USAID/OTI Media Impact Assessment in Nepal

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

USAID/OTI Media Impact Assessment in Nepal July 16, 2009 USAID/OTI Media Impact Assessment in Nepal GRANT #KAT175 July 16, 2009 USAID/OTI Media Impact Assessment in Nepal GRANT #KAT175 Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. v List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... ix Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... xi 1 Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Addressing the research questions ................................................................................... 1 1.2 Sampling .......................................................................................................................... 6 1.3 Fielding ............................................................................................................................ 9 2 General Media Behavior ...................................................................................................... 11 2.1 General interest in media topics ..................................................................................... 13 2.2 Media usage ................................................................................................................... 15 2.3 Most reliable media sources .......................................................................................... 18 2.4 Radio .............................................................................................................................. 18 2.5 TV .................................................................................................................................. 24 3 Change in Media Programming and Formats (Objective 1) ............................................ 27 3.1 How do people perceive FM radio programming at stations? ....................................... 27 3.2 Has an increase in informational programming changed how radio stations view their own programs? ...................................................................................................... 29 3.3 Are local FM stations communicating in different ways than before? .......................... 29 3.4 Do people talk about political issues in a more dynamic and engaged fashion than before?.................................................................................................................... 30 3.5 Are radio listening habits changing to a new/different perspective? ............................. 30 3.6 What other factors have contributed to radio’s changing format/programming? .......... 31 3.7 Do people like, prefer, and find the new radio program formats useful? ...................... 32 3.8 Has radio listenership started to have more awareness of marginalized communities or has radio programming focused more on marginalized issues? .......... 32 4 Plausible Links between USAID/OTI Media Programming and the Media Changes in Nepal (Objective 2) ........................................................................................... 35 4.1 Are there other organizations with programs of comparable or greater popularity to those of USAID/OTI? .................................................................................................... 35 4.2 What are other organizations’ impressions of the USAID/OTI program objectives and their intended and unintended consequences? ....................................... 43 4.3 Have USAID/OTI media programming or other factors raised expectations at local levels for stations to do their own programming? ................................................. 43 4.4 Has USAID/OTI Nepal or other actors contributed to increased discussions around democracy through media? ................................................................................ 44 4.5 Are other programs imitating the format of USAID/OTI-funded programs? ............... 45 4.6 Would the programs die out if funding ended, or have they become sustainable? ....... 45 USAID/OTI Nepal Media Assessment iii 5 Change in People’s Attitudes and Behavior (Objective 3) ................................................ 47 5.1 Have USAID/OTI programs or others fundamentally changed the way Nepalese interact with and understand media? ............................................................................. 47 5.2 Are people participating more in call-in programs? Are they calling stations or calling government officials? ......................................................................................... 48 5.3 Has listenership increased due to the USAID/OTI model of programming? ................ 49 5.4 How do people perceive popular USAID/OTI Nepal-funded national radio and television programs? ...................................................................................................... 49 5.5 Is radio an effective dissemination mechanism, and if so, how is it different from television programming? ............................................................................................... 52 6 Differing Regional versus Local Effects .............................................................................. 55 6.1 What are the different regional versus local effects of media? ...................................... 55 6.2 Which way does information flow? ............................................................................... 57 6.3 Do local stations now model their programs along the ones that were sent from Kathmandu Valley? ....................................................................................................... 58 6.4 Has local FM become more independent from Kathmandu Valley? ............................. 58 6.5 Have local radio stations been encouraged to go out and seek other avenues for program funding? ........................................................................................................... 59 6.6 Are there regional networks with different media producers? ...................................... 59 6.7 Has this changed the way different regional groups interact with and communicate with each other in process of political transition? ................................... 59 7 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 61 Appendices Appendix A: USAID/OTI-Sponsored Radio Programs Appendix B: USAID/OTI-Sponsored TV Programs USAID/OTI Nepal Media Assessment iv List of Tables Table 1.1: Research Objectives, Research Questions, and Methods to Use to Address Them ............................................................................................................ 1 Table 1.2: Questions Addressed by Focus Froups ...................................................................... 5 Table 1.3: Questions Addressed by In-depth Interviews ............................................................ 5 Table 1.4: Sample Sizes, by Region............................................................................................ 7 Table 1.5: Demographics and Regions of Focus Group Respondents ........................................ 8 Table 1.6: Demographics of IDI Respondents ............................................................................ 8 Table 2.1: Demographics, by District ....................................................................................... 12 Table 2.2: Topics of Interest, by Gender (% of “very interested”) ........................................... 13 Table 2.3: Topics of Interest, by Education Level (% of “very interested”) ............................ 14 Table 2.4: Preferred Formats (% of “very interested”) ............................................................. 14 Table 2.5: Native Language (“language spoken at home”), by District ................................... 15 Table 2.6: Ownership (home access), by Setting ...................................................................... 15 Table 2.7: Ownership (home access), by Wealth ...................................................................... 16 Table 2.8: Daily Use for News and Information, by Setting .................................................... 16 Table 2.9: Daily Use of News and Information, by Wealth ...................................................... 17 Table 2.10: Preferred Sources for News and Information on Nepalese Politics versus Local Community Events ........................................................................................ 18 Table 2.11: Frequency of Listening to Radio, by Education ...................................................... 19 Table 2.12: Radio Listening Medium, by Setting ....................................................................... 20 Table 2.13: Domestic Radio Reach in Kathmandu Valley, by District ...................................... 21 Table 2.14: Domestic Radio Reach in Dhanusha........................................................................ 22 Table 2.15: Radio Reach in Makwanpur ..................................................................................... 22 Table 2.16: Radio Reach in Morang ........................................................................................... 23 Table 2.17: Domestic Radio Reach in Parsa ..............................................................................
