Document details

Situation Analysis and Sustainability of Community Radio in Bangladesh

Management and Resources Development Initiative (MRDI);Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2014), 77 pp.
"This document details the current situation in seven out of 14 Community Radios in operation in Bangladesh at present. While one of the motives behind this study is to see how these young stations are faring and catering programmes to the target audiences, but definitely the study's scope is not limited to that only. Rather, a major thrust of this whole exercise is to see and explore the sustainability aspects of this community media that Bangladesh is exposed to only in recent years. The National Strategy for the Implementation of Community Radio policy places the government at the centre, having two pivotal roles: as regulator and facilitator, to enable community radios to become full-fledged partners in the development process of Bangladesh. In doing so, government laid out rules of the game for operation of the Community Radio and gave licenses to some Community Radios of which 14 are already on air for last three years while a few more are in the pipeline to join the league. This study appreciates that despite many odds, the Community Radios, if not all - many of them, have succeeded in winning hearts of their target audiences. Some of these stations are quite popular among the communities they serve. And that again against the reality that people, even in the rural Bangladesh today are having well access to national and local newspapers and scores of satellite television channels. It is well captured from this study that amidst the milieu of so many other interesting and colorful audio-video, print and online media platforms, many of these Community Radio stations have succeeded in eking out a niche for them." (Executive summary)