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

[Vinod Pavarala]

I agree with Ram Bhat's response on this. Rendering a certain public
service, in itself, doesn't make a broadcasting service, 'public'.  While
Kalinga is right to some extent that many South Asian 'public broadcasting'
services are thinly-disguised state broadcasting services.  However, in
India, for instance, there is an autonomous public broadcasting
corporation, Prasar Bharati, set up. On the face of it, therefore, cannot
simply be called a state service.  Degree of editorial independence and
financial management through public funds are supposed to characterize
public broadcasting, in addition to professional staff (as mentioned by
Ram).  I would hesitate to conflate the two.  Community
ownership/management and community participation in programme production
are the hallmarks of community radio. There may be features common to both
systems, but there are certain minimum non-negotiables. World-wide there is
clear recognition of a three-tier system of broadcasting, with public and
community identified as distinct tiers.

best,

Vinod

On Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 10:37 AM, ram bhat <ram at maraa.in> wrote:

> 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
>>
>
>
> Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to
> www.crforum.in
>



-- 
Dr. Vinod Pavarala
Professor of Communication &
UNESCO Chair on Community Media
Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication
University of Hyderabad
Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500046
Phone: +91-40-23135501/23011553
http://tinyurl.com/dofcomm
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