[cr-india] TRAI endorses ban on independent news on CR

[Vidya Venkat]

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/community-radio-in-need-of-an-equitable-policy/article6394352.ece

On Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 4:37 PM, Ram Bhat <ram at maraa.in> wrote:

> Dear All,
> Please find below a short opinion piece attempting to interpret the TRAI
> recommendations on CR. Thanks to Geeta Seshu for publishing this on The
> Hoot.
> You can read the piece directly on the Hoot website as well with this link
> -
> http://thehoot.org/web/Trust-deficit-persists-on-news-on-Community-Radio/7753-1-1-3-true.html
> best,
> Ram
>
>
> Trust deficit persists on news on Community Radio
> *But TRAI recommendations make some headway on licencing and advertising
> on community radio *RAM BHAT and VINOD PAVARALA decode the recommendations
> Posted/Updated Friday, Sep 05 11:22:48, 2014
>
> The last time TRAI recommended something on Community Radio (CR), the year
> was 2004. Both activists and government have leveraged those
> recommendations to open up the policy for community radio in 2006. After a
> decade, TRAI has now issued recommendations
> <http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/Recommendation/Documents/CRS_-_Reco_-_final_29_Aug_2014.pdf> on
> 29th of August 2014.
>
> Here are some comments on the implications of what TRAI has recommended:
>
> *1.* *License Renewals*
>
> The 2006 policy guidelines released by I&B ministry have no procedure or
> mechanism for operational radio stations to renew or extend their license
> beyond the initial period of five years. The key issues here are two-fold:
> A relatively smooth and easy administrative process that can facilitate
> renewal of license of community radio stations; how to balance interests of
> incumbents (who want renewal) with interests of new comers (who want entry
> into market)
>
> *Recommendation*
>
> TRAI has recommended that after the initial license period of five years,
> community radio stations should be able to get a renewal of five years
> provided they have basic compliance with terms of license. In order to get
> a second extension, community radio stations should fill a self-evaluation
> report that will then be compared to the applications forms filled by
> prospective newcomers.
>
> *Implications*
>
> TRAI has taken a reasonable and balanced approach to the issue. It has
> incorporated the interests of the incumbents and virtually guaranteed them
> a minimum of ten years presence in the market. However, it has also taken
> care to represent the interests of the newcomers by allowing them to
> compete with incumbents.
>
> The only problem, and it can be quite a significant problem, is that of
> the actual decision maker. TRAI has not explicitly mentioned it, but one
> can assume that I&B Ministry will decide whether the incumbent will
> continue or a newcomer will be favoured.
>
> This is a classic, discretionary mode of decision-making. If the
> government is not careful, this could lead to favouritism, or worse
> corruption. Ideally, an independent regulator should make these kinds of
> decisions but TRAI has stayed away from this contentious issue.
>
> Further, the self-evaluation that TRAI recommends as a precursor to the
> second renewal after 10 years raises some apprehension that the ongoing
> peer review process initiated by MIB for community radio may become the
> standard measure for renewals in the future. It would be contrary to the
> spirit of self-assessment, co-learning and continuous improvement, the
> principles espoused by the Ministry for the peer review.
>
> *2. News and Current Affairs*
>
> The 2006 policy guidelines explicitly prohibit community radio stations
> from broadcasting news and current affairs. The same goes for commercial FM
> radio. News and current affairs is not defined. Many community radio
> stations feel vulnerable since anything they do could be defined as news
> and invite censure from government.
>
>
>
> *Recommendation*
>
> TRAI has only repeated what Mr. Javadekar has said across various fora
> since he assumed office. Community radio stations will be allowed to
> re-broadcast news from All India Radio without altering the content.
> However, TRAI has gone a step further and recommended that CR stations be
> allowed to translate into local language/dialect without distorting the
> content.
>
> TRAI has not said anything new, but in fact further damaged the cause by
> providing some deeply flawed analysis. There are three main threads to
> TRAI's arguments. One is that providing permission for news is premature
> because the Ministry is on the verge of setting up an Internet based
> monitoring system. Permissions can be reviewed once monitoring system is
> operational.
