[cr-india] "Community radio stations protest I&B’s ‘censorship’ move" - Times of India

[Sajan Venniyoor]

One of the great virtues of radio is its impermanence. Long before the
listener realizes he has been offended, the radio signal has travelled
beyond the orbit of Jupiter and the reach of law.

Both Fred and Vasuki -- and others on this list -- have pointed out the
possibility and utility of archiving CR programmes, and of streaming them
online. As Vasuki notes, CR stations that have the (broadband) speeds and
resources are indeed streaming their programmes.

There is a flip side to archiving your programmes. It is one thing for us
to preserve the intangible heritage of communities, their speech and music,
and the many things that animate their lives and find utterance on radio,
but quite another to serve this up to the government to pore over for real
and imagined offences under this Code or that.

We are bound by the terms of the GoPA to preserve three months of broadcast
material. And not one day beyond that.

We also don't fully appreciate the consequences of breaking the
terrestrial, ten kilometre reach of CR, and broadcasting to the world. For
one, PPL would have a field day suing everyone who took a Rs.2 lakh license
to broadcast in Ghaziabad, and then proceeds to stream it to the Indian
diaspora. For another, what passes for delightful local programming, fully
in conformity with community standards -- say, a mouth-watering recipe
for *Amma's
Kottyam Style Pothu Ularthiyathu
<http://chackoskitchen.com/2011/11/kottayam-style-beef-ularthiyathu/> *(beef
fry) in Changanacherry -- could cause indigestion and mortal offence in,
say, Nagpur.

By creating online archives and streaming whatnots, not only do we allow
the Ministry and assorted Internet Indians to monitor us and take offence
at a time and place of their choosing, but we also lay ourselves wide open
to being sued -- should someone wish to sue -- in Silchar, Assam
<http://ibnlive.in.com/news/iipm-sues-caravan-google-penguin-for-rs-50-cr/162032-3.html>
.

Transparency is an abstract virtue, but invisibility saves your a**.

As Vasuki says, the govt's order reeks of suspicion. But suspicion is every
government's stock-in-trade. If we assume MIB would revel in the aesthetic
quality and historic value of Lepcha recordings from Kalimpong, we would be
mistaken. They would be scrutinized -- months after the programmes were
broadcast -- for violations of the Sacred Code.

Radio is not a clandestine medium. Anybody is welcome to monitor CR. But
you have to ask yourself if you wish to lovingly gift-wrap a landmine and
deliver it personally to your adversaries.

Sajan


On 2 May 2015 at 14:14, Vasuki Belavadi <vb at uohyd.ac.in> wrote:

> Points to consider:
> Do all CRs have internet connections and the speeds to upload a day's
> programme and on a daily basis? Can the volumes be handled by CRs?
> CRs that have the speeds and resources are indeed streaming their
> programmes as per schedule. Some are also uploading them as podcasts.
> CRs do upload some interesting programmes on EDAA or Manch.
> The govt.'s order reeks of suspicion. It could probably learn to trust.
>
> Warm regards
>
> On Saturday, 2 May 2015, sreedher ramamurthy <r.sreedher at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Thank you Frederick Noronhoa, I support your suggestion . If I had
>> suggested I would have been ridiculed and humiliated . There is a lot of
>> advantage in live streaming or audion on demand or archiving
>>
>>
>>> Date: Sat, 2 May 2015 12:41:12 +0530
>>> From: Frederick FN Noronha *
>>>         <fredericknoronha1 at gmail.com>
>>>
>>> Could the CR stations upload their content to some permanent archiving
>>> site
>>> which has a lot of available space (like http://archive.org) and just
>>> email
>>> the link to the government?
>>>
>>> This is not to justify ludicrous expectations/demands from the
>>> authorities,
>>> but to see how an challenge could be turned into an advantage.
>>>
>>> It would be great to hear CR content from any part of the globe, via the
>>> Net! For instance, it was really thrilling to hear Konkani programmes
>>> from
>>> distant Canada: http://www.radiomango.ca/
>>>
>>> FN
>>>
>>> On 2 May 2015 at 10:44, Sajan Venniyoor <venniyoor at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> > Community radio stations protest I&B?s ?censorship? move
>>> > <
>>> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Community-radio-stations-protest-IBs-censorship-move/articleshow/47127976.cms
>>> >
>>> > Himanshi Dhawan | Times of India | May 2, 2015
>>> >
>>> > NEW DELHI: Community radio stations (CRS) are up in arms against a
>>> > government order mandating daily submission of programmes that they
>>> > broadcast. The move, they say, smacks of censorship and will prove to
>>> be a
>>> > logistical nightmare. The Community Radio Forum and several CR stations
>>> > plan to protest against the decision and hope to meet information and
>>> > broadcasting (I&B) ministry representatives next week.
>>> >
>>> > In an order dated April 30 the I&B ministry directed CRS to "provide
>>> > recordings of all programs broadcast by CRS on a daily basis from the
>>> date
>>> > of receipt of this letter along with log books/Q sheet..."
>>> >
>>> > Unesco chair on community media Prof Vinod Pavarala said, "This is a
>>> > ridiculous order which will amount to a logistical nightmare. It evokes
>>> > fears of censorship and worse."
>>> >
>>> > The concern was echoed by Gurgaon Ki Awaaz station director Arti Jaiman
>>> > who expressed concern over the huge financial burden complying with the
>>> > order would bring. "I have no problem being accountable but this is a
>>> > bureaucratic response to some pressure they are feeling. ''
>>> >
>>> > India has only 179 operational CR stations though the ministry has
>>> granted
>>> > over 450 licenses since 2008 indicating the difficulty of running such
>>> > stations. Most CR stations are run by volunteers and have a small band
>>> of
>>> > paid, trained staff if at all. There are also logistical issues like
>>> high
>>> > speed broadband connectivity to transfer the data, use of local
>>> languages
>>> > and dialects, lack of resources like adequate computers and people to
>>> do
>>> > the job.
>>> >
>>> > Others felt that the issue should have been at least discussed with the
>>> > stakeholders. Radio Mewat's Archana Kapoor described it as a
>>> "insensitive
>>> > and unreasonable demand" taken without understanding constraints faced
>>> by
>>> > CR stations.
>>> >
>>> > Calling the order "extremely worrying" Ashish Sen from the World
>>> > Association of Community Radio Broadcasters said that CR stations were
>>> > dying because of lack of resources and the decision smacked of a
>>> "grudging
>>> > attitude" towards them.
>>> >
>>> > When contacted I&B secretary Bimal Julka said that he would have the
>>> issue
>>> > examined. "We will not put CR stations under any constraint. Anything
>>> > implemented will be done so only after consultation with
>>> stakeholders," he
>>> > said.
>>> >
>>> > *Source:
>>> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Community-radio-stations-protest-IBs-censorship-move/articleshow/47127976.cms
>>> > <
>>> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Community-radio-stations-protest-IBs-censorship-move/articleshow/47127976.cms
>>> >*
>>> >
>>>
>>
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