Community Radio: Its Impact and Challenges to Its Development

Community Radio: Its Impact and Challenges to its Development

Working Group Report

October 9, 2007 The Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA), a project of the National Endowment for Democracy, aims to strengthen the support, raise the visibility, and improve the effectiveness of media assistance programs by providing information, building networks, conducting research, and highlighting the indispensable role independent media play in the creation and development of sustainable democracies around the world. An important aspect of CIMA’s work is to research ways to attract additional U.S. private sector interest in and support for international media development.

CIMA convenes working groups, discussions, and panels on a variety of topics in the field of media development and assistance. The center also issues reports and recommendations based on working group discussions and other investigations. These reports aim to provide policymakers, as well as donors and practitioners, with ideas for bolstering the effectiveness of media assistance.

Marguerite H. Sullivan Senior Director

Center for International Media Assistance National Endowment for Democracy 1025 F Street, N.W., 8th Floor Washington, D.C. 20004

Phone: (202) 378-9700 Fax: (202) 378-9407 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.ned.org/cima/cima.html Table of Contents

Preface 3

Executive Summary 4

Background 6

The Social Impact of Community Radio 8

Challenges to Sustainability and Funding Perspectives of Community Radio 12

Ensuring an Enabling Environment for Community Radio Development 15

Recommendations 19

Endnotes 21

Appendix: Working Group Participants 22

Preface

On October 9, 2007, the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) at the National Endowment for Democracy organized a working group to discuss the social impact of community radio and models for its sustainable development, as well as other key issues affecting community radio development, including an enabling environment and funding strategies.

CIMA is grateful for the valuable contributions of the working group participants. We extend our particular thanks to Joan Mower, public affairs officer at the Sudan Programs Group of the U.S. Department of State, for her skillful moderation of this important topic; to William Siemering, CIMA Working Community Radio Group Report: president of Developing Radio Partners, for his informative presentation and for providing a definition of ‘community radio’; and to Anahit Khachatryan for serving as the rapporteur and organizing the discussion into a consensus report.

We would also like to acknowledge Kim Mahling Clark, Kate Coyer, Kreszentia Duer, Carole Frampton, Daoud Kuttab, George Papagiannis, William Ryerson, and Paul-André Wilton for their insightful presentations that facilitated the group’s discussion and structured much of the debate.

We hope that this report will become an important reference for international media assistance efforts.

Marguerite H. Sullivan Senior Director Center for International Media Assistance

Center for International Media Assistance Executive Summary

On October 9, 2007, CIMA convened a radio as a powerful source for em- working group of 27 experts to examine powerment, especially for disenfran- the impact of community radio, as well as chised and marginalized groups in the role and challenges of community radio society. Research efforts to quantify, development within the larger context of analyze, and draw conclusions media development. The working group regarding the impact of community included community radio developers and radio are essential and can serve as a activists, representatives from donor and sound basis for assistance advocacy. implementing organizations, as well as scholars and policymakers. The goal of the • The most important aspects of one-day meeting was to form recommenda- community radio, which serves a tions for policymakers on whether and how geographic group or a community of to address community radio development interest, include the broad participa- within larger assistance initiatives. tion by community members—often on a volunteer basis—and the The contributions of the participants ownership and control of the station were as diverse as their backgrounds and by the community through a board affiliations. Representatives of implement- of governors that is representative of ing organizations brought firsthand accounts the community and responsive to the of where and why community radio has diversity of its needs. been effective, what projects have been suc- cessful or unsuccessful and why, and what • Where local need and potential is the main challenges have been. The group present, but the legal and political en- discussed creating an enabling environment vironment conducive to community for community radio development, issues radio development is absent, the in- related to the sustainability of community ternational development community

CIMA Working Group Report: Group Radio Community Working CIMA radio stations, and appropriate assistance should find ways to encourage gov- strategies that donors and implementers ernments to adopt and enforce legis- should consider. lation and regulations necessary for community radio to operate. This report highlights the working group’s main points of discussion and recommenda- • Long-term commitment and coor- tions. The group’s major findings can be dinated efforts are necessary for summarized as follows: the institutional development of community radio. • The impact of independent media on society is cross-cutting and en- • Financial sustainability is a major compassing, and thus should be challenge for community radio regarded as a unique development stations. Possible solutions to boost sector. Within media development, struggling community radio efforts it is essential to focus on community include a well-coordinated pooled

Center for International Media Assistance funding source, or a microcredit loan • Networks of community radio stations system for community radio develop- can serve as effective and efficient fora ment that is not subject to donor priori- for exchange of programming, creation ties. of national news, and information programs. Professional associations • Donor support is not limitless. can play a vital role in establishing Although sustainability of funding professional codes of ethics, identify- recipients should not be the primary ing training needs, and establishing objective of donors, funding strate- training programs. They can also serve gies and development models should as advocates for the sector, soliciting CIMA Working Community Radio Group Report: encourage sustainability in the long more funds for development. Associ- run. Donors should provide equipment ations and networks can thus become and technological support adequate for focal points for donor assistance. the local setting, and comprehensive training preparing funding recipients • The media assistance community for sustainability even in changing en- should be alert to new prospects for vironments. community radio development through digitization and the Internet.