>
> Second, if CR is allowed news, then there is scope for misuse and
> misleading information may be broadcast in guise of local news.
>
> Third, since commercial FM is not allowed news, it would be unfair to
> recommend that CR be allowed news.
>
> *Implications*
>
> It is a mistake to think that monitoring systems will influence the
> production and broadcast of FM radio in any way, except perhaps
> psychologically. Most of the community radio stations do not have reliable
> internet connection to provide upload of audio feed. It is impossible to
> know whether the feed uploaded on the internet is the same as what is being
> broadcast on FM.
>
> Lastly, by the time the audio stream is processed online, it has already
> been broadcast on FM and thus too late to prevent. Further, community
> radios broadcast in a wide variety of languages and dialects. How will a
> team sitting in Delhi understand all these dialects and languages? Thus,
> monitoring is, at best, a psychological experiment designed to create some
> fear and hesitation that Big Brother is listening. In reality, it is a
> waste of public money.
>
> It is baffling that TRAI thinks that there is scope for misuse or
> misleading information could be broadcast in guise of local news. After
> all, these very communities have been broadcasting other programmes for
> several years.
>
> Is TRAI thus supporting community radio and trusts communities to make
> other programmes, but when it comes to news, these communities are seen as
> untrustworthy?
>
> The simple truth of the matter is that it doesn't matter what TRAI thinks
> or anticipates. Such anticipatory logic exceeds the reasonable restrictions
> under Article 19 (2) of the Constitution. Some community radio stations
> have been on air for seven to eight years and not once have they given
> reason to believe that any reasonable restriction of Article 19 (2) could
> be applied to them.
>
> Lastly, TRAI has invoked the fairness principle in recommending that
> community radio should not be allowed to broadcast self-generated news. The
> implication is that while commercial FM is not allowed news, it would be
> unfair to allow community radio. This is a relative and narrow
> interpretation of fairness. In reality, this interpretation is unfair to
> both commercial and community radio.
>
> The right thing to do is to recommend that both sectors be allowed to
> broadcast news and current affairs. In any case, the Supreme Court is
> currently hearing a public interest litigation filed by Common Cause
> questioning the ban on news on commercial and community radio. One hopes
> that the Court will uphold the constitutional right in this case, as it has
> done in many other recent instances.
>
> *3. Advertisements - Duration and Rates*
>
> The current policy guidelines cap the duration of advertisements to five
> minutes per hour of broadcast. The major advertiser for community radio in
> practice is the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP).
> DAVP pays 4 rupees per second for any advertisement that it releases for
> community radio, but insists that this rate should be the lowest ad rate
> held by the radio and be exclusively offered to DAVP.
>
> *Recommendation*
>
> On the basis of limited evidence submitted by stakeholders in the
> consultation period, TRAI has surmised correctly that most community radio
> stations are unable to even fill the five-minute advertisement limit
> proscribed by the government. In such a situation, it would be pointless to
> even consider increasing the duration of time allowed for advertisements.
> Further, TRAI has also recommended that DAVP should relax the stipulations
> that their rate (4 rupees/min) be the lowest or that this rate be exclusive
> to DAVP.
>
> *Implications*
>
> TRAI is right in saying that there is no point in considering increase in
> duration of advertisements. Firstly, the data indicates that community
> radio caters to an audience that advertisers are not interested in.
> Secondly, to increase duration of advertisements would provoke a severe
> response from commercial broadcasters who would then question the
> concessions CR stations get on other fronts (nominal spectrum fee, no
> license fee). Thirdly, it is a wake-up call for the CR sector.
>
> Even in the best of cases or in top radio markets, it would be unwise for
> CR Stations to continually depend on the ad market given that objectives of
> the CR station, the genres of programming, and profiles of the target
> audience are mostly unfriendly or irrelevant to the market. There is an
> urgent need to brainstorm around other ways to sustain CR stations - either
> by changing the ways in which CR Stations spend money, or changing the ways
> in which CR Stations can earn money.
