Tag Archive for 'policy'

Community Broadcasting in a Digital Nigeria

Published on 31 Oct. 2008 in opinion and policy. 9 Comments Tags: Africa, mobile, Nigeria, policy, regulation, rural.

Africast 2008, a biannual conference on African broadcasting, took place in Abuja, Nigeria 21-23 October, 2008. This year’s theme was “Digitisation and the Challenges of Broadcasting”.

During a special session on community broadcasting, Jummai Umar, Citizenship Program Manager for Microsoft Nigeria and Anglophone West Africa, presented a paper Amplifying the People’s Voices: Community Broadcasting in a Digital Era. Jummai has kindly allowed us to publish her paper here.

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Community media in a digital age

Published on 22 Sep. 2008 in events, opinion, policy and publications. 1 Comment Tags: Africa, AMARC, Americas, Nepal, participation, policy, UNESCO, video.

The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and UNESCO, recently published a book about community radio use of digital technologies.? Fighting Poverty: Utilizing Community Media in a Digital Age is based on a series of reflections raised during a roundtable on community radio and new technologies at the World Congress on Communication for Development (Rome, October 2006) and later further developed by workshop participants and others.

The ostensible subject of this publication is community media. The real focus of the text is on democratic and sustainable development. It reflects the main interest of those who support or are active in community radio, an interest that does not centre on technology, equipment, infrastructure or spectrum. Their interest focuses on participation.

The publication and additional audio and video material can be downloaded from AMARC’s website or you can order a print copy from here.

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Empowering radio: community radio in 5 countries

Published on 20 May. 2008 in experiences, policy, publications and research. 2 Comments Tags: Africa, Colombia, conflict, governance, Mali, Nepal, networks, participation, Peru, policy, South Africa, sustainability, world bank.

Across many countries and in different regions, community radio stations have been fostering community participation and creating an appetite for transparent and accountable governance, even in challenging regulatory environments. Empowering Radio: Good practices in development & operation of community radio is a report prepared for the World Bank Institute based on five national studies of community radio practices in five very different countries: Colombia, Mali, Nepal, Peru and South Africa.

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Broadcasting, Voice and Accountability

Published on 03 May. 2008 in online resources and policy. 0 Comments Tags: global, policy, world bank.

COVER broadcasting, voice and accountability Broadcasting, Voice, and Accountability: A Public Interest Approach to Policy, Law and Regulation has just been published by the World Bank. It doesn’t specifically address radio 2.0 issues, but without the policies, laws and regulations that permit independent broadcasting, there wouldn’t be much future for radio 2.0 or any other kind of radio… Read on for a brief description and links.

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Convergence for development

Published on 05 Nov. 2007 in opinion and policy. 0 Comments Tags: Americas, APC, opinion, policy, rural, telecentres.

APC logo A paper by Carlos Rivadeneyra “Convergencia para el desarrollo: Radiodifusión comunitaria como estrategia para la inclusión digital” (in English “Convergence for development: Community radio as a digital inclusion strategy) has been recently released by APC. The paper is available in Spanish only.

The distinction between “new” and “old” technology is no longer significant in the current state of technology convergence. People from community radios and telecentres are working together for more democratic and participatory access to communication, specifically in rural and poor urban areas. This paper by Carlos Rivadeneyra provides conceptual tools to re-think, from this perspective, what we understand by information society.