been imparted skill training incourses like Gram Sakhi, Cutting, Tailoringand Dress Making, Basic RuralTechnology, Jute Production, Bakery andConfectionery, Beauty Culture and EarlyChildhood Care and Education. Lookingat the socio-cultural realities, Madrasaand institutions taking care of bettermentof Muslims are chosen as nodal agenciesfor running the project. Out of 13,768girls, 11,347 girls passed the examinationand received certificate in respectivetrades. It is interesting to mention that not
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For More details, Contact:
Minority Cell
National Institute of Open Schooling
A-24/25, Institutional Area,
Sector - 62, NOIDA
Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar,
Uttar Pradesh - 201 309
Sri S.K. Mahapatra is an Academic Officer
(Sociology) at NIOS, Noida and he can be
reached at sukanta[dot]dse[at]gmail[dot]com
even one learner, dropped outof this programme. Theprogramme has not onlyprovided access to women’seducation but it has alsoempowered to supportmeaningful livelihood. Underthe scheme, each candidate oncompletion of her training isgiven Rs 2,000 as grant topurchase equipment to starther own business.
Launching of Hunar Programme by NIOShas not only helped in developing theemployment prospects but also providesa scope to serve their family andcommunity.
Ishrat Bano wanted to be a doctor. Butshe was not so lucky to see a medicalcollege. Daughter of a poor man, she isnow happy to fulfill her dream to someextent. She did a course under Gram Sakhiand learnt lessons in health and
paramedics. This could become possiblefor this student of B.Sc under stategovernment’s ambitious project ‘Hunar’introduced last year. “This training willhelp me to reach the poor and help themin health-related matters,” said Bano.
Similar sentiments were expressed byAfsana who underwent training forstitching and embroidery. “I attended thecourse free of cost and can now help myparents,” said Afsana, daughter of a tailorat Phulwarisharif on the outskirts of
Radio Station ManagementAirT ime, http://www.sourcefabric.org/en/airtime/Grins, http://www.gramvaani.org/?page_id=34
Integrate SMS with Radio StationFrontlineSMS, http://radio.frontlinesms.com/Telerivet, https://telerivet.com/Kannel, http://www.kannel.org/overview.shtml
Patna. Khushwari Khatoonsaid that she desires to joinsome hospital to serve as aparamedic.
Iftekhar Nizami, iIn charge ofone of the centres under HunarProject said, “This programmehas become a huge successand people from variousblocks and villages aredemanding that such centresbe opened in their areas too.”
Worth While Web
Freeplay EncorePlayer is a multi-source charged (solar,DC, hand crank),multi-band radio,mobile phone charger,MP3 player andrecorder designed foroff-grid communities.
7
CEMCA News
Workshops on Communities ofPractice for Teacher EducatorsCEMCA has been supporting ICT capacity building of teachereducators through several workshops. With the support of theCommonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA),New Delhi, IT for Change organized two five day workshops forthe teacher educators from CTE (Colleges of Teacher Education)and DIETs in Karnataka from 11-15 November 2014, and 10-14March 2014, at the Dharwad DIET and Bangaluru Urban DIET,respectively.
The main objective of the workshops was to extend thecommunity of practitioners by training the next set of CTE andDIET faculty members on learning about ICTs, focusing on theuse of ICTs for both constructing (learning resources) as well asconnecting (for building a community of practitioners). Theparticipants also learned the use of free and open educationalapplications including Freemind, understand educational toolssuch as Geogebra and Marble, web-based tools including on-line maps, digital albums and translation tools, and tap digitallearning resources available on the Internet. The community ofteacher educators continued to interact through emails and
through the wiki platform. The basic need to provide resourcesupport to teachers was expected to provide a strong rationalefor this community of teacher educators to grow.
CEMCA in partnership with Allahbad University organisedanother workshop for teacher educators of Uttar Pradesh onICT integrated teacher education to assist teacher educatorsuse ICTs effectively. Thirty teacher educators nominated by theDepartment of Education, Government of Uttar Pradeshattended the three day workshop at Allahabad from 5-7 March2014. Prof. P. K. Sahoo coordinated the event on behalf ofUniversity of Allahabad.
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Field Testing of Community RadioContinuous ImprovementToolkit UNESCO Chair on Community Media (UCCM) at the Universityof Hyderabad, which developed the Community RadioContinuous Improvement Toolkit (CR-CIT) last year, has beenfield testing the toolkit in order to further improve the same anddevelop a model for voluntary self-review and peer assessment ofCommunity Radio Stations (CRS).
UCCM in collaboration with CEMCA and Bangladesh NGO’sNetwork for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) facilitated anadvanced level 3-day national workshop on Community RadioContinuous Improvement Toolkit (CR-CIT) at IDB Bhaban,Dhaka, Bangladesh from 25 -27 November, 2013. A total of 32senior level staffs of all the Community Radio stations attendedthe training workshop from all over the country. Chief Information
CommissionerMohammedFarooq, RebaRani Saha,JointSecretary,Ministry ofInformation,Bangladesh,Kazi Akhtar Uddin Ahmed, Director General, Bangladesh Betarand a few renowned broadcasters participated in the workshopand shared their ideas to develop the Toolkit in the context ofBangladesh.
Continuing the field testing, UCCM, University of Hyderabadorganized a field testing workshop from 3-4 February, 2014 inBengaluru at Radio Active CRS. This was followed by anothersimilar workshop at Gurgaon Ki Awaz from 27-28 February 2014.
The CR CIT provides an easy-to-use framework that allows CRstations to periodically assess themselves on their performance.The toolkit has been drafted keeping in view: (a) the nationalcommunity radio policy guidelines (in India) which have severalmandatory provisions; and (b) certain non-negotiable principlesof community media globally, such as community participationand ownership, access and inclusion to marginalised groups,gender equity, community-generated content, emphasis on localcultures and identities, and transparency and accountability inpractice.
This field-testing of the CR-CIT will help further refine the toolkitand develop a credible process of self-review and peerassessment into the toolkit.
Panel Discussion on ‘eLearning inCommonwealth Asia 2013’The CEMCA organised a paneldiscussion on the Report‘eLearning in CommonwealthAsia 2013’ as part of theactivities for the 7th Pan-Commonwealth Forum on OpenLearning (PCF7) held at Abuja,Nigeria from 2-6 December, 2013.The report presented theeLearning scenario in theCommonwealth Asia with theconclusion that the eLearningactivities in the region are on therise, though ‘blended mode’ of
eLearning is more popular among the educational institutions. Itemphasised the need for not only creating general awarenessabout the eLearning activities among the stakeholders but also
developing and implementing qualityparameters for launching eLearningProgrammes. Dr S K Pulist, DeputyDirector, Distance Education Bureau,UGC, New Delhi, who conducted thestudy and prepared the reportpresented the findings, while Prof. KSrivathsan, Ex-Pro-Vice-Chancellor,IGNOU, New Delhi, and IshanAbeywardena, Deputy Dean,Wawasan Open University, Malaysiawere the discussants on the Panel.The session was chaired by DrSanjaya Mishra, Director, CEMCA,New Delhi.