>
> *4. Single Window Mechanism*
>
>
>
> The current policy guidelines require applicants to submit applications to
> I&B, and then to approach MoCIT for frequency, then to go back to I&B to
> sign a Grant of Permission Agreement and then go back to MoCIT for the
> Wireless Operating License. The process inevitably takes in excess of 18
> months and has discouraged many from applying.
>
> *Recommendation*
>
> TRAI has recommended an e-governance enabled single window mechanism
> thereby cutting red tape and considerably easing the process of application.
>
>
> *Implications*
>
> The main problem so far has been the division between the CR cell in the
> I&B Ministry and the WPC cell in the MoCIT Ministry. Typically, I&B handles
> radio and TV licenses, while MoCIT handles spectrum allocation for radio,
> TV, telecom and internet. The latter handles more work as well as more
> revenue, while the former is focused on broadcast and deals with
> administrative licenses.
>
> There is very little incentive for MoCIT to create a special case for
> Community Radio, given that there are fixed systems of licensing for
> telecom, television, public radio and so on. The political masters at both
> ministries have to acknowledge that a minor issue of administrative process
> has created major damage to the plans that government has for community
> radio.
>
> If there is political will in the system, then a separate administrative
> process can be carved out for the unique situation of community radio. If
> the Ministers do not take notice, it is unlikely that this recommendation
> from TRAI will have any major impact on the current process.
>
> *(Ram Bhat is with the Community Radio Forum of India and Vinod Pavarala
> is the UNESCO Chair on Community Media, University of Hyderabad)*
>
> ---
> Ram
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 1, 2014 at 6:26 AM, Vinod Pavarala <vpavarala at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear Ram:
>>
>> Thanks for your detailed comments.
>>
>> On the *renewal of licenses*, the feeling I have is the scrutiny/review
>> that TRAI suggested for the first-time renewal would be a basic one, with
>> the Ministry just ensuring that they have been on air all these years and
>> keeping up the commitment made under the GOPA.  The second-time renewal
>> process (i.e. starting in the 9th year or so) is meant to be a little more
>> rigorous, with some evaluation thrown in. But we should be happy that it
>> also says self-evaluation. There is always enough flexibility in
>> interpreting TRAI recommendations, and I hope the Ministry will be more
>> accommodating than restrictive in implementing this method.
>>
>> On the *news* issue, I completely agree with you that bringing in the
>> commercial players into the argument is specious. Of course, they should go
>> ahead and give them the right to broadcast news as well. It is ridiculous
>> that someone in the mainstream press thinks that we should be rejoicing
>> about the TRAI recommendation to allow CRSs to broadcast unaltered AIR news
>> content. It is about the constitutional right, and I too hope the Supreme
>> Court will come up with something decisive.
>>
>> On the *ad rates*, following the TRAI Consultation in Delhi, One World
>> did conduct a quick survey to collect data from a number of stations about
>> advertising. And, the results reinforced our perception that hardly any
>> station is able to meet the five-minute limit, and many were struggling to
>> raise any advertising at all. There was a feeling that if they were not
>> tied down by DAVP rates, then they can be a little more competitive in the
>> local market. So, I think, TRAI is in the right direction on this one.
>> However, in the end, the advertising challenge for rural, community radio
>> stations is a *non sequitur*. Philosophically, you are expected to reach
>> out to the most marginalized in the community, groups that would be a
>> marketing nightmare. This is the paradox of advertising in CR. Advertisers
>> are not interested in reaching people that you as a community broadcaster
>> are mandated to reach! The CR stations are, therefore, forever doomed to
>> struggle. There ought to be other pathways to sustainability.
>>
>> On the *single window*, as someone else pointed out, MIB is already
>> doing some kind of a single window through its own mechanisms such as the
>> CCFC. But, without integrating the WPC functions, which, currently, are the
>> source of all delays. Any such integrated single window, without any hidden
>> doors, trellises, and moats (thanks, Sajan!) would be a big step forward.