Recommended publications
  • In the Service of the Public Functions and Transformation of Media in Developing Countries Imprint Publisher Deutsche Welle 53110 Bonn, Germany
    Edition dW AkAdEmiE #02/2014 mEdiA dEvElopmEnt In the Service of the Public Functions and Transformation of Media in Developing Countries Imprint pUBliSHER Deutsche Welle 53110 Bonn, Germany RESponSiBlE Christian Gramsch AUtHoRS Erik Albrecht Cletus Gregor Barié Petra Berner Priya Esselborn Richard Fuchs Lina Hartwieg Jan Lublinski Laura Schneider Achim Toennes Merjam Wakili Jackie Wilson-Bakare EditoRS Jan Lublinski Merjam Wakili Petra Berner dESiGn Programming / Design pRintEd November 2014 © DW Akademie Edition dW AkAdEmiE #02/2014 mEdiA dEvElopmEnt In the Service of the Public Functions and Transformation of Media in Developing Countries Jan Lublinski, Merjam Wakili, Petra Berner (eds.) Table of Contents Preface 4 04 Kyrgyzstan: Advancements in Executive Summary 6 a Media-Friendly Environment 52 Jackie Wilson-Bakare Part I: Developing Public Service Media – Kyrgyzstan – A Brief Overview 53 Functions and Change Processes Media Landscape 54 Obschestvennaya Tele-Radio Kompaniya (OTRK) 55 01 Introduction: A Major Challenge for Stakeholders in the Transformation Process 56 Media Development 10 Status of the Media Organization 56 Jan Lublinski, Merjam Wakili, Petra Berner Public Service: General Functions 61 Public Service Broadcasting – West European Roots, Achievements and Challenges 62 International Ambitions 12 Transformation Approaches 63 Lessons Learned? – Transformations Since the 1990s 14 Appendix 72 Reconsidering Audiences – Media in the Information Society 15 05 Namibia: Multilingual Content and the Need Approach and Aim of the
    [Show full text]
  • 11685807 02.Pdf
    CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The Great Gujarat Earthquake in India in January 2001 revealed the vulnerability of “non-earthquake-proof” cities and villages. The earthquake killed approximately 20,000 people and destroyed over 300,000 houses. Nepal lies closer than Gujarat to the subduction zone, where the Indian plate passes under the Himalayas, and may actually be susceptible to even larger-scale earthquakes. Very recently, the American scientific journal Science (2001) introduced the theory that predicts a great earthquake of magnitude 8.1-8.3 would occur “very soon”, affecting up to 50 million people along the front of the Himalayan Mountains. In 1934, an earthquake of magnitude 8.4 caused serious damages to 60% of the buildings in the Kathmandu Valley. It is a cause for much concern that the next great earthquake may occur at any time. Earthquakes are an inevitability for the Kathmandu Valley, and people have to find ways of coping with earthquake disasters. The Kathmandu Valley is the exclusive centre of Nepal for politics, the economy, and a society of about 1.5 million people in an area of 667 km2. The Valley is particularly vulnerable to earthquake disaster because of the rapid increase of population, unplanned development, and poor subsoil. Should a major earthquake occur, Kathmandu would suffer immense losses of life and property and would be unlikely to be able to function as the capital of Nepal. The disaster would create a tremendous number of poor people, contrary to the national goal and key theme of the next (Tenth) National Five-Year Plan, “Poverty Alleviation.” It is foreseeable that the adverse effects of the earthquake will be felt throughout Nepal and cause long-term stagnation of its development.