Center for International Media Assistance Background

In the view of community radio developers, “Community radio that serves a geographic community radio stations often “serve as group or community of interest is licensed to the most trusted agent in town that brings a nonprofit organization2 to serve the public change.”1 Community radio plays a vital interest by: role in building vibrant communities, in mobilizing groups to action by informing • electing a governing board that reflects and empowering citizens, in giving voice to the diversity of the community, defines the marginalized groups of society, and in the mission, sets policy, is financially re- bringing community needs to the attention sponsible, and appoints the manager; of local and even national governments. The scope of the actual and potential impact of • creating structures and processes to community radio is wide-ranging, many identify community needs and interests agree, as are the challenges associated with that inform programming decisions and community radio development. evaluate the effectiveness of the programming; Community radio activists who have seen both the benefits and the difficulties of • ensuring broad participation in program- community radio claim that the donor ming, giving value to communication community does not fully recognize the among the people to facilitate positive wide-ranging benefits of community radio change, not simply relaying information in development and thus fail to respond to the citizen; to the challenges of this media sector. To address this gap, 27 participants—including • ensuring that the service is trustworthy, community radio developers and activists, accurate, and independent of outside in- representatives from donor and implement- fluences, be they government, [commer- ing organizations supporting and involved cial,3] special interests, or religions.”4

CIMA Working Group Report: Group Radio Community Working CIMA in community radio projects, as well as scholars and policymakers—came together under the auspices of the Center for Inter- The slogan of a community radio station national Media Assistance at the National in Mongolia—“Your radio is listening”— Endowment for Democracy to explore the speaks volumes about the nature of this role funders, particularly the U.S. govern- medium. Community radio is about the hori- ment, can play in fostering community radio zontal exchange of information—a partici- development. patory interaction between the community and the radio station rather than a vertical, Prior to the discussion, Developing Radio one-way communication method, delivering Partners President William Siemering information from a medium to the public. offered a working (although non-exhaustive) The most important aspects of community definition of community radio: radio, the participants emphasized,

Center for International Media Assistance include broad participation by community members—often on a volunteer basis—and the ownership and control of the station by the community through a board of governors that is representative of the community and responsive to the diversity of its needs. Community radio involves community organization, joint thinking and decision-making, all of which, one development expert noted, entail great potential for empowering com- CIMA Working Community Radio Group Report: munities and building a democratic society.

Center for International Media Assistance The Social Impact of Community Radio

Presenters: assistance. The stations also helped improve • Carole Frampton, Paul-André Wilton, the level of the public’s media literacy, as Search for Common Ground people could “compare the good stations • William Ryerson, to others and see what real media should Population Media Center look like,” she said. Listening and discus- • William Siemering, sion clubs and other initiatives to engage the Developing Radio Partners community beyond radio made the impact of • George Papagiannis, the latter even stronger, she added. Internews Network Frampton said that community radio devel- The power of community radio to mobilize opers must have a clear strategy and vision of groups and bring change to societies is well what they want to achieve. With community recognized. This power can, however, also radio, “the focus is on dialogue, on finding be manipulated and used to spread hate and solutions, on the future rather than who violence, as was the case in Rwanda in 1994.5 did what to whom…, on bringing all the Cautioning against the negative potential of stakeholders together and through the radio community radio, Carole Frampton of Search trying to calm situations down and move the for Common Ground demonstrated how society toward peace and democracy,” she her organization relied on community radio said. Donors should consider creating, sup- to prevent the spillover of violence from porting, and strengthening networks such Rwanda to Burundi by focusing on bringing as the Independent Radio Network (IRN) in people together and fostering dialogue and Sierra Leone, she said, as an effective way peace. By bringing journalists from each of to help amplify the impact of this proven the two ethnic groups that were in conflict and practical tool for social change. Her and building on their collaboration, Search colleague Paul-André Wilton demonstrated for Common Ground helped establish the the important role IRN played in the 2007

CIMA Working Group Report: Group Radio Community Working CIMA first independent radio production studio— elections in Sierra Leone by providing a Studio Ijambo—in Burundi, she said. model standard of reporting for its 20 stations Eleven independent radio stations followed. and leading the media response. According to Frampton, not only did this small and grass-roots effort show that ethnic IRN, which started in 2002 with eight collaboration and finding solutions based on member stations, united 420 reporters from dialogue was possible, it also helped develop 20 stations by the 2007 elections in Sierra new standards and balanced reporting skills, Leone. They produced independent, trust- representing all the voices of the community worthy, and timely programming and infor- that other radio stations later emulated. After mation by having local voices on air from the initial objective of creating dialogue was all over the country—from the most remote successfully achieved, Frampton said, Search areas to large polling stations, said Wilton. for Common Ground’s focus shifted from Through live interviews and analyses, the the core of the conflict to capacity-building reporters provided context to help listeners through skills training and providing direct understand the complexity of the elections,