>> It will, necessarily, have to be an inter-ministerial, collaborative
>> effort, not something that MIB can do by itself, despite its good
>> intentions.
>>
>> best,
>> Vinod
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Aug 31, 2014 at 9:06 AM, Ram Bhat <ram at maraa.in> wrote:
>>
>>> Some comments on the TRAI recommendations:
>>>
>>> Renewal of Licenses:
>>> Licenses will be renewed for a period of five years (with request for
>>> renewal to be made in the 4th year)
>>> Second extension and subsequent extensions to be made on basis of
>>> self-evaluation - format of which will be prepared by I&B Ministry; fresh
>>> applications to be considered in comparison with self-evaluation report of
>>> incumbents.
>>>
>>> This is along expected lines and seems more or less fine. The
>>> problematic aspect of this is the self-evaluation format which will be
>>> spearheaded by the Ministry. Supposing CR station X is operational for the
>>> first 5 years, seeks extension and is granted another 5 years. In the ninth
>>> year of its existence, it will have to fill in a self-evaluation report.
>>> The obvious problem is how a generic format prepared by I&B will address
>>> questions of renewal, sustainability, performance etc for a particular CR
>>> station - the problem is exacerbated if the radio station is located in a
>>> remote area with a unique local context. Further, this self-evaluation
>>> report will be compared to an application made by a prospective newcomer.
>>> TRAI has not mentioned who will do the comparison and make this crucial
>>> decision - of favouring the incumbent to continue or favouring the
>>> newcomer. Unless there is a strong decision on independent regulator, these
>>> kind of issues will continue to fester. Needless to say, these kind of
>>> critical decisions will involve significant conflict of interest if I&B
>>> people are to be involved.
>>>
>>> News and Current Affairs
>>> TRAI has recommended that CR stations be allowed to re-broadcast AIR
>>> news with a provision to translate without distorting the news.
>>>
>>> There are two aspects of the analysis which are troubling. One is that
>>> this permission to re-broadcast AIR content may be reviewed when monitoring
>>> mechanisms are in place since CRs can 'misuse' the power to broadcast news.
>>> Second is the perceived unfairness to commercial players. The logic seems
>>> to be that since commercial players, even though they have auctioned for
>>> licenses, are not allowed news, it would be unfair for CRS to be allowed
>>> news.
>>>
>>> Taking the monitoring aspect first, we have already discussed that I&B
>>> has spent about 280 crores in setting up a Electronic Media Monitoring
>>> Centre. The annual budget for EMMC is 13.75 crores. This money is ill-spent
>>> in attempting to monitor a bunch of terrestrial analogue radio stations.
>>> Firstly, it is doubtful whether each and every one of these stations will
>>> have broadband capabilities to enable uploads of audio feeds. Secondly, if
>>> by some miracle, each and every CR station has broadband internet, the
>>> question remains on how I&B plans to monitor all the various programmes
>>> produced and broadcast in diverse languages and dialects. Does this mean
>>> that the Ministry plans to hire one or many persons for each language and
>>> dialect spoken in the country? Thirdly, as our CR stations increase the
>>> amount of air time, it will be impossible to monitor the content
>>> practically. At best, the people sitting in EMMC can object to a program
>>> some time after it has already been broadcast. In such a situation, the
>>> best possible scenario can be to send warning notice or in a more drastic
>>> scenario, suspend the license (temporarily or permanently). The damage
>>> would already have been done on the field. Clearly, this whole line of
>>> thinking, i.e. an attempt to monitor hundreds of analogue terrestrial
>>> services in real time is not only impractical, but also expensive and
>>> impossible to execute. Further, there is no clarity about the independence
>>> of the EMMC. If a station is politically active and then in the near
>>> future, EMMC deems some content objectionable, wouldn't many of us assume
>>> that this is indirect censorship? Again, there are potential conflict of
>>> interest issues, not to mention dangerous regulatory powers given to a
>>> political entity, namely I&B Ministry.
