From media at web.net Tue Dec 2 13:40:57 2008 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 03:10:57 -0500 (EST) Subject: [cr-india] =?iso-8859-1?q?Internews=AE_Network_JOB=3A_Kabul=2C_Af?= =?iso-8859-1?q?ghanistan?= Message-ID: <49828.216.108.22.182.1228205457.squirrel@flymail.web.net> Employment Program Manager - Afghanistan Location: Kabul, Afghanistan Application Deadline: 3 December 2008. http://www.internews.org/about/employment/overseas/job_0202o.shtm Background: Internews® Network is an international media development organization based in Arcata, CA and Washington, DC whose mission is to empower people worldwide with the news and information they need, the ability to connect, and the means to make their voices heard. General Function: Under the supervision of the Country Director, performs high level tasks and manages various departments in the Internews Afghanistan country office; coordinates with partner organizations in the NGO and media sectors. Application Deadline: 3 December 2008. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: * Provide management and programmatic support for multiple country projects * Oversee sub-grantee program, including sub-grantee financial management * Supervise radio network coordination activity * Track and coordinate all program reporting requirements, liaise with donors and write reports as required * Assist in future project development and submission writing * Undertake outreach activities * Assist in the recruitment and support to consultant and other technical support brought to the project on an as needed basis. QUALIFICATIONS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential task. * 3+ years programmatic experience in development sector/or relevant advanced degree * Radio or media project experience preferred * Outstanding coordination skills and patience * Grants management and acquittal skills required * Excellent communication skills * Proficient in MS Office and Excel * Experience managing databases and/or large quantities of complex information * Ability to prioritize and handle multiple on-going assignments * Relevant university degree required * Logistics and procurement experience an advantage * Local language skills preferred * Understanding USAID rules and regulations an advantage * High level of comfort working in challenging environments; flexible with changing circumstances TO APPLY Interested candidates meeting the qualifications should forward a cover letter and resume to 876-in(at) internews (dot) org (re-write in standard format), placing “PM – AF – in” in the subject line. Application Deadline: 3 December 2008. EOE M/F/D/V From venniyoor at gmail.com Fri Dec 5 13:29:28 2008 From: venniyoor at gmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2008 13:29:28 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] update on community radio stations in India Message-ID: <5479ae440812042359m356f3195j83dbd3d6a2ad7e02@mail.gmail.com> According to the latest (30 Nov 2008) figures, the ministry of Information & broadcasting has received 297 CR license applications, including 141 from NGOs and CBOs, 105 from educational institutions and 51 from agricultural universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras. 107 Letters of Intent have been issued, and 13 Grant of Permission Agreements (GOPA) have been signed. There are currently 38 operational community radio stations in the country, of which two are run by NGOs and the rest by educational institutions. The list is appended. These lists will be posted on the the ministry's website shortly: www.mib.nic.in/crs/crsmainpg.htm Sajan LIST OF OPERATIONAL CR STATIONS (30 NOV 2008) ** 1. Sri Venketswara Oriental College, Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh 2. Sri Vishnu Engineering College for Women,Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh 3. Deccan Development Society, Hydrabad, Andhra Pradesh 4. Indian Institute of Business Management, Patna, Bihar 5. Vivek High School, Chandigarh 6. AJK Mass Communication Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi 7. Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi 8. Jagan Institute of Management Studies, Rohini, New Delhi 9. Jagannath International Management School, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 10. University of Delhi, Delhi 11. Sardar Patel University,Vallab Vidyanagar, Gujarat 12. Mudra Instt. of Communication, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 13. University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka 14. Sri Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College, Bangalore, Karnataka 15. DC School of Management & Technology, Kottayam, Kerala 16. The Society for Development Alternatives, New Delhi at Orchha, Madhya Pradesh 17. Vidya Pratisthan's Institute of Information Technology, Baramati, Pune, Maharashtra 18. Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra 19. Film & TV Institute of India, Pune, Maharashtra 20. Sri Manakula Vinayagar Engineering College, Pondicherry 21. Guru Nanak Girls College, Ludhiana, Punjab 22. Banasthali Vidyapeeth, Banasthali.Rajasthan 23. India International Institute of Management, Jaipur, Rajasthan 24. Eminent T.T. Girls College, Diggi, Malpura, Distt.- Tonk, Rajasthan 25. Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 26. Kongu Engineering College, Erode , Tamil Nadu 27. MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 28. Erode Sengunthar Engg. College, Erode, Tamil Nadu 29. Holy Cross College, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu 30. Loyola College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 31. Peace Industrial School, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu 32. PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 33. Aditanar College of Arts & Science, Virapandianpatnam, Tiruchendur, Tamilnadu 34. Sunbeam English School, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 35. City Montessori School, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 36. CMS Degree College, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 37. P.G.College, Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh 38. Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081205/bc0b2a26/attachment.html From fred at bytesforall.org Tue Dec 16 17:11:31 2008 From: fred at bytesforall.org (=?UTF-8?Q?Frederick_Noronha?= =?UTF-8?Q?_[=E0=A5=9E=E0=A4=B0?= =?UTF-8?Q?=E0=A5=87=E0=A4=A6=E0=A4=B0=E0=A4=BF=E0=A4=95?= =?UTF-8?Q?_=E0=A4=A8=E0=A5=8B=E0=A4=B0?= =?UTF-8?Q?=E0=A5=8B=E0=A4=A8=E0=A4=AF=E0=A4=BE]?=) Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:11:31 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] FM radio, music industry out of tune on royalty Message-ID: <8ea78e010812160341x74c21bcbwde32ff11771fddab@mail.gmail.com> FM radio, music industry out of tune on royalty Ashish Sinha / New Delhi December 16, 2008, 0:00 IST Matter to come before copyright board on January 28. The battle between music companies and FM radio channels over royalty payments has come out in the open with last-minute mediation by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) failing to break the deadlock. Music companies, already fighting rampant piracy, are demanding a doubling of music royalty fees (from the current Rs 660 per hour of music played) that FM radio firms pay. They have also demanded that radio channels treat sound recording rights and rights in musical lyrical works (tunes are copied by radio) as two separate sets of rights and playing them without a licence would amount to copyright infringement. India's 250-plus FM radio stations across 90 towns, represented by the Association of Radio Operators in India (AROI), pay royalty to the Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL), which represents 160 music companies like Saregama India, Sony BMG Music, Universal Music, Tips Industries, Venus Records & Tapes and others. AROI said the current formula means that FM radio operators end up paying 15 to 50 per cent of their annual revenue as music royalty fees, significantly above global benchmarks of 2 to 3 per cent. Overall, the industry earns annual revenues of Rs 550 crore of which about Rs 100 crore is paid as music royalty. Sources said AROI may propose possible solutions like the royalty fee payment based on population of a city, genre of music played by the stations and fees based on 2 to 4 per cent of the annual revenue the stations generate. "The I&B ministry wanted both sides to talk and reach some sort of an understanding on music royalty fees. But that did not happen," said Apurva Purohit, president, AROI, and CEO, Radio City 91.1 FM. "Now the matter will be heard by the Copyright Board on January 28 where individual radio companies will present their case," she added. The Rs 750-crore music industry is also demanding action against about 100 FM stations, saying they have gone on air without taking licences from the music societies or from the individual copyright owners, violating music copyrights. "The music industry firmly believes that the government should not support such violators of copyrights and must take action to support the music industry survive in these difficult days," says a senior executive of Indian Music Industry (IMI). -- FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org Blog: http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com Tech links from South Asia: http://twitter.com/fn M: +91-9822122436 P: +91-832-2409490 From ceo at bnnrc.net Sat Dec 13 09:41:07 2008 From: ceo at bnnrc.net (AHM. Bazlur Rahman) Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2008 10:11:07 +0600 Subject: [cr-india] Community Radio in Election Manifesto of Bangladesh Awami League NINETH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS-2008: A Charter for Change Message-ID: <026d01c95cd8$d4e9e740$80640a0a@ceo> Community Radio Services in Election Manifesto of Bangladesh Awami League NINTH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS-2008 A Charter for Change Awami League President Sheikh Hasina yesterday (12 December, 2008) unveiled her party's election manifesto titled Charter for Change. Community Radio services has already included in Charter for Change under the Freedom of mass media and information. 19. Freedom of mass media and information 19.1 The freedom of all types of mass media and flow of information will be ensured. Initiatives will be taken for community radio services, besides national radio network. 19.2 Investigation and trial of assassination of all journalists will be made expeditiously and the real criminals will be given exemplary punishment. Persecution and intimidation of journalists will be stopped. All false cases against them will be withdrawn. 19.3 Discrimination in distribution of advertisements on partisan consideration shall be discontinued, and development of the newspaper as an industry will be aided. For happy reading http://www.albd.org/autoalbd/content/view/367/ With best regards, Bazlu _______________________ AHM. Bazlur Rahman-S21BR Chief Executive Officer Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication(BNNRC) & Member, Strategy Council UN-Global Alliance for ICT and Development (UN GAID) House: 13/1, Road:2, Shaymoli, Dhaka-1207 Post Box: 5095, Dhaka 1205 Bangladesh Phone: 88-02-9130750, 88-02-9138501 01711881647 Fax: 88-02-9138501-105 E-mail: ceo at bnnrc.net, bnnrc at bd.drik.net www.bnnrc.