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Master Training for CommunityRadio Women BroadcastersWhile the Community Radio movement in India is fairly young,the achievements and accolades it has won both within thecommunities it works with and the larger nation is remarkable.The sector has also been working towards bridging the digitaldivide and there are several structural barriers that are hard toalter and increasing women’s participation in the sector remains akey challenge. Maraa, a Bangalore based media and artscollective, on behalf of CEMCA organized a master trainingfocused on mutual capacity sharing between womenbroadcasters to create participatory programming from 17 -20November, 2013 at Ghitorni, New Delhi. This four-day capacitybuilding workshop also provided an opportunity to 9 radiostations (North Zone) to attain conceptual clarity on theCommunity Learning Program (CLP) model developed byCommonwealth of Learning through collaboration with variousglobal partners. Maraa organised another similar workshop forthe select Community Radio Stations of Southern region from 25th
-28th February, 2014 at Bengaluru.
The main thrust of both the workshops was to train thecommunity broadcasters to become trainers to involve women toparticipate in programming and broadcasting for community radiostations. The key objective of the workshops was to build upon
the participant’s communication and facilitation skills as well ashelp them engage meaningfully in CRS activities, both developinggood learning content as well as engage meaningfully with non-programmatic areas of a CRS like community mobilization,planning and conducting outreach activities and training.
In both the workshops, resource persons introduced various toolsthat can be used for developing a radio series that blends‘outcome-oriented learning design’ with ‘process-orienteddialogue’ and stakeholder participation. This also forms the coreof the CLP model. The model is in sync with the objective ofincreasing women’s participation in community radio at all levelsof decision-making in a community radio programme. CEMCAintends to build the capacities of 180 Women Broadcastersthrough this initiative, and improve the quality of programming byCommunity Radio stations.
These participants will organise further training on communityradio broadcasting, covering community learning programmedevelopment in their respective CRS for about 10 women each.
Facilitators’ Workshop for OER-based eLearningCommonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) incollaboration with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University(BRAOU), Hyderabad organised the Facilitators’ Workshop forOER-based eLearning from 7-9 January 2014. CEMCA hasinitiated the development of an online professional developmentcourse for integration of Open Educational Resources (OER) inteaching and learning, and helpinstitutions deliver eLearningprogrammes efficiently andeffectively. This activity startedas an institutional capacitydevelopment programme atWawasan Open University,Malaysia, and teachers form theleading institutions in the AsianCommonwealth havecontributed to the developmentof the contents over the last 12months.
The workshop at Hyderabad facilitated by Dr. Som Naidu,focussed on the online delivery of the professional developmentprogramme and developed online activities the learners of theprogramme would do to earn open badges for the five modules.Participants from Indira Gandhi National Open University(IGNOU), National Institute of Open Schooling (India), OpenUniversity of Sri Lanka, Open University of Malaysia, WawasanOpen University, Penang, and BRAOU, Hyderabad participated inthe workshop to contribute and share experiences of onlinefacilitation for teaching and learning. One representative from
Higher Education Commission,Pakistan also attended theworkshop.
STOP Press: CEMCA launchedthe pilot version of the OnlineProfessional developmentProgramme on OER-basedeLearning from 1 April 2014. Thisprogramme will run for 14 weeks,and 40 participants are currentlyenrolled for the programme toearn Open Badges.
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Skills basedVocationalProgramme forSound AssistantsMoving towards achieving the NationalMission of skilling 500 million people inIndia, the Commonwealth EducationalMedia Centre for Asia (CEMCA) has beensupporting the development of open anddistance learning courses in compliancewith the National Skills QualificationsFramework. It is currently supporting thedevelopment of a modular programme forSound Designers at the National Instituteof Open Schooling (NIOS). The NIOSorganized the second workshop fordevelopment of the curriculum andlearning materials from February 6-8, 2014
at the NIOS Campus, Noida. In themodular approach, a CertificateProgramme for Sound Assistant iscurrently being developed, and it will beavailable for anyone who has Grade 10qualification. The workshop of expertsand course developers reviewed thecontent developed and discussed theissues related to organization of practicaland multimedia based support materials.
The welcome address was given by Dr.Manju Gupta, Deputy Director, VocationalDepartment, NIOS. She explained theprocedure to be followed while reviewingthe lessons written for this programme.Ms. Shivali Chawla, Academic Officer,NIOS as Programme Coordinator, ensuredthe achievement of set objectives andsmooth conduct of the programme. Dr.Ankuran Dutta, Programme Officer fromCEMCA attended the event and shared
his views ondeveloping thevideo materials forthis programme.Eight outsideexperts and fourinternal expertsfrom Media Unit ofNIOS participatedin the workshop toprovide theirvaluable inputs tothe programme.
CEMCA signs MoUwith BECILA Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) has been signed between ShriK. Subramanian, Chairman andManaging Director, BECIL, Noida andDr Sanjaya Mishra, Director, CEMCAat BECIL Bhavan, Noida on 5th ofMarch, 2014. The basic objective ofthe MOU is to identify possibleavenues for collaboration and toestablish the basis of collaborationwhere it is mutually beneficial, withinthe context of each organization’smandate and existing obligations. Thepurpose is to establish a formal basisof cooperation between both theorganisations in a collaborative effortto promote knowledge and skills ofCommunity Radio Technologythrough capacity building ofinterested persons and institutions byoffering face-to-face and distancelearning opportunities. As per theMoU, a Joint Committee will be set upwith representatives from both theorganisations to follow up theexecution of the MOU and suggestnecessary measures for its effectiveimplementation.
World Radio Day CelebrationCommonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) inpartnership with UNESCO, New Delhi observed the World RadioDay on February 13, 2014 at the India International Centre, NewDelhi. On this occasion, a panel discussion on the theme‘Community Radio: Strengthening Freedom of Expression andEmpowering Communities’ was conducted followed by the awardsdistribution ceremony of the Community Radio Video Challenge(CRVC).
For the first time in India, a competition of this kind was organisedamongst Indian media students on the topic “Why CommunityRadio Matters” to engage the Indian youth in Community Radioinitiatives and emphasize its role in community’s self-expression,learning and development.
