"Like other publications on "commmunity media sustainability", this guide looks not only at financial, but also institutional sustainability, and social sustainability, i.e. it's rootedness in the community to which it belongs. The first section highlights the centrality of mission for sustainabilit
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y and tackles topics such as models for sustainable funding, business models, "barefoot" audience research, relationship to donors, writing successful funding proposals and using alternative energy to power radio stations. The second section provides sustainability experiences from quite different contexts, countries and kinds of media, including radios in Haiti, Nepal, Rwanda, Sierra Leone or South Africa, as well as a community television NGO in the United Kingdom, online community media in the USA or community media networks like the satellite news service of the Latin American Association for Radio Education (ALER) or the Peruvian National Community Radio Coordination CNR. The final section is a list of resources, providing practitioners and researchers with a broad range of further online materials." (CAMECO Update 3-2009)
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"This publication allows community radio stations to assess their performance regarding: community participation and ownership; radio governance structures and procedures; radio programme structure; radio station management; financial management and resource structure; as well as networking. Using a
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detailed scoring system, the manual provides a comprehensive list of indicators that categorises assessed stations into four groups: evolving, progressing, performing and model community radios. It considers the issues that are at the heart of community media: public accountability, community representation, locally relevant programming, diverse funding, and due acknowledgement of staff, including volunteers. The manual is clear and concise providing a sound basis for the task it describes. Tailored to the needs of community radios in Nepal, not every single indicator may apply to stations in other countries. Nevertheless, the scoring methodology can easily be adapted to other contexts." (CAMECO Update 4-2009)
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"The findings of the research reflect two overarching concerns: training content and training delivery. It is a central finding of the research that financial skills are required by the sector. Related to this is the need to encourage professional attitudes, processes, and systems within the sector.
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It is necessary to manage the business in a professional manner in order to gain the support of the community as well as advertisers. Such support contributes to the sustainability of the business. In terms of delivery, on-site training, mentorships and information exchange are emphasised because of the managers’ time and resource constraints. While accredited, theoretical training is perceived as important and worthwhile, participants emphasised the importance of experiential training. The research concludes with a detailed outline of a new qualification the SPI will be seeking to register which will enable it to make a contribution to the small independent community newspaper sector. The research has encountered one central obstacle. The sector is characterised by competition and lack of resources, thus managers are not able to leave their businesses for extended periods of time, and do not always answer telephone calls or emails that are not an immediate priority." (Executive summary, page 2-3)
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"This guide and the included mulitimedia CD will guide you step by step mulitimedia CD will guide you step by step through the process of establishing your own community radio. It starts by explaining what community radio is and how to determine the communication needs of a community. It continues w
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ith the importance of community involvement and volunteering, includes information on appropriate technology and ends with financial sustainability and evaluation. This guide also builds on examples and reflects upon lessons learnt from the pilot project in Khoun District and draws your attention to important issues you need to consider when establishing your own station. The biggest challenge in setting up a community radio is not the technical equipment or the transmitter, there is always a solution to that. The challenge is how to organize the community support and involve members of the community right from the beginning in developing in developing their community radio. The other challenge is how to produce creative interactive programmes that community radio. The other challenge is how to produce creative interactive programmes that allow as many people within the community as possible to participate in the broadcasts in different ways." (Introduction, page 3)
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"This guidebook offers instructions for strengthening the organisation of community radio stations, in order to improve their effectiveness and efficiency. The all-embracing essentials of community radio station management, ie, governance and programme/financial/technical management, are discussed i
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n detail. Aspects of these organisational tasks are human resource plans, resource mobilisation, fundraising, accounting, maintenance of equipment and the determination of a clear broadcasting policy. But not only advice for practical matters is given: The publication further discusses the underlying mission, vision and goals of organisations, which are viewed as not sufficiently thought through by many community radio stations, yet crucial for their survival. The guidebooks' step-by-step lists, tables and forms, in part taken from existing community radio stations like Radio Sagarmatha in Nepal, are particularly useful, as they show how theoretical and abstract manuals can be turned into practice." (commbox)
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"This is a qualitative comparative study on sustainability challenges facing the community radio sector in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study explores and determines community radio’s social acceptance to target communities, identifies its fundraising and marketing strategies, and evaluates
