Community Media/MARAA/Community Radio/Conceptual Clarity
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Contents |
Introduction
Community Radio is radio which is owned by a specific community, located within the community and makes programs as well as operated by, members of that community.
With the advent of the internet, the location of the radio station is flexible, but the other points are generally considered essential for a community radio station.
Spreading Awareness on Community Radio
If you're a NGO/educational institution/agricultural University looking to set up a community radio station from scratch, the first step is to spread awareness in the community about the concept of community radio. This would mean that you would have to identify easily accessible community based groups like Self Help Groups and have discussions with them about their willingness to engage with the radio station. Further, discussions are also needed to find out whether they really need a radio station in the first place. Secondly, you need to undertake a survey within your community to find out whether radio is accessible, and to judge media penetration, re: TV, print and radio. While you're at it, it may also be a good idea to find out how many people have cell phones with FM radio, as this tends to be a good source of listenership.
Set up
Once you have confirmed the need for a CRS, and found that it is feasible in terms of participation, you need to look inwards, and firstly identify a feasible location for community radio. This means that the site should be available for at least five years without legal complications; it should be accessible to all sections of the community and it should be relatively quiet. Once this is done, find the GPS coordinates of that site, and then juxtapose it with elevation data to find the possible signal strength. If it looks good, then you should start consolidating hardware.
Hardware Set up
You need two components to make a community radio set up work:
- Production
- Transmission
In Production, you will need the following components:
- Acoustics for your studio
- Mixing Console
- Hybrid Unit
- Audio workstation with sound card
- Microphones
- Headphones
- Flash recorders
- Monitoring speakers
- Cables and connectors
- UPS
(
: Only if your studio location is extremely dusty and very hot/humid, then you could go in for air conditioning)
In Transmission, you will need the following components:
- FM Transmitter (50 Watts)
- Antenna
- Feeder Cable (Foam Feed) of approximately 50 meters
Software Set up
For community radio, we would recommend that you use Free and Open Source software which is now available for both beginners and for sophisticated users. Ubuntu Studio is a good option for an Operating System, while you could start Audacity for recording and editing.
As for your computer, the following configuration should be sufficient:
- 80 GB Hard drive capacity
- 1 GB RAM
- DVD ROM (preferably DVD writer)
- An external sound card (not critical but aim towards having one)
Capacity building
Once you have a studio set up, then you should start identifying willing community members who are interested in engaging with the radio station; as producers, voice artistes, singers, etc. These community members need to be trained in production skills, rules and regulations as per policy, do's and dont's of the radio station etc. Further, we would advise not to put too much emphasis on what kind of programs they should be making. Let the community decide what is relevant and what is not. Only if there is a fragrant violation of the code of conduct, should you intervene. However, you should facilitate a training program where formats of radio are introduced where they are given some frameworks to work with. However, they could be told or even encouraged to frequently break the rules and produce some innovative and original formats.
Download our training module summary here