11
Fifteen short videos on the themereceived awards in various categories.The winning film ‘Aaji Kar Radio’,produced by a team from the CentralUniversity of Jharkhand in Ranchi,brilliantly portrayed the life-changing roleCR could play for villagers by conveyinginformation about Government welfareschemes. The Awards were distributed byMs. Supriya Shau, Joint Secretary,Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
Govt. of India. MrShigeru Aoyagi,Director andUNESCORepresentative toBhutan, India,Maldives and SriLanka emphasizedthat CR can conveyvery relevantmessages and topicslike climate changeadaptation,empowerment ofwomen, human rights,democracy, womenrights, etc in differentlocal languages. Dr.Sanjaya Mishra,
Director, CEMCA stated that the 3minutes video challenge competition hasbeen taken up by the Indian mediastudents well, and the results are quiteencouraging. This will be an annual eventwith the support of all the stakeholders.While congratulating the award winners,Prof. Ashok Ogra, Chairman of the Jurythanked all the jury members for theirsupport and explained the selectionprocess.
The panel discussion before the Awardceremony covered five key issues in thediscourse about CR in India- (a) allowingCR stations to broadcast newsprogrammes; (b) closing existing gaps inefforts to raise awareness, build capacityand drive advocacy; (c) promoting genderinclusiveness at CR stations and withincommunities; (d) using CR to strengthencollective awareness about rights andentitlements; and (e) addressing thetraining needs of CR practitioners.Speakers on the panel included Prof.Vinod Pavarala, Mr Rajiv Tikoo, Ms PoojaMurada, Ms Venu Arora, and Ms ArchanaKapoor. Ms. Iskra Panevska, Adviser,Communication and Information for SouthAsia of UNESCO welcomed the guestsand speakers, and highlighted theimportance of the World Radio Day. Theconsensus on the panel was to have moreinformation to the people through CR,strengthen advocacy and capacitybuilding, gender sensitisation,empowerment through people’sengagement, and how to make the simpleCR technology simpler.
CRVC Award videos can be seenat: http://tinyurl.com/nmlh2dq
Community RadioTechnology CourseMaterials ReleasedThe nine modules and a video disccontaining 12 videos of the Certificate inCommunity Radio Technology have beenreleased by Ms. Supriya Sahu, JointSecretary, Ministry of Information andBroadcasting, Govt. of India at VigyanBhawan on 13th of March, 2014 inpresence of Shri K. Subramanian,Chairman and Managing Director,Broadcast Engineers Consultants IndiaLimited (BECIL), Noida and Dr SanjayaMishra, Director, CEMCA at the 4th
Community Radio Sammelan.
These materials, contributed by the best
minds in the country, anddeveloped under theguidance of BECIL, areavailable as OpenEducational Resource(OER) for any institution touse and offer certification.Ms Sahu congratulated andthanked CEMCA andBECIL for developing andsharing the materials withthe community. ShriSubramanian informed thegathering that it was reallya nice collaborative workand appreciated theauthors and editors for their effort.CEMCA in collaboration with BECIL willprovide assistance to select interested
educational institutions to adopt thesematerials and run certificate level courseon community radio technology.
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Regional Web RadioWorkshopCommonwealth Educational Media Centrefor Asia (CEMCA) organised a RegionalWeb Radio Workshop for the academicinstitutions and community radio stationsof four Commonwealth Asian countriesfrom 26 to 28 March, 2014 at NationalInstitute of Open Schooling, Noida.
To further enhance access to audio-basedlearning and using digital technologies,CEMCA has been encouragingeducational institutions and communityradio stations to setup internet basedradio, also known as Web-Radio.Partnering with Gram Vaani CommunityMedia, a group known for their
innovative use of technology, CEMCAinvited participants from India,Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives tohelp them use software tools in a step-by-step manner for setting up Web Radios intheir respective countries.
The programme was inaugurated by Dr.Sitansu S. Jena, Chairman, NIOS, whoshared the experience of NIOS on WebRadio. He emphasized that makinglearning materials more accessible tolearners is a necessity of ODLinstitutions. Dr. Sanjaya Mishra, Director,CEMCA emphasized the importance ofweb radio in the context of learning fordevelopment. Representatives from OpenUniversity of Sri Lanka, National ScienceFoundation of Sri Lanka, MaldivesNational University and Bangladesh Open
University participated in the workshop.From India, 11 participants representingJamia Milia Islamia, National Institute ofOpen Schooling, Film and TelevisionInstitute of India, Netaji Subhash OpenUniversity, M.J.P. Rohilkhand University,and Ajamgarh Ki Awaz activelyparticipated in the workshop. In thevaledictory session, S K Prasad of NIOSdelivered the welcome address and ZahirKoradia, the key Resource Personexpressed his views on the workshop. Sh.U N Khaware, Secretary, NIOS distributedthe certificates to the participants. Dr.Ankuran Dutta, Programme Officer,CEMCA assured the participants forfurther technical assistance and thankedall the participants, resource persons andNIOS for holding the workshopsuccessfully.
EduComm Asia is your newsletter of useful ideas, views and information. From one issue to the next, weaim to strengthen the newsletter. The best way to do so is by keeping content diverse. You can help us todo so by becoming a contributor. Write to us about educational media news and other events that youwould like to see in the newsletter. All contributions shall be duly acknowledged and appreciated.
- EduComm Asia
Dear readers,
13
Case Study
Communication EmpowersAn Effective Approach of Farm RadioInternationalBy Anamika Ray
IntroductionAccording to the report of Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO, 2013),98% of the 842 million hungry people inthe world are in the developingcountries. Most of them live in ruralareas and are dependent on agriculturerelated activities for their livelihood.
A dynamic, prolific, competitive,diversified and sustainable agriculturalsystem is needed for the sustainabledevelopments for deprived societies.Radio has the power to accelerate thesystem towards development. Becauseof huge reach and access especiallyamong the unreached andunderprivileged communities, radio hasbecome one of the most vibrant tools foradvancement as well as sustainability.Community radio not only becomes thefacilitator to solve the communityproblems but also bridges the gapbetween the community and others bydisseminating required information. Inthis context it is worth to mention that ifthe community is restricted into thefarmer community, then that kind ofradio can be treated as Farm Radio.
Concept of Farm Radio
Farm Radio, sometimes referred to asrural radio, is considered a genuine,reliable, responsible and respected formof communication. Farm radio oragricultural radio helps to propagate themessage on seed selection, soilpreparation, utilization of fertilizer,irrigation, water supply system, healthand hygiene, commercialization of foodproducts, animal husbandry and many
more to the cultivator community(Ilboudo, 2001). The farm radio with fulland complete participation of cultivatorscan act as the key agent to empower therural community. In this context arevolution can be seen made by FarmRadio International (FRI).
According to a survey of 4500 farmers infive countries of Africa carried out by FRIthrough the African Farm Radio ResearchInitiative (AFRRI), an average of 77% ofrural households (ranging from 66% inMalawi to 85% in Mali) own a radio set inthe Africa continent. As farmers are livingat the edge of new technological boon,radio is the only porthole to sustain(Sullivan, 2011).
