Category – Community Broadcasting
Chetana – Adult Education Through Radio
DESCRIPTION
Christened Chetana or “awareness”, the adult literacy project of Chitrabani is concerned with the education of illiterate and semi-literate listeners, especially women, spread out mainly in West Bengal, north-east India and Bangladesh. Broadcast four times a week from Radio Veritas Asia in Manila, Philippines, Chetana programmes are informal, knowledge-based shows presented in Bengali.
Placing great emphasis on involvement and participation, these programmes are designed based on regular visits to the field by the Chetana team members to obtain suggestions for topics, record discussions, interviews, skits, etc. In fact, around 70 per cent of the programmes are produced in the field with the actual participation of the listeners. As more advanced ICT tools reach Indian villages, the demand for digital content will increase. Attempts are being made towards enabling live streaming radio over the internet and creating podcasts as at present programme content is available only while it is being broadcast on the radio.
EVALUATION
Although this is the age of high-speed internet, most of the people of India still live in the villages. Here, they face frequent power cuts and fluctuations which makes radio the only viable means of information and entertainment. Hence, for many, radio dominates over all other media even today. The programmes produced under Chetana are value-based and remain popular with the listeners even after 15 years of such broadcasts. The listeners are made aware of various issues and subjects through these programmes and being non-formal in nature and easily understandable they are wellliked and appreciated by the audience. The most crucial element, however, is the regular contact and interaction that takes place between the listeners and Chetana project staff through field visits, letters and SMS which helps to keep the project in touch with the needs and demands of the people.
ORIGINAL TITLE : RADIO-R MADHYAME BOYOSHKO SHIKHA
PRODUCER : CHITRABANI SOCIETY
LOCATION : KOLKATA, WEST BENGAL, INDIA
MEDIA FORMAT : RADIO
LANGUAGE : BANGLA
WWW : WWW.CHITRABANI.COM
Radio Active Community Radio
DESCRIPTION
A community radio station, Radio Active, broadcasts socially relevant programmes in Kannada,Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and other languages in a 15 kilometre radius across the city of Bangalore. The radio seeks to reach out to Bangalore’s masses to create awareness among them about issues such as health, environment, development, scientific awareness, women, social issues etc. Involving groups as diverse as the LGBT community, the differently-abled, people living with HIV/AIDS, auto-drivers, senior citizens, animal rights campaigners, environment activists and many others, it enables the local community members to drive social change and educate the public regarding socially responsive behaviour. The radio station that began with a transmission of only 8 hours, today broadcasts for 15 hours and presents programmes which are produced by the community members themselves. For reaching out to its audience more effectively, the station even organises activities like eye camps, awareness drives, film festivals, quiz competitions and street plays.
EVALUATION
According to the new guidelines issued by the Government of India regarding the setting up of Community Radio Stations (CSRs) in November 2009, non-profits including civil society and voluntary organisations were given the permission to set up CSRs. Earlier licences were granted only to wellestablished educational institutions and by allowing associations and communities to run their own station has resulted in greater participation by the civil society on issues relating to development & social change.
Radio Active not only engages the mainstream community but also promotes respect for diversity and acceptance of people on the margins of society. The most significant contribution of the station and its programmes has been the efforts towards persuading people to make a behavioural change regarding issues such as HIV/AIDS and LGBT rights, thereby reducing the stigma attached to these subjects.
ORIGINAL TITLE : RADIO ACTIVE — COMMUNITY RADIO
PRODUCER : RADIO ACTIVE CR 90.4MHZ
LOCATION : BANGALORE, KARNATAKA, INDIA
MEDIA FORMAT : RADIO
LANGUAGE : LOCAL INDIAN LANGUAGE & ENGLISH
WWW : WWW.JGI.AC.IN/RADIOACTIVE
SPECIAL MENTION
Yaaldevi
DESCRIPTION
yaaldevi.com is a platform conceived by Yaaldevi & friends, a fast growing New Media company in Sri Lanka, which allows users writing in Tamil not only to publish their compositions online but further sell them to newspapers, magazines and other media. It enables contributors to rate each other’s writing with each user’s vote having a specific value. Blogs have the ability of bringing together scattered speakers of a relatively minor languages and yaaldevi.com successfully connects Tamil speakers not only in Sri Lanka and south India but throughout the world. It promotes the creation of independent content in Tamil through a community of active, participatory and creative bloggers who act as the audience as well as critics. The concept of passive audience has now vanished and an ever-growing number of participatory users are taking advantage of the interactive opportunities of the internet.
EVALUATION
New Media presents the possibility of interactive user feedback, creative participation and community formation around the media content, as well as on-demand access to content anytime, anywhere, on any digital device. Another important promise of New Media is the “democratisation” of the creation, publishing, distribution and consumption of media content. The advent of user-generated content marked a shift among media organizations from creating online content to providing facilities for amateurs to publish their own content. The two-way exchange process is a key characteristic of the so-called Web 2.0 which encourages the publishing of one’s own content and commenting on other people’s. Yaaldevi.com is attempt to ride on this successful idea of using computer technology for distribution and exhibition of content created by the users. What is most important, however, is that, unlike traditional blog sites, the benefit to the contributors is clear as they are allowed to sell their articles through yaaldevi.com.
Original Title : Yaaldevi
Producer : Yaaldevi & Friends Pvt Ltd
Location : Wellawatta, SRI LANKA
Media Format : Online
Language : Tamil
www : www.yaaldevi.com