"We look at community media in Bhutan from three important perspectives – the concept of community media in general, a modified self-evaluation tool developed by UNESCO Chair on Community Media, Vinod
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Pavarala, and the Gross National Happiness index where we show in what way community media may contribute to the growth of rankings within this index and how this index may help to better understand the community media phenomenon in this country. The research is based on desk research and interviews with the key actors in community radio development in Bhutan, in 2019, supported by the first-hand experience gained during conducting research on Bhutan media system gained by one of the authors during visits in this country in the years 2015–2018. In this article we concentrate on local community radio stations located in rural areas: KYD from Khotakpa, Edi from Dechen Pelri and Lhop Community Radio Station from Lotokuche. We highlight the unique context in which community radio in Bhutan functions – the geographical conditions and mountainous terrain, which cause separation from other surrounding indigenous communities, differences in spoken language and the cultivation of their own cultural identity. The over-arching argument in this paper is that local factors are really important to understanding national media systems and that the national government commitment to GNH helps to explain community radio in Bhutan." (Abstract)
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"Indigenous Language for Social Change Communication in the Global South brings together voices from the margins to engage in dialogue about common social change issues in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. This book argues that resistance and social movements, expressed in music and songs and exchang
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ed via radio, remain fundamental to ensure that the linguistic and cultural diversity of the world progresses despite colonizing pressures. Contributors present cases that explore how indigenous communities use mediums such as the radio to help support their language, identity, and expand their own social change. Highlighting the centrality of music in the development of political discussions and language as a central part of collective identity, contributors analyze how these mediums function as both a vessel and a link for information and cultural cohesion of those engaging in social change." (Publisher description)
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"Combining an innovative mix of traditional chapters, autoethnography, case studies, and dialogue within an intercultural framework, the handbook focuses on the future of media education and provides a deeper understanding of the challenges and affordances of media education as we move forward. Topi
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cs range from fighting disinformation, how vulnerable communities coped with disadvantages using media, transforming educational TV or YouTube to reach larger audiences, supporting students’ wellbeing through various online strategies, examining early childhood, parents, and media mentoring using digital tools, reflecting on educators’ intersectionality on video platforms, youth-produced media to fight injustice, teaching remotely and providing low-tech solutions to address the digital divide, search for solutions collaboratively using social media, and many more." (Publisher description)
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"This chapter examines the role played by community radio in social change through the lens of participatory communication and locates it within the context of the globalization of media. At present, even though there are multiple media outlets, much of the grammar of creating content feeds into the
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production values of a globalized marketplace and to an oligopolistic control of media by big multinational companies, resulting in a democracy deficit. In this chapter we argue, through a conceptual and empirical survey of community radio in many countries, that to build a robust civil society that can effectively negotiate with those in power for inclusive development and sustainable social change, it is necessary to create decentralised and democratic discursive spaces that promote freedom of expression and equitable access to media. Community radio is one such institutional space that has been effectively used by historically marginalised groups to make their voices heard." (Abstract)
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"[This publication] is a manual aimed at enhancing women’s participation and reducing gender inequalities in all aspects of the operations of community radio stations in India. This gender-sensitivity manual is an outcome of a project granted by the International Programme for Development of Commu
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nication (IPDC), UNESCO, to the UNESCO Chair on Community Media at the University of Hyderabad. As the name suggests, the overarching objective of the manual is to foster and reinforce best practices, policies, and programmes concerning gender in community radio (CR). It also seeks to ensure that the editorial content of CR stations remains gender sensitive at all times. The impetus of the project is also that the use of this gender-sensitivity manual by CR stations will contribute directly to the achievement of the key targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially the stand-alone Goal 5, which aims to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” (About the manual)
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"Many Voices, Many Worlds: Critical Perspectives on Community Media in India is a critical reflection on governance and policymaking, development, disability, knowledge and other social markers in the context of community media. Bringing together different modes of community media—such as video, r
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adio, theatre, information and communication technologies (ICTs) and new media—into a productive conversation with each other, the book focuses on how communities through their communicative practices, negotiate the politics of caste, class, gender, and access to funding and technology." (Publisher description)
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"This incisive Handbook critically examines the role and place of media and communication in development and social change, reflecting a vision for change anchored in values of social justice. Outlining the genealogy and history of the field, it then investigates the possible new directions and obje
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ctives in the area. Key conclusions include an enhanced role for development communication in participatory development, active agency of stakeholders of development programs, and the operationalization of social justice in development." (Publisher description)
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"This book tells the story of community radio in four South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The three parts of the book focus on policy (discussed country by country), issues in practice, and case studies. In effect, however, each of the chapters touches on these topics to