Farm Radio InternationalFarm Radio International(FRI) is a non-profitCanadian charitableorganization based inOttawa, Canada. ‘Radiois a tool for dialogue andchange’, said Germanauthor Bertolt Brecht (in1927) who recognizedthe radio as moreeffective when ‘audiencemembers can go beyondlistening to creating —or supplying — contentby sharing their stories,solutions, questions andconcerns’ (FRI Blog:Annual Report 2012-2013, 2013).GeorgeAtkins gave a shape ofthat noble thought.
Atkins was the voice of farm radiobroadcast for 25 years at CanadianBroadcasting Corporation (CBC). Duringa conference of farm broadcasters inZambia in the mid-1970s, George learnedthat most farm radio programmes featuredinformation on expensive techniques orlarge-scale farming, and were notmeaningful to the majority of poorfarmers. This discovery challenged him tothink on the creation of a worldwideplatform to share practical (which is alsoaffordable by the rural people)information on farming and cultivation. In1979, he developed a new network of farmbroadcasters to benefit millions of smallfarmers across the global south. It wascalled Developing Countries Farm RadioNetwork (DCFRN). At the initial stage,there were 34 broadcasters from 26countries (Farm Radio International,n.d.). In 2008 DCFRN was renamed asFarm Radio International -- an associationof more than 500 radio broadcasters in 38African Countries. It was started with anoble cause -- fight poverty and foodinsecurity (Farm Radio International,n.d.). FRI works in African Countries.
Every year, FRI provides over 530 Africanbroadcasters with three informationpackages consisting of radio scripts,
Radio listening group in Ethiopia. The women tune into a weekly PRCprogram about integrated pest management in lentil and chick peaproduction. Curtsey: FRI.
14
“how to” guides, and “issue packs” onvariety of topics. FRI also distributes aweekly electronic news service calledFarm Radio Weekly to more than 2500subscribers in Africa. These resources areused by broadcasters to prepare radioprogrammes for their rural listeners. TheBarza online community helps over 550African broadcasters access and shareradio resources, and connect with eachother. On the other hand FRI not onlyensures the quality of broadcastingthrough the provision of scripts, newsstories and other resources, but alsoprovides training to the broadcasters tohelp them produce radio programmes thatmeet the needs and aspirations of farmercommunities.
Presently under the leadership of KevinPerkins (Executive Director) along with 15members of the Board of Directors, 12staff in Canada, and over 40 in Africa, 34volunteers and countless supporters fromvarious countries, FRI works for not onlyfood security and economic affluence byaccessing the practical, relevant andtimely information on farming but alsoprovides a platform to engage andexchange their views among the farmingcommunities.
African Farm Radio ResearchInitiative (AFRRI)The African Farm Radio ResearchInitiative (AFRRI), implemented by FRIbetween 2007 and 2010 with funding fromthe Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,sought to investigate how effective isradio in enabling small farmers in Africaand how can new technologies increasethe effectiveness of radio as asustainable, interactive developmentcommunications tool (Sullivan, 2011).Through AFRRI, FRI aimed to realize theeffectiveness of Participatory RadioCampaign (PRC) strategies for fulfillingthe aims and objectives of smallholderfarmers and the organizations that servethem (Agricultural Radio that Works,2011).
To answer these questions, FRI embarkedon an action research programme thatinvolved working with 25 radio stations (amix of public, commercial FM andcommunity stations) in five countries(Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Uganda andTanzania). FRI worked closely with itspartner stations and local knowledgepartners to design produce and evaluate atotal of 49 participatory radio campaignsand 5 market information (MIS) radioprogrammes. An evaluation of theoutcomes of 15 of these campaigns wasconducted in 2010 using data collected inthe field from 4600 households. Theinformation (from the interview of thefarmers) was recorded and stored inmobile phones and then sent to adatabase in the cloud.
Participatory Radio Campaignson Agricultur eRight information at the right timeempowers the cultivators to take wisedecision. The PRC was developed by FRIas a deliberate and designed radioprogramme, (with specific duration --12 to16 weeks) aiming to respond toinformation needs expressed by particularfarming communities. It has helpedthousands of small holder farmers notonly to adopt the new innovation in theharvesting but also allow them to
understand ‘how to take benefit from it’.
The PRC approach results in measurableimpact because the farmers can decide thecontent, context and time of broadcastingto share their knowledge at commonplatform with the participation of peoplelike them. With the knowledge gainedthrough AFRRI, FRI has been workingwith new partners to implement PRCs on arange of topics. In 2012-13, FRI developed16 PRCs in five countries (FRI Blog:Annual Report, 2013). The PRC offers aspace to farmers to ascertain, to exchangethe knowledge, to gain information and toshare experiences with the newagricultural practice that can improve theirfamily’s food security. The focus of thePRC is to help farmers make an informeddecision to adopt (or not) an improvedagricultural practice. After guidinglisteners to the decision-point, the PRCprovides implementation advice to thosefarmers that wish to adopt theimprovement. In a PRC, various formatsincluding panel discussions, vox pops,village debates, phone-in shows, mini-dramas and music have been followed tomake the farmers feel attached with theinformation dissemination process.Farmers’ feedback is used for monitoringand evaluating the PRC using new ICTssuch as cell phones, MP3 players, andinteractive voice response systems.These ICT tools, together with bulk SMSmessaging systems help radioprogrammes to enhance the level ofparticipation, reach and accessibility(Agricultural Radio That Works, 2011).The PRC methodology includes a numberof important stages, including:Community rapid appraisals, Improvementselection, Formative research, Campaigndesign, Broadcast, Gathering ListenerFeedback, and evaluation. Around 40million small farmers have been served byPRCs. Among them 20 million gainedknowledge about the promotedagricultural improvement and 10 millionadopted one or more of a wide range ofimproved farming innovations as a resultof these PRCs (Participatory radiocampaigns and food security, 2011).
The African Farm Radio
Research Initiative (AFRRI),
implemented by FRI between
2007 and 2010 with funding from
the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, sought to
investigate how effective is
radio in enabling small farmers
in Africa and how can new
technologies increase the
effectiveness of radio as a
sustainable, interactive
development communications
tool.