Center for International Media Assistance and through shadow vote counts, helped the virus than non-listeners. This approach monitor election results. IRN makes local builds on the power of media to create high radio national. Through collaboration emotional contexts that help make informa- and coordination, these 20 membership tion more memorable, and the Population radio stations conduct national broadcasts Media Center relies on community radio through the local radio stations. According as the most appropriate and cost-effective to Wilton, success came from the credibility medium to reach its target audiences. the stations gained through the gradual and According to the estimates of a project in strategic evolution of the Tanzania, for example, the network’s capacity over cost of getting people to five years, their commit- Like a vaccine capable take steps to avoid HIV ment to become a credible of reducing preventable infection was eight cents CIMA Working Community Radio Group Report: platform for information by diseases, community per listener. providing both national and local news, and the expert radio is a simple, William Siemering, technical and editorial as- effective solution to president of Develop- sistance IRN received achieve development ing Radio Partners and from Search for Common founding member of Ground in partnership with goals, to prevent fragile National Public Radio’s Developing Radio Partners. states from becoming Board of Directors, failed states, and also described the work of The potential of community community radio de- radio to bring about social to help people celebrate velopers as “scatter- change is not a matter of their own culture. ing seeds”—alluding to mere observation but, as the original meaning of Population Media Center “broadcast”—the results President William Ryerson demonstrated, of which take time to ripen. Like a vaccine an empirically proven fact based on quan- capable of reducing preventable diseases, he tifiable and statistically analyzed results. said, community radio is “a simple, effective Focusing on women’s rights promotion, HIV solution” to achieve development goals, to rates reduction, family planning, reproduc- prevent “fragile states from becoming failed tive health issues, and prevention of child states,” and also to help people celebrate trafficking, the Center uses community radio their own culture. The approach recom- to produce behavioral change among large mended by Developing Radio Partners, audiences in 15 countries in Africa, Asia, Siemering observed, is to first build the and Latin America, educating through en- capacity of individual community radio tertainment, including with soap opera char- stations that evolve out of necessity on the acters. The highly significant results of pre- grass-roots level, then create an associa- and post-broadcast random-sample surveys, tion to develop professional standards and Ryerson noted, indicated positive changes increase the likelihood of sustainability, and in the behavior of those who listened to the finally, help individual stations unite into a programming. In Ethiopia, for example, network. Showing donors the effect these those who listened to special programming operative stations are having on their com- on HIV were more likely to be tested for munities will attract more investment for

Center for International Media Assistance community radio development, Siemering daily broadcasting is being incorporated into concluded. people’s lives, Papagiannis said.

George Papagiannis of Internews Network Having heard the accounts of the presenters, shared what he called “a story of hope, a a long-time community radio activist em- story of replacing fear with information” phasized the importance of bringing the ac- in the establishment of three community complishments of community radio—espe- radio stations to reach refugee camps in cially in post-conflict areas—to the attention eastern Chad for Sudanese refugees who fled of the international development community, Darfur. With funding from as the Rwandan example USAID’s Office of Transi- The impact of of spreading ethnic hatred tion Initiatives, the U.S. De- through the airwaves has partment of State’s Bureau community radio is long haunted the reputa- of Population, Refugees, most evident in areas tion of community radio, and Migration, the United having practically forcing media developers Nations High Commissioner to resort to commercial for Refugees (UNHCR) no other access to models of radio develop- and a number of private information, and ment instead, as was his sources, the three stations donors should, experience in Kosovo. with a mixed staff of 25 local Chadians and refugees therefore, realize the Based on lessons learned, from Darfur target their significance of investing the participants stressed primary audience—refugees in it as a means of the need to inform donors from Darfur—by broad- of the best ways to use casting in local, unwritten making information community radio’s languages that have never available without potential. One representa- been on air before, as well necessarily having tive of an international or- as in Arabic and French. ganization said that donors In constant communica- a realistic vision of should abandon their

CIMA Working Group Report: Group Radio Community Working CIMA tion with the audience, the achieving sustainability approach of “looking for stations have managed to air over a short time. a quick fix” and regarding discussion on sensitive and community radio simply as formerly taboo issues such a means of getting devel- as gender-based violence, child marriage, opment messages across through short-term and female genital mutilation. The impact projects. They should develop a long-term of their flagship program “She Speaks, She vision for investing in community radio Listens,” which aims to empower women— as an institution and “be prepared to stay an essential aspect for promoting an open in for the long haul,” since real change, and democratic society, many participants she continued, should come from within agreed—is further augmented by a drama the community, with community radio program dealing with the same subject. playing a “microcosmic” role by helping the Surveys conducted by UNHCR have community acquire a sense of ownership indicated that the information conveyed to and empowering people to see their impact the audience during eight to 10 hours of on society. The impact of community radio