>>>
>>> Secondly, if we consider the unfair to commercial players line of
>>> argument, it is indeed circular logic that TRAI has applied to the
>>> situation. After all, it is possible that TRAI and/or I&B may say that it
>>> is unfair to allow news on commercial FM because CR stations are not
>>> allowed to broadcast! No, the frame of reference must be constitutional
>>> rights. The second and more practical frame of reference can be an attempt
>>> to create a level playing field. A level playing field can be created by
>>> allowing both sectors the right to broadcast news. Instead, TRAI has
>>> unfortunately chosen to create a level playing field by denying both
>>> sectors the right to broadcast news. In any case, as several of us have
>>> mentioned previously, the matter is sub-judice and in my personal opinion,
>>> it is highly doubtful whether the restriction on news and current affairs
>>> will survive judicial scrutiny. It would have been useful if TRAI had
>>> endorsed the more liberal and more common-sensical point of view, i.e. to
>>> remove restrictions on broadcast of news and current affairs including
>>> political programming. It is all the more ironical since the commercial
>>> sector representatives have themselves come out strongly in favour of
>>> permitting news on FM.
>>>
>>> Duration of advertisements
>>> TRAI has recommended that 5 minute window of advertisements per hour of
>>> airtime is sufficient. However, it has 'requested' DAVP to relax the
>>> stipulation that DAVP approved rate is the lowest rate and exclusive to
>>> DAVP.
>>>
>>> Although TRAI may well be right that 5 minutes per hour is sufficient,
>>> it is unfortunate that TRAI has arrived at the decision without any
>>> evidence, much less a reasoned analysis based on evidence. On the contrary,
>>> TRAI has highlighted that 5 minutes cap was set keeping in mind the
>>> 'impact' on commercial FM sector, and further states that 'the situation
>>> has not changed warranting a relook'.
>>> It is worth reiterating that the most significant competition between
>>> commercial and community radio takes place in A+ and smaller urban areas,
>>> and not at all in rural areas (even after FM-Phase III). Therefore a
>>> blanket decision affecting CRs across urban, semi-urban and rural is
>>> actually unfortunate. To decide that 5 minutes is sufficient because they
>>> are not currently fulfilling it is an old sarkaari logic (Note how govt
>>> budgets get slashed if they are underutilized). At this rate, if an
>>> unfortunate CR station does not get any advertising, then TRAI will
>>> recommend that there is no need for advertising at all! The time duration
>>> for advertising should not be based on whether a few stations can fulfill
>>> the limit or not. Instead the time duration should be based on what is the
>>> average amount a particular CRS needs to raise to cover operating expenses
>>> in a urban, semi-urban and rural area (respectively) by renting airtime on
>>> an average rate (benchmarks for this need to be worked out depending on
>>> category of urban, semi-urban and rural).
>>> Also, it would be worth pointing out that it is also unfair to compare
>>> commercial and community radio in terms of advertising rates. The other
>>> variables are highly skewed in favour of commercial radio. The first factor
>>> is the transmission power where CR is capped at an extremely low power of
>>> 100 Watts ERP when compared to commercial radio. The second factor is that
>>> community radio stations are given to non-profit organizations and all
>>> surplus revenue is to be ploughed back in to the CRS operations.
>>> In spite of this, it is possible that in a few markets, the rates will
>>> come plummeting down if CR ad rates become the benchmark for the FM market.
>>> However, there is no evidence of this happening where there is direct
>>> competition. We can look at the top radio markets of Bombay, Delhi,
>>> Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai etc. In no top radio market has the CR
>>> station influenced the ad rate- even to a minor degree. The coverage of the
>>> CR station is so small that it has no real influence for ad rates for a
>>> city wide audience.  It might be interesting to study if CR stations have
>>> distorted as rates in smaller cities, e.g. Kanpur, Jhansi etc
>>>
>>> Disaster and CR
>>> TRAI has basically left the whole thing to NDMA, requesting the latter
>>> to come up with guidelines for relocating existing CRs in disaster areas,
>>> and guidelines for new CRs in disaster areas.
>>>
>>> NDMA representative had come to the 2014 Sammelan on invitation by I&B.
