Trying to centrally regulate (Indian Telegraph Act 1885) a terrestrial analogue medium (i.e. localised) will always result in what Vickram has politely called "quixotic" policy/guidelines/regulations.
Apart from the legal and statutory framework, we also have to consider what impact this has had on the social and intellectual life of community radio/community media: There are a million mutinies as Naipaul notes, but none of it comes out on our radio stations - or at least not enough of it. The ban on news, and the idea that it is "constraining" the CR stations is only a symptom of a deeper malaise - to get a sense of this malaise, one only needs to read the sub-committee debates held during drafting of the Constitution around the 1949-50 period - debating Art. 19 1 a of the Indian Constitution, as well as debates around placing Communication on State list or Union list or Concurrent List. These documents clearly reflects how schizophrenic attitude of government stems from a very early recognition of the power and potential of community media, and how this power will inherently conflict with the nation building cause. Of course, on a practical level, CR stations can work around news through song, drama and stories..and hence cannot be constrained. It is the thought behind the prohibition which must be fought - with an idea of free speech, or rather fearless speech. Finally, it is a tough to actually measure the impact of something prohibitive - for examples, the debates on internet censorship are mostly centred around what is commonly called the "chilling effect". Prohibiting broadcast of news will probably result in self-censorship, but very difficult to actually measure or quantify this. Common sense dictates that in all matters relating to Freedom of Expression or free speech (constitutional right), the reasonable restrictions must be as narrow as possible - in the wording of the statute as well as in legal, policy interpretations etc. best, Ram On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 2:44 PM, Vickram Crishna <[email protected]>wrote: > Rather than look piecemeal at one feature or other of government policy > (and action/inaction, which speaks far louder than policy), it is more > meaningful to step back and look at a country whose independent mediascape > was once dominated by revolutionary thought. We had the mainstream print > media, foreign owned and controlled, right from the early days of media, > and then we had a revolutionary press, skulking and fighting to stay > visible and relevant at the same time. Once we won independence, instead of > moving to a rich mediascape of information dissemination covering multiple > and diverse agendas, we remained dominated and tied up with controls, > simply replacing foreigners with our own people. > > That this happened just around the time the electronic media was exploding > with possibility is just a poignant coincidence. We may have been > justifiably proud in creating a breakthrough decades later with satellite > television, but not with what use we put it to, parroting a government line > that was unavoidably out of touch with local scenarios, given the > imperatives of centralised programming. The move to FM in audio > broadcasting came about even after we adopted satellite television, but > remained once again under tight control. It is hard to see India's progress > in a positive light, in hindsight. > > The control of audio today is completely out of touch with the medium > itself. The government is unable to evolve a mechanism for localised > management/regulation of content, even though I daresay the majority of > programmes broadcast by community radio stations remain unheard in Delhi, > despite the constraint of the stations having to spare scarce resources on > archiving and copying that archive to Delhi. The lack of knowledge of > regional languages alone would dictate such a result, yet this does not > seem to have occurred to anyone who can bring about positive change. > > With so much of the country a tinderbox today, I cannot imagine what > blinkered intellect prevails in Delhi, not to realise how opening up the > media to local content can not only spring wide the floodgates of > creativity and innovation, but also as a side result act as an emotional > release, reducing the possibility of divisive and secessionist thinking > gaining a stronger foothold. We have seen in this forum in the past that > the forces of secessionism are also dominated by a command and control > mentality, so it is not as though any rational thinker should welcome that > kind of change. > > Still, as to your question, it is obvious that programmes of music and > drama are easily modified to include news of local interest. How would the > ministry even know, when much of the programming is in languages foreign to > Delhi? Perhaps an RTI is in order, to ask the ministry what > percentage/volume of material sent by the stations so far has been > reviewed, what amount of content has been found ultra vires the license > conditions, and what action has been taken on what counts. I am of the > opinion that the answers to points 2 and 3 will be none and none, for the > simple fact is that the answer to point 1 is none. > > And for community radio, with the incredible proliferation of smartphones > today, a step forward to proliferating wireless data networks is not hard > to visualise, and wherever that happens, running local stations > broadcasting over data networks is a trivial and inexpensive move, much > cheaper, and less regulated in quixotic ways. The only fear is that > commercially minded broadcasters will move faster than community > proponents, because local community is so opposite to present government > policy, which favours centralisation by all means. > > Vickram > http://communicall.wordpress.com > http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Vidya Venkat <[email protected]> > *To:* Vickram Crishna <[email protected]> > *Cc:* Arti Jaiman <[email protected]>; N.A.Shah Ansari < > [email protected]> > *Sent:* Sunday, 18 March 2012, 18:53 > *Subject:* Re: [cr-india] Tehelka article - on community radio in India > > Vickram, > > I can see where your skepticism to the Tehelka article is coming from. I > am interested to hear from you and other participants in this crindia forum > as to what extent is the government clause on no broadcasting of news > constraining the work of CR stations... > > Vidya. > > > On Sun, Mar 18, 2012 at 11:46 AM, Vickram Crishna <[email protected]>wrote: > > We share your excitement and joy, but I can't help noticing that the > article is overly enthusiastic about the government's role. To wit: > > "Community radio is a grassroots movement that even the government is > excited about. With 130 active radio stations across the country and 233 > more in the pipeline, the concept is a runaway success. " > > Runaway success? Arguable. Compared to what? Compared to the potential for > nearly a million stations? Hardly. > > The article does point to some limitations in the government's approach, > but does not even hint that a genuinely supportive environment (one well > within the government's hands to enable) might have tinted that perception > of success. "The wireless operator licence that has to come from the > telecom ministry, after the permission from I&B ministry, is supposed to > take 30 days, but takes 6-8 months". > > Let's hope that this praise for the ministry gets it to pull its thumb out > and get itself out of the way to a greater degree. > > Vickram > http://communicall.wordpress.com > http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Arti Jaiman <[email protected]> > *To:* CR India <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Saturday, 17 March 2012, 23:36 > *Subject:* [cr-india] Tehelka article - on community radio in India > > A recent story in Tehelka magazine on what's happening in the CR space. > > http://www.tehelka.com/story_main52.asp?filename=Ne240312Masses.asp > > Arti Jaiman > > Station Director : Gurgaon Ki Awaaz Samudayik Radio Station 107.8 MHz FM > email: [email protected] > website: www.trfindia.org > > Gurgaon Ki Awaaz is the first and only civil-society-led community radio > station in the National Capital Region of Delhi. We broadcast 24X7, in > Hindi and Haryanvi, with a team of community reporters, generating > community content, and community participation. > > Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to > www.crforum.in > > > Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to > www.crforum.in > > > > > -- > "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can > change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret > Mead. > > > Editorial consultant, > Gram Vaani Community Media > www.gramvaani.org > > > *Like us on > Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gram-Vaani-Community-Media/154021641322600> > * > *Follow us on Twitter <http://twitter.com/#%21/GramVaani>* > > > > > Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to > www.crforum.in >
Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
