[cr-india] Is Community Radio Services part of Public Service Broadcasting (PSB), if yes why? If not, why [Maximum 10 line]

[ram bhat]

Dear Bazlur,

I would say it is better to keep the two distinct. My take on this is as
follows:

Public Service broadcasting - usually funded by public money, media
professionals are hired, distribution is national or at least regional,
here "public service" is usually interpreted as national good.

Community Radio - often funded by local communities directly,( the money
doesn't go through union budgets etc); community members do all the work -
no 'professionals'; local distribution, dual focus on service to community,
as well as community ownership of means of production and distribution;
emphasis on local as compared to national.

It is possible to counter-argue based on the definitions of the two terms,
but they have come to mean certain notions the world over, and no point in
mixing them now.

best,
Ram


On Mon, Jun 4, 2012 at 9:49 AM, Kalinga <kalinga at amic.org.sg> wrote:

> **
> Dear Bazlu,
>
> You may recall that i made a comment from the floor at the AMS in Bangkok
> last week about Radio Sagarmatha claiming that they are a public service
> broadcaster now and not a community radio. There was a strong objection
> (expressed to me personally after the session) to it from our community
> radio colleague from Nepal. AMIC will be releasing a book titled "Peoples'
> Empowerment Peoples' Voices: Community Radio in Asia and Beyond" next month
> in which there is a whole chapter written by Ghamaraj Luintel arguing that
> Radio Sagarmatha is now a PSB because they are performing a public service
> from the community perspective. So let me give my 10 lines to you as below:
>
> Some of the universally accepted definitions of PSB includes paying
> particular attention to minorities; contributing to a sense of national
> identity and community; keeping a distance from vested interests; and
> guidelines to liberate rathar than restrict program makers. Other PSB
> guidelines include the funding model (direct government - or taxation -
> funding) and editorial independence from government inteference. If you
> look at the latter two issues (with respect to funding and independence)
> most of what we call PSBs in Asia are SSBs (State Service Broadcasters).
> Often in forums / seminars on PSB in Asia we are talking about SSBs not
> PSBs. If you look at the 4 criteria for defining PSBs which I have given
> above in the first sentence, they are also definitions of community
> broadcasting (especially community radio). So I would argue that a good
> community radio broadcaster is a public service broadcaster and a real
> public service broadcaster is also a community broadcaster. In Asia, we
> really need to draw a line between state service broadcasters and public
> service broadcasters. If we are able to do that, we will find that very few
> PSBs exist in Asia. The Thai PSB is one of the real PSBs in Asia and if we
> look at their citizen journalism projects in the northeast of the country
> that is also real community broadcasting. On the other hand, Radio
> Sagarmatha, Kothmale Community Radio (under Sunil Wijesinghe) and some
> Tambuli Community Radio stations in the Philippines could be categorised as
> public service broadcasting.
>
> Hope this is useful as a trigger for debate I hope.
>
> Regards Kalinga
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* AHM Bazlur Rahman <bnnrcbd at gmail.com>
> *To:* AMARC_AP_General_List <asiapacific-general at lists.amarc.org> ; Ashish
> Sen <sen_ashish at yahoo.com> ; Suman Basnet<suman_basnet at asiapacific.amarc.org>; CR
> India <cr-india at sarai.net> ; raghu.mainali at gmail.com ; kalinga at amic.org.sg;
> Members_cmfe at lists.freie-radios.at ; amarc_south_asia<amarc_south_asia at lists.amarc.org>; Marcelo
> Solervicens <secgen at si.amarc.org>
> *Sent:* Saturday, June 02, 2012 7:42 PM
> *Subject:* Is Community Radio Services part of Public Service
> Broadcasting (PSB), if yes why? If not, why [Maximum 10 line]
>
> *Dear Community Radio Leader of Asia and Pacific,*
> Greetings from Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC)
> We would would be very happy if you brief  Is Community Radio Services
> part of Public Service Broadcasting, if yes why?
> If not, why [Maximum 10 line]
>
>
> With best regards,
>
>
> Bazlu
> _______________________
> AHM. Bazlur Rahman-S21BR
> Chief Executive Officer
> Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC)
> [NGO in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social
> Council]
> &
> Head, Community Radio Academy
>
> House: 13/1, Road: 2, Shaymoli, Dhaka-1207  Bangladesh
> Phone: +88-02-9130750, +88-02-9138501, Cell: +88 01711881647
> Fax: 88-02-9138501-105,
> E-mail: ceo at bnnrc.net, bnnr <bnnrcbd at gmail.com>cbd at gmail.com
> www.bnnrc.net
>
>
>
>
> Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to
> www.crforum.in
>
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