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one degree or another. The first section presents very helpful background on the introduction of community radio in the four countries, focusing not only on policy issues but also on the history of setting up the stations. The second section calls attention to particular challenges such as the role of NGOs, radio spectrum management, the introduction of somewhat advanced technologies into rural communities, the role of women, the possibilities of community radio for disaster response, and issues of sustainability. The third section (the case studies) offers a good deal of practical suggestions to address challenges such as conflicts in the communities, assessment of the stations, and the practices of democracy." (Review in "Religion and Social Communication", vol. 20:2, 2022, page 418-421, https://www.asianresearchcenter.org)
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"This collection presents 14 concepts from a multi-disciplinary collection of internationally leading and emerging scholars, from 13 countries on 5 continents. They come together around three meta-topics: citizenship and justice, critiques of development, and renewing thought (from and for the margi
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ns). The short chapter format ensures that authors get straight to the nub of their ideas, providing readers - students, scholars and practitioners alike - with accessible, engaging and innovative ways to think critically about communication and social change, in new ways." (Publisher description)
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"This book presents five cases that reflect on the experiences of using practices consistent with the 'Evaluating C4D framework' [published by June Lennie and Jo Tacchi in 2013]. Case studies are important to help move from a set of ideal principles to an understanding of how the framework may be op
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erationalized within the actual realities of development institutions, organizations, and communities. The authors of each chapter focus on a few key principles from the framework and contextualize how they interpreted those principles in relation to various methods, models, and projects. As well as showing the usefulness and opportunities, they illustrate the challenges of balancing the various principles as well as real-world practical needs." (Overview of the book, page 10)
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"International development stakeholders harness communication with two broad purposes: to do good, via communication for development and media assistance, and to communicate do-gooding, via public relations and information. This book unpacks various ways in which different efforts to do good are com
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bined with attempts to look good, be it in the eyes of donor constituencies at large, or among more specific audiences, such as journalists or intra-agency decision-makers. Development communication studies have tended to focus primarily on interventions aimed at doing good among recipients, at the expense of examining the extent to which promotion and reputation management are elements of those practices. This book establishes the importance of interrogating the tensions generated by overlapping uses of communication to do good and to look good within international development cooperation." (Publisher description)
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Provides indicators of performance along 9 parameters: 1. Content Generation and Programming; 2. Policies and Guidelines; 3. Volunteers; 4. Technology: Access and Management; 5. On-Air Standards of Broadcasting; 6. Governance; 7. Feedback and Grievances; 8. Content Sharing and Networking; 9. Revenue
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Generation and Financial Accountability. Themes such as participation, inclusion, gender, and capacity-building cut across the 9 parameters.
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"The broad purpose of this study undertaken between March and June 2010 was to document the working of two rural community radio (CR) stations (owned and managed by community-based organizations) and two campus-based CR stations that have completed at least one year of broadcasting. We examined the
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origins of the CR stations, the philosophy of the organizations owning and managing the stations, and also indicators such as their notions of community, levels of community listenership/participation, community mobilization practices, financial and social sustainability, appropriate content, capacity-building of marginalized social groups and incorporation of participatory monitoring and evaluation methods in the overall operations of the CR stations." (Objectives, page 2)
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"This book not only offers a historical account of the struggle for community radio in India, but also provides a documentation of the efforts of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and rural communities to realise the Brechtian mandate to use radio as a tool to build a robust civil society in the
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country, employing creative ways, in the absence of a licence to broadcast, to take their community audio programmes to the people. Work on this project started in 2000 around the time when Vinod Pavarala participated in the drafting of the now oft-quoted Pastapur Initiative on Community Radio Broadcasting along with representatives of NGOs, media activists, communication educators, journalists, and policymakers. The document articulated the need for using communication technologies for the empowerment of local communities and argued that people must have access to media not solely as receivers and consumers but as producers and contributors of media content. Taking into consideration the experiences and policy precedents from other democratic countries, the document appealed for broadcasting in India to be based on principles of ‘universal access, diversity, equitable resource allocation, democratisation of airwaves, and empowerment of historically disadvantaged sections of society.’ Since then, the inspiration we drew from this pronouncement took us to a number of villages in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Jharkhand where exciting community radio projects, often referred to as the ‘Big Four’, have been attracting national and international attention. The palpable enthusiasm about the potential of community radio in India that we exude is an outcome of our interaction with the people who are part of these community radio initiatives." (Preface, page 12)
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"This publication features a series of papers that represent an early exploration of the challenges and opportunities for actors committed to gender equality in the information society. It is meant to open up the debates that can pave the way for a sustained engagement of gender activists with one o
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f the most powerful contemporary social phenomena." (Back cover)
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"Even as the government is dithering over legislation to facilitate the functioning of community radio in India, a few community-based organisations have initiated radio projects that seek to deploy communication technologies for development and community empowerment. This paper is based on a study
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examining the functioning of one such community radio initiative in India: ‘Chala Ho Gaon Mein’ that is broadcast once a week on an AIR station in the Palamau district of Jharkhand." (Abstract)
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