Community Radio

Community radio - also called rural radio, cooperative radio, participatory radio, free radio, alternative, popular or educational radio - operates out of rural or urban areas, is broadcast to small areas and offers alternate, non-commercial, non-state voices to a diverse set of people via the radio.

Modern-day community radio stations often serve their listeners by offering a variety of music selections that are not necessarily catered for by larger corporate radio stations. Community radio outlets may also carry news and information programming geared toward the local area, particularly immigrant or minority groups that are poorly served by other media outlets. Community radio stations are aligned with communities rather than corporations.

Radio can easily reach the people living in remote and rural areas even if there is no phone or electricity. Radio reaches people who can't read or write. Disseminating information mostly depends on public media but it has failed to prove itself people-friendly over the time. As a result, commercial media gained popularity. Community broadcasting is needed to ensure people’s participation, which is also sustainable. Main objective of community radio is to strengthen democratic process at a local level. It will help diversity of content, information and nurture culture. It will also encourage participation, sharing information and innovation at the local level.

In Pakistan some new licenses have been given to private radios. After the earthquake in 2005 and the strong role radio stations played, there is a strong voice that the government should be more open to give community radio at least in disaster prone areas. But nothing has happened

It found that the stations have delivered important social gains across a range of issues, but particularly in respect of volunteering, work placement and training opportunities. Increasingly this means economic gain for individuals with employment opportunities flowing through to the attainment of better standards of living and life opportunities. The stations have also given local communities a voice thereby promoting active citizenship.

Radio as a medium is increasing everywhere, omnipresent in its reach and its power to inform and entertain locally, nationally and immediately. Listeners love their local station; they participate in their community station; and they regularly tune into their favorite stations. They move seamlessly from commercial to community radio and, through the ease with which radio has been distributed on multiple platforms, listeners have taken radio into the digital world in many ways ahead of its sister broadcasting medium, television.

Community radio is defined as radio that is owned by the community and airs programmes designed and produced by it specifically for its own developmental needs. It is a significant departure from the primarily centralized radio broadcasting prototype that Pakistan has been following for decades. While there are ample illustrations from various countries of the ways in which it can benefit a community, community radio still remains outside the pale of legitimacy in Pakistan.

Community radio is a type of radio service that caters to the interests of a certain area, broadcasting material that is popular to a local audience but is overlooked by more powerful broadcast groups.

Radio for the people, by the people is the concept behind community radio. It is a unique model that no other outlet can provide. Community radio is characterized by access, public participation in production, and decision-making and by listener. The movement that started in the United States in 1940s has now made its way in South Asia. Several countries have implemented the idea of community radio and the future is looking bright.

In Pakistan where majority of the people live under the poverty level, radio can play an important role. Most populations in Pakistan especially in rural areas, are particularly disadvantaged. They lack both the basic resources such as food, shelter and health care, and the power needed to make decisions about their own futures. As radio is an adorable medium, it is a powerful tool of communication in developing countries. Radio can reach communities at the very end of the development road , to the people who live in areas with no phones and no electricity. Radio reaches people who can't read or write. Even in very poor communities, radio penetration is vast. Community radio stations can play a significant role in increasing participation and opinion sharing, improving and diversifying knowledge and skills and in catering to health and cultural needs. Thus, community radio in developing countries can give people hope for a better future.

In most South Asian countries radio is controlled by the government. Recently a few governments have opened up the airwaves for private broadcasting. For instance, in the early 1990s, the Nepal government introduced some liberal policies regarding broadcasting, which led to the community radio movement. Sri Lanka is also another pioneer. The Kothmale radio project is one of the innovative radio projects in South Asia. Kothmale is located in the central part of Sri Lanka, a three-hour bus ride from the capital city of Colombo. The Kothmale community radio serves a target area of almost 3100 sq. mile, which includes a number of rural settlements.

The concept of the Kothmale Internet Community Radio is a combination of community radio and the Internet. The Kothmale community radio, connected to the Internet, serves as a link between this powerful source of information and rural populations. The radio team browses the net for information requested by the audience, translates it into the local languages and then broadcasts it in a daily program. If requested, it also provides printouts of the downloaded information. In parallel, local communities are provided with free Internet access. Besides its own Internet cafe, the community radio has set up two free Internet access points at community libraries.

This can be a model for all the developing countries specially Pakistan where access to information is strictly prohibited.

Community Radio in the world has achieved a lot of goals but in South Asian region of the world it is still in a rudimentary stage. However, it is a growing concern in all parts of the region. With growing support from international communities and government of Pakistan, impact of such a resource promises to be significant and extensive.