15
References
Farm Radio International. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2014, from http://www.farmradio.org
Agricultural Radio That Works. (2011). Retrieved February 24, 2014, from http://farmradio.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/Farm-Radio-Agriculture-Radio-That-Works.pdf
Farm Radio International Blog: Annual Report 2012-2013 Radio 2.0: when radio is more thanradio. (2013). Retrieved February 25, 2014, from http://www.farmradio.org/ourblog/2013/12/06/annual-report-2012-2013-radio-2-0-when-radio-is-more-than-radio/
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: The State of Food and Agriculture 2013.(2013). Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://www.fao.org/publications/sofa/2013/en/
Ilboudo, J. P. (2001). Rural Radio: Role and Use over the Past Three Decades.Retrieved February 25, 2014, from http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/x6721e/x6721e02.htm
Rao, S. H. (2011). Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://www.farmradio.org/wp-content/uploads/farmradio-misreport20111.pdf
Sullivan, B. (2011). How ICTs are changing rural radio in Africa. Retrieved February 24, 2014,from http://www.farmradio.org/wp-content/uploads/farmradio-ictreport2011.pdf
Sullivan, B. (2011). The new age of radio How ICTs are changing rural radio in Africa. Retrieved
from http://www.farmradio.org/wp-content/uploads/farmradio-ictreport2011.pdf
EduComm Asia acknowledges Kevin Perkins, Executive Director, Farm RadioInternational, Canada for reviewing this article. Dr. Anamika Ray is an AssistantProfessor in Mass Communication at Gauhati University, Guwahati and she can bereached at anamikadady[at]gmail[dot]com
Marketing Information Service(MIS)Marketing Information Service (MIS) isone of the major and active involvementsin the development process for theeconomic security for the farmingcommunities in Africa. Through MIS radioprograms, five radio stations thatparticipated in AFRRI offered theirlisteners information on product price,market scenario, demand-supply ratio,physical distribution, enhancement ofproduct quality, production activities withcultural and traditional practices,transportation, negotiation with middlemen, post-harvest support andbackground of the consumers. MISfeatured the participation of farmers andtheir associations, traders and buyers,and extension agents at local, district,national and international level(Sullivan, 2011). According to AFRRIreport, an average of 64.8% ofrespondents were aware of the MIS radioprograms, and 84% of those who listenedfound the MIS radio programs to be “veryuseful”. It helps the farming communitiesto assess ‘what to grow, when to grow,and how much to grow’, which assiststhem to overcome the economic hurdles(Rao, 2011).
Information Disseminationamong FarmersFarm Quest: a 12-episode innovative new
reality radio series was aired in the lastpart of 2013 aiming to revive the faithon farming as career among the younggeneration in Mali (FRI Blog, 2013).
Radio Dramas: Technologicalconvergence in radio broadcastinghas given a wide scope to theaudience for their active participation.This has been demonstrated by the 30episodes radio drama ‘My Children’,where the central character shares herfarming experience on nutritive food intraditional variety. Story telling from acommon mother to thousands othermothers could achieve heartfeltinteractive engagement of theaudiences (ibid.).
Radio Program on Climate Adaptation:Dr. Adaptation show has attained avery acceptable and positive responsefrom the listeners. This programme – acall in show, featuring a radio host andan engaging climate adaptation expertcalled “Dr. Adaptation” - creates aconsciousness of the small scalegrowers on Climate change along withthe required procedure to fight againstthe adversity (ibid.).
A Virtual Village (Barza): Barza means“a place where people in a village meetunder a tree and talk.” Using theplatform of Barza.fm, the broadcastersshare radio scripts, audio clips,various suggestions amongthemselves across the continent(ibid.).
In addition to these FRI is engaged withfarm radio e-courses, and in stationtraining designed to improvebroadcasters’ skills for serving small –scale farmers with better radio. FRI offersThe George Atkins CommunicationsAward to the farm radio broadcasters fortheir exceptional dedication to foodsecurity and poverty reduction in lowincome continents. Many new projectslike ‘Promoting orange-fleshed sweet
potato (OFSP) for nutrition’, ‘Radio forfarmer value chain development’,‘Demand-driven Participatory RadioCampaigns (PRCs)’, ‘Introducing morenutritious maize in Ethiopia’, ‘Climatechange: Helping farmers adapt’,‘Integrated mental health in Malawi’,‘Strengthening staple crop production inEthiopia’, ‘Linking Ghanaian farmers to alucrative new market: The WFP’ havebeen under taken as new initiatives byFRI (ibid.).
ConclusionFarm Radio plays a pivotal role indevelopment of farming communities. Itgives a common interaction platform toexchange and share news, views onvarious innovative methods regardingcultivation, marketing, connecting withconsumers, post-harvest system andmany more in affordable manner. Farmbroadcasters become the communicationagents for the growth and expansion of acommunity who are living in the peripheryof modern technology in the modern era.The tireless effort of Farm RadioInternational has been able to give a newdimension to the war against poverty forthe grass root level people.
16
Regional Round Up
Community Radio Sammelan 2014
The fourth Community Radio (CR) Sammelan was organised bythe Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) at VigyanBhavan, New Delhi on 13-15 March, 2014 in association with OneWorld South Asia. Almost all functional CR stations and the otherstakeholders participated in this three day national event. Varioussessions addressing the different issues on the community radiosector were scheduled for discussion in the event. The mainsessions included the areas like community radio: amplifyingvoices for social change; opportunities and challenges of campusCR stations; experience sharing by award winning stations;vision of CR in India; community based disaster risk reduction;CR tech issues: complex problems, common solutions;sustainability puzzle – beyond financial sustainability; peerreview; and CR for indigenous and marginalised communities.
In the inaugural session, the Secretary, MIB Sh Bimal Julka saidthat the CR movement has completed eleven years and it is aproud moment for all the stakeholders that it has gained strength,evolved as a robust third sector and strives to fulfil its mandate ofempowering the marginalised people, giving a voice to thevoiceless. In the event, Additional Secretary J S Mathurelucidated the efforts of the ministry in the CR sector and saidthat the effort of the Ministry have resulted in operationalizationof more than 160 CR stations in the entire country and severalothers are in the pipeline as more than 400 permissions have beenissued to various organisations to set up CR stations. JointSecretary Supriya Sahu participated in the entire three daysdiscussions and thanked all the stakeholders and practitioners ofCR in India. She mentioned that the Ministry has worked closelywith CR operators, CR enthusiast, community media experts,various ministries and departments, UN and other internationalorganisations like CEMCA, UNESCO, UNICEF, Ford Foundation,One World, CR Forum, CR Association and others to create anenabling environment for the growth for Community Radio inIndia.
During the event, selected stations received the NationalCommunity Radio Awards 2014 under various categories. TheMIB also recognised the support of various internationalagencies, including CEMCA for promoting Community Radio inIndia and awarded mementos on the occasion.
