COVER SHEET This is the author version of an article published as: Slater, Don and Tacchi, Jo A. and Lewis, Peter A. (2002) Ethnographic monitoring and evaluation of community multimedia centres: A study of Kothmale community radio internet project, Sri Lanka. Copyright The authors Accessed from http://eprints.qut.edu.au ETHNOGRAPHIC MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF COMMUNITY MULTIMEDIA CENTRES A Study of Kothmale Community Radio Internet Project, Sri Lanka Don Slater, LSE Jo Tacchi, QUT Peter Lewis, LSE Report of a research project funded by Department for International Development, UK (DfID), in collaboration with UNESCO. September 2002 Ethnographic Monitoring and Evaluation of CMCs 1 CONTENTS 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Purpose of the research .................................................................................................................................. 3 1.2 Ethnographic action research ........................................................................................................................ 4 2. Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Kothmale Evaluation summary ..................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Methodology summary ................................................................................................................................... 7 PART I: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF KOTHMALE COMMUNITY RADIO INTERNET PROJECT (KCRIP) .................................................................................................... 9 3. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 9 3.1 Profile of KCR and KCRIP .......................................................................................................................... 10 3.1.1 History ................................................................................................................................................. 11 3.2 Profile of Kothmale region ........................................................................................................................... 13 3.3 Profile of media use and information/communication needs in the Kothmale region ............................ 13 3.3.1 Media diffusion ................................................................................................................................... 13 3.3.2 Two examples: the communicative ecology of school children .......................................................... 16 3.3.3 Information and communication needs ............................................................................................... 17 3.3.4 ICT developments external to the region ............................................................................................ 18 3.3.5 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................................... 19 4. Overarching themes ........................................................................................................................................ 20 4.1 Defining community in Sri Lanka and Kothmale ...................................................................................... 20 4.2. Locality, mobility and media ‘spaces’ ........................................................................................................ 22 4.2.1 Locality and local communications: .................................................................................................... 22 4.2.2 Wider mobilities and communications ................................................................................................ 23 4.2.3 A „nation of villages‟: media, locality and community ....................................................................... 24 Loudspeakers ....................................................................................................................................... 24 Media geographies ............................................................................................................................... 25 4.3 Bureaucracy and modernization.................................................................................................................. 27 5. Findings – Fitting KCRIP into the picture ................................................................................................... 29 5.1 SLBC, autonomy and sustainability ............................................................................................................ 29 5.2 Ethos, innovation and careers ...................................................................................................................... 30 5.2.1 Ethos – freedom, innovation and attachment ...................................................................................... 30 5.2.2 Contradictions ..................................................................................................................................... 32 5.2.3 Career and community ........................................................................................................................ 33 5.3 Community Divisions – inclusion/exclusion ................................................................................................ 34 5.3.1 Rural/urban .......................................................................................................................................... 34 KCR‟s site ........................................................................................................................................... 35 5.3.2 Ethnicity .............................................................................................................................................. 37 5.3.3 Gender ................................................................................................................................................. 38 5.3.4 Age ...................................................................................................................................................... 39 5.3.5 Friendship and kinship networks ......................................................................................................... 39 5.4 Education ....................................................................................................................................................... 39 5.4.1 The value of education ........................................................................................................................ 40 5.4.2 Formal paper qualifications versus practical learning and experience ................................................ 41 5.4.3 State Schools ....................................................................................................................................... 42 5.4.4 Computer Schools and education ........................................................................................................ 43 5.4.5 KCRIP and education .......................................................................................................................... 43 5.5 Media convergence and technologies ........................................................................................................... 44 5.5.1 Radio Browsing ................................................................................................................................... 44 5.5.2 Technology as a social agent ............................................................................................................... 45 5.5.3 Innovation and convergence ................................................................................................................ 46 5.5.4 Media content: Communications versus information .......................................................................... 47 5.5.5 Mobility ............................................................................................................................................... 48 Ethnographic Monitoring and Evaluation of CMCs 2 5.6 Language ........................................................................................................................................................ 49 5.6.1 English ................................................................................................................................................. 49 5.6.2 Local languages ................................................................................................................................... 50 6. Recommendations: KCR and KCRIP ........................................................................................................... 51 PART II: METHODOLOGY – ETHNOGRAPHIC ACTION RESEARCH ................. 53 7. Defining the approach – Ethnographic Research ........................................................................................ 53 Communicative ecology ...................................................................................................................... 54 What knowledge can ethnographic research produce? .......................................................................