    [Show full text]
  • Communist Language and Democratic Hopes at a Radio Nepal Dohori Competition
    SINGING DIALOGIC SPACE INTO BEING: COMMUNIST LANGUAGE AND DEMOCRATIC HOPES AT A RADIO NEPAL DOHORI COMPETITION Anna Stirr “New Nepal.”1 These were the words on everyone’s lips in 2006 and 2007, in the months after the ceasefire ending ten years of civil war between the state security forces and Maoist revolutionaries. In April 2006, the nineteen-day People’s Movement against then-king Gyanendra’s seizure of absolute power united democratic political parties and Maoists in a common cause. It paved the way for peace agreements and a tenuous sense of hope that Nepal could reinvent itself, rectifying past injustices of institutionalized class, caste, ethnic, gender, religious, and regional discrimination. This article aims to provide ethnographic insight into an early effort to construct commensurability among the formerly warring parties, and to open up a new discursive space in which to begin to imagine a “new Nepal.” This early effort was the first-ever live dohorã2 song competition on state-supported Radio Nepal on Democracy Day in April 2007. This particular Democracy Day commemorated the previous year’s People’s Movement, and the competition was part of the official national celebration. A significant element of this competition was that in the post- 1 The term “new Nepal” has a long history in Nepali social movements. Used by communists and democrats in the movement against the Ranas in the 1940s, and later in the 1950s, to refer to a Nepal free from the Rana oligarchy (cf. Pushpalal Shrestha 1995 (2053 v.s.)), it was adopted by the Panchayat regime (1960–1990) to refer to the development goals the nation was moving toward.
    [Show full text]
  • Identity-Based Conflict and the Role of Print Media in the Pahadi Community of Contemporary Nepal Sunil Kumar Pokhrel Kennesaw State University
    Kennesaw State University DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects 7-2015 Identity-Based Conflict and the Role of Print Media in the Pahadi Community of Contemporary Nepal Sunil Kumar Pokhrel Kennesaw State University Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd Part of the International and Area Studies Commons, Peace and Conflict Studies Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Pokhrel, Sunil Kumar, "Identity-Based Conflict and the Role of Print Media in the Pahadi Community of Contemporary Nepal" (2015). Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects. Paper 673. This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND PRINT MEDIA IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND THE ROLE OF PRINT MEDIA IN THE PAHADI COMMUNITY OF CONTEMPORARY NEPAL by SUNIL KUMAR POKHREL A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Conflict Management in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia March 2015 IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND PRINT MEDIA © 2015 Sunil Kumar Pokhrel ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Recommended Citation Pokhrel, S. K. (2015). Identity-based conflict and the role of print media in the Pahadi community of contemporary Nepal. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, United States of America. IDENTITY-BASED CONFLICT AND PRINT MEDIA DEDICATION My mother and father, who encouraged me toward higher study, My wife, who always supported me in all difficult circumstances, and My sons, who trusted me during my PhD studies.
    [Show full text]
  • Policy Paper, No
    Policy Paper, No. 7, December 2012 THE NEED FOR A CITIZEN-ORIENTED RADIO POLICY PolicyMartin Paper Chautari No. 7 December 2012 Martin Chautari The Need for a www.martinchautari.org.np Citizen-oriented Radio Policy Introduction Key in democracy is the right of citizens to freely express their voice and the right of citizens to access information. In any democratic country, such rights are constitutionally guaranteed. The existence of an independent media plays an important internal role in ensuring these rights, and where democracy prevails, the media tends to be independent; media and democracy playing a complementary role. The past history of Nepal shows this relation – the media was promoted with the establishment of democracy in 1951, but restricted again in 1960 when the then king dismantled the democratically elected government. Following the restoration of democracy in 1990, the hitherto restricted media became free again and the very powerful medium of communication, the radio, became open through the private sector. In terms of the radio, following the establishment of Radio Nepal in 1951, for about half a century radio transmission was monopolized by the state. The 1990 constitution guaranteed the right to information, and press freedom and freedom of expression. In 1993 after the new broadcasting policy was formulated, the entry of the private sector in the broadcasting realm was recognized at the policy level for the first time. The National Broadcasting Act, 1993 and the National Broadcasting Regulation, 1995 followed. Private sector radio began to operate according to these act and regulation. According to the website of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC), till the October 2012, there were a total of 472 radios which had received broadcasting licenses.
