What is Community Radio?

Community radio is a local broadcasting system which is own and managed by the local Community and is meant for serving a limited geographical area of around 10km radius. It serves as a simple, efficient cost effective development communication tool to reach out to the people in the locality, with locally made programmes. The programme can range from issue on health. Education, environment, agriculture, social development to entertainment. Community Radio provides programmes that have relevance to the taste of the local audience.
(K. Rajaseharan, K. M. Nafala, Digital archiving of audio content Using WINSIS and greenstone software, A manual for community radio managers, Unesco, 2009. Page 16)

A community radio station is one that is operated in the community, for the community, about the community and by the community. The community can be territorial or geographical - a township, village, district or island. It can also be a group of people with common interests, Who are not necessarily living in one defined territory consequently, community radio can be managed or controlled by one group, by combined groups, or of people such as women, children, farmers, fisher folk, ethnic groups, or senior citizens. What distinguishes community radio from other media is the high level of people’s participation, both in management and program production aspects. Furthermore, individual community members and local institutions are the principal sources of support for its operation.
(How to do community Radio, A Primer for Community Radio Operators, Louie Tabing, 2002, UNESCO, Page - 9)

Community radio is the modern means of communication for social communication. It falls under general means of mass communication. Community broadcasting is such a process whereby individuals indulge in interaction with each other to achieve collective objectives. There is action-oriented relationship between individuals involved in interaction while there is mutual friendship and attachment. Similar geographical, cultural and natural settings tend to bring them closer emotionally while chasing common objectives. The main common link for coexistence is sentiments, needs and localness. They are never competing with each other; they coexist. All are habituated to work in groups.
(Community Radio: Principles & Prospects, Raghu Mainali, First Edition 2008, Radio Knowledge Centre, Community Radio Support Centre (CRSC)/ Nepal and Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ) , The Netherlands, Page 16)

Community radio is a social process or event in which members of the community associate Together to design programmes and produce and air them, thus taking on the primary role of actors in their own destiny, whether this be for something as common as mending fences in the neighborhood, or a community-wide campaign on how to use clean water and keep it clean, or agitation for the election of new local leaders.The emphasis is on the ownership of democratic and development efforts by the members of the community themselves and the use of media, in this case radio, to achieve it. In every sense, this is participatory communication… It is above all a process, not a technology, not merely a means…[It is] the community speaking to each other and acting together for common goals.
Carlos Arnaldo quoted in Community Radio Handbook by Colin Fraser and Sonia Restrepo, UNESCO, Paris 2001.

A community radio station is independent of government, donor’s advertisers or other institutions. This does not mean that it does not have official relations with these institutions or that it cannot receive funding from them, but the nature of their relations must be governed by clear and transparent agreements that guarantee the non-partisan community-service nature of the radio project, while operating within the boundaries defined by the law and by the constitution/guiding principles of the station. The station exists to serve its community and thus cannot be independent of the community itself. Transparent governance structures, such as an elected board of governors, ensure that the station is responsive to community needs and interests.
(The Potential for Community Radio in Afghanistan, Report of a fact-finding mission to Afghanistan, , 2002, Pages- 4)

Community radio is constituted as a not-for-profit (nor for loss) operation. It is intended to serve specific communities, either geographically-based or communities of interest. It has a management structure that is representative of the community that the station is designed to serve and to which it should therefore be accountable. It provides programming that is relevant to the community being served, with emphasis on local content and community empowerment.
Community radio actively involves community members in its operations – both as audience members and as participants.

The praxis of community radio is about generating and sustaining social capital. Social capital is the ability of people to work together for common purposes in groups and organizations. It is vital to economic life since economic activity requires social collaboration. Social capital creates the possibility for community development but is also a key product of community development.
By - W. Jayaweera, Director, Division for Communication Development, UNESCO, Paris
(Raghu Mainali, Yadab Chapagain, Bikram Subba, Community radio performance assessment system, 2009, CRSC / NEFEJ, Kathmandu)

Community Radio definition as provided in the guidelines of Ministry of Information

The various definitions of community radio that have been formulated share many common elements. The simple and catchy phrase, ‘Radio by the people and for the people’ is often used as a good summary. This phrase captures well the essential principle that must be in place for a broadcasting service to be considered true community radio. It must firstly, be managed by the community; secondly, be to serve that community. Strict application of these two principles would mean that a radio station owned by a non-profit NGO and also managed by that NGO would not necessarily qualify as a true community radio, even if much of its programming were aimed at community development.

This is the case for many broadcasting services run by religious organizations, and in practice the term ‘community radio’ is often used to cover this type of operation as well. One example is Radio Maria, which beginning from a single parish in Northern Italy in 1983 now covers all of Italy and also has stations in 21 other countries. It is essentially an evangelical operation, but it also does a great deal in social services and community development, using volunteers and supported by spontaneous contributions from listeners. The somewhat confusing situation Regarding what constitutes true community radio can perhaps best be understood by considering the following quotation; this sums up a philosophical approach that makes community radio different from commercial or public-service radio. “Community radio emphasizes that it is not commercial and does not share what it would call the prescriptive and paternalistic attitude of public-service broadcasting… The key difference is that while the commercial and public service models both treat listeners as objects, to be captured for advertisers or to be improved and informed, community radio aspires to treat its listeners as subjects and participants.”
(Community Radio Handbook, Colin Fraser and Sonia Restrepo Estrada, UNESCO 2001, Page – 9)