Dear Dr Michael
I am not sure whether this is the best use in the context of Indian community
radios which are meant to be the voices of the excluded. It would probably more
relevant to see another brilliant Canadian example, Challenge for Change in
which the excluded communities were given their own video cameras to make their
story and tell the world what they are about and what their concerns were. If
this is not followed in India the mainstream media and information systems
which have choked people's voices out of existence, will find more ways to do
it. And when All India Radio has blanketed 100% of the country with their
broadcasting system, why should community radios also do the same job of
disseminating a centralised information system?
You know the part where the Sangham Radio [the first non campus community radio
in India of which I am one of the founders] works, we are struggling to
restart radio listening habits since AIR broadcasts except for their film music
has lost all their relevance for ordinary people. And just now we are able to
see a bit of stirring since the local language, local idioms, local culture,
local issues and local peopel dominate the programme of Sangham Radio. And
imagine the top down ICAR agriculture programme coming down the community
throat and leave it gasping!
Certainly this will be a recipe for communiy disaster.
satheesh
--- On Mon, 10/8/09, Michael Gurstein <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Michael Gurstein <[email protected]>
Subject: [cr-india] FW: "Media units for sharing agriculture information"
To: [email protected]
Date: Monday, 10 August, 2009, 2:32 PM
Message
Good to see this initiative... Canada has been a very significant
pioneer in the use of radio for rural development
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0002727 (Farm
Radio Forum) and particularly in recognizing
the need for creating a community context for receiving, processing and then
re-disseminating the information being distributed. This was I believe the
major innovation of this
program and one which has been successfully implemented around the world as
part
of a variety of rural development and extension
programs.
MBG
Michael Gurstein, Ph.D.
Director: Centre for Community
Informatics Research, Development and Training
Vancouver, CANADA
http://www.communityinformatics.net
Cape Town, SA (in
conjunction with Izandla Zethu SA)
http://www.izandlazethu.co.za/
-----Original Message-----
From:
[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
sajan venniyoor
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 11:01
AM
To: CR India
Subject: [cr-india] "Media units for sharing
agriculture information"
Interesting story on the use of CR licenses for farm radio.
Sajan
Media units for sharing agriculture information
Staff Reporter, The Hindu, 10 Aug 2009
http://www.thehindu.com/holnus/015200908101580.htm
Kochi: Media units will be opened in all the research institutions of the
Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) for disseminating
agriculture-related information.
This is part of the national programme for mobilising mass media support
for sharing agro information, said T.P. Trivedi, Project Director.
The Council plans to train around 200 scientists for the programme and two
scientists each will be put in charge of the institutions across the country.
Plans are afoot to begin community radios for sharing agriculture and
technology
related information with the rural population.
Media centres will also be set up from where research information from any
of the sister institutes could be gathered. The effort is to reach wider
sections of the society. The weakness in the marketing of technologies
developed
in the research institutions will also be addressed, said Dr. Trivedi during an
interaction with media persons here on Monday.
The Council has also started recruiting research associates with journalism
and mass communication background. Two research associates have been appointed
in New Delhi, he said. Though there has been a long delay in filling up the
vacancies of scientists in various research institutions of the Council,
recruitment process has started. Nearly 1000 scientists will soon be appointed
and the remaining vacancies would be filled up, he said.
The agro information programme is being implemented in association with
nine research institutions of the Council including the Central Marine
Fisheries
Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi and the Central Institute for Fisheries
Technology (CIFT), Prasar Bharathi and media houses.
The Directorate of Information and Publications of Agriculture, New Delhi,
will function as the nodal agency of the programme for which a budgetary
support
of Rs. 44. crore has been made.
CMFRI Director G. Syda Rao, CIFT Director B. Meenakumai, and S. Ashaletha,
S. Balasubramaniam and V. Geethalakshmi, scientists of the CIFT associated with
the project spoke.
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