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081213/7816666f/attachment.html From arti at trfindia.org Tue Dec 16 18:14:14 2008 From: arti at trfindia.org (Arti Jaiman) Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:44:14 -0800 (PST) Subject: [cr-india] FM radio, music industry out of tune on royalty In-Reply-To: <8ea78e010812160341x74c21bcbwde32ff11771fddab@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <886150.10055.qm@web1103.biz.mail.sk1.yahoo.com> I have a question relating to the lyrics and sound rights you have mentioned. Since we work with children, some of them wanted to go on air on their CR singing their favourite Hindi movie songs. Where do we stand on the copyright front there? Is this acceptable to air? Thanks Arti Arti Jaiman Project Manager: TRF Radio arti at trfindia.org www.trfindia.org www.jaiman.org www.pitara.com --- On Tue, 16/12/08, Frederick Noronha [फ़रेद wrote: From: Frederick Noronha [फ़रेद Subject: [cr-india] FM radio, music industry out of tune on royalty To: "CR India" Date: Tuesday, 16 December, 2008, 5:11 PM FM radio, music industry out of tune on royalty Ashish Sinha / New Delhi December 16, 2008, 0:00 IST Matter to come before copyright board on January 28. The battle between music companies and FM radio channels over royalty payments has come out in the open with last-minute mediation by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) failing to break the deadlock. Music companies, already fighting rampant piracy, are demanding a doubling of music royalty fees (from the current Rs 660 per hour of music played) that FM radio firms pay. They have also demanded that radio channels treat sound recording rights and rights in musical lyrical works (tunes are copied by radio) as two separate sets of rights and playing them without a licence would amount to copyright infringement. India's 250-plus FM radio stations across 90 towns, represented by the Association of Radio Operators in India (AROI), pay royalty to the Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL), which represents 160 music companies like Saregama India, Sony BMG Music, Universal Music, Tips Industries, Venus Records & Tapes and others. AROI said the current formula means that FM radio operators end up paying 15 to 50 per cent of their annual revenue as music royalty fees, significantly above global benchmarks of 2 to 3 per cent. Overall, the industry earns annual revenues of Rs 550 crore of which about Rs 100 crore is paid as music royalty. Sources said AROI may propose possible solutions like the royalty fee payment based on population of a city, genre of music played by the stations and fees based on 2 to 4 per cent of the annual revenue the stations generate. "The I&B ministry wanted both sides to talk and reach some sort of an understanding on music royalty fees. But that did not happen," said Apurva Purohit, president, AROI, and CEO, Radio City 91.1 FM. "Now the matter will be heard by the Copyright Board on January 28 where individual radio companies will present their case," she added. The Rs 750-crore music industry is also demanding action against about 100 FM stations, saying they have gone on air without taking licences from the music societies or from the individual copyright owners, violating music copyrights. "The music industry firmly believes that the government should not support such violators of copyrights and must take action to support the music industry survive in these difficult days," says a senior executive of Indian Music Industry (IMI). -- FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org Blog: http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com Tech links from South Asia: http://twitter.com/fn M: +91-9822122436 P: +91-832-2409490 _______________________________________________ cr-india mailing list cr-india at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081216/181ab6b1/attachment-0001.html From arti at trfindia.org Tue Dec 16 18:17:08 2008 From: arti at trfindia.org (Arti Jaiman) Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:47:08 -0800 (PST) Subject: [cr-india] Rate Cards for advertising on air Message-ID: <557184.23118.qm@web1112.biz.mail.sk1.yahoo.com> Since many CR stations are grappling with workable ad rates, here are some rate cards from private FM channels, including their rates for towns as small as Hisar. Hope this helps. Arti -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081216/4dad23c7/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: Rate Card - BIG FM 92.7.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 1917850 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081216/4dad23c7/attachment-0001.pdf From media at web.net Thu Dec 11 20:37:35 2008 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:07:35 -0500 (EST) Subject: [cr-india] The Radio Conference 2009: A Transnational Forum Message-ID: <49487.216.108.22.182.1229008055.squirrel@flymail.web.net> Surely many staff and volunteers in our family will have ideas to submit for this conference coming up! Kevin -- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kevin Matthews National Campus and Community Radio Association l'Association nationale des radios étudiantes at communautaires www.ncra.ca . 1 866 859 8086 . 613 321 1440 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Nan Rubin Date: Tue, Dec 9, 2008 at 11:49 AM Subject: [grc] The Radio Conference 2009: A Transnational Forum To: WBAIStaffNotices at yahoogroups.com, WBAIProducers at yahoogroups.com, grc at peak.org, stubblefield at prometheusradio.org The Radio Conference 2009: A Transnational Forum Location: York University, Toronto, Canada, Dates: July 27-30th, 2009 This conference – the fifth transnational forum – aims to continue the work of Sussex 2001, Madison, Wisconsin 2003 Melbourne 2005 and Lincoln 2007 to bring together scholars, practitioners, and students of radio to share ideas and perspectives on radio's cultural role in an increasingly global media context. We welcome proposals and abstracts for papers, panels, and symposia on all aspects of radio – historical, cultural, critical, and institutional – including investigations of the changing form and content of radio and its associated audio media. Preference will be given to papers and panels which report on current empirical research, introduce innovations in learning and teach ing strategies, or engagement with key areas of theory or debate in radio studies. You may submit proposals for individual papers, pre-constituted panels, or symposia. Papers should be in English primarily. Should there be sufficient interest, French and/or bilingual panels may be formed. See our website at http://theradioconference2009.apps01.yorku.ca/ for information and instructions on how to submit your proposal. Information about keynote speakers, accommodation, travel, helpful links, and the conference schedule will be posted when available. Submission deadlines Abstracts deadline is Friday 30th January 2009 and decisions will be20communicated before Tuesday 30 March 2009. If you have a particular need for an earlier decision please explain why in your submission. Please send a 250 to 300 word abstract, brief author's biography and contact information to Anne MacLennan at radio09 at yorku.ca (radio zero nine at yorku.ca). The conference is jointly sponsored by the York University, Toronto and the Radio Studies Network. The proposals will be peer reviewed by a panel of international scholars including: Gail Philips, Murdoch University, Australia Per Jauert, University of Aarhus, Denmark Ken Garner, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK David Hendy, University of Westminster, UK Paul Moore, University of Ulster, UK Michael Keith, Boston College, USA Peter Lewis, London Metropolitan University, UK Anne Dunn, University of Sydney, Australia David Goodman, University of Melbourne, Australia Hugh Chignell, Bournemouth University, UK Eric Rothenbuhler, Texas A&M University, USA Kate Lacey, University of Sussex, UK Russell Johnston, Brock University, Canada Jeff Webb, Memorial University, Canada Len Kuffert, University of Manitoba, Canada Organizing Committe Anne MacLennan (York University, Canada; Joint chair) Tim Wall (Birmingham City University, UK; Joint chair) Michele Hilmes (University of Wisconsin - Madison, USA) John Tebbutt (Latrobe University, Melbourne, Australia) Please contact radio09 at yorku.ca to submit abstracts and for further information. You may also post questions and comments that you think will be generally useful at http://theradioconference2009.apps01.yorku.ca/ . Information will be regularly updated. * * * * * Nan Rubin Community Media Services 4700 Broadway #2J NYC NY 10040 USA 212-569-3391 http://www.nanrubin.com "Plan your escape..." ________________________________ Listen to 350+ music, sports, & news radio stations – including songs for the holidays – FREE while you browse. Start Listening Now! -- The Journey is the Destination. From media at web.net Thu Dec 11 20:24:21 2008 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:54:21 -0500 (EST) Subject: [cr-india] Global kids radio seeks cooperation, contributions Message-ID: <49355.216.108.22.182.1229007261.squirrel@flymail.web.net> Global kids radio seeks cooperation, contributions A German-based youth radio program for kids ages 3 -13 worldwide called Radijojo is inviting radio journalists from around the world to contribute and become part of its network. Radijojo, which invites children to make their own shows, currently produces educational and cultural content with the contributions of schools, communities, radio stations and child projects from countries in five continents. Programs are focused on early music education, transnational understanding, health education, ethics, environmental education, science programs, language learning, promotion of peace, political awareness, children's literature, etc. Interested journalists should contribute radio productions in English, French, Spanish or German. Technical support is also needed for regional parts of the network, such as local radio stations and children projects. To learn more, go to From media at web.net Tue Dec 16 09:52:20 2008 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:22:20 -0500 (EST) Subject: [cr-india] Campus-based community radio station CKDU in Halifax is hiring a Program Director! Message-ID: <49721.216.108.22.182.1229401340.squirrel@flymail.web.net> ------------------------ -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [ncramembers] Please post widely: CKDU in Halifax is hiring a Program Director! Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:49:38 -0400 From: David Parker CKDU Please post this job far and wide. thanks for your help, in solidarity, david parker spoken word coordinator CKDU 88.1 FM in Halifax CKDU 88.1 FM IS HIRING A PROGRAM DIRECTOR! CKDU-FM is the non-profit campus-based community radio station at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. CKDU is mandated to provide an alternative to private and public broadcasters, providing a forum for diverse and under-represented voices, music and news. The station broadcasts within the Halifax region 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and is run by more than 200 volunteers. Nature of the Job The Program Director is responsible for the programming schedule at CKDU. Specifically this involves coordination of volunteer programmers and the development of new programming initiatives. The Program Director ensures that the station adheres to CKDU policies, CRTC regulations and CKDU's promise of performance in regards to programming. Applicable Skills The Program Director must understand and work within CRTC programming requirements and CKDU's promise of performance. Past experience with community organizations and a demonstrated ability to work with volunteers are essential. The Director must be supportive of a wide variety of cultural, musical and political expressions, and be able to discern which program proposals best match current station needs. Practical experience in both musical and spoken word programming and production would be beneficial. The Director must also possess effective administration skills. The Program Director should have a strong level of comfort working with computers and be proficient with software that includes (but is not limited to) email clients, web browsers, file transfer applications and word processing. Knowledge of and proficiency with HTML and databases are assets. Familiarity with digital audio and the Linux OS are also assets. Salary: $15.75/hour Terms: 32 hours/week Applying: Application deadline: 5:00PM AST, Friday, January 2, 2009 Submit a resume with a cover letter in person, by mail or pasted into the body of an email (we will not accept or open email attachments) to: Program Director Hiring Committee c/o CKDU - FM 6136 University Ave. Halifax, NS B3H 4J2 or hiringcommittee at ckdu.ca We regret that we cannot accept submissions via fax at this time. While we appreciate all applications, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls please. CKDU is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from minority and under-represented groups. -- David Parker Spoken Word Coordinator CKDU 88.1 FM 6136 University Ave. 4th Floor Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4J2 Tel: (902) 494-2585 www.ckdu.ca -- . . . . . . . . . . . . . -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081215/e1563f77/attachment.html From nicheant at gmail.com Sat Dec 13 06:26:24 2008 From: nicheant at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?Nishant_?= =?UTF-8?Q?|_=E0=A4=A8=E0=A4=BF=E0=A4=B6=E0=A4=BE=E0=A4=81=E0=A4=A4?=) Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2008 06:26:24 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Dec. 12, 1896: Marconi Demos Radio Message-ID: <4439ee330812121656h152fdeechb073aa5f6fd293af@mail.gmail.com> Dec. 12, 1896: Marconi Demos Radio Dec. 12, 1901: Marconi Transmits Across Atlantic Inventor Guglielmo Marconi took wireless telegraphy from across-the-room demo to across-the-ocean success in just five years. Dec. 12: Inventor Guglielmo Marconi amazes a London assemblage in 1896 with a demonstration of wireless communication across a room. Five years later to the date, Marconi sends the first signal across an ocean. Marconi was the son of an Italian country gentleman and Irish whiskey heiress Anne Jameson. He took an early interest in physics, especially electricity. His neighbor in Bologna, physics professor Augusto Righi, encouraged Marconi to study the work of Heinrich Hertz. In the attic of his villa, Marconi replicated Hertz's experiments on "Hertzian waves," detecting sparks in one circuit with another circuit a few meters away. By 1895 the young man extended the range to 2 kilometers. Marconi tried to interest the Italian Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs in transmitting messages without wires, but the burocrati weren't buying. In England, however, a maternal cousin introduced Marconi to William Henry Preece, engineer-in-chief of the British post office. Preece had studied as a graduate student under Michael Faraday and was working with his own wireless devices as early as 1892. He arranged for a demonstration of Marconi's advanced apparatus at Toynbee Hall, a center of social reform in East London. The post-office engineer advertised the event and invited the press. Press is the operative word, because there were obviously no electronic media yet. Marconi tapped a telegraph key in one part of the room, and Preece walked around with a receiver box. Every time Marconi hit the key, a bell rang. Look, Ma: no wires! Tickle me, Guglielmo. The crowd was impressed. Marconi was 22 years old. Marconi received the world's first patent for a system of wireless telegraphy. He founded what would become the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company in 1897 and opened the world's first radio factory at Chelmsford, England, in 1898. The young inventor kept working on improvements. He sent radio signals a distance of 12 miles in 1897 and across the English Channel (21 miles) in 1899. The following year, he received the famous patent No. 7777 for "tuned or syntonic telegraphy." The concept was fundamental: Use different frequencies to allow simultaneous transmissions without interfering with one another. The improved signal quality also increased the range of radio transmission. Still, there was the issue of the curvature of the Earth. Many people believed that would limit radio to local use. Marconi set out to prove them wrong. And that he did. Assistants telegraphed a prearranged signal, the letter S (three clicks in Morse Code), from Poldhu in Cornwall, southwestern England, to Marconi at Signal Hill, St. John's, Newfoundland, at 4:30 a.m. GMT on Dec. 12, 1901. (An attempt the previous night had failed when a windstorm knocked down the antenna, which was held aloft by a balloon.) By sending a signal more than 2,100 miles across the Atlantic, Marconi convincingly demonstrated the practicality of worldwide wireless communication. And in 1909, he shared the Nobel Prize for physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun of Germany, whose modifications to Marconi's transmitters made them strong enough to be practical. Marconi predicted the advent of radar in a lecture to the American Institute of Radio Engineers in 1922. His own research progressed from short-wave radio to microwaves, and in 1932 he opened the world's first microwave radiotelephone link. It connected Vatican City with the pope's summer palace at Castel Gandolfo. Marconi actively supported and then served in Benito Mussolini's Fascist government of Italy. Mussolini rewarded him in 1929 with the noble title of marchese, and when Marconi died in 1937, Mussolini gave him a state funeral. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/12/dayintech_1212 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081213/ddd94ac4/attachment.html From venniyoor at gmail.com Wed Dec 17 15:16:41 2008 From: venniyoor at gmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:16:41 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] FM radio, music industry out of tune on royalty In-Reply-To: <5479ae440812162233g42456e29k5869153cf29b0775@mail.gmail.com> References: <8ea78e010812160341x74c21bcbwde32ff11771fddab@mail.gmail.com> <886150.10055.qm@web1103.biz.mail.sk1.yahoo.com> <5479ae440812162233g42456e29k5869153cf29b0775@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <5479ae440812170146i6cdb3dcey1b346bb760b86ac5@mail.gmail.com> On 12/16/08, Arti Jaiman wrote: > Since we work with children, some of them wanted to go on air on their CR > singing their favourite Hindi movie songs. Where do we stand on the > copyright front there? Is this acceptable to air? > > This is an IPRS issue (as in Indian Performing Rights, not Intellectual Property Rights), and according to the Society, your children have the right to sing their favourite movie songs without payment only if the lyricist has been dead for 60 years, otherwise "you must first obtain permission from him or from whoever owns the copyright in the composition." I am pretty sure your kids don't have any 60 year old favourite songs. It is widely believed that IPRS rights extend only to music performances in public places (auditoria, restaurants etc), and not to broadcasting. Many broadcasters (including AIR, I'm told) don't recognize the right of IPRS to extort money -- ostensibly on behalf of composers and lyricists -- and the India Today group in fact took IPRS to court and obtained a stay. The ignorance on this subject, especially in government circles, is vast.And it isn't helped by the fact that music royalties and related copyright issues are administered by the Department of Secondary and Higher Education. Sajan On 12/16/08, Arti Jaiman wrote: > > I have a question relating to the lyrics and sound rights you have > mentioned. > > Since we work with children, some of them wanted to go on air on their CR > singing their favourite Hindi movie songs. Where do we stand on the > copyright front there? Is this acceptable to air? > > Thanks > > Arti > > Arti Jaiman Project Manager: TRF Radio arti at trfindia.org www.trfindia.org > www.jaiman.org www.pitara.com > > --- On *Tue, 16/12/08, Frederick Noronha [फ़रेद *wrote: > > From: Frederick Noronha [फ़रेद > Subject: [cr-india] FM radio, music industry out of tune on royalty > To: "CR India" > Date: Tuesday, 16 December, 2008, 5:11 PM > > FM > radio, music industry out of tune on royalty > Ashish Sinha / New Delhi December 16, 2008, 0:00 IST > > Matter to come before copyright board on January 28. > > The battle between music companies and FM radio channels over royalty > > payments has come out in the open with last-minute mediation by the > Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) failing to break the > deadlock. > > Music companies, already fighting rampant piracy, are demanding a > > doubling of music royalty fees (from the current Rs 660 per hour of > music played) that FM radio firms pay. > > They have also demanded that radio channels treat sound recording > rights and rights in musical lyrical works (tunes are copied by radio) > > as two separate sets of rights and playing them without a licence > would amount to copyright infringement. > > India's 250-plus FM radio stations across 90 towns, represented by the > Association of Radio Operators in India > > (AROI), pay royalty to the > Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL), which represents 160 music > companies like Saregama India, Sony BMG Music, Universal Music, Tips > Industries, Venus Records & Tapes and others. > > > AROI said the current formula means that FM radio operators end up > paying 15 to 50 per cent of their annual revenue as music royalty > fees, significantly above global benchmarks of 2 to 3 per cent. > > Overall, the industry earns annual revenues of Rs 550 crore of which > > about Rs 100 crore is paid as music royalty. > > Sources said AROI may propose possible solutions like the royalty fee > payment based on population of a city, genre of music played by the > stations and fees based on 2 to 4 per cent of the annual revenue the > > stations generate. > > "The I&B ministry wanted both sides to talk and reach some sort of an > understanding on music royalty fees. But that did not happen," said > Apurva Purohit, > president, AROI, and CEO, Radio City 91.1 FM. > > > "Now the matter will be heard by the Copyright Board on January 28 > where individual radio companies will present their case," she added. > > The Rs 750-crore music industry is also demanding action against about > > 100 FM stations, saying they have gone on air without taking licences > from the music societies or from the individual copyright owners, > violating music copyrights. > > "The music industry firmly believes that the government should not > > support such violators of copyrights and must take action to support > the music industry survive in these difficult days," says a senior > executive of Indian Music Industry (IMI). > > -- > FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org > > Blog: http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com > Tech links from South Asia: http://twitter.com/fn > > M: +91-9822122436 P: > +91-832-2409490 > _______________________________________________ > cr-india mailing list > cr-india at sarai.net > > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india > > > _______________________________________________ > cr-india mailing list > cr-india at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081217/057d26d2/attachment-0001.html From arti at trfindia.org Wed Dec 17 13:59:55 2008 From: arti at trfindia.org (Arti Jaiman) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:29:55 -0800 (PST) Subject: [cr-india] Podcast on Community Radio in India Message-ID: <886656.83178.qm@web1106.biz.mail.sk1.yahoo.com> This is an excellent podcast on community radio in India, incorporating sound grabs from Namma Dhwani, Bundelkhand, and CRs in Pune, Chennai etc Please visit: http://www.podbharti.com/ Arti Arti Jaiman Project Manager: TRF Radio arti at trfindia.org www.trfindia.org www.jaiman.org www.pitara.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081217/63b6ed84/attachment.html From cinewsletter at unesco.org Wed Dec 17 14:31:26 2008 From: cinewsletter at unesco.org (CI News) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:01:26 +0100 Subject: [cr-india] =?iso-8859-1?q?CI_News=3A_=2218_December_2008=3A_A_=93?= =?iso-8859-1?q?radio_marathon=94_for_International_Migrants_Day=22?= Message-ID: <20081217090706.11095.1224411035.swift@www.unesco-ci.org> Having trouble reading this newsletter? Click Here to see it in your browser. http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27897&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 December 2008: A “radio marathon” for International Migrants Day 16-12-2008 (Paris) For the third consecutive year, on 18 December 2008, Radio 18-12 will be organizing a “global radio marathon” with the support of UNESCO, on the occasion of International Migrants Day. Groups of migrants and radios from over the world will be invited to produce, broadcast and share programmes to celebrate achievements and highlight the struggles of migrants around the world. Since 2000, the international community has indeed chosen 18 December as International Migrants Day in order to enhance their contribution to the development of their host countries and homelands, to promote their rights and to ensure their opinions are heard. In this perspective, the first edition of a huge “radio marathon” was organized in 2006 by Radio 18-12 with the support of UNESCO. It gathered together more than 50 radio stations that broadcasted in more than 25 countries. In 2007, the event had more impact with the participation of 152 radio stations located in 34 countries and 4 continents. For the 2008 edition, Radio 18-12 calls on even more countries, radios, migrants’ organizations and solidarity groups from over the world to participate in this initiative to increase the momentum. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contacts ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source UNESCO ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Related links UNESCO's Social and Human Sciences Sector http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=1396&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html Radio 18-12 http://www.radio1812.net/en UNESCO's programme on International Migration http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=1211&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html --------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- This email was sent to [cr-india at sarai.net] Click Here to instantly unsubscribe: http://www.unesco-ci.org/newsletter/box.php?funcml=unsub2&nl=3&mi=1693&email=cr-india%40sarai.net Click Here to change your preferences: http://www.unesco-ci.org/newsletter/p_m.php?mi=1693&nl=3&ei=Y3ItaW5kaWFAc2FyYWkubmV0&eid=MTQxODYy Communication and Information Sector 1, rue Miollis, 75732 Paris Cedex 15, France + 33.1.4568 4243 http://www.unesco.org/webworld -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081217/e916c14e/attachment.html From media at web.net Wed Dec 17 19:42:23 2008 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:12:23 -0500 (EST) Subject: [cr-india] =?iso-8859-1?q?Lucknow_=2CIndia=3A_=27Community_radio_?= =?iso-8859-1?q?must_earn_revenue=92?= Message-ID: <49213.216.108.22.182.1229523143.squirrel@flymail.web.net> 'Community radio must earn revenue’ Lucknow Newsline - Lucknow,India Lucknow After changing the lives of villagers over the last four years since it was launched in India, the community radio stations across the country will ... From media at web.net Wed Dec 17 19:49:56 2008 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:19:56 -0500 (EST) Subject: [cr-india] Lucknow, India: Community radio could save local dialects Message-ID: <49361.216.108.22.182.1229523596.squirrel@flymail.web.net> Community radio could save local dialects Thaindian.com - Bangkok,Bangkok,Thailand Lucknow, Dec 16 (IANS) Community radio could give a fresh lease of life to local dialects and also help reduce gender inequality, an official of the Uttar ... From media at web.net Sat Dec 13 21:33:49 2008 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:03:49 -0500 (EST) Subject: [cr-india] Dial-A-Stranger Message-ID: <49443.216.108.22.182.1229184229.squirrel@flymail.web.net> About Dial-A-Stranger http://transom.org/home.php/?p=340 Wouldn’t it be great if you were walking down the street and your phone rang? You know what would be even better? If, when you picked up the phone, it wasn’t a telemarketer or someone calling to ask you about your expired car warranty, but two people genuinely interested in your day and the stories you have to tell. That’s what Dial-A-Stranger tries to do–interject a little bit of art, mystery and general excitement into your day. The hosts take questions from listeners, and attempt to find answers to them by asking strangers over the telephone. The results are compiled into a weekly podcast. Mercedes Martinez and Zachary Kent started the show to highlight the stories of everyday people and to be the excitement they wanted to see in the world. In the process of producing the show they have talked to people about a wide range of diverse subjects including tiki conventions, egg donation, Disneyland and bounty hunting. This knowledge would make them much more interesting at the dinner parties they still aren’t invited to. Listen to “Life Savers” http://transom.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/das-life_savers.mp3 Related Links Dial-A-Stranger http://www.dialastranger.com/ From media at web.net Fri Dec 19 03:05:09 2008 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:35:09 -0500 (EST) Subject: [cr-india] Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship Message-ID: <51210.216.108.22.182.1229636109.squirrel@flymail.web.net> Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship Full-time, part-time or freelance journalists working on human rights or social justices issues are eligible for the Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship. Recipients spend nine months in a tailor-made academic research program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During that time, Neuffer fellows may also work with The Boston Globe or The New York Times. The Neuffer Fellowship includes lodging, meals and health insurance. It does not provide a salary or honoraria. * Support Neuffer Fund * Elizabeth Neuffer Biography * Elizabeth Neuffer FAQ http://www.iwmf.org/categorydetail.aspx?c=neuffer From venniyoor at gmail.com Sun Dec 21 14:04:31 2008 From: venniyoor at gmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:04:31 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] FM radio, music industry out of tune on royalty In-Reply-To: <5479ae440812162233g42456e29k5869153cf29b0775@mail.gmail.com> References: <8ea78e010812160341x74c21bcbwde32ff11771fddab@mail.gmail.com> <886150.10055.qm@web1103.biz.mail.sk1.yahoo.com> <5479ae440812162233g42456e29k5869153cf29b0775@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <5479ae440812210034k51172861r9cbd2eff6674af9e@mail.gmail.com> Here's the latest on the battle between FM channels and music companies over copyright and royalty. I like that bit where the Assn of Radio Operators of India (AROI) says that "the levy for different genres of music — like film music, classical music, etc. — should be different." I'd say 'amen' to that, but when was the last time private FM channels gave their listeners a choice between different genres of music? Their next meeting before the Copyright Board is on 28 Jan. Watch this space. Sajan Meeting fails, music war rages Cithara Paul, The Telegraph, 21 Dec 2008 New Delhi, Dec. 20: Radio channels and music companies are still locked in a tussle over royalty despite repeated interventions by the information and broadcasting ministry. The ministry had last week held a meeting with representatives of the warring sides along with the registrar of copyrights to start a fresh process for rationalising royalties. But the meeting, like the several that preceded it, failed to break the deadlock. The matter will now be presented before the Copyright Board on January 28. The squabble began after music companies demanded that royalty fees be doubled from the current rate of Rs 660 per hour. At present, radio channels pay nearly Rs 100 crore as royalty to Phonographic Performance Ltd, which represents major music companies like Saregama India, Sony BMG Music, Universal Music, Tips Industries, Venus Records and Tapes, and others. The Association of Radio Operators in India (AROI), which represents over 250 radio channels, argues that if the music companies' demand is accepted, FM operators will end up paying nearly 50 per cent of their annual revenue as royalty. The two sides have also locked horns over copyright. The music companies say tunes and lyrics should be treated separately and FM channels should take licence for both as playing either without licence amounts to copyright infringement. The AROI says the levy for different genres of music — like film music, classical music, etc. — should be different and the fees should vary according to the revenue generation capacity of channels. "All FM channels should not be weighed on the same scale. There are so many new FM channels coming up. If they have to pay the exorbitant amount the music companies are demanding, they will all be finished," said an AROI official. The music industry has also demanded action against FM stations for copyright violation. Sources said the music company representatives alleged at the meeting that the government was encouraging copyright violation by not punishing the violators. The I&B ministry, however, is hopeful that a compromise will be reached. "The very fact that the warring groups have agreed to sit together once again (on January 28) is itself a big thing given the history of their fight," said a ministry official. Earlier, on May 16, the Supreme Court had said the Copyright Board was the constitutional authority to decide on royalty rates. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081221/jsp/nation/story_10281777.jsp -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 12:03 PM, sajan venniyoor wrote: > On 12/16/08, Arti Jaiman wrote: > >> Since we work with children, some of them wanted to go on air on their CR >> singing their favourite Hindi movie songs. Where do we stand on the >> copyright front there? Is this acceptable to air? >> >> This is an IPRS issue (as in Indian Performing Rights, not Intellectual > Property Rights), and according to the Society, your children have the right > to sing their favourite movie songs without payment only if the lyricist has > been dead for 60 years, otherwise "you must first obtain permission from > him or from whoever owns the copyright in the composition." > > I am pretty sure your kids don't have any 60 year old favourite songs. > > It is widely believed that IPRS rights extend only to music performances in > public places (auditoria, restaurants etc), and not to broadcasting. Many > broadcasters (including AIR, I'm told) don't recognize the right of IPRS > to extort money -- ostensibly on behalf of composers and lyricists -- and > the India Today group in fact took IPRS to court and obtained a stay. > > The ignorance on this subject, especially in government circles, is vast.And it isn't helped by the fact that music royalties and related copyright > issues are administered by the Department of Secondary and Higher Education. > > Sajan > > > On 12/16/08, Arti Jaiman wrote: >> >> I have a question relating to the lyrics and sound rights you have >> mentioned. >> >> Since we work with children, some of them wanted to go on air on their CR >> singing their favourite Hindi movie songs. Where do we stand on the >> copyright front there? Is this acceptable to air? >> >> Thanks >> >> Arti >> >> Arti Jaiman Project Manager: TRF Radio arti at trfindia.org www.trfindia.org >> www.jaiman.org www.pitara.com >> >> --- On *Tue, 16/12/08, Frederick Noronha [फ़रेद *wrote: >> >> From: Frederick Noronha [फ़रेद >> Subject: [cr-india] FM radio, music industry out of tune on royalty >> To: "CR India" >> Date: Tuesday, 16 December, 2008, 5:11 PM >> >> FM >> radio, music industry out of tune on royalty >> Ashish Sinha / New Delhi December 16, 2008, 0:00 IST >> >> Matter to come before copyright board on January 28. >> >> The battle between music companies and FM radio channels over royalty >> >> payments has come out in the open with last-minute mediation by the >> Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) failing to break the >> deadlock. >> >> Music companies, already fighting rampant piracy, are demanding a >> >> doubling of music royalty fees (from the current Rs 660 per hour of >> music played) that FM radio firms pay. >> >> They have also demanded that radio channels treat sound recording >> rights and rights in musical lyrical works (tunes are copied by radio) >> >> as two separate sets of rights and playing them without a licence >> would amount to copyright infringement. >> >> India's 250-plus FM radio stations across 90 towns, represented by the >> Association of Radio Operators in India >> >> (AROI), pay royalty to the >> Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL), which represents 160 music >> companies like Saregama India, Sony BMG Music, Universal Music, Tips >> Industries, Venus Records & Tapes and others. >> >> AROI said the current formula means that FM radio operators end up >> paying 15 to 50 per cent of their annual revenue as music royalty >> fees, significantly above global benchmarks of 2 to 3 per cent. >> >> Overall, the industry earns annual revenues of Rs 550 crore of which >> >> about Rs 100 crore is paid as music royalty. >> >> Sources said AROI may propose possible solutions like the royalty fee >> payment based on population of a city, genre of music played by the >> stations and fees based on 2 to 4 per cent of the annual revenue the >> >> stations generate. >> >> "The I&B ministry wanted both sides to talk and reach some sort of an >> understanding on music royalty fees. But that did not happen," said >> Apurva Purohit, >> president, AROI, and CEO, Radio City 91.1 FM. >> >> "Now the matter will be heard by the Copyright Board on January 28 >> where individual radio companies will present their case," she added. >> >> The Rs 750-crore music industry is also demanding action against about >> >> 100 FM stations, saying they have gone on air without taking licences >> from the music societies or from the individual copyright owners, >> violating music copyrights. >> >> "The music industry firmly believes that the government should not >> >> support such violators of copyrights and must take action to support >> the music industry survive in these difficult days," says a senior >> executive of Indian Music Industry (IMI). >> >> -- >> FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org >> >> Blog: http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com >> Tech links from South Asia: http://twitter.com/fn >> >> M: +91-9822122436 P: >> +91-832-2409490 >> _______________________________________________ >> >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081221/a78597a6/attachment-0001.html From arti at trfindia.org Sun Dec 21 23:08:48 2008 From: arti at trfindia.org (Arti Jaiman) Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2008 09:38:48 -0800 (PST) Subject: [cr-india] FM radio, music industry out of tune on royalty In-Reply-To: <5479ae440812210034k51172861r9cbd2eff6674af9e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <460696.95911.qm@web1104.biz.mail.sk1.yahoo.com> Thanks for these updates, Sajan. This is definitely something that all of us will be glued to. I wonder how is works in other parts of the world? University radio stations in the US play a lot of classical music, and typically have music school graduate students as RJs so that they can bring in some extra info on the music. I'm sure it doesn't cost as much to play that music, as it does, say, popular rock and roll. Arti Arti Jaiman Project Manager: TRF Radio arti at trfindia.org www.trfindia.org www.jaiman.org www.pitara.com --- On Sun, 21/12/08, sajan venniyoor wrote: From: sajan venniyoor Subject: Re: [cr-india] FM radio, music industry out of tune on royalty To: "CR India" Date: Sunday, 21 December, 2008, 2:04 PM Here's the latest on the battle between FM channels and music companies over copyright and royalty.  