"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 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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"Les médiassont appelés à jouer un rôle de plus en plus important dans la lutte contrela pauvreté et la poursuite des Objectifs du Millénaire. Cela fait longtempsqu’on glose à ce sujet. Mais combien de bailleurs et d’ONG s’investissent ne serait-ce que ponc-tuellement dans l’appui aux
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médias du Sud ? Quelle part de l’aide leur estaccordée ? Combien de programme et de projets consacrent une partie deleurs budgets à une communication qui vise réellement le renforcementdes personnes et le changement social ? Combien d’agences de déve-loppement ou d’ONG possèdent un département de communication etd’information digne de ce nom préoccupé par autre chose que l’autopro-motion institutionnelle et les relations publiques ? Comptez-vous....Les documents préparatoires de la 10ème table ronde inter institutionsdes Nations Unies sur la communication au développement (2007) ad-mettaient qu’en dépit des discours, la communication pour le développe-ment n’a pas été assez intégrée aux stratégies de développement.L’appropriation, la participation, le dialogue sont des objectifs de plus enplus mis en avant, mais aucune stratégie concrète n’est réellement pré-conisée. Les conceptions de la communication se limitent à la publicitédes projets. Il semblerait qu’on ne se soit pas suffisamment préoccupé departager le savoir pour rechercher réellement le consensus sur la planifi-cation, la mise en œuvre et l’évaluation des projets de développement.Faute d’engagement, le débat sur les médias et le développement a trèspeu évolué ces 20 dernières années car les références ont très peu changéfinalement. Les colloques se succèdent et leurs recommandations réin-ventent sans cesse la poudre, on habille les bonnes intentions de nou-veaux oripeaux méthodologiques, de nouvelles formules creuses et onlance des pétards mouillés qu’on regarde s’éteindre..." (Éditorial)
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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 report is one of the first studies comparing systematically different aspects of community radio practice in developing countries. Based on five country surveys - Colombia, Mali, Nepal, Peru and South Africa - it provides descriptions and analyses of: participatory processes and volunteerism;
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relationship with the community; exertion of rights; accountability and good governance; community radio networks; financing and financial sustainability; and community radio in conflict and post-conflict situations. The detailed country studies show that the practice of community radio broadcasting differs widely according to the national context, the legal environment and the specific role of national community radio associations and networks. In comparing the country studies, the main report stresses good practices, e.g. regarding the role of strong national networks, as well as some challenges like the need to accompany volunteers in a more systematic way and to address the precarious financial state of many community radio stations." (CAMECO Update 5-2008)
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"The authors present six local and independent radio stations from Africa - community radio stations, and commercial and NGO run radio stations with strong community participation - showcasing good practices for sustainability, defined as "ability of a radio station to maintain a good quality develo
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pmental broadcasting service over a period of time." Asking the question, what is it that needs to be sustained? they offer a holistic view on sustainability by examining how a radio station is embedded in its geographic, economic, infrastructural, social, linguistic and cultural context. Furthermore, the case studies consider the broadcasting environment, programme schedules, management structures and sources of income of the radio stations. Particular attention is paid to the community engagement of the radio stations and to the causes for active community involvement." (commbox)
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"Some recommendations can be made to Radio Progress and its community. The station seems to provide the Upper West people with what they needed – a voice to make themselves heard and to communicate with each other. Since the research showed that most limitations are due to the restraints in financ
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ial stability some stronger effort to receive funding would be advisable. Without undermining the non-profit character, Radio Progress could put more emphasise on some fundraising activities. More financial flexibility could solve most of the limitations the station is facing. Furthermore, the station board should pay more attention to a stable coordination of the station. The formerly absent and recently not existing coordination might bear negative impact on the staff motivation. Moreover, this rather unorganised coordination possibly restricts a consequent performance and a stringent development of the programming as well as potential improvement strategies. Some advice can be addressed to the listening communities. The research showed how vital the listeners handle information and educative input they receive through the station and as such also from other villages. By internal clustering of information and output through internal reflection they could even intensify the mutual learning effect the programming offers. Communities could form a committee to which people can address their grievances, demands and ideas on a frequent basis and which could present these collected information to the station. Such an organised information collection and transfer could overcome a crucial obstacle to participate for many people - the restriction to call or visit the station on their own." (Recommendations, page 98)
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"The community radio sector is experiencing a time of rapid growth in Australia. While community broadcasting participants generally welcome the sector’s growth, they have expressed concern over the lack of proportionate funding increase from the Federal government. The key issue is the need to fi
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nd ways to enhance community radio’s sources of funding without imperilling its status as a not-for-profit sector, and as one main option, the deregulation of sponsorship time presently limited to five minutes per hour may enhance income generation for community radio. This paper argues that there is no inherent conflict between entrepreneurial principles and not-for-profit principles." (Abstract)
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"This model is based on a research of six Namibian Community Radio Stations. It argues that a newly established - or even an existing - community radio station can achieve financial sustainability by implementing seven elements: 1. Environmental Scanning, 2. Strategic Planning, 3. Partnership Establ
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ishment, 4. Human Resource Planning, 5. Financial Planning, 6. Project Implementation, 7. Monitoring and Evaluation. Underlining that partnerships are needed for financial sustainability, a graphical partnership model shows what kind of partnerships are possible and contributing to sustainability. This publication is a short and theoretical presentation of a business model. It gives neither concrete examples from community radio stations, nor any checklists or tools for its implementation, but it is of value due to its view on community radio stations as businesses." (commbox)
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"This report was commissioned by the Community Media Association (CMA) to suggest criteria for the establishment of a community radio sector in the United Kingdom. The report compares the legal and regulatory frameworks for community radio in Australia, Canada, France, Holland, Ireland and South Afr
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ica. It contains recommendations as to the optimal legislative and regulatory model for the development of community radio - including licensing and economic models – for the UK. The report includes a comparison across the six countries of the following factors: definitions of community radio in law and regulation; licensing systems for community radio services; frequency allocations and associated technical constraints; economic bases of the community radio sector and rules on funding sources; the sector in the context of the wider media landscape; social characteristics – programming, audiences, staff and supporters." (Introduction)
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"1. Una primera observación es que se ha encontrado mucha confusión o indefinición en el uso de una cantidad de términos y conceptos. Muchos de éstos son centrales dentro de la proyección de la radio popular [...]
