[cr-india] 'street radio' in Nepal

[sajan venniyoor]

NDTV Profit is presently scrolling the news that Nepali broadcasters have launched 'street radio' to protest government crackdown. I found this story on Nepal News, that "the stations have already been broadcasting silence, blowing of conch shells and reading the news through loudspeakers from impromptu ‘studios’ at the main squares of all major towns." 

These turbulent Nepalis! As the unidentified lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria exclaimed after having seen 'Antony and Cleopatra', "How different, how very different from the home life of our own dear Queen!"

Sajan.
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FM radios on warpath

Bolstered by the Supreme Court stay order this week against the government for closing down the radio syndication service, ommunication Corner, FM radio owners have intensified their nationwide protest program. The most dramatic protest will be to defy the government order and simultaneously broadcast news of King Gyanendra’s departure for Doha on 13 June at 8PM on all FM stations throughout the country. The stations have already been broadcasting silence, blowing of conch shells and reading the news through loudspeakers from impromptu ‘studios’ at the main squares of all major towns. 

There are nearly 60 non-government radio stations throughout the country employing 10,000 people and representing Rs 100 million in capital investment by businessmen, NGOs, district and village councils and ordinary citizens. Most stations are on the verge of bankruptcy because of a fall in ad revenues. Says Raghu Mainali of Save the Independent Radio Movement: “We need press freedom not just for ourselves, it is the citizen’s right to information that is being violated.” Sundar Mani Dixit of the Citizen’s Committee for Peace and Development agrees, saying: “The curbs on the media have made a mockery of the claims this government makes about its commitment to restore democracy.” 

Nepali Times – 10-16 June, 2005. http://www.nepalnews.com.np/ntimes/issue251/biznews.htm

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MEDIA BASHING 

The foolhardy move to gag radio has silenced the people’s voice
MANISHA ARYAL 

It was a unique form of protest. Among the marigolds, vermilion and incense sticks that devotees presented in a bamboo tray to Pashupatinath on Monday was a small FM radio set.

More than 50 members of various Nepali non-government radio stations that have been restricted to broadcasting only music since February First decided to appeal to Nepal’s patron deity for help. “Harahara Mahadeb,” they chanted in prayer, “give our rulers some wisdom.” 
Nepal’s remarkable strides in community radio has been praised as a model the world over. Since Radio Sagarmatha first went on air in 1997 in Kathmandu Valley, 45 other FM stations have gone on air. 

Listenership had surpassed that of state-owned Radio Nepal. Commercial and non-profit FMs were equally popular and complemented each other to give Nepal’s pluralism and diversity a voice.

All this came to a crashing halt on 4 February with the government circular prohibiting FM stations from broadcasting news and limiting them to ‘pure entertainment’. The military and local administrations have been increasingly heavy handed with station management, issuing notices and demanding clarification if stations deviate even slightly from the directive. 

The result is hundreds of journalists are out of jobs, the public has lost a vital and credible source of information, listenership of clandestine rebel broadcasts have gone up and stations that never broadcast Hindi music have turned to Bollywood to fill airtime. As a result, advertising revenues have tumbled and investors are worried. 

For the last four months, broadcasters tried quiet diplomacy with informal one-on-ones with members of the cabinet, top army brass and the Minister for Information and Communication. They tried to convince them that, contrary to the minister’s belief, FM stations worldwide do carry news, that local FM stations can be partners in the country’s development and if the government censored independent news, information hungry Nepalis would just tune to Maoist frequencies. Nothing swayed them.

“When we met the Minister of Information Tanka Dhakal on 7 April, he assured us that the government would soon allow FM stations to broadcast non-political news,” says Raghu Mainali, coordinator of Save Independent-Radio Movement. “No announcement ever came.”

Now, the Community Radio Broadcasters’ Association, the Broadcasting Association of Nepal (an organisation of commercial broadcasters) and Kathmandu Valley FM Broadcasters Forum have come together to launch the radio campaign.

“Desperate times call for creative measures,” says Ghamaraj Luintel of Kathmandu Valley FM Broadcasters’ Forum. Indeed, the week-long protests include half-a-minute of simultaneous conch blowing by all stations, beseeching Pashupatinath, reciting the clause from the constitution on freedom of expression and mailing the government a copy of the constitution with a broken radio . Simultaneous silence on all stations for two minutes and lighting candles at the Maitighar Mandala are also scheduled.

The three broadcasting associations and the radio stations they represent know this is a last-ditch attempt to revive radio in Nepal. “Station managers don’t just have to worry about censorship, they also have to deal with salaries of employees and paying license renewal fees due on 15 July,” says Broadcasting Association of Nepal’s Bishnu Hari Dhakal. The license fees will double if not cleared within six months and expire with no possibility of renewal if not paid within a year. Nepali radio is in big trouble.

Courtesy : Nepali Times - http://www.nepalnews.com.np/
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