    [Show full text]
  • Nepali Music Confidence, Maturity and Yonjon, Deep Shrestha, Kunti Chha, a Song He Wrote Keeping Professionalism That Modern Nepali Moktan, and Arun Thapa
    #34 16 - 22 March 2001 20 pages Rs 20 SHUTTERBUG 1 9 ICE CREAM IS HOT 9 EXCLUSIVE HOTEL HARAKIRI Hotel executives and senior managers in ties waiting on tables, doing the dishes, answering JUMPING SHIP phones. It had to come to this: a strike no one wanted but everyone The farce in parliament hides an eternal was powerless to prevent. It was Nepali Congress feud that is taking the party so easy to solve: the unions are controlled by political parties, some down, and dragging the country down with it. hotels were willing to bargain with the unions, the unions themselves tussle, and we are going to resolve it once and for The question is: are the anti-Girija forces were showing flexibility. Then, two all,” one Congress insider told us. working together? And if so, is there a “hidden weeks ago the Hotel Association of If Koirala does not resign what options hand” that wants him out? How else would one does he have? He could go for a confidence explain these strange bedfellows working together SUBHAS RAI vote in parliament if the UML lets him, he for so long? One way to find out is to seek motive. could call mid-term polls, or he could “step The UML cannot hope to come to power by aside”. Koirala has sounded out his rivals in bringing down Koirala—all they want is to stall the Congress, but they hate him dearly and the Armed Police Force ordinance, which the king Hotel executives serve breakfast don’t want to give him an easy parachute.
    [Show full text]
  • Media & Telecoms Landscape Guide
    Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal Media and Telecoms Landscape Guide May 2011 1 Index Page Introduction...................................................................................................... 3 Media overview............................................................................................... 10 Radio overview................................................................................................20 Radio stations.................................................................................................29 List of all registered FM radio stations.........................................................41 TV overview.....................................................................................................63 TV stations.......................................................................................................67 Print media overview......................................................................................78 Main newspapers............................................................................................82 Online media ..................................................................................................89 Traditional channels of communication.......................................................91 Media resources..............................................................................................92 Telecoms overview.........................................................................................101 Telecoms companies.....................................................................................105
    [Show full text]
  • Ageing Nepal
    AGEING NEPAL PROFILE 2019 AGEING NEPAL PROFILE 2019 INTRODUCTION A group of Nepali social workers with varied professional background got committed to the cause of the ageing population and together established AGEING NEPAL (AN) in August 2011. Ageing Nepal is a not-for-profit Non-Government Organization (NGO) registered with the government of Nepal and is also affiliated to Social Welfare Council (SWC). Ageing Nepal is a member based organization operated by trustees, member representatives and professionals. It draws on its wide network of members and professionals in and out of the country for accomplishment of a task with high degree of professionalism. OBJECTIVES To link ageing population and societal development by treating ageing as an opportunity for development, To establish sustainable system of social protection to guard against poverty in old age, To promote healthy, active and productive ageing through promotion of volunteerism among elders in particular, To meet the growing demands for access to quality health care, including long-term care for the elderly, To promote age friendly environment, To work with the government and other national and international organizations for the promotion of elders’ wellbeing. MISSION Empowerment of elders and promotion of their rights, Generate research based information to help policy makers and planners, Produce trained human resources in the field of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Take proactive measures against abuse and exploitation of elders, Work as watch-dog to safe guard the interests of ageing population. 1 | P a g e AGEING NEPAL PROFILE 2019 VISION With a life time of hard work, senior citizens of today deserve a dignified and cared for old age, not as a charity from the younger generation but as the right of their own.
    [Show full text]
  • Media Development in Nepal Since 1990: Challenges and Central Role of Regulation and Reform
    Media development in Nepal since 1990: challenges and central role of regulation and reform (Source: Equal Access 2007) Nirmal Prasad Rijal A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Media and Communication Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University Melbourne, Australia March 2014 1 Keywords Nepal, media, democracy, diversity, pluralism, media policy, regulation, conflict, transition 2 Abstract This thesis is the result of an exploration of the development of media in Nepal from 1990. 1990 is the year that Nepal began a prolonged transition to democracy. This transition included multiple civil movements aimed at freedom and democracy; an armed civil conflict; sweeping socio-political transformations; and a protracted and yet incomplete peace process. Nepal emerged from decades of autocracy in 1990 and liberal constitutional and legal provisions facilitated increased citizens’ participation in media and politics, the strengthening of civil society, and an emphasis on identities. However, growing political polarization, bad governance, a decade (1996-2006) of armed conflict, a royal coup and an unresolved peace process have made the transition to democracy complex and protracted. The central argument in this thesis is that media reform is a complicated task when a State is not stable and unable to effectively provide the basic functions related to order, security and rule of law – functions that only the State can provide. In the absence of an effectively functioning State and adequate public policy, there is a high likelihood that media becomes subject to political and commercial manipulation, especially when the existing media regulatory environment fails to keep pace with the rapidly changing media landscape, and when there are gaps in regulation.
