THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE MONGOLIAN MEDIA LANDSCAPE Media ecology approach to the development of the Mongolian media from the 1200s to the new millennium, recognizing community radio as a sign of a new era of participatory communication Licentiate Thesis in Media and Journalism Autumn 2010 Eila Romo-Murphy Department of Communication University of Jyväskylä JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO Tiedekunta – Faculty Laitos – Department Humanities Department of Communication Tekijä – Author Eila Romo-Murphy Työn nimi – Title The Historical Development of the Mongolian Media Landscape Media ecology approach to the development of the Mongolian media from the 1200s to the new millenium, recognizing community radio as a sign of a new era of participatory communication Oppiaine – Subject Työn laji – Level Journalism and Media Licentiate Thesis Aika – Month and year Sivumäärä – Number of pages September 2010 194 Tiivistelmä – Abstract This media ecology thesis assesses the cultural impacts of communication technologies in Mongolia. Acknowledging the interconnectedness of media, its content, and human beings, it shows how changes in Mongolia's media have taken it through phases of orality, craft literacy, literacy, and into secondary orality. The research shows how Mongolia's media has developed over the centuries, how the social and media transformation in the USSR affected the development of Mongolia's media, and finally, to what degree and in what ways the aspects of oral and literate history, societal history and the media landscape relate to the popularity of participatory community radio in Ulaanbaatar. The background of the thesis rises from Mongolia’s long history viewed from its beginnings in the12th century. The media transitions in developmental stages from speech to writing, from writing to printing, and from print to electronics, but at the same time all these stages are shown as being present in Mongolia today. The importance of history derives from two sources – on one hand, media history and how media, defined in a comprehensive manner, has developed over the centuries in Mongolia. On the other hand there lies the importance of the role of history as is emphasized by Paulo Freire, and his views about the role that acknowledging your own history plays in the conscientization of a human being, or a group of people. In addition the thesis recognizes the Mongolian media sphere and it's mirroring of Soviet media theory up to the 1900s. The empirical analysis is based on a Ulaanbaatar media survey conducted in 2002, and subsequent focus groups discussions in the Bayanzurkh ger area. The media survey depicts, on a large scale, the Ulaanbaatar media scenery in the midst of societal change, and it shows the popular standing of a community radio station. The focus group discussions show the citizens expect community radio to orient to their needs rather than just provide information. The ger area residents consider the community radio as functioning to facilitate the democratic process by giving them a voice and a channel for them to communicate with the government. Citizen journalism is seen, in this study, from a participatory point of view; meaning that the citizens create the community topics they would like the media, in this case community radio, to deal with. Citizens see community radio as a platform to showcase both the talents of individuals within the community and as a vehicle to deal with the problems of the community. The citizens want not only to participate in producing and presenting the programming, but they also expect radio, along with other NGOs to facilitate the communities’ development. This type of participatory communication perspective from the audience was missing during the Soviet dominated era of Mongolian history, and it makes possible the way forward to establish a positive indigenous media development alternative in Mongolia. Asiasanat – Keywords: media ecology, Mongolia’s media, community radio, orality, literacy Säilytyspaikka – Depository Tourula library Muita tietoja – Additional information CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 1 THE ORALITY AND THE LITERACY 7 1.1 The general theory of primary orality 8 1.1.1 Ways of memorizing the oralic content 9 1.1.2 Orality and texts based on orality 13 1.1.3 Orality in society and consciousness 15 1.2 The literacy and writing molding human consciousness 17 1.2.1 The theory of Greek orality 22 1.2.2 The theory of Greek literacy 25 1.3 The relationship between orality and literacy 26 1.3.1 Orality and literacy in