I like that bit where the Assn of Radio Operators of India (AROI) says that "the levy for different genres of music — like film music, classical music, etc. — should be different." I'd say 'amen' to that, but when was the last time private FM channels gave their listeners a choice between different genres of music? Their next meeting before the Copyright Board is on 28 Jan. Watch this space. Sajan Meeting fails, music war rages Cithara Paul, The Telegraph, 21 Dec 2008 New Delhi, Dec. 20: Radio channels and music companies are still locked in a tussle over royalty despite repeated interventions by the information and broadcasting ministry. The ministry had last week held a meeting with representatives of the warring sides along with the registrar of copyrights to start a fresh process for rationalising royalties. But the meeting, like the several that preceded it, failed to break the deadlock. The matter will now be presented before the Copyright Board on January 28. The squabble began after music companies demanded that royalty fees be doubled from the current rate of Rs 660 per hour. At present, radio channels pay nearly Rs 100 crore as royalty to Phonographic Performance Ltd, which represents major music companies like Saregama India, Sony BMG Music, Universal Music, Tips Industries, Venus Records and Tapes, and others. The Association of Radio Operators in India (AROI), which represents over 250 radio channels, argues that if the music companies' demand is accepted, FM operators will end up paying nearly 50 per cent of their annual revenue as royalty. The two sides have also locked horns over copyright. The music companies say tunes and lyrics should be treated separately and FM channels should take licence for both as playing either without licence amounts to copyright infringement. The AROI says the levy for different genres of music — like film music, classical music, etc. — should be different and the fees should vary according to the revenue generation capacity of channels. "All FM channels should not be weighed on the same scale. There are so many new FM channels coming up. If they have to pay the exorbitant amount the music companies are demanding, they will all be finished," said an AROI official. The music industry has also demanded action against FM stations for copyright violation. Sources said the music company representatives alleged at the meeting that the government was encouraging copyright violation by not punishing the violators. The I&B ministry, however, is hopeful that a compromise will be reached. "The very fact that the warring groups have agreed to sit together once again (on January 28) is itself a big thing given the history of their fight," said a ministry official. Earlier, on May 16, the Supreme Court had said the Copyright Board was the constitutional authority to decide on royalty rates.http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081221/jsp/nation/story_10281777.jsp -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 12:03 PM, sajan venniyoor wrote: On 12/16/08, Arti Jaiman wrote: Since we work with children, some of them wanted to go on air on their CR singing their favourite Hindi movie songs. Where do we stand on the copyright front there? Is this acceptable to air? This is an IPRS issue (as in Indian Performing Rights, not Intellectual Property Rights), and according to the Society, your children have the right to sing their favourite movie songs without payment only if the lyricist has been dead for 60 years, otherwise "you must first obtain permission from him or from whoever owns the copyright in the composition." I am pretty sure your kids don't have any 60 year old favourite songs. It is widely believed that IPRS rights extend only to music performances in public places (auditoria, restaurants etc), and not to broadcasting. Many broadcasters (including AIR, I'm told) don't recognize the right of IPRS to extort money -- ostensibly on behalf of composers and lyricists -- and the India Today group in fact took IPRS to court and obtained a stay. The ignorance on this subject, especially in government circles, is vast. And it isn't helped by the fact that music royalties and related copyright issues are administered by the Department of Secondary and Higher Education. Sajan On 12/16/08, Arti Jaiman wrote: I have a question relating to the lyrics and sound rights you have mentioned. Since we work with children, some of them wanted to go on air on their CR singing their favourite Hindi movie songs. Where do we stand on the copyright front there? Is this acceptable to air? Thanks Arti Arti Jaiman Project Manager: TRF Radio arti at trfindia.org www.trfindia.org www.jaiman.org www.pitara.com --- On Tue, 16/12/08, Frederick Noronha [फ़रेद wrote: From: Frederick Noronha [फ़रेद Subject: [cr-india] FM radio, music industry out of tune on royalty To: "CR India" Date: Tuesday, 16 December, 2008, 5:11 PM FM radio, music industry out of tune on royalty Ashish Sinha / New Delhi December 16, 2008, 0:00 IST Matter to come before copyright board on January 28. The battle between music companies and FM radio channels over royalty payments has come out in the open with last-minute mediation by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) failing to break the deadlock. Music companies, already fighting rampant piracy, are demanding a doubling of music royalty fees (from the current Rs 660 per hour of music played) that FM radio firms pay. They have also demanded that radio channels treat sound recording rights and rights in musical lyrical works (tunes are copied by radio) as two separate sets of rights and playing them without a licence would amount to copyright infringement. India's 250-plus FM radio stations across 90 towns, represented by the Association of Radio Operators in India (AROI), pay royalty to the Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL), which represents 160 music companies like Saregama India, Sony BMG Music, Universal Music, Tips Industries, Venus Records & Tapes and others. AROI said the current formula means that FM radio operators end up paying 15 to 50 per cent of their annual revenue as music royalty fees, significantly above global benchmarks of 2 to 3 per cent. Overall, the industry earns annual revenues of Rs 550 crore of which about Rs 100 crore is paid as music royalty. Sources said AROI may propose possible solutions like the royalty fee payment based on population of a city, genre of music played by the stations and fees based on 2 to 4 per cent of the annual revenue the stations generate. "The I&B ministry wanted both sides to talk and reach some sort of an understanding on music royalty fees. But that did not happen," said Apurva Purohit, president, AROI, and CEO, Radio City 91.1 FM. "Now the matter will be heard by the Copyright Board on January 28 where individual radio companies will present their case," she added. The Rs 750-crore music industry is also demanding action against about 100 FM stations, saying they have gone on air without taking licences from the music societies or from the individual copyright owners, violating music copyrights. "The music industry firmly believes that the government should not support such violators of copyrights and must take action to support the music industry survive in these difficult days," says a senior executive of Indian Music Industry (IMI). -- FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org Blog: http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com Tech links from South Asia: http://twitter.com/fn M: +91-9822122436 P: +91-832-2409490 _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ cr-india mailing list cr-india at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081221/55ccc368/attachment.html From sahil.talwar at skoch.in Tue Dec 23 12:26:25 2008 From: sahil.talwar at skoch.in (sahil talwar) Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:26:25 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Skoch Summit 2009 Message-ID: <20081223065633.9E3702C48003@mail.sarai.net> We are pleased to inform you that the 19th Skoch Summit is scheduled to be organized on January 22-23, 2009 at India Habitat Centre. Skoch Summits have matured over the past 10 years to attract not just government support but also the highest level of national and international corporate support. Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Planning Commission, Ministry of Human Resource Development and National Institute of Rural Development are co-organizers for the Summit. Similar support is expected from National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Urban Development and several public sector as well as private sector organizations and multilateral agencies. India: Challenges and Policy Response As India recovers from the horror and tragedy of the Mumbai incident, the criticality of dovetailing security and emergency responses into the economic and development growth scenarios has never been greater. The two-day conference will focus on the challenges faced by India and the desired policy responses. The key content includes: * Security and Disaster Management o A Technology Response to Terror o Planning for Disaster Reduction o Services for the next decade o Learnings from Global Best Practices o State of States o Cyber-Security * Gearing up Power Sector * Information Enabled Economic Inclusion: Telecentre 2.0 * Education & Employability - Capacity is King * Next 5 Years of e-Governance * Thinkers and Writers Forum Distinguished speakers and domain experts would lead the discussions that can be greatly enriched through erudite participants and practitioners such as you. The summit will see unprecedented participation from top-level representatives from national and international organizations, institutions and companies. Your office may wish to pre-register you on our website or through e-mail to help us send you a formal invitation and confirm your participation. This will also help our staff to determine availability and possibility of a complimentary registration for you. The Summit is being held on 22nd -23rd January 2009 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. You may visit www.challengers.in for further details and program schedule. There are limited seats and there will be no spot registration. Thanks & Regards Sahil Talwar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081223/46ceb2e2/attachment-0001.html From nram at ideosyncmedia.org Tue Dec 23 20:28:07 2008 From: nram at ideosyncmedia.org (N.Ramakrishnan) Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:28:07 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] New CRS in Gulbarga, A.P. Message-ID: <4950FC7F.5010204@ideosyncmedia.org> Hi, if there are any people from Sharanbasaveshwar Vidya Vardhak Sangha on this group already, do let us know a little more about your organization and how you're going about preparing for and setting up your CRS. We'd love to know more. Ramakrishnan ***************** Andhra district to have community radio soon Gulbarga district in Andhra Pradesh will soon have a community radio station which would empower the region particularly women, farmers and students Published on e-Gov newsletter 12/23/2008 1:49:52 PM *New Delhi: *People of the Gulbarga district in Andhra Pradesh would soon be getting a community radio station which will help them in socio-economic and cultural development of the area. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has signed an agreement for establishing, maintaining and operating a Community Radio Station (CRS) with the Sharanbasaveshwar Vidya Vardhak Sangha, a Gulbarga-based non-governmental organisation (NGO). As per the agreement, the CRS is expected to be operational at within three months. With this, the number of CRS will increase to 39 in India. The community radio station would provide an opportunity to the local communities to express themselves, share their views and particularly empower the women, youth and marginalized groups to take part in local self governance and overall socio-economic and cultural development of the area. It will also better inform the society about the developmental initiatives of the government and promote transparency in the implementation of the schemes, the Ministry said in a statement. Sharanbasaveshwar Vidya Vardhak Sangha has service oriented patronage for the welfare of all sections of the society, education of the youth more particularly of girls, uplift of women and much more. The CRS will serve the communities in the region, particularly girls, women, farmers and students and empower them. *************** -- N.Ramakrishnan Director of Projects Ideosync Media Combine 177, Ashoka Enclave III Sector 35, Faridabad - 121003 Haryana - India Tel: +91-0129-4131883/6510156/2254395/2254396 (Prefix 95129- from Delhi) Telfax: +91-0129-2254395 (Prefix 95129- from Delhi) Mobile: +91-9810273883 Email: nram at ideosyncmedia.org From vpavarala at gmail.com Wed Dec 24 09:53:57 2008 From: vpavarala at gmail.com (Vinod Pavarala) Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 09:53:57 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] New CRS in Gulbarga, A.P. In-Reply-To: <4950FC7F.5010204@ideosyncmedia.org> References: <4950FC7F.5010204@ideosyncmedia.org> Message-ID: For the record, Gulbarga district is part of Karnataka, not Andhra Pradesh! vinod On Tue, Dec 23, 2008 at 8:28 PM, N.Ramakrishnan wrote: > Hi, if there are any people from Sharanbasaveshwar Vidya Vardhak Sangha > on this group already, do let us know a little more about your > organization and how you're going about preparing for and setting up > your CRS. We'd love to know more. > Ramakrishnan > > ***************** > Andhra district to have community radio soon > Gulbarga district in Andhra Pradesh will soon have a community radio > station which would empower the region particularly women, farmers and > students > > Published on e-Gov newsletter 12/23/2008 1:49:52 PM > > *New Delhi: *People of the Gulbarga district in Andhra Pradesh would > soon be getting a community radio station which will help them in > socio-economic and cultural development of the area. > > The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has signed an agreement for > establishing, maintaining and operating a Community Radio Station (CRS) > with the Sharanbasaveshwar Vidya Vardhak Sangha, a Gulbarga-based > non-governmental organisation (NGO). > > As per the agreement, the CRS is expected to be operational at within > three months. With this, the number of CRS will increase to 39 in India. > > The community radio station would provide an opportunity to the local > communities to express themselves, share their views and particularly > empower the women, youth and marginalized groups to take part in local > self governance and overall socio-economic and cultural development of > the area. > > It will also better inform the society about the developmental > initiatives of the government and promote transparency in the > implementation of the schemes, the Ministry said in a statement. > > Sharanbasaveshwar Vidya Vardhak Sangha has service oriented patronage > for the welfare of all sections of the society, education of the youth > more particularly of girls, uplift of women and much more. > > The CRS will serve the communities in the region, particularly girls, > women, farmers and students and empower them. > > *************** > > -- > N.Ramakrishnan > > Director of Projects > Ideosync Media Combine > 177, Ashoka Enclave III > Sector 35, Faridabad - 121003 > Haryana - India > Tel: +91-0129-4131883/6510156/2254395/2254396 (Prefix 95129- from Delhi) > Telfax: +91-0129-2254395 (Prefix 95129- from Delhi) > Mobile: +91-9810273883 > Email: nram at ideosyncmedia.org > > _______________________________________________ > cr-india mailing list > cr-india at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india -- Prof. Vinod Pavarala Head, Department of Communication & Dean Sarojini Naidu School of Performing Arts, Fine Arts & Communication University of Hyderabad Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500046 Phone: +91-40-23135500/23011553 (off); 94407-24914 (m) http://172.16.1.100/academic/school_study/sarojini_naidu_school/program_communication.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081224/b71cabe4/attachment.html From nram at ideosyncmedia.org Wed Dec 24 10:01:49 2008 From: nram at ideosyncmedia.org (N.Ramakrishnan) Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:01:49 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] New CRS in Gulbarga, A.P. In-Reply-To: References: <4950FC7F.5010204@ideosyncmedia.org> Message-ID: <4951BB35.8030903@ideosyncmedia.org> Sorry, Vinod - should have put that in! :-) I forwarded the article directly from the e-Gov website and missed out on that essential observation!! Ram N.Ramakrishnan Director of Projects Ideosync Media Combine 177, Ashoka Enclave III Sector 35, Faridabad - 121003 Haryana - India Tel: +91-0129-4131883/6510156/2254395/2254396 (Prefix 95129- from Delhi) Telfax: +91-0129-2254395 (Prefix 95129- from Delhi) Mobile: +91-9810273883 Email: nram at ideosyncmedia.org Vinod Pavarala wrote: > For the record, Gulbarga district is part of Karnataka, not Andhra > Pradesh! > > vinod > > On Tue, Dec 23, 2008 at 8:28 PM, N.Ramakrishnan > > wrote: > > Hi, if there are any people from Sharanbasaveshwar Vidya Vardhak > Sangha > on this group already, do let us know a little more about your > organization and how you're going about preparing for and setting up > your CRS. We'd love to know more. > Ramakrishnan > > ***************** > Andhra district to have community radio soon > Gulbarga district in Andhra Pradesh will soon have a community radio > station which would empower the region particularly women, farmers and > students > > Published on e-Gov newsletter 12/23/2008 1:49:52 PM > > *New Delhi: *People of the Gulbarga district in Andhra Pradesh would > soon be getting a community radio station which will help them in > socio-economic and cultural development of the area. > > The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has signed an > agreement for > establishing, maintaining and operating a Community Radio Station > (CRS) > with the Sharanbasaveshwar Vidya Vardhak Sangha, a Gulbarga-based > non-governmental organisation (NGO). > > As per the agreement, the CRS is expected to be operational at within > three months. With this, the number of CRS will increase to 39 in > India. > > The community radio station would provide an opportunity to the local > communities to express themselves, share their views and particularly > empower the women, youth and marginalized groups to take part in local > self governance and overall socio-economic and cultural development of > the area. > > It will also better inform the society about the developmental > initiatives of the government and promote transparency in the > implementation of the schemes, the Ministry said in a statement. > > Sharanbasaveshwar Vidya Vardhak Sangha has service oriented patronage > for the welfare of all sections of the society, education of the youth > more particularly of girls, uplift of women and much more. > > The CRS will serve the communities in the region, particularly girls, > women, farmers and students and empower them. > > *************** > > -- > N.Ramakrishnan > > Director of Projects > Ideosync Media Combine > 177, Ashoka Enclave III > Sector 35, Faridabad - 121003 > Haryana - India > Tel: +91-0129-4131883/6510156/2254395/2254396 (Prefix 95129- from > Delhi) > Telfax: +91-0129-2254395 (Prefix 95129- from Delhi) > Mobile: +91-9810273883 > Email: nram at ideosyncmedia.org > > _______________________________________________ > cr-india mailing list > cr-india at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india > > > > > -- > Prof. Vinod Pavarala > Head, Department of Communication & Dean > Sarojini Naidu School of Performing Arts, Fine Arts & Communication > University of Hyderabad > Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500046 > Phone: +91-40-23135500/23011553 (off); 94407-24914 (m) > http://172.16.1.100/academic/school_study/sarojini_naidu_school/program_communication.html > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com > Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.10.0/1862 - Release Date: 12/23/2008 12:08 PM > > From vpavarala at gmail.com Wed Dec 24 10:10:28 2008 From: vpavarala at gmail.com (Vinod Pavarala) Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:10:28 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Photo essay on the Women of Pastapur by Alfonso Gumucio Dagron Message-ID: please follow link below for an interesting photo essay on the 'women of pastapur' by well-known community media activist and scholar, Alfonso Gumucio Dagron. MAZI Photo Gallery - Photo Essay: "Women of Pastapur" by Alfonso *...* -- Prof. Vinod Pavarala Head, Department of Communication & Dean Sarojini Naidu School of Performing Arts, Fine Arts & Communication University of Hyderabad Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500046 Phone: +91-40-23135500/23011553 (off); 94407-24914 (m) http://172.16.1.100/academic/school_study/sarojini_naidu_school/program_communication.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081224/cc3b8517/attachment.html From venniyoor at gmail.com Wed Dec 24 12:48:32 2008 From: venniyoor at gmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:48:32 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio Message-ID: <5479ae440812232318i1a47f09ag837aa9ca09363132@mail.gmail.com> This is the second press story in a row on how CR is going "to set cash registers ringing". (Another one had appeared in Indian Express last week: 'Community Radio Must Earn Revenue ') Not only is the story below factually incorrect (IMS Noida tells me that they are already broadcasting ads), this media projection of CRS as a cash-cow is sending out very wrong signals. Like many others on this list, I have often been approached by dubious individuals and NGOs in search of ringing cash registers courtesy 'community radio'. Very often in Delhi -- and recently in Patna -- I've had long, surreal conversations with people who assume that CR is a kind of cut-price commercial radio station. The tragedy is that, given the loopholes in the policy, anyone can set up a network of CR stations and turn them all into low-cost commercial FM channels without even bending the law. Unfortunately, it is the genuine community-based group, with little or no interest in making profits, that's grilled endlessly on their revenue model and why they don't plan to broadcast round the clock. The other sort, who prepare a business plan before they think of a programme plan, set the standards of 'sustainability' that the rest of us are supposed to shoot for. I guess it is difficult to tell whether it is cash registers ringing or bells tolling when one's ears are stuffed with greed and ignorance. Sajan 'This is Radio Jamia, and you can hear our cash register ringing' Hindustan Times, 24 Dec 2008 Come January, Radio Jamia on 90.4 FM — run by Jamia Millia Islamia University — will become the first campus community radio station in the Capital to air commercials. And this is exclusively meant for the benefit of local products and commercial ventures. "Our radio reaches out to people within 10 km. This new feature will provide a platform for the local tea stall, the nondescript beauty parlour, eating joint or even a small-time soap manufacturer within the area to popularise their product or service," said GR Syed, Reader and in-charge of Radio Jamia. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting allows community radio stations to have a five-minute commercial spot every hour. There are five operational community radio stations managed by educational institutions in Delhi, including those run by Delhi University (DU) and Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). DU and IIMC don't plan to introduce commercial spots in the near future. This will make Radio Jamia the first among them to generate revenue through advertisements. The station currently airs programmes for six hours every day. Private institutions, namely Jagan Institute of Management and Jagannath International Management School, run the other two stations. "The commercial length will be anywhere between 10 and 30 seconds and we've decided on a tentative charge of Rs 50 for the same. Currently, our volunteers and radio jockeys work without pay. We would like to start paying them a token amount with the money earned through advertisements," said Syed. If needed, students of the Mass Communication and Research Centre will also help produce the commercials. "They will, however, have to pay the rent for the using the university studio," said Syed. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=IndiaSectionPage&id=7a66cbb5-7e23-41a8-91c9-1a187b110da5&&Headline='This+is+Radio+Jamia,+and+you+can+hear+our+cash+register+ringing' -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081224/ee238f8d/attachment.html From arti at trfindia.org Wed Dec 24 20:14:46 2008 From: arti at trfindia.org (Arti Jaiman) Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:44:46 -0800 (PST) Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio In-Reply-To: <5479ae440812232318i1a47f09ag837aa9ca09363132@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <887248.7738.qm@web1105.biz.mail.sk1.yahoo.com> This story is obviously the work of a highly imaginative desk editor -- especially the headline - because nothing much in the story seems to suggest that the Jamia station is going to rake in anything close to big bucks, what with Rs 50 for a 10 second ad. If they can raise enough to pay reasonable stipends to their staff, that will be a miracle. Arti Arti Jaiman Project Manager: TRF Radio arti at trfindia.org www.trfindia.org www.jaiman.org www.pitara.com --- On Wed, 24/12/08, sajan venniyoor wrote: From: sajan venniyoor Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio To: "CR India" Date: Wednesday, 24 December, 2008, 12:48 PM This is the second press story in a row on how CR is going "to set cash registers ringing". (Another one had appeared in Indian Express last week: 'Community Radio Must Earn Revenue') Not only is the story below factually incorrect (IMS Noida tells me that they are already broadcasting ads), this media projection of CRS as a cash-cow is sending out very wrong signals. Like many others on this list, I have often been approached by dubious individuals and NGOs in search of ringing cash registers courtesy 'community radio'. Very often in Delhi -- and recently in Patna -- I've had long, surreal conversations with people who assume that CR is a kind of cut-price commercial radio station. The tragedy is that, given the loopholes in the policy, anyone can set up a network of CR stations and turn them all into low-cost commercial FM channels without even bending the law.  Unfortunately, it is the genuine community-based group, with little or no interest in making profits, that's grilled endlessly on their revenue model and why they don't plan to broadcast round the clock. The other sort, who prepare a business plan before they think of a programme plan, set the standards of 'sustainability' that the rest of us are supposed to shoot for.  I guess it is difficult to tell whether it is cash registers ringing or bells tolling when one's ears are stuffed with greed and ignorance. Sajan 'This is Radio Jamia, and you can hear our cash register ringing'   Hindustan Times, 24 Dec 2008 Come January, Radio Jamia on 90.4 FM — run by Jamia Millia Islamia University — will become the first campus community radio station in the Capital to air commercials. And this is exclusively meant for the benefit of local products and commercial ventures. "Our radio reaches out to people within 10 km. This new feature will provide a platform for the local tea stall, the nondescript beauty parlour, eating joint or even a small-time soap manufacturer within the area to popularise their product or service," said GR Syed, Reader and in-charge of Radio Jamia. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting allows community radio stations to have a five-minute commercial spot every hour. There are five operational community radio stations managed by educational institutions in Delhi, including those run by Delhi University (DU) and Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). DU and IIMC don't plan to introduce commercial spots in the near future. This will make Radio Jamia the first among them to generate revenue through advertisements. The station currently airs programmes for six hours every day. Private institutions, namely Jagan Institute of Management and Jagannath International Management School, run the other two stations. "The commercial length will be anywhere between 10 and 30 seconds and we've decided on a tentative charge of Rs 50 for the same. Currently, our volunteers and radio jockeys work without pay. We would like to start paying them a token amount with the money earned through advertisements," said Syed. If needed, students of the Mass Communication and Research Centre will also help produce the commercials. "They will, however, have to pay the rent for the using the university studio," said Syed.   http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=IndiaSectionPage&id=7a66cbb5-7e23-41a8-91c9-1a187b110da5&&Headline='This+is+Radio+Jamia,+and+you+can+hear+our+cash+register+ringing' _______________________________________________ cr-india mailing list cr-india at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081224/97e16f15/attachment-0001.html From venniyoor at gmail.com Thu Dec 25 13:12:13 2008 From: venniyoor at gmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:12:13 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] I&B ministry initiatives during 2008 Message-ID: <5479ae440812242342s3a41a92cp72066c3abd7b1139@mail.gmail.com> Dear Sevanti, The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has published its year-end review for 2008, "Major initiatives of I&B Ministry during 2008 " It's amazing, but the only decision they have taken -- out of some 12 draft policies parked in the ministry for years -- is the IPTV policy (and that's probably because the major beneficiaries are MTNL & BSNL). Everything else is 'being considered', 'being examined', 'ministry is working on' etc. Other than issuing advisories and warnings to TV channels, they haven't done a damn thing this year. Want to write about this The Hoot -- a review of the ministry's review, as it were? warm regards, Sajan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081225/3d1403c9/attachment.html From venniyoor at gmail.com Thu Dec 25 13:26:04 2008 From: venniyoor at gmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:26:04 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] I&B ministry initiatives during 2008 In-Reply-To: <5479ae440812242342s3a41a92cp72066c3abd7b1139@mail.gmail.com> References: <5479ae440812242342s3a41a92cp72066c3abd7b1139@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <5479ae440812242356y5747ca4dk66bcc68a8b2542fc@mail.gmail.com> Sorry, but my earlier mail on the subject got away by mistake. Here's the rest of it: On the subject of Community Radio, the ministry's year-end review for 2008 says, "The Policy on Community Radio was liberalized during the year to bring in the civil society and voluntary organizations working not for profit also under its ambit. Only educational institutions were earlier permitted to set a community radio. The policy has been liberalized by the government with a view to allow greater participation by the civil society on issues of development and social change." I could have sworn that the CR Policy was liberalized during 2006, not 2008. In 2008, about 107 LoIs were issued by the government, a handful of new campus radio stations became operational, and two community-based stations went on air. That's not a whole lot to show for 2008. Sajan On Thu, Dec 25, 2008 at 1:12 PM, sajan venniyoor wrote: > > The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has published its year-end > review for 2008, "Major initiatives of I&B Ministry during 2008 > " > It's amazing, but the only decision they have taken -- out of some 12 draft > policies parked in the ministry for years -- is the IPTV policy (and that's > probably because the major beneficiaries are MTNL & BSNL). Everything else > is 'being considered', 'being examined', 'ministry is working on' etc. Other > than issuing advisories and warnings to TV channels, they haven't done a > damn thing this year. > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081225/be8c954f/attachment.html From ram at maraa.in Thu Dec 25 13:42:48 2008 From: ram at maraa.in (Ram) Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:42:48 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] New Frequency Allocation Plan- India remarks Message-ID: <49534080.6060403@maraa.in> Hi All, Please check the WPC website (www.wpc.dot.gov.in), as the latest inputs for the frequency allocation plan have been submitted by various parties involved, like telecom, private broadcasters, army etc.. (The file is called Draft NFAP 2008 - Draft IND EMARK although a new player, community radio is conspicuously absent. Can we have someone from the cr circle put out a recommendation in the document... i believe the last date for comments is over, but all the people who have contributed to the document have asked for a one month extension to understand the document better... Recommendations may be sent to Mr. S M Sharma (from WPC) in writing or email... We have also heard from "reliable sources" :) that a percentage kind of comment won't work... (discussions have veered towards asking for 20% of spectrum reserved for community broadcasting) As others have asked, I believe it is much better if we ask for specific number of frequencies (we have currently been allotted 3) or ask for a certain amount of frequency (like 1 MHz, or 2 MHz or whatever) Can anyone who has experience/expertise in these things come up with some concrete recommendations for community radio? Best Wishes, Team@ Maraa -- Ram From v1clist at yahoo.co.uk Thu Dec 25 20:57:02 2008 From: v1clist at yahoo.co.uk (Vickram Crishna) Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 15:27:02 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [cr-india] New Frequency Allocation Plan- India remarks References: <49534080.6060403@maraa.in> Message-ID: <983438.6966.qm@web26603.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> They (WPC) have an active link list scrolling down, and one of the items is "Last date for comments NFAP 2008" (not the exact wording) which downloads a .doc file (I have protested to the Wireless Adviser at the consultation in Ahmedabad the continued use of proprietary format downloads where a simple html page serves the purpose). The link is prominently marked "New", so I clicked on it, to receive a tiny little document whose entire text I copy here: " A meeting of NFAP review committee was held under the chairmanship of Wireless Advisor to the Government of India on 29 April 2008 at 1500 hours at Sanchar Bhawan, New Delhi to discuss the draft India remarks based on comments received from various stake holders in NFAP-2008. The summary record of the meeting has already been placed in web site. The last date of comments on draft NFAP received by various stake holders is 12 May 2008. If no comments are received by late evening of 12 May 2008, it would be presumed that that concerned organization/ stake holders have no comments to offer." Continuing the spirit of Sajan's remarks, about the achievements of the I&B ministry, with this irrelevant document (at least on 25 Dec, it seems to me to have long since expired from any state of relevance) being highlighted as "New" seems to reflect a singular lack of understanding of 'achievement' at WPC as well. There may be a mention of the 1-month extension somewhere else, but I don't really see how that matters six months later. Anyway, an extract from the Draft NFAP document that Ram mentioned, for the FM band, reads as follows: IND11 The requirement of broadcast services will be considered in the frequency band 87-91.5 MHz and 95-100 MHz on case-by-case basis. IND12 The frequency band 91.5-95 MHz is earmarked for FM broadcasting. IND13 Frequency spots in the frequency bands 88-100 MHz and 103.8-108 MHz for private FM broadcast have been specifically identified. I think the following observations are in order: 1. A geospatial map of the country and frequency usage, updated frequently (following changes and specific allocations), will go a long way in making the provisions of IND11, 12 and 13 (which deal with the 'FM broadcast' bands) practical and proactive. 