>>> He was very clear that NDMA had no authority to enforce anything and can in
>>> fact only present guidelines. If NDMA gets its act together, at best it
>>> will only add to its illustrious and long list of guideline documents -
>>> which then are roundly ignored by all other stakeholders. To the best of my
>>> understanding, the disaster and communications issue can only be handled
>>> with some authority by MHA and MoCIT. If these are kept out of the policy
>>> decisions, then it is likely that they will be unaware of the whole effort,
>>> much less engage with it meaningfully.
>>> I also believe that the issue of disaster/emergency and CR is much wider
>>> than the scope TRAI has outlined. There is also the question of ongoing
>>> alert-based information to existing CRs. Then there is the question of
>>> interconnecting CRs (not just with each other but also with public radio
>>> network) in case of wider regions being affected. Lastly, there needs to be
>>> a strategy where local authorities (District Collector, state authorities)
>>> need to be made aware of CR presence (especially in areas which are deemed
>>> vulnerable). Unfortunately TRAI has ignored all these aspects with the hope
>>> that NDMA will look at it in the future.
>>>
>>> Single Window Mechanism
>>> TRAI has recommended a online single window mechanism for CR applicants.
>>> While this is well intentioned it is unfortunately almost impossible to
>>> implement.
>>> I&B can absorb paperwork wherein it has to send copies of applications
>>> to other ministries (Law, Defence, MHA etc) and to its credit, this system
>>> is already converted into a single window mechanism. Today, an applicant
>>> has to submit 7 copies of the application only to I&B, and I&B in turn
>>> circulates copies to other ministries.
>>> The real issue comes with the separation of I&B and MoCIT. The WPC has
>>> its own way of doing things and so far I&B has not successfully managed to
>>> convince WPC of the need for single-window mechanism. It is unlikely that
>>> TRAI's recommendation will improve this situation although it must be said
>>> that it is the right thing to recommend.
>>> The SACFA, GOPA and WOL processes does most of the damage - and this is
>>> distributed between the two ministries. I hope that the TRAI recommendation
>>> is taken up by the two ministers (Mr. Javadekar and Mr. Ravi Shankar
>>> Prasad) as an issue that can be sorted out with political will.
>>> It is perhaps for the first time that TRAI has explicitly acknowledged
>>> concerns of the commercial radio sector in a recommendation paper dealing
>>> with Community Radio. The concerns have been cited for duration of ads as
>>> well as on news and current affairs. It is very unfortunate that the
>>> commercial radio association AROI and the community radio associations CRF
>>> and CRAI have not formally spoken to each other. We need a platform where
>>> both (in fact we can add public radio to that list) sectors can talk about
>>> issues common to each other. Since all three kinds of FM radio operate in
>>> the same geographical area, there are bound to be common concerns,
>>> perceived conflicts and concerns about level playing field. If they are not
>>> addressed between ourselves offline, then these issues find their way into
>>> TRAI papers, policy decisions etc doing untold damage to one sector or the
>>> other - often to all sectors more often than not.
>>>
>>> Apologies for the long email, and looking fwd to more responses,
>>>
>>> best,
>>>
>>> ---
>>> Ram
>>>
>>> >
>>> >
>>>
>>> > On Sat, Aug 30, 2014 at 1:08 AM, Kanchan K. Malik <
>>> drkanchan07 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> Only unaltered AIR news on CRS is a big disappointment indeed! People
>>> can tune in to AIR for that - they do not need a CRS.
>>> >>
>>> >> Also not sure why they think CRSs would 'misuse' this facility? Has
>>> all the 'monitoring' of news channels by MIB ensured that all news in the
>>> public domain is not 'misleading'?
>>> >>
>>> >> However, I liked their analysis of the duration of advertisements
>>> (and the ensuing recommendation of flexibility to offer lower rates to the
>>> local businesses).
>>> >>
>>> >> The section on Sub-categorisation of CRS also sums up some of the
>>> crucial issues related to the distinction in the 'focus, objectives,
>>> content, funding, and outlook' of community, campus and KVK radios.