17
3) Radio Madhuban, run by Prajapita Brahma KumarisIshwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya, Rajasthan, for its programme“Gruhasan Se Singhashan”
Community Engagement Awards
1) Saiyere Jo Radio, run by Saiyere Jo Sangathan, Gujarat, forits programme, “Khaso Sashan”
2) Radio Vishnu, run by Shri Vishnu Engineering College forWomen, Andhra Pradesh, for its programme,“Vijayapadham”
3) Pantnagar Janvani, run by G. B. Pant University ofAgriculture & Technology, Uttarakhand, for its programme“Gaon ki Baat”
Promoting Local Culture Awards
1) Voice of SOA Community, run by Siksha O AnusandhanaUniversity, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, for its programme,“Kandhai Katha”
2) Radio Kissan, run by Association for IntegratedDevelopment, Odisha, for its programme “Ama Kala AmaSanskriti”
3) Community Radio Sarang, run by St. Aloysius College,Mangalore, Karnataka, for its programme “Dudi Nalike”(Kunitha)
Sustainability Model Award
1) Radio Media Village, St Joseph College of Communication,Kerala
Community Radio Awards 2014Most Creative /Innovative Programme ContentAwards
1) Yerlavani Community Radio, run by Yerala Projects Society,Sangli, Maharashtra, for its programme, “Changes incropping and agricultural practices as per environmentalchange”
2) Community Radio JU, Run by Jadavpur University,Kolkata, West Bengal, for its programme, “Sunno ThekeSuru – Types of Quadrilateral”
Thematic Awards
1) Anna Community Radio, Run by Educational MultimediaResearch Centre, Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu,for its programme, “Putholi”
2) Kumaon Vani run by The Energy and Resource Institute,Uttarakhand, for its programme, “Bazar Laye Bochhar”
Asian Varsities receiveCommonwealth of LearningAward Krishna Kanta Handiqui StateOpen University (KKHSOU),Assam, India and Wawasan OpenUniversity (WOU), Penang,Malaysia have been conferred theprestigiousinternational ”Excellence forInstitutional Achievement” awardfor the year 2011-2013 by theCommonwealth of Learning(COL),Vancouver, Canada. WOUwas also awarded for ICT inEducation Course of the Master of
Education Programme. Prof. Srinath Baruah and Prof. MohandasMenon received the awards on behalf of KKHSOU and WOUrespectively from the President of COL Professor Asha Kanwar inpresence of the Chairperson of the Board of Governors BurchellWhiteman at a special function of the 7th Pan Commonwealth
Forum for Open Learning (PCF7)held in Abuja, the capital ofNigeria from December 2 to 6,2013. To acknowledge theextraordinary contributions madein spreading the benefits of openand distance education to thosebeyond the purview ofconventional education thesetwo universities were conferredthis award in the category –“Excellence for InstitutionalAchievement”.
18
Book Review
As one leafs through the firstfew pages of this handbook,it is hard for one to miss thefact that globally thecommunity radio (CR) sectorhas reached a position fromwhere there is a scope as wellas an imperative for self-reflection and assessment.Though, majority of the callsfrom the CR sector still focuson the need for emergence ofnewer CR stations, membersof the fraternity have begunto appreciate the need forestablished CR stations to beguided by a core set ofprinciples, ethics, values andideals to offer an effectiveservice with communityinvolvement andparticipation.
The foreword of this publicationsummarizes this effort as a “handbookwhich is a one-stop-shop practitioner’sguide that enables setting up andmaintaining, a healthy, well managed andsustainable community radio station.”The authors have taken a necessary firststep with this handbook towards thoseideals. However, it must be noted that thishandbook is not the first attempt todevelop an assessment framework for CRstations. There have been similar works inother parts of the world.
The Healthy Community Radio Station
By Franz Krüger, Romanus Monji and Mike Smurthwaite; publishedby Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), 2013, pp. 70.
By Aditya Deshbandhu
The Healthy Community Radio Stationhas been divided into two halves. Thefirst briefly summarizes the core ideal ofthe Community Radio movement which isparticipation. It also explains SouthAfrica’s 1999 Broadcasting Act whichexplicitly states that CR stations are not-for- profit institutions. The first part alsolays out five parameters that the authorscall the five pillars of health of a CRstation, namely; mission and governance,management and staffing, infrastructureand finances, programming, and
community involvement. Descriptions andideal scenarios for each of these fivepillars form a major chunk of this section.
The assessment aspect of the handbookemerges in the second half of thepublication where a CR station’s ‘health’according to each of the five parametersmentioned above is determined. As in thecase of the other toolkits available in thisarea, the authors state that it is essentialfor all the stakeholders of the CR stationto be involved in the assessment process.The authors’ emphasis on the need fordocuments as a means of establishingveracity of claims, to a certain extent,implies that they envision this exercise asnot a flexible, informal process of self-learning. The authors propose a formaland linear seven-stage assessment processwhich makes one wonder if there is a needfor CR stations to embrace suchhierarchical and managerial methods.
The CR sector worldwide has begun tomature and it seems highly unlikely that amovement founded to challenge the top-down flow of knowledge and informationby mainstream media outlets would wantto use the top-down approach of TheHealthy Community Radio Station for itsassessment. We must note that thishandbook is a welcome addition to asmall, but significant collection of toolsfor evaluation and assessment that arenow beginning to develop in the globalcommunity radio sector. As CR stationsstart adopting some of these tools andapply them, we will soon receive criticalfeedback from the field which wouldenrich and enable the continuous processof formulating appropriate tools for self-assessment.
Mr. Aditya Deshbandhu is a researchscholar at the Dept. of Communication,University of Hyderabad and he can bereached ataditya[dot]Deshbandhu[at]gmail[dot]com
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SMART Tips
Citation of Social Media in Research Papers
By Ramesh C. Sharma
Social media has made an inseparableinroad in our lives. We depend on socialmedia for communication and newsupdates. Johnson et al (2014) in theirNew Media Horizon Report: 2014Higher Education Edition, whileidentifying fast trends related to drivingchanges to higher education over the nextone to two years, noted the growingubiquity of Social Media. They report,“…Social media is changing the waypeople interact, present ideas andinformation, and judge the quality ofcontent and contributions. More than1.2 billion people use Facebookregularly according to numbers releasedin October 2013; a recent report byBusiness Insider reported 2.7 billionpeople — almost 40% of the worldpopulation — regularly use socialmedia. The top 25 social media platformsworldwide share 6.3 billion accountsamong them. Educators, students,alumni, and the general public routinelyuse social media to share news aboutscientific and other developments. Theimpact of these changes in scholarlycommunication and on the credibility ofinformation remains to be seen, but it isclear that social media has foundsignificant traction in almost everyeducation sector (p.8).
Bailey (2013) reported about a surveyconducted by Babson Survey ResearchGroup and Pearson “Social Media forTeaching and Learning”. This surveyexamined personal and professionalimpact of social media on around 8000higher education teachers in the UnitedStates. It was found that around 70.3 percent of faculty use social media for
personal purposes, and there was a 10.3per cent increase in the use of socialmedia by the faculty in classroom ascompared to previous year1.