10 Center for International Media Assistance is most evident in areas having practically national media fail to reach remote areas, no other access to information, and donors community radio provides the opportunity should, therefore, realize the significance of of “reaching powerless communities and investing in it as a means of making infor- giving them a voice,” he added. Even in mation available without necessarily having areas where national media broadcast, the a realistic vision of achieving sustainability impact of a community radio broadcasting over a short time, a representative of one in a local language or languages is incom- donor organization added. Donors should parable, an implementer observed. also avoid imposing models for individual stations to adopt, since the best models The participants also considered contexts are those that develop naturally and out of where community radio development is necessity, a participant observed. infeasible or inadequate. A government’s lack of understanding of the importance of CIMA Working Community Radio Group Report: reaching out to and communicating with According to a representative of marginalized or rural sectors of the popula- Internews Network, after the devastat- tion can hinder community radio developing earthquake in northern Pakistan ment, a number of participants observed. in 2006, it soon became apparent One implementer suggested engaging there were not many stations reaching appointed and elected officials as part of that area to report on the aftermath community radio projects to create a strong of the earthquake and to dissemi- link between governments and local media. nate vital information. As a response to the emergency situation, larger Another implementer cautioned that the radio stations created an associa- guidelines outlined for donors will prove tion—something they had not been irrelevant in regions where governments able to do before—and as an asso- and the legal and regulatory environment ciation, acquired emergency licenses hinder community radio development. In that enabled smaller stations to the Middle East and North Africa region, reach the remote areas affected by he said, discussions on the impact of the earthquake. The association and community radio will matter only after the community radio stations have there is legal reform allowing for the remained active since the association licensing and establishment of indepen- was formed. dent community radio stations. In terms of inadequacy of community radio development, one implementer strongly cautioned Community radio is generally the best tool against supporting initiatives where there for getting information to illiterate and poor is clear evidence that the majority does not communities, as it requires neither reading protect the rights of the minority within skills nor money to buy newspapers, a radio the community and will take advantage of developer said. Since in many countries community radio to further reinforce the most media are concentrated in capital disparity, be it on ethnic, political, or social cities and heavily populated areas, and even basis.

Center for International Media Assistance 11 Challenges to Sustainability and Funding Perspectives of Community Radio Presenter: Some stations manage to generate revenue • Kim Mahling Clark, through paid announcements, such as thank Creative Associates International, you messages, birthday wishes and funeral Inc. announcements; through funding from side businesses, such as a restaurant; or through In 2001-07, Creative Associates Internation- a barter system, allotting priority air time to al carried out a community radio strengthen- an advertisement for a local company that ing project in Haiti, where—according to has provided goods or services to the station. Kim Mahling Clark, senior associate with Active participation by volunteers, however, the company’s Communities in Transition is the key to success for many community Division—community radio developed its radio stations. As a representative of an or- own identity after UNESCO’s initial setup ganization that provided initial operational of six stations in 1991. When Creative As- funding to a community radio station in sociates’ project started, 40 stations were northeastern Congo put it, “part-time radio already operating. In volunteers who are full- assessing the capacity time community members” of the stations, Creative Sustainability seems the can successfully maintain Associates looked at biggest challenge for a station’s sustainability criteria such as their orga- community radio. after donor funding ends. nizational development, “If people invest their time equipment maintenance, and resources in something financial management, and programming without any pay, it is an indication of com- content. Just months after the capacity- mitment and sustainability,” a participant building project ended, however, approxi- added. Volunteerism, nevertheless, is not mately a quarter of the stations started ex- universal, and there are cultures and places

CIMA Working Group Report: Group Radio Community Working CIMA periencing serious problems hindering their where it is impossible to rely on volunteers, ability to broadcast, leading to the closure of another participant cautioned. eight stations. Major factors that led to the station closures included lack of financial With community radio development, some sustainability and inability to maintain participants observed, ensuring the financial equipment, along with other factors beyond sustainability of stations should not be the the control of radio station personnel, such primary objective. “When I start worrying as intermittent electricity. A number of about sustainability and stop worrying about stations were not able to meet monthly op- my listeners, that’s when my stations get erational costs—which ranged from $200 into trouble,” an implementer with vast ex- to $1,000—as most funds were used to pay perience in community radio development full-time staff. commented. According to others, however, all aspects of sustainability—social, insti- Sustainability, many agreed, seems the tutional and financial—should be incorpo - biggest challenge for community radio. rated into the overall strategy of community