2. El contexto en que se desarrollan las radios populares y comunitarias es adv
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erso para sus proyectos. Existe una confusión ideológica general, que causa desánimo e individualismo, no solamente entre los sectores populares sino también en el movimiento popular y dentro de las mismas radios [...]
3. En buena parte se debe esa realidad a la falta de una relación clara y estratégica con los distintos actores en el entorno donde la radio quiere incidir. En muchos casos, las radios ya no logran ser el aglutinador social que se proponen ser. En algunos países hay excepciones a esa regla, por ejemplo allí donde se ha logrado redefinir los espacios de encuentro en términos culturales [...]
4. Pocas radios realizan acciones para lograr un conocimiento sistemático de la realidad. La mayoría confía en análisis del pasado o en sus propias experiencias como fuente de este conocimiento. Tomando en cuenta que el contacto cotidiano con la gente disminuyó y que la realidad se ha vuelto mucho más compleja, es necesario ir más allá de los mecanismos señalados y desarrollar otras estrategias [...]
5. Entre las temáticas que trabajan hoy las radios y las redes se observa un cambio. Hace un tiempo éstas tenían como eje articulador el 'cambio social' (desarrollo, movimientos). Los ejes que predominan hoy son mujer, medio ambiente, democracia y ciudadanía. Con excepción de algunas radios, que trabajan más lo político desde lo cultural, el énfasis de los proyectos está en lo informativo [...]
6. La radio popular sigue teniendo su principal fuerza en lo local. La explosión de radios locales comunitarias en muchos países refuerza esta constatación. Su importancia está en ámbitos como la intercomunicación, lo informativo, los servicios, la solidaridad [...]
7. Los cambios en la realidad mediática confrontan a las radios con un nuevo desafío, el de tener que 'competir' por la audiencia con radios musicales o con señales desde la capital. Muchas de las radios comerciales aprendieron de la radio popular e incluyeron estrategias 'participativas' [...]
8. En los últimos años se observa un cambio fundamental en las estrategias en el ámbito nacional e internacional, donde las asociaciones y coordinadoras impulsan proyectos de comunicación conjuntos. En cinco países las coordinadoras nacionales tienen un proyecto de producción y difusión nacional, principalmente a través de una red informativa. [...]
9. Un factor que incide de manera importante en todo ese panorama es la crisis económica en que se encuentran las radios. El 70% está en una situación precaria o logra apenas una estabilidad mínima. El apoyo de agencias de cooperación sigue siendo fundamental para la permanencia de muchos proyectos [...]
10. A nivel del personal de las radios también hay retos que asumir. El 63% del personal de las instituciones son hombres. Los cargos más ocupados por las mujeres son los de apoyo. Son muy pocas las mujeres que ocupan puestos de dirección. La mayoría del personal se hizo radialista en la práctica. Una minoría significativa (casi 40%) tiene una formación específica en el campo de la comunicación [...]
11. Son pocas las instituciones que cuentan con mecanismos sistemáticos de planificación y evaluación. Menor cantidad aún cuenta con un plan estratégico a mediano plazo. Perú es una excepción en este sentido, donde se invirtió mucho en la planificación en sus diferentes niveles [...]
12. Los mecanismos de manejo institucional no ayudan mucho a fortalecer los proyectos. Hay poca práctica de participación organizada y democrática del personal. En muchas instituciones hay problemas de comunicación, falta de liderazgo y poca claridad sobre la misión institucional, a nivel de la institución y entre el personal. Muy pocas radios tienen una política de personal que incluya un plan de capacitación y evaluación sistemática.
13. En general la capacitación ha disminuido en los últimos años, por problemas económicos o por priorización de otras estrategias, como la inversión en nuevas tecnologías. La cuarta parte del conjunto del personal no recibió ningún tipo de capacitación en los últimos tres años [...]
14. Otro fenómeno importante de los últimos años ha sido la introducción de nuevas tecnologías de información, que en general ha sido señalada como un buen aporte para los proyectos. Las instituciones tardaron relativamente mucho para optar por tecnologías como correo electrónico y el Internet Actualmente el 75% cuenta con este medio de comunicación [...]
15. Un tema de mucho énfasis en los últimos años ha sido la lucha por lograr mejores condiciones legales en diferentes países. Varias asociaciones de radios comunitarias se agruparon alrededor de esta problemática, con el objetivo de lograr un acceso más democrático a los medios. En varios países se logró avances, fundamentalmente en sentido de haber logrado colocar el tema en la agenda pública.
16. Se observa una falta de 'modelos'. Muchas radios y redes están buscando reorientar sus estrategias y quisieran tener referentes, no para copiar sino para dejarse inspirar. Antes las estrategias institucionales de ciertas redes nacionales y continentales daban mucha importancia al intercambio de experiencias a través de pasantías, visitas, publicaciones [...]" (Vigencia e incidencia: algunas pistas, página 235-244)
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"Instead of telling you what to do at your station, this handbook will give you guidelines about the things you should be thinking of and at what stage of the setting up or operation of the station." (Introduction)