Not only the faculty, researchers are alsousing social media for exploring,connecting and collaborating. People useblogs, Twitter, YouTube, wordpress,instagram, pinterest, and facebook toshare information and messages aboutanything. As a researcher you may findsome important tweet by someone, a poston a blog, a message on a facebook pageof a celebrity or a scholar and likewise.Researchers use this information ormessage to cite in their work. There arevarious styles of citations like APA, MLA,Chicago which the researchers use to citethe traditional work. With so much of theinformation available to researchers fromsocial media, there is a need tounderstand how to cite social media inresearch papers. Let’s do it with the helpof some examples for various social media.Keeping in the space constraint, APA(American Psychological Association)style for citing social media is beingexplained here.
FACEBOOK:
For Facebook entries, it can beeither an individual author orGroup author. The format ofcitation is:
Username or Group Name. (Year, MonthDay). Title of Comment/Posting.[Facebook update]. Retrieved from http://www.facebook.com/specificpageURL
If the date is not known, we use (n.d.)
Facebook, individual author statusupdate
(a) Reference:
Kinshuk. (2014, February 5). AthabascaUniversity’s Faculty of Science andTechnology now has its presence onFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Athabasca-University-Faculty-of-Science-and-Technology/1444950429067856?ref=hl We lookforward to posting updates on newinitiatives, successes and lessons learned.[Facebook status update]. Retrieved fromhttps://www.facebook.comprof.kinshuk?
fref=ts
(b) In-text citation: (Kinshuk, 2014)
Facebook, Group author status update
(a) Reference:
Campus NooA. (2013, October 20).Congratulations to NooA´s Swedish partnerEbba Ossiannilsson for giving this finepresentation at SVERD´s conference inStockholm on Oct. 18, 2013. At theconference it was announced that CampusNooA was nominated for the internationalBoldic Award and came in second. [Facebookstatus update]. Retrieved from https://
In case of twitter also, theremay be individual or group /organization author. Lets see
the format:
Author/editor name, Twitter handle. (Year,Month Day). Title of Comment / Posting.[Twitter post]. Retrieved from http://twitter.com/ Twitterhandle/status/
Example: Tweet from individual author:
(a) Reference:
Downes, S. [oldaily]. (2014, February 24). IMSGlobal Learning Consortium ReleasesLearning Tools Interoperability v2 #oldailyhttp://www.downes.ca/post/61836 [Tweet].Retrieved from https://twitter.com/oldaily/
status/437919389380141057
(b) In-text citation: (Downes, 2014)
For research scholars, there is a free tweetcitation generator (Tweet2Cite) whichconverts tweets into APA or MLA orwikipedia style citations. Please see http://tweet2cite.com/
BLOGS
For citations for blog entries, the format is:
Lastname, Firstinitial. (Year, Month Date).Title of the Blog Post Entry. [Web LogPost]. Retrieved from http://thewebsite
Example 1:
Mishra, S. (2014, January 14).Celebrating World Radio Day 2014.
[Web Log Post]. Retrieved from http://www.col.org/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=174
SOCIAL MEDIA IMAGES ORALBUM
Basic Format for an Electronic Image /Album
Author (Role of Author). (Year image wascreated). Title of work [Type of work],Retrieved
Month Day, Year, from: URL (address ofweb site)
Basic Format for an Electronic Image /Album (No Author)
Title of work [Type of work]. (Year imagewas created). Retrieved Month Day, Year,from:
URL (address of web site)
Example 1:
CEMCA. (2014, February 13). WorldRadio Day celebrated by UNESCO ,Apeejay and CEMCA on February13,2014 by awarded video producedby Mass Media students on WhyCommunity Radio matters? [Photoalbum]. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos84936186@N02/sets/72157641260871644/
Example 2:
(a) Reference:
Mishra, S. (2014, February 14). Winnersreceiving the awards — at IndiaInternatinoal Centr Annexe, New Delhi.[Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203150881591788&set=a.10203150878911721.1073741827.
1199745745&type=1&theater
(b) In-text citation: (Mishra, 2014)
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Google + PostThe format for Google+ posts is asfollows:
Author name. (Year, Month Date). [firstfew words from the post or“Comment:...” or “Google+ post:...”]Retrieved from >permalink of thesource<
(a) Reference:
Tim McCallum (2014, February 18).#OCL4Ed Reading a great paper byStephen Asunka, addressing expectationsand perceptions of collaborative onlinelearning environments ... [Google+ post].Retrieved from https://plus.google.com/102304691377628427046/posts/
PjyJYjWejEt
(b) In-text citation: (Tim McCallum, 2014)
Hope these SMART Tips on how tocite social media in research papers willmake it easy for you to cover differentsocial media in your research articles.
References:
Bailey, Y. (2013). Social Media for Teachingand Learning 2013 Survey Results,available at http://edtechtimes.com/2013/10/22/social-media-for-teaching-and-learning-2013-survey-results/
Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V.,Freeman, A. (2014). NMC HorizonReport: 2014 Higher Education Edition.Austin, Texas: The New MediaConsortium.
Rao, A. (2013.04.09). How To Cite SocialMedia: MLA & APA Formats. [Web logpost]. Retrieved from http://teachbytes.com/2013/04/09/how-to-cite-social-media-mla-apa-formats/
Dr. Ramesh C. Sharma is a regularcontributor of EduComm Asia and hecan be reached atrc_sharma[at]yahoo[dot]com
Research Shows...Community Participation at Local andCommunity Radio Stations - An explorativestudy in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the PacificBy Julia Fröhlich, Daniel Däschle, Andrés Geerts & A. Sofie Jannusch
This report presents the main findings of three regional surveys on participation at localand community radio stations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Pacific. TheCatholic Media Council (CAMECO) studies examined the involvement of the radiostations’ communities in programming, management, ownership, and funding in order togain a deeper understanding of concrete practices and challenges of community and localradios. An initial survey was conducted in English in Asia and anglophone Africa. It wasfollowed by a French survey in francophone Africa and the Caribbean, and a Spanishsurvey in Latin America. It can be assumed that the different ways of distribution mayhave reached about 1,500 radio stations, of which 219 completed the entire questionnaireand were included in the assessment. A few highlights are as given below -
Legal Ownership• 3 types of legal ownership most common among the Community Radios (CR); 38%
NGO, 31% Community Association, and 30% affiliated to a religious institution.
• In Asia, radios affiliated to universities or schools (20%) or to governmentalinstitutions (10%) are a notable characteristic; and the high presentation of NGO-owned stations is striking.
General Level of Participation• Participation in programming 83%, 54% in management or supervisory bodies,
Financing by 45%, community in the ownership of the station 36%.
Community Participation in Management• Decision making on the programme policy (65%) and on fundraising (51%), decisions
on staff recruitment (30%) and budgeting (21%)
Sources of Income• Top 5 are :business advertisements (59%), programme sponsoring (57%), and sale of
airtime (55%), public advertisements (50%) and family announcements (47%).
Constraints to participation• Lack of funds (77%), capacities to organise and preserve regular community
participation (40%).