12 Center for International Media Assistance radio development. “Thinking about your in northern Uganda that sold airtime to listeners, by providing them with engaging humanitarian organizations, an imple- programs, is the best way to ensure both menter noted that only one of those stations social and financial sustainability,” one managed to maintain editorial control and community radio developer said. present the information while also preserv- ing the identity of the station, as opposed to The least donors and implementers can do the other stations, which simply aired the to contribute to the sustainability of radio material as provided to them. A number of stations, the group agreed, is to design participants pointed out that donor funding projects that can run with low operational can often have an adverse effect on the sus- costs, equip them with technologies that tainability of community radio stations, as are appropriate for the en- many choose to focus vironment of that particular Funders should be on areas that bring CIMA Working Community Radio Group Report: community, train them to open to investing donor funding at the manage and maintain the expense of meeting local equipment they receive, in approaches, community needs. Out and help them acquire the including technical of five Serbian-language necessary journalistic skills to and engineering stations supported in produce quality programming. eastern Croatia, the Funders should also be open solutions, which are only station that kept to investing in approaches, unconventional from its community nature including technical and engi- donors’ perspective, and managed to survive neering solutions, which are was the one that resisted unconventional from donors’ but fully feasible for the donor funding and perspective, but fully feasible local setting. maintained its sustain- for the local setting. “The ability through a number most important thing we can of auxiliary activities, train people in is how to recognize changes including airing concerts sponsored by a and to adapt to changes as they develop,” local bar, for example, one community radio said a veteran radio developer. activist noted.

Media environments change. Therefore, by To avoid complete dependence on donor training stations to identify their potential funding, a long-time radio developer listeners, partners and funders, assistance advocated models that motivate sustain- organizations can help them develop their ability by requiring matching funds from own business models that are more likely to the onset of a project. He suggested creating prove sustainable than those imposed from a trust fund for community radio to help outside, added another implementer based funding beneficiaries resist pressures put on her experience with a community radio forward by donors’ specific agendas. A rep- project in Mali. resentative of one international organization noted that public sources of funding The issue of sustainability is not limited to not subject to changing political tides are the financial standing of a station. Alluding ideal for providing core operating funds to a number of community radio stations for community radio. The Support Fund

Center for International Media Assistance 13 for Radio Expression, set up in France developer argued. Different funding possi- in 1982, for example, had provided $27 bilities most feasible for local circumstanc- million to community radio development es should therefore be explored. by 2004 by drawing a levy on advertising on broadcast media. The Media Diversity Considering the funding perspectives for and Development Agency in South Africa community radio, the group agreed that is another publicly funded institution a pooled funding resource is necessary to that provides grants to community radio support community radio development. stations. A significant issue to consider here One development expert nevertheless is the publicity and accessibility of funding cautioned that large amounts of funding sources, since in Hungary, for example, suddenly made available can distort the despite the country’s favorable system of field, and suggested identifying niches funding and subsidizing community radio, to find appropriate models of funding to many stations are unaware of existing op- support the networking of local constituen- portunities, another participant observed. cies as a more effective solution. Another proposed approach is to introduce a micro- Given the inconsistency and short-term, credit loan system for community radio, project-driven nature of donor assistance such as the Media Development Loan in many cases, a number of participants Fund, which would provide low-interest questioned whether community radio de- funding packaged with management and velopment should be dependent on donor financial training. Another implementer support at all. Yet expecting the stations to noted that there will always be stations support themselves entirely from the local that do not fit into the specific definition economy is also both unfair and unfea- of community radio adopted by a global sible, according to one participant. “The funding source. Irrespective of the format U.S. public radio wouldn’t exist without of any global funding source, funding strat- federal support,” and it is premature to egies should be flexible and comprehensive expect community radio stations in devel- enough not to exclude such stations. Donor oping countries to become sustainable on coordination in this regard is crucial, she

CIMA Working Group Report: Group Radio Community Working CIMA their own, a prominent community radio added.

14 Center for International Media Assistance Ensuring an Enabling Environment for Community Radio Development Presenters: establishing an independent radio station • Daoud Kuttab, in Jordan. Four years later, the Jordanian AmmanNet and Princeton government started providing licenses University to private FM stations for $40,000 for • Kreszentia Duer, entertainment-oriented stations and $60,000 World Bank Institute for those seeking to broadcast news and • Kate Coyer, cover politics. AmmanNet went on air to Center for Global Communications carry out a community radio mission with a Studies at the Annenberg School commercial model, Kuttab said. According CIMA Working Community Radio Group Report: for Communication, University of to him, the station’s programming has had a Pennsylvania significant impact both on policymakers and traditional media practices. After a program Issues of sustainability and other challenges airing the quotidian concerns of taxi drivers, for the functionality of community radio for example, revealed the latter lacked become relevant only when the legal and insurance, the government introduced laws political environments allow community to remedy the situation. The station was radio to exist. In some countries, however, also a pioneer in providing live broadcast the attempt to establish of Jordan’s parliamentary a station is a challenge AmmanNet sessions. Airing live voices either because there is and news content focused no supportive legislation demonstrates how on local developments, the allowing it to operate freely, the Internet and station introduced a new or the existing laws are the use of open- practice of radio reporting not properly implemented. that was adopted by other Daoud Kuttab, a Ferris source software have media, Kuttab concluded. professor of journalism enhanced possibilities at Princeton University, for community radio The AmmanNet example presented his experiences shows that there is an in establishing community development. unrecognized potential radio in an unfavorable legal for community radio in and political environment. Identifying the the MENA region to examine an array of need for local and interactive news in the essential issues that have not until now Middle East and North Africa (MENA) received due attention. “In a country such region, where media have often practiced as Egypt with almost 100 percent radio and self-censorship or been restricted in their television penetration, why aren’t media coverage, particularly of local or national used for development purposes?” a radio news, Kuttab in 2002 took the creative activist rhetorically inquired. approach of launching AmmanNet—an Internet-based radio channel, thus avoiding AmmanNet demonstrates how the Internet a prohibition that existed at the time against and the use of open-source software have