religion 33 1.3.1.1 Buddhism turning from oral to literal tradition 35 1.3.1.2 Buddhism and Mongolia 38 1.3.2 Conclusive remarks on orality and literacy 41 2 THE HISTORY OF MEDIA AND RELIGION IN MONGOLIA 43 2.1 Buddhism before entering Mongolia 44 2.2 History of the Mongols 47 2.3 The world view of the Mongols 50 2.4 History of the Mongolian alphabet 51 3 SOVIET MEDIA THEORY - ITS INFLUENCE AND APPLICATIONS 54 3.1 Soviet media theory and the Mongolian media situation 56 3.2 Historical stages of realization of Soviet communications policy in the Soviet Union and in Mongolia 65 3.2.1 The Soviet Union 65 3.2.2 Mongolia: A Soviet satellite in Asia 75 3.2.2.1 Societal and media development in Mongolia 78 in 1921-1990 3.2.2.2 Changes in mass media in 1990s 93 3.3 Development of Mongolian media 96 3.3.1 The Press 96 3.3.2 Radio 100 3.3.3 Television 104 3.4 Development of Media Laws in Mongolia 108 3.5 Comparison of the development in the Soviet Union and in Mongolia 117 4 ULAANBAATAR MEDIA SURVEY 2002 119 4.1 Methodology 120 4.2 Findings of the UB2002 survey 122 4.2.1 Ownership of media technologies 122 4.2.2 Media use 123 4.2.3 News sources 125 4.2.4 Printed media 126 4.2.5 Awareness and listening to local radio stations in Ulaanbaatar 2002 130 4.2.6 WIND-FM audience in 2002 134 4.2.7 Listening situation 135 4.2.8 Calling to talk radio 136 4.2.9 Ulaanbaatar television stations 2002-2007 136 4.2.10 Ulaanbaatar cable operators 2002 139 4.2.11 New media in Ulaanbaatar 2002 and 2006 141 4.3 Media use in 2002 and in 2007 143 4.4 Soviet influence seen in the listening of international radio 144 4.5 Conclusions about the UB2002 survey and 2007 monitoring data 147 5 PAULO FREIRE’S WRITINGS 149 5.1 Dialogue facilitates liberation 152 5.2 Community development 156 5.2.1 Critical literacy creating development 157 5.2.2 White reiterates the Freirian theory 161 5.3 Citizen’s media as Freirian application 163 167 6 FOCUS GROUPS DISCUSSIONS 168 6.1 Focus groups’ composition 169 6.2 Research questions and responses statistics 171 6.2.1 Findings about the information need – Ger and WIND groups 173 6.2.2 Findings on Ger group discussions 173 6.2.2.1 Where do you get the information? 6.2.2.2 Where do you get most of your information within the 174 community? 175 6.2.2.3 What problems there are in your community? 176 6.2.2.4 How can Radio WIND help your community? 180 6.2.3 Findings on Ger Buliin listener group discussions 181 6.2.3.1 Green points about WIND FM 6.2.3.2 Red points about WIND FM 183 6.2.3.3 WIND-FM listeners’ ideas for new programming 185 6.3 Media serving the community in co-operation with other groups 187 7 CONCLUSION 190 BIBLIOGRAPHY 195 APPENDIX 1 – Comparison of the two areas APPENDIX 2 - Recruitment of focus groups APPENDIX 3 – UB2002 survey questionnaire 1 INTRODUCTION “The purpose of media ecology is to tell stories about the consequences of technology; to tell how media environments create contexts that may change the way we think or organize our social life, or make us better or worse, or smarter or dumber, or freer or more enslaved” (Postman 1988: Conscientious objections, p. 18) Each country has a story to tell how its media developed. Each story is as unique as each country. How do media develop in a multifaceted situation? It is not developing separately in a vacuum; rather it evolves in the multitude of forces – historical, political, technological, sociological, cultural and religious. We can argue which one is primary, or can the different forces be separated from each other. Media ecologists, as Postman above, would emphasize the primacy of the media environment. " I myself would not be studying media if I did not value it as an important part in society. My special interest is in radio – what part radio plays in society. In the modern information society it may seem old-fashioned to talk about radio, which had its peak time in United States and Britain after the Second World War. Radio has had a long life ever since Canadian Reginald Fessenden broadcast voice messages in 1900, up to today when most of us still tune to our radio at home or while driving. Radio is still alive, even though not on top of media use in most countries; anyway, it has its audiences. And radio might have a comeback once it is more and more usual to have a radio feature in the mobile phones, and using iPods or MP3players is in the increase. Studies on radio seldom deal with the orality. I myself see radio as a very form of oral media. No visual images, no movement - just voice. The voice that encompasses the human being. The voice you cannot see, but the voice you hear.