Presentation by Rukmini Vemraju, CEMCA Presented at Chapai Nawabganj, Bangladesh

1. Sustainability of
a Community
Radio
Rukmini Vemraju
Programme Officer –Livelihoods
&Health
Project Director- CCFC
June 9-11, 2013
Chapai
Nawabgunj
Bangladesh
COMMONWEALTH of LEARNING
Commonwealth Educational
Media Centre for Asia

2. Core principles of CR
 Promote community ownership and
management
 Operate on a not-for-profit basis
 Reflect social and cultural diversity
 Enhance community participation
 Encourage inclusion
 Contribute to horizontal communication
 Exercise editorial freedom
 Espouse self-sustainability (both social &
financial)
19 July 20132

3. Challenges faced by CRS
 Finding adequate funds for setting up a
station
 Creating a regular funding source for
running it
 Increasing community participation
 Creating relevant and engaging content
 Finding, training and retraining human
resource
 Establishing economical technological
options
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4. Aspects of Sustainability
 Social
 Institutional
 Financial
 Technological
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5. Social  Community needs,
aspirations
 Respecting local
knowledge, beliefs,
values
 Preserving local
culture, promoting
local talent
 Celebrating diversity
 Providing relevant,
useful and timely
information
 Role in decision
making
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6. Some Questions
 Is the NGO licenced for a community radio station, required to
have worked with a definable community (s) in order to obtain
a license? (e.g. India –Yes, policy requires that)
 Do members of the community participate various
administrative bodies in the radio station? (e.g. CRS should
have management committees with community members on
board)
 Is feedback from the members of the community taken into
account, irrespective of caste, class, gender, occupation?
 Are members of the community actively involved in promoting
the radio station within the community?
 Is the radio station’s policy inclusive of all the members of the
target community in terms of class, caste, religion, ethnic,
linguistic, gender and geographic characteristics?
 Does the radio organise a public hearing/ community audit for
assessment over regular time periods?
July 19, 20136

7. Institutional
 Training and
Capacity building
for community
 Resource Pool
 Content Sharing
 Listening groups
 Outreach activities
 Volunteer groups
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8. Station Management
 Content-creation, archiving, retrieval
 Scheduling-FPC, repeats. Live, interactive
 Staff roster
 Volunteers
 Training/retraining
 Finances
 Responding to local issues
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9. Technological
 Choosing right
equipment-low
cost/robust
 Insurance
 AMC
 Training local
persons
 Buildings back-ups
 Networking to
share info
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10. Some Questions..
 Are there positions for members from the
community in the technical management team
 Is there significant focus on capacity building for
the community with respect to handling and
maintaining technical equipment in the radio
station?
 Is there an onus on the radio station to organize
workshops for people from the community to learn
production of programmes?
 Is there an existence of a team assessing the
technical equipment available to the radio
station?
 Does the station policy ensure compliance with
safety standards for studio and production
facilities?
July 19, 201310

11. Financial
“low” cost, not ”no” Cost
 Ads- government
 Ads -private
 Sponsorships
 Local classifieds
 Announcements,
Greetings
 Membership fee
 Special days
 Studio hire
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12. By the community
For the community
Of the community

13. Thank you for your attention
19 July 2013
rvemraju@col.org
http://www.cemca.org
http://www.ccfcindia.net
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