Center for International Media Assistance 15 enhanced possibilities for community radio and pluralistic media, Duer emphasized development. The interaction of community that the national legal system regulating the radio and the Internet has great potential and media sector should guarantee a subcategory should be further explored, an implementer of community broadcasting supported by noted. Even for existing radio stations, adequate regulations and arrangements. the Internet can help them provide local The best approach, she continued, is to news and “keep in touch with community reserve 10 to 15 percent of FM frequencies members scattered for political or economic for community radio, as is the case in reasons,” said the implementer. Another France, Australia, and Germany. Given the participant pointed out that cell phones proliferation of commercial stations that with radio functions that are widespread in occurs as economies open up, there should most developing countries should also be be incentives for community broadcasters considered for transmitting community radio to carry out and maintain their mission of programming. community development, Duer said.

Even in places with no legally licensed Community radio stations thus should community radio stations, “people are going not be subject to the same licensing fees to use whatever means available to them”— required for commercial broadcasters, and be it through private and commercial there should be sanctions—suspension of a licensing, public service broadcasting, or community radio license, for example—for pirate radio—to carry out a community stations that become purely commercial. radio mission when there is such a need, Transparency and independence of said an academic with research interests in procedures regulating community alternative media. According to her, this puts broadcasting, as well as transparency and pressure on governments and policymakers clarity of licensing regimes and eligibility to open up space for the sector, as happened criteria, which—as Duer stressed—should in Hungary, for example, after pirate stations be determined in consultation with civil emerged in the post-Soviet era. Currently, society groups, are absolutely crucial. community radio accounts for 25 percent

CIMA Working Group Report: Group Radio Community Working CIMA of radio broadcasting in the country. The discussion that followed focused on the The Importance of Public legal and regulatory environments enabling Consultation community radio development. Kreszentia Duer noted a positive Kreszentia Duer, co-author of the newly example of the public consultative published book Broadcasting, Voice, and mechanism was recently implemented Accountability: A Public Interest Approach in Nigeria. In 2006, Nigeria’s minister to Policy, Law, and Regulation, which of information set up a committee examines existing good practice in the that is partly governmental and partly field of community broadcasting, outlined nongovernmental in nature. The the essential legal and regulatory elements committee’s objective is to establish enabling community radio development. guidelines governing the licensing In addition to the general constitutional regime of community radio stations. framework supportive of free, independent,

16 Center for International Media Assistance Duer also pointed out that there should istered for at least three years and have a be no restrictions on content as long as community-based management board are programming aims at the social development eligible for licensing. In terms of content, of the community, nor should there be licensed stations are required to produce half limitations on proposed sources of revenue. of their programming locally and in local The licensing regime, she said, should languages. Entertainment is not forbidden instead encourage multiple sources of per se, but not encouraged, whereas news funding, including subsidization by stations reporting is banned, as is the case with com- themselves, leading to their sustainability mercial radio. According to Coyer, funding in the long run. According to Duer, will be one of the biggest challenges, since transmitting power should not be limited on with no central source of funding, the the basis of a general regulatory guideline; system allows five minutes of advertis- the footprint of broadcasting should rather ing and sponsorship of programs only by CIMA Working Community Radio Group Report: be context-specific and the government. Lack of defined by the needs or The intent of good laws clarity and transparency of interests of the particular application and licensing community the station can be subverted by processes is also one of the is targeting. Even uneven and inconsistent disadvantages of the new though the number of enforcement or policy. countries coming close to having an ideally cumbersome and In the United Kingdom, on enabling environment for overly bureaucratic the other hand, the 2004 community radio is very regulation and reporting Community Radio Order small and constrained to foresees a transparent a few Western states, the requirements. online application process regulatory regimes in an that favors stations based emerging number of developing countries, on the social gain they propose to accom- such as Mali, Ghana, and Liberia, that plish. In fact, applicants can specify the area are “leapfrogging over old practices” is they want to reach with an option of either encouraging, she concluded. FM frequencies with a four–six kilometer range or AM frequencies for wider reach. Putting the above mentioned guidelines in The Community Radio Fund has a £500,000 country-specific contexts, Kate Coyer from ($1 million) annual budget, with a board the Annenberg School of Communication at responsible for allocation of funding that the University of Pennsylvania, highlighted is separate from the one making licensing aspects of regulatory policies in India decisions. The regulations also specify that and the United Kingdom—two countries more than half of the funding cannot come where community radio has been recently from a single source, including advertising recognized as a sector for regulation. In and program sponsorship, thus fostering India, implementation of the state policy diversity of funding sources. for community radio adopted in 2006 and the government’s promise to license 4,000 Concluding the discussion on legal and new stations by 2008 is yet to be witnessed. regulatory regimes enabling community Only nonprofit entities that have been reg- radio development, the participants agreed