>>> However, the low numbers in each category is the reason stated not to carry
>>> out this exercise at present. Hope it will happen in good time...
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> On 29 August 2014 23:46, Arti Jaiman <arti at trfindia.org> wrote:
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Extremely disappointing.
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Sent from Samsung Mobile
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>> -------- Original message --------
>>> >>> From: Vinod Pavarala
>>> >>> Date:29/08/2014 18:48 (GMT+05:30)
>>> >>> To: cr-india at sarai.net
>>> >>> Subject: [cr-india] TRAI endorses ban on independent news on CR
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Dear all:
>>> >>>
>>> >>> The TRAI recommendations on community radio are now out in the
>>> public domain. Here is a quick summary of the key points:
>>> >>>
>>> >>> TRAI has expressed its reluctance to recommend broadcast of
>>> independently produced news by CR stations. This is based on fears of
>>> 'misuse' and 'lack of monitoring'. It, however, endorses broadcast of AIR
>>> news. This is indeed a setback, although TRAI says the issue can be
>>> re-visited after MIB puts a monitoring mechanism in place. TRAI's 2004
>>> recommendations were actually more liberal.
>>> >>> On other issues, it reinforces the current issue of licenses for a
>>> period of 5 years, and recommends renewal for five-year periods, with the
>>> requirement, for first time renewal, of verification of adherence to terms
>>> of the original license, and, for a second-time renewal (at the end of 10
>>> years) of a systematic evaluation mechanism (including self-evaluation).
>>>  This sounds fair enough.
>>> >>> On advertising, TRAI is of the opinion that the current 5-minute
>>> time limit is adequate. It has, however, heeded to the pleas by stations
>>> that they be allowed to offer rates lower than DAVP fixed rates to attract
>>> local, small-time advertisers.
>>> >>> On emergency broadcasting during disasters, TRAI sounds sympathetic
>>> to the long-standing request from the sector that the Government needs to
>>> demonstrate some flexibility in relocation of transmitter of a station
>>> already functioning in the region or to set up emergency transmitters where
>>> none exist at present. However, TRAI has stopped short of recommending
>>> anything concrete, except for asking NDMA to develop detailed guidelines.
>>> >>> On various types of CRSs under the current licensing regime (campus,
>>> community, KVK/AU, etc), TRAI felt that as the sector is still growing,
>>> this may be too early to create sub-categorization of licenses (although it
>>> may become necessary in the future).
>>> >>> On our usual complaint about licensing procedures, TRAI took
>>> cognizance of the delays at the WPC end resulting in much frustration and
>>> suggested that MIB set up an online single window by integrating all the
>>> steps up to the signing of the GOPA. If this can be done, many potential
>>> applicants will find the process much smoother.
>>> >>> Please share if you think I have missed anything significant in the
>>> recommendations.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> best,
>>> >>> Vinod
>>> >>>
>>> >>> --
>>> >>> 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://www.commuoh.in/
>>> >>> http://www.uccommedia.in/
>>> >>> http://www.communityradioindia.org/
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Join the Community Radio Forum.
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> --
>>> >>
>>> >> Dr. Kanchan K. Malik
>>> >>
>>> >> Associate Professor, Department of Communication
>>> >>
>>> >> Faculty Fellow, UNESCO Chair on Community Media
>>> >>
>>> >> Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication
>>> >>
>>> >> University of Hyderabad
>>> >>
>>> >> Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500046
>>> >>
>>> >> Phone: +91-40-23135506 (O)
>>> >>
>>> >>            +91-990-858-2613 (M)
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Join the Community Radio Forum.
>>> >
>>> >
>>>
>>>
>>> Join the Community Radio Forum.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> 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://www.commuoh.in/
>> http://www.uccommedia.in/
>> http://www.communityradioindia.org/
>>
>>
>
>
> Join the Community Radio Forum.
>



-- 
Assistant Editor (Opinions & Special Stories),
The Hindu, Chennai.
+91-9884442772
vidya.v at thehindu.co.in
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