• In all three regions, most negative experiences were related to insufficient funding.
The importance of regular meetings, panels, and discussion groups was often mentionedas a successful way to enable the community to participate in the station’s programmingand management in all three regions. Open microphone programmes were described asanother attractive way to include more listeners’ opinions in the programming. Stationsfrom Latin America and Asia reported positive results in the inclusion of different groupsin programming by offering training for youth or marginalised groups.
(The excerpts of the research have been published with permission from Dr. Daniela Frank,Executive Director, CAMECO. Thanks to Sofie Jannusch, CAMECO for the abstract and AtulThakur, CEMCA for the selection of highlights- Editor).
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Technology Tracking
Mobilizing Grassroots Campaigns Using IVRSBy Aparna Moitra
Mobile Vaani is a novel voice-based communication platformthrough which communities can use ordinary phones andlandlines to interact with each other. A toll-free number is set upinto which community members can call and either leave voicemessages abouttheir experiencesand stories, or listento messages left byother groups, oralso leave aquestion that canbe answered by anexpert. The forum ismoderated by ateam of contentmanagers thatfollow stricteditorial policies tocontrol the qualityand tone of messages published on the network. This ensuresthat the messages are focused, authentic, and free from any hatespeech.
These voice applications are extremely simple to use, and beingpurely voice-based they immediately becomes accessible topoorly literate or illiterate users as well. Mobile Vaani has beenrunning in Jharkhand since two years now, and gets over 3,000calls per day on which people share local updates, feedbackabout government schemes, and folk songs and poems. Recentlywe also initiated the system in Bihar in partnership with JEEViKA,and gets over 500 calls each day currently.
We have developed a unique content programming methodologyon Mobile Vaani, called information campaigns. Given a topic, webuild a content plan putting up provocative questions to thecommunity on which they respond, comment on each other’sresponses, and thus get involved in discussing the topic andalso generate critical grassroots data in the process. In the pastwe have held campaigns on hard topics including early marriage,domestic violence against women, gender rights, and other hardtopics which are otherwise not discussed in the community. Wehave also held campaigns on getting community inputs to assesshealth and education facilities, which helps understand the state
of these facilities on the ground. We havefound that these campaigns (1) lead tobetter understanding of communityperceptions and context, (2) help inestablishing accountability of theinstitutions to the community, and (3)bring about a change in the awarenesslevels of the community and subsequentbehavior change.
1. Sharing data with local mainstream media partners – Whena two month long health campaign, asking people to report onthe status of health facilities in their village was run on
Mobile Vaani, it wasfound that 80 percentof the PHCs did nothave clean drinkingwater, more than 40percent of the clinicshad posts vacant,and mostsignificantly severalstories were reportedof child birthshappening in thebathroom for lack of abed, demand ofbribes for stitching
any ruptured membranes, and several such horrifying stories.The data generated was conveyed to partner mass mediaagencies including newspapers and several TV channels thatcarried these stories for several days. Consequently, MobileVaani received several testimonials from the callers abouthealth facilities actually showing an improved functioningafter the campaign. Public pressure imposed through criticismin mass media thus made the service providers moreresponsive. In a similar way, surveys on education facilities,the quality of care imparted in hospitals, the state ofcompleted National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
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(MNREGA) works, etc.have been done onMobile Vaani and haveseen similar dynamicswhen the issues weretaken up by mass media.
2. Fear of escalation at thelocal level - Severalissues of corruptionsuch as unpaidMNREGA wages,Unique IdentificationAuthority of India(UIDAI) officialsdemanding a bribe for enrollment, malaria deaths caused in villages, etc. have beenregularly reported by the community. Many of these issues are solvable at the localPanchayat or Block level, and often get resolved without any external interventionfrom Mobile Vaani. This again seems to be because of a fear of escalation of issuesthat are being put out in the public domain. This mechanism validates how thepresence of an inclusive and open communication platform can help communitieskeep checks and balances between local stakeholders.
3. Institutional linkages – Mobile Vaani also pro-actively tries to build direct linkageswith government departments and senior administrative officials. It has been noticedthat actionable issues reported on Mobile Vaani, when conveyed through officialchannels to senior officials, bring a high degree of responsiveness from thegovernment machinery. Several cases including atrocities on migrant labourers,incidents of domestic violence, ration card defaults, etc. were filed by the MobileVaani team as validated complaints, and prompt action was taken by the concerneddepartment.
From an analysis of thecontent received duringcampaigns and key informantinterviews it has been foundthat the people like campaignsbecause it gets them to talkabout issues which theywouldn’t have discussedotherwise. Additionally, fromthe anecdotal evidencegathered from contentanalysis, it is believed thatsince the communities areactively involved in a
discussion around the issues rather than being considered as passive audiences, thereare greater chances that people internalize the information which leads to behaviorchange in the long term.
Ms. Aparna Moitra is a Project Researcher at Gram Vaani Community Media and shecan be reached at aparna[dot]moitra[at]gramvaani[dot]org
ISSN 0972-284X
is normally published quarterly by
Commonwealth Educational Media Centrefor Asia (CEMCA).
CEMCA, a regional centre of theCommonwealth of Learning (COL)Vancouver, Canada, is an international
Wawasan Open University54 Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah,10050 Penang,Malaysia
IAMCR 2014
2014 IAMCRconference to be heldfrom 15 -19 July,2014 at Hyderabad,India
Conference theme:Region as a Frame: Politics, Presence,Practice
Pre Conference Theme: BuildingCommunity – Shaping Change The Roleof Community, Citizen and AlternativeMedia in Regional Transformation from13- 14, July, 2014
For more information, contact:
Department of CommunicationSarojini Naidu School of Arts &Communication,University of Hyderabad,Gachibowli,Hyderabad-46,Andhra Pradesh,India,Phone: +91 40 2313 5500
ICDE International Conference2014
25-26 September in Moscow
Conference Theme: Connecting the Worldthrough Open, Distance and e-Learning
For more information, contact:
Moscow State University of Economics,Statistics and Informatics (MESI)Marketing Department (room 31/í2)7, Nezhinskaya Street,Moscow 119501,Russian Federation
28th Annual Conference of theAsian Association of OpenUniversities
From 28 - 30 October 2014at The Open Universityof Hong Kong,
Hong Kong SAR, China
Conference theme :Advancing Open and Distance Learning:Research and Practices
For more information, contact:
AAOU SecretariatOpen University ofHong Kong30 Good ShepherdStreetHomantin, Kowloon,Hong Kong,China
http://aaou2014.ouhk.edu.hk
CEMCA offers internship to graduate and post-graduate students to gain work experience in the area of CEMCA’s field of competenceand enhance their academic knowledge through practical work assignments. Internships are available for 2-6 months, and should bepart of the learning and development plan of the candidate. For details visit Knowledge Management page at CEMCA Website.