Center for International Media Assistance 17 that even with the most favorable laws, implementation is crucial. “The intent of good laws can be subverted by uneven and inconsistent enforcement or cumbersome and overly bureaucratic regulation and reporting requirements,” one participant summarized. A veteran community radio activist with experience both in the United States and abroad cautioned against time- consuming and complicated regulations, including accounting and auditing requirements, which shifts the focus away from the work of a community station to compliance. Implementation of regulations, he continued, should be simplified so that “a station trying to get a portion of public funding does not forget the duty to serve the community.” CIMA Working Group Report: Group Radio Community Working CIMA

18 Center for International Media Assistance Recommendations

Prior to agreeing on specific recommenda- tional development community should tions for community radio development, the find ways to encourage governments participants reinforced the need to regard to adopt and enforce legislation and media as a distinct sector for development regulations necessary for opening up rather than as an auxiliary of larger devel- space to community radio. One option opment projects, as is often the case. “Up is for the United States to earmark to now there have been no serious efforts to funds for media development and direct create an enabling environment,” lamented aid-recipient governments to allocate a representative of an implementing orga- resources for the development of the nization, urging initiatives that support the community broadcasting sector. CIMA Working Community Radio Group Report: development of infrastructure necessary for independent and sustainable media to Funding emerge. He highlighted the significance of having quantifiable evidence of media’s n Donor funding is crucial for community impact—community radio in this case—to radio development. Donors should advocate assistance to media as an end and invest in the development of community not only as a means for development. radio as an institution and not as a quick means of getting information across to “Community radio is an extremely a community as part of a larger project. important part of the whole media sector,” This approach requires long-term com- one participant said. As a result of the mitment and coordinated efforts on daylong discussion, the group reiterated behalf of donors. the need for focusing on community radio development as an essential part of media n There should be a pooled resource development and also agreed on a number fund or a microcredit loan system for of general and specific recommendations community radio development that addressed to policymakers, funders, and im- is not subject to the political or other plementers, as well as all those concerned priorities of a given donor. Funding al- with community radio development. location strategies should be carefully designed not to distort the sector and Influencing Unfavorable not to exclude groups that may not nec- Environments essarily fit into the legal definition of community radio but carry out such a n Community radio is essential for em- mission. powering disenfranchised sectors of a population and bringing about n Donor support is not limitless. Although democratic and social change. Where sustainability of funding recipients local need and potential is present, should not be the primary objective of but the legal and political environ- donors, funding strategies and models ment conducive to community radio should encourage financial sustainabil- development is absent, the interna- ity in the long run.

Center for International Media Assistance 19 Sustainability, Capacity Building invest in the development of professional and Adequacy of Assistance associations as they can play a vital role in establishing professional codes of ethics, n Community radio stations should be able identifying training needs and establishing to continue functioning after assistance training programs, as well as providing in- projects end. Therefore: formation resources on financial, auditing, grant writing, and grant reporting require- o Assistance organizations should design ments. Developers should also foster the projects in a way to ensure that gov- creation of networks of community radio ernance of a community radio station stations as effective and efficient fora for is not parachuted in from outside and exchange of programming and creation of that the community acquires a sense of national news and information programs. ownership. All projects should respond Networks should be a one-stop shop for to existing needs and encourage input donors to support. from the community to ensure a par- ticipatory, two-way exchange of infor- n Professional associations can play a vital mation. role. They can also serve as advocates for the sector, soliciting more funds for the o Assistance and implementing orga- sector’s development. nizations should be careful not to overbuild community radio stations. n Donors should invest in the development They should provide equipment and of a globally accessible clearinghouse for technological support appropriate for exchange of information, ideas, contacts, the local environment and compat- and programming. ible with the skills of the operating personnel, who are often volunteers. Measuring Impact Models and tools that help maximize limited resources should be developed n The impact of community radio is mea- and made accessible to local stations. surable. Donors should allocate sub-

CIMA Working Group Report: Group Radio Community Working CIMA stantial resources necessary for rigorous o Training should not be ad hoc. Imple- quantitative and qualitative research as menting organizations should incorpo- part of every media assistance initiative, rate training of management, financial, including community radio projects, to technical, equipment maintenance, and measure their effects. journalistic skills into their projects. Most importantly, they should prepare Tying Community Radio to the project beneficiaries to face and adapt Digital World to change. n Donors and implementers should explore o Donors and implementers should how new technologies and the Internet can be more open to local solutions that contribute to community radio develop- emerge on the ground. ment, focusing on issues ranging from program exchanges using the Internet to n Community radio developers should conversion to digital frequencies.

