Mr Tabing's comments on the Indian 'experiment' ought to make the InBwalas hang their heads in shame, but they probably don't know what the word means (either word, 'shame' and 'experiment', come to think of it).
The comment about 250 community stations in Asia - is that right? I was under the impression that Thailand had fostered a huge, if not fully licensed, CR environment, not counting the stations that broadcast into Myanmar 'on behalf' of those refugees. Perhaps numbers have gone down, following the previous administration's attempt to corner the media (the party leader owns a huge stake in Asian media), or perhaps Mr Tabing is trying to winnow the wheat from the chaff. Vickram http://communicall.wordpress.com http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com > >From: sajan venniyoor <[email protected]> >To: CR India <[email protected]> >Sent: Sun, 25 April, 2010 10:15:56 >Subject: [cr-india] Community Radio in Bangladesh > > >[Thanks to George Lessard for this link] > > > >Community Radio in Bangladesh >Lucio N Tabing, 12 April 2010 >http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2010/04/12/news0543.htm > > >Community radio in Asia is new and rare. In developing regions such as in >South America and Africa as well as in developed countries of North America, >Europe and Australia, tens of thousands of community radios are mushrooming. >In the Asian region, where two out of every three people on the planet live, >there are only over 250 or so genuine community radio stations. > > >Many Asian media and broadcast systems have been in the grip of governments >that are autocracies. Where the system is open to private entrepreneurs, the >commercial media dominate. It can be said that Asia's media system in general >is largely driven by one or two or three motives of 5Ps -- profit, politics, >propaganda, privilege and power. Service to the society is only a pretext for >gaining a foothold. It is due to these grim realities that the growth of >community broadcasting in Asia has been relatively slow. > > >Four years ago, India was preparing to set up thousands of community radios. >What has materialized there so far are campus radio stations that are run >under the auspices of universities. Nepal has reported over a hundred existing >stations. Philippines has over four dozens. Indonesia has hundreds of local >private stations and Thailand counts several hundreds too - some are either >private, government or community audio towers. Though not in terms of number >but perhaps of quality, Sri Lanka which started pioneering experiments on >community involvement in radio may have the most people-driven low-power >facilities.
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