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its governance and management policies. The research draws from theories of community development and mass communication, namely: development theory and participant media theory. Detailed literature review, focus group discussion, in-depth interviews, and analyses of archival records and institutional documents were used as research methods. The case study purports that the quality of a community radio service is often a product of its resources. Furthermore, it appreciates the open access approach to broadcasting as fulfilling the original and moral imperative of community radio. However, it views sustainability issues, more specifically financial resources, as having far reaching effects on the sector’s independence and the ability to fulfill its functions. Often in community radio, the concept of sustainability tends to be narrowly used to refer to financial sustainability alone. The conclusions drawn from the comparative study of three community radio stations, namely: Botlokwa, Mohodi and Radio Turf reveal that a comprehensive approach to sustainability should recognise the role of social, organisational and financial aspects of the medium. Despite marked progress with respect to social acceptance, more innovative marketing and fundraising strategies, appropriate organisational and management policies in the sector are essential. In their absence, community radio continues to lack access to a fair share of resources and can barely raise funds to meet its obligations. Consequently, poor performance in community radio is largely attributable to sustainability challenges, particularly in rural communities where resources are often scarce as compared to urban centres." (Abstract)
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"We examine the sustainability of Community radio (CR) as a tool towards achieving the overall development in the South Asian region. A cross-country comparison of CR in areas including people’s participation, regulatory scenarios, human resource development, technology usage trends, financial pra
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ctices etc. shows a wide variety of CR applications and challenges. An indepth analysis of financial data and practices of several Nepalese CR stations (rural, urban, and semi-urban) alongside regulatory and anecdotal references from India and Bangladesh shows potential viability through advertising and other mechanisms. Even with an advertisement cap of 5 minutes per hour, every station shows the potential of achieving financial sustainability by selling a fraction of the allotted ad time (7%-46%). Our model shows that the monthly operating expenditure of types of stations turns out to be more significant than the annualized capital expenditure. In our analysis (and borne out in the real world), of the three considered stations, the semi-urban station has the highest cost per listener. Stochastic cost modeling of real world CR data show the trend of increased cost for content development is a trade-off for expanding the listener base and transmission time. We conclude with a proposed set of policy and operating recommendations to enable CR to play a significant role in overall South Asian development." (Abstract)
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"This is an introduction to the collective marketing strategy with a regional and thematic emphasis on Nepalese community radio stations. In this publication, airtime is viewed as the "product" that all community radio stations sell, and which builds a link between them, as well as their mutual aim
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to contribute to the social progress of their communities. Hence, this publication suggests building partnerships to support each other in various contexts, eg, by sharing programmes on topics like immunisation, which are relevant for many radio stations, or by assisting each other in finding sponsorships or advertisers. The term "collective" refers to partnerships of Nepalese community radio stations amongst each other, either on a national or a regional level, or amongst those who have something else in common, although partnerships can also be built by community radio stations and commercial radio stations. The text includes an explanation of the principles of social marketing, and considers its specific features in relation to community radio. The desired structure and the underlying principles that follow this strategy are also discussed. All in all, the publication can inspire radio activists who wish to improve the programmes and the promotion of their radio stations by building a network with others." (commbox)
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"This is an overview of strategic planning tools designed for Nepalese community radios. In plane language, it introduces to the basics of strategic planning, situation and stakeholder analysis, long-term vision and guiding principles, identification of risk factors, definition of indicators and the
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implementation of strategic planning. Many graphs and tables illustrate and facilitate the use of the different concepts, as well as the concrete example of a strategic plan in the annex. Every issue is treated quite briefly, so maybe reading this manual will not be enough to really start a strategic planning process. Nevertheless, it serves the purpose of an introduction quite well." (CAMECO Update 3-2009)
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"Setting up a community radio station can seem complicated and intimidating. However, there is a lot of information and resources available to guide you and your community through this process. This section will help you find some of that information. This manual is divided into six steps: Getting S
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tarted; Legal Considerations; Funding Options; Selecting Equipment; Managing a Community Radio Station; and Broadcasting. This guide briefly explains the significance of each of these steps and then points to where you can look to find additional information." (Page 4)
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"Community broadcasters are united by six guiding principles. We will work to:
1. Promote harmony and diversity and contribute to an inclusive, cohesive and culturally-diverse Australian community
2. Pursue the principles of democracy, access and equity, especially for people and issues not adequate
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ly represented in other media
3. Enhance the diversity of programming choices available to the public and present programs that expand the variety of viewpoints broadcast in Australia
4. Demonstrate independence in programming as well as in editorial and management decisions
5. Support and develop local arts and music
6. Increase community involvement in broadcasting.
Throughout the Codes, community broadcasting licensees are referred to as ‘we’ or ‘our’. The terms are legally binding." (Guiding principles, page 3)
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