20 Center for International Media Assistance Endnotes

1 William Siemering, “What is Community Radio?”, October 2007, 1 (background paper, Working Group Meeting on Community Radio Development, Center for International Media Assistance, National Endowment for Democracy, October 9, 2007).

2 One working group participant noted, however, that, where there is no provision CIMA Working Community Radio Group Report: for community radio in the law, some community stations are not licensed to nongovernmental organizations, but rather uni- versities or individuals, while still serving as community stations.

3 This word was added to the definition of community radio at the suggestion of a working group participant.

4 Siemering, “What is Community Radio?”, 3-4.

5 This is a reference to radio broadcasts in Rwanda, in particular by Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines, which incited violence by ethnic Hutus against Tutsis during the 1994 genocide. According to many experts on the genocide, such broadcasts played a major role in perpetrating the killing of Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Center for International Media Assistance 21 Appendix

Working Group Participants

Kim Mahling Clark Mark Frohardt Senior Associate, Communications in Vice President for Africa, Middle East, Transition Division Health and Humanitarian Media Creative Associates International, Inc. Internews

Kate Coyer Craig Hammer Post Doctoral Research Fellow Research Coordinator, CEERD Center for Global Communication Studies World Bank Institute University of Pennsylvania Mark Helmke Courtney Creek Senior Professional Staff Member Program Officer U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Central and West Africa National Democratic Institute Adam Kaplan Media Advisor Brittany Danisch Office of Transition Initiatives Senior Program Officer USAID Central and West Africa National Democratic Institute Daoud Kuttab Owner, AmmanNet Laura Drewett Ferris Professor of Journalism Co-Founder, Business Solutions Princeton University Adapted Consulting, Inc. Rich McClear

CIMA Working Group Report: Group Radio Community Working CIMA Kreszentia Duer Community Radio Activist New Business Development Leader and Program Manager for New Bank Practices Suzi McClear in Civic Engagement, Empowerment, and Community Radio Activist Respect for Diversity (CEERD) World Bank Institute Joan Mower Public Affairs Officer Troy Etulain Sudan Programs Group Senior Advisor for Independent Media Department of State Development USAID Lauren Oing Program Assistant, Southern Africa Carole Frampton International Republican Institute Director, Institutional Learning Team Search for Common Ground

22 Center for International Media Assistance Karana Olivier Nikki Spicer Program Officer, Africa Education Coordinator National Endowment for Democracy Millennium Villages Project The Earth Institute George Papagiannis Columbia University Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs Kirk Talbott Internews President CIMA Working Community Radio Group Report: First Voice International William Ryerson President Pete Tridish Population Media Center Founder, Director of Electromagnetism Prometheus Radio Project William Siemering President Mark Whitehouse Developing Radio Partners Director, Media Development IREX Sharon Smith Incoming Director of Programs and Paul-André Wilton Administration Africa Support team Developing Radio Partners Search for Common Ground

Center for International Media Assistance 23 CIMA Working Group Report: Group Radio Community Working CIMA

24 Center for International Media Assistance Advisory Council for the Center for International Media Assistance

David Anable Alex S. Jones Former President Director, Shorenstein Center International Center for Journalists Kennedy School of Government

Patrick Butler Susan King Vice President Vice President, External Affairs The Washington Post Company Director, Journalism Initiative, Special Initiatives and Strategy Esther Dyson Carnegie Corporation of New York Chairman EDventure The Honorable Richard Lugar NED Board Member U.S. Senate

William A. Galston Eric Newton Senior Fellow, Governance Studies Vice President/Journalism Program The Brookings Institution Knight Foundation NED Board Member Adam Clayton Powell III Suzanne Garment Director, Integrated Media Systems Center Associate University of Southern California Clifford Chance US LLP Monroe E. Price Karen Elliott House Director, Project for Former Publisher Global Communication Studies The Wall Street Journal Annenberg School for Communication

Ellen Hume The Honorable Adam Schiff Director, Center on Media and Society U.S. House of Representatives University of Massachusetts, Boston Kurt Wimmer Jerry Hyman Senior Vice President, General Counsel Senior Adviser Gannett Co., Inc. President, Hills Program on Governance Center for Strategic and Richard Winfield International Studies Of Counsel Clifford Chance US LLP Center for International Media Assistance National Endowment for Democracy 1025 F Street, N.W., 8th Floor Washington, D.C. 20004

Phone: (202) 378-9700 Fax: (202) 378-9407 Email: [email protected]

URL: http://www.ned.org/cima/cima.html