http://www.newkerala.com/oct.php?action=fullnews&id=557
South India Community Media Network Forum formed Puducherry, Sep 15 : The 'South India Community Media Network Forum' has been formed in a two-day workshop to promote awareness about the relevance of community media in a world of digital divide, which concluded at Auroville near here yesterday. Organisations such as Dhan Foundation (Tamil Nadu), Voices (Karnataka), Space (Kerala) and NCKRC (Puducherry), among others, have come together to form the Forum. The Forum, in a resolution to be forwarded to the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry, urged the Centre to revoke the ban on news and current affairs in community radio to promote dissemination of local news. It resolved to strengthen community media initiatives, including community radio, and urged the Centre to simplify the licence application process and bring parity between community radio and campus radio. The Forum noted that even though a year had passed since the Centre endorsed the guidelines, enabling community radio to become a reality in India, while the grassroot communities have not been able to get community radio station off the ground. In sharp contrast, campus radio had been operational since 2000. --- UNI