    [Show full text]
  • Yuba, Hamro Pusta: Youth and Generational Politics in Nepali Political Culture’, Studies in Nepali History and Society, Vol
    Yūba: Making Modern Youth, Making New Nepal Natalie Greenland The University of Adelaide School of Social Sciences Discipline of Anthropology and Development Studies August, 2012 A NOTE: This figure/table/image has been removed to comply with copyright regulations. It is included in the print copy of the thesis held by the University of Adelaide Library. A youth participating in a Tamang New Year (Lhosar) celebratory march. 2 Thesis Declaration This work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the University Library, being made available for loan and photocopying, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I also give permission for the digital version of my thesis to be made available on the web, via the University’s digital research repository, the Library catalogue, the Australasian Digital Theses Program (ADTP) and also through web search engines, unless permission has been granted by the University to restrict access for a period of time. _________________ Natalie Greenland 3 Dedication Dedicated to the memory of my grandmother Helen M. Eglinton who blazed the trail. 4 Acknowledgements Being able to undertake doctoral studies is a privilege. The privilege I feel in no way denies the hard work that it takes to be accepted as a doctoral candidate and the challenges of doing fieldwork and writing a thesis.
    [Show full text]
  • Community Radio in Nepal
    COMMUNITY RADIO IN NEPAL: A CASE STUDY OF COMMUNITY RADIO MADANPOKHARA A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Arjun Banjade August 2007 This dissertation titled COMMUNITY RADIO IN NEPAL: A CASE STUDY OF COMMUNITY RADIO MADANPOKHARA by ARJUN BANJADE has been approved for the School of Telecommunications and the Scripps College of Communication by _______________________________ Drew O. McDaniel Professor of Telecommunications ________________________________ Gregory J. Shepherd Dean, Scripps College of Communication Abstract BANJADE, ARJUN, Ph.D., August 2007, Mass Communication COMMUNITY RADIO IN NEPAL: A CASE STUDY OF COMMUNITY RADIO MADANPOKHARA (353 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Drew O. McDaniel This study is about Community Radio Madanpokhara (CRM) in Palpa district in Western Nepal. Initiated and managed by the local residents, CRM has been on the air on frequency modulation (FM) band serving 800,000 potential listeners in the region since 2000. Triangulating in-depth interviews, observations and an audience survey as methods, this research explores the nature and extent of the local residents’ participation in the communication process. The station, operating with a wide participation from its community members, has not only been successful in providing them with an access to much needed information and entertainment but has also, in fact, proved to be an important avenue for the local population to express their opinions and views as well as exchange feelings. An audience survey, conducted in January 2004, revealed that 80.8 percentage of the local respondents listen to their community radio station for information and entertainment.
    [Show full text]
  • Nepali Times
    #27 26 January - 1 February 2001 20 pages Rs 20 INFOTECH 10-11 SPECIAL UNDER MY HAT 20 EXCLUSIVE RAJENDRA DAHAL IN POKHARA ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ H O he much-awaited Nepali Congress 2 t Convention in Pokhara is now finally over, and a ceasefire is in force between It’s official. the warring factions. How long it will last is Parched anyone’s guess, but this in-fighting had Kathmandu paralysed governance for almost one year CEASEFIRE! may get 170 and there is hope that the ruling party will million litres now turn its attention to the country’s You will see everything will start happening within ten days. more water urgent crises. Girija Prasad Koirala every day by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala 2006. But emerged victorious by being re-elected party opposition leaders from the UML and other whether chairman, while his rival, Sher Bahadur Deuba, leftist parties admitted they were keenly some of that who had launched a sustained attack on watching the outcome of the Pokhara will actually flow out of your taps is Koirala to quit at least one of his two posts, MIN BAJRACHARYA convention to formulate future strategies. another matter. It will depend a lot conceded defeat but firmly ensconced himself With the ruling party preoccupied with no- on where you live, and if the leaks in as No 2 in the leadership hierarchy. The anti- trust votes and politically tinged riots on the our distribution network are fixed Koirala faction has also doubled the number of streets, there was a sense that the country before that.
    [Show full text]