2. With IND12 specifying the earmarking of 91.5-95 MHz for FM broadcasting, it makes sense for the WPC to routinely assign frequencies from this band to low power community radio broadcasting stations, which by their very nature do not pose a significant interefence problem for the typical private (commercial) FM broadcaster (ref the Mitre study commissioned by the US FCC, establishing this relationship through field research, report available as pdf from http://www.mitre.org/work/tech_transfer/technologies.html*). This may replace the current practice of allocating only 3 specific frequencies to such stations in the whole country. As specific frequencies have been already allotted between 88-100 MHz to private broadcasters, cf IND13, the de facto allocations in the past may be treated as exceptions and the practice discontinued henceforth, following the spirit in which public broadcasting stations set up by PB in earlier years continue to occupy freqeuncies in the 103.8-108 MHz band. 3. Unlike the reserved analogue and data communication bands, which are of direct interest to a relatively small number of discrete organisations, the treatment of these 'FM broadcast' bands are important to entire communities of population in many parts of the country. The consultation process around planning the usage of these bands should be made inclusive, through the use of available open RFC technologies applied on the WPC website, in order to enable and facilitate comments from different sectors of the people, as also to address issues raised through what becomes in effect an open forum. *Very low power broadcasting, (compared to the kind of stations being set up in the US in large numbers, under 100W EIRP was considered low power, unlike here in India, where the I&B ministry proposes the same value as the upper limit necessary for community radio stations), was shown as effectively non-interfering with powerful broadcast stations in the same geographical area. In fact, the organisation actually recommended that the expensive followup study originally planned, in order to understand the kinds of interference being experienced, be dispensed with entirely with, as there was effectively no interference. This makes the encouragement of all kinds of stations an attractive proposition - from the very inexpensive micropowered community radio stations, up to 100W EIRP, which is what the community radio policy considers suitable at the upper limit on power, through open licensing - as they directly address the capabilities and potential of communities that are economically poor and/or unsupported by external agencies. The main findings of the report are: "1. Reduction or elimination of existing third-adjacent channel** LPFM minimum distance separation requirements is possible without increasing the potential for third-adjacent channel LPFM interference to existing stations. 2. Adoption of a more stringent third-adjacent channel LPFM emissions mask would mitigate LPFM interference potential because most LPFM transmitters achieve spurious emission suppression in excess of the current mask value. 3. Third-adjacent channel LPFM stations will have little or no effect on the transition to terrestrial digital radio since third-adjacent channel LPFM interference to digital receivers is unlikely to occur beyond 130 meters from the LPFM transmitter. 4. Due to the lack of measurable interference produced by third-adjacent channel LPFM stations during testing, the listener tests and economic analysis scheduled for Phase II of the LPFM field tests and experimental program should not be done." **in 2000, the US Congress passed a bill, somewhat of a kind as the bills being rushed through Parliament in the last few days, to restrict LPFM to 3 channels away from the nearest powerful broadcaster. This effectively eliminated most of the LPFM. Later, Congress ordered the Mitre study, published in 2003, but so far has not acted to counter the 2000 bill. So much for US leadership of the democratic process worldwide, just in case anyone on this list still entertained doubts. I could not find Mr Sharma's email address, although I did find his telephone and fax numbers here: http://www.wpc.dot.gov.in/Static/wpcofficerdirectory.asp. If anyone is able to assist faxing him the above, or forwarding it by email, please do go ahead. However, it might be better to collect further observations and present them jointly. Actually, I find IND12 curious, and mystifying at the same time. If it is deemed necessary to specify this allocation now, what was the band being used for earlier, or at any time, that calls for such a detailed note? Does anyone know? I seem to recall that the ITU recommends the band 88-108 for FM broadcasting, but allowing member countries (India is a leading signatory) some leeway at the fringes, hence our using 87 for the lower cut-off. I checked the ITU site, and although many of the working paper titles are quite enlightening, the documents themselves are all locked. I could not find the specific description of the allocation of frequencies for this purpose. Vickram http://communicall.wordpress.com http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com ________________________________ From: Ram To: cr-india at sarai.net Sent: Thursday, 25 December, 2008 13:42:48 Subject: [cr-india] New Frequency Allocation Plan- India remarks Hi All, Please check the WPC website (www.wpc.dot.gov.in), as the latest inputs for the frequency allocation plan have been submitted by various parties involved, like telecom, private broadcasters, army etc.. (The file is called Draft NFAP 2008 - Draft IND EMARK although a new player, community radio is conspicuously absent. Can we have someone from the cr circle put out a recommendation in the document... i believe the last date for comments is over, but all the people who have contributed to the document have asked for a one month extension to understand the document better... Recommendations may be sent to Mr. S M Sharma (from WPC) in writing or email... We have also heard from "reliable sources" :) that a percentage kind of comment won't work... (discussions have veered towards asking for 20% of spectrum reserved for community broadcasting) As others have asked, I believe it is much better if we ask for specific number of frequencies (we have currently been allotted 3) or ask for a certain amount of frequency (like 1 MHz, or 2 MHz or whatever) Can anyone who has experience/expertise in these things come up with some concrete recommendations for community radio? Best Wishes, Team@ Maraa -- Ram _______________________________________________ cr-india mailing list cr-india at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081225/8cddb04d/attachment.html From naimur.rahman at oneworld.net Thu Dec 25 22:00:46 2008 From: naimur.rahman at oneworld.net (Naimur Rahman) Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 22:00:46 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] New Frequency Allocation Plan- India remarks In-Reply-To: <49534080.6060403@maraa.in> References: <49534080.6060403@maraa.in> Message-ID: <5FF1FCB82AEF437F83941D1B424A4373@NaimurRahmanPC> Thanks Ram for raising this important subject. I also do believe that some proactive action from CR community is necessary; and I am fairly disappointed that CRF has not managed to live up to its expectations. May I suggest that you and Sajan, as informed and concerned individuals, play the interlocutor's role with WPC. Naimur ---- Naimur Rahman Director, OneWorld South Asia & GKP Regional Coordinator for South Asia New Delhi - 110016 INDIA Tel: 91 11 41689009 -----Original Message----- From: cr-india-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:cr-india-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Ram Sent: 25 December 2008 13:43 To: cr-india at sarai.net Subject: [cr-india] New Frequency Allocation Plan- India remarks Hi All, Please check the WPC website (www.wpc.dot.gov.in), as the latest inputs for the frequency allocation plan have been submitted by various parties involved, like telecom, private broadcasters, army etc.. (The file is called Draft NFAP 2008 - Draft IND EMARK although a new player, community radio is conspicuously absent. Can we have someone from the cr circle put out a recommendation in the document... i believe the last date for comments is over, but all the people who have contributed to the document have asked for a one month extension to understand the document better... Recommendations may be sent to Mr. S M Sharma (from WPC) in writing or email... We have also heard from "reliable sources" :) that a percentage kind of comment won't work... (discussions have veered towards asking for 20% of spectrum reserved for community broadcasting) As others have asked, I believe it is much better if we ask for specific number of frequencies (we have currently been allotted 3) or ask for a certain amount of frequency (like 1 MHz, or 2 MHz or whatever) Can anyone who has experience/expertise in these things come up with some concrete recommendations for community radio? Best Wishes, Team@ Maraa -- Ram _______________________________________________ cr-india mailing list cr-india at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india From media at web.net Sat Dec 27 12:26:25 2008 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2008 01:56:25 -0500 (EST) Subject: [cr-india] Afghanistan's media battleground Message-ID: <53171.216.108.22.182.1230360985.squirrel@flymail.web.net> Afghanistan's media battleground ---- by Rahilla Zafar, Kabul ---- [excerpt] Six years ago television was banned in Afghanistan and its single national radio station was Taliban-run. William Reeve was a BBC Afghanistan correspondent for two years in the early 1990s during the time of the warlords and for two years in 1998-1999 during the Taliban regime. He remembers the days when the main sources of reliable information for Afghans, before and during the time of the Taliban, were the daily BBC broadcasts in Dari and Pashto. In a country that has suffered through decades of war, reliable news was needed to ensure safety. “Surveys have shown that when big stories were being played out in Afghanistan, as many as 70 per cent of the Afghan population would hear what was happening in their country from BBC broadcasts in their own languages. Their lives would often depend on this. So they tended to glue themselves to the evening BBC broadcasts all around the country,” Reeve recalls. Today the country’s independent media are considered to be a major success story – but like most developments in this war-battered nation it finds itself increasingly under threat. While the establishment of an independent media has played a pivotal role in uniting an ethnically-divided country, the re-emergence of warlords and a reluctant government puts such gains in jeopardy. Since 2002, hundreds of media outlets opened with the help of an international donor community that recognised a free press as a necessary ingredient of nation-building in a country where 90 per cent of its people live in rural areas. “There were so many media trainers here in 2002 that I wondered who was going to feed the people,” says Dominic Medley who served as country director for Internews in 2002, an organisation that has helped to set up 35 regional radio stations. And despite a promising start, sustaining independent media stations has become a challenge in Afghanistan. Obstacles include the rise of warlord-backed media outlets; a growing lack of security for journalists; and the reluctance of Afghan officials to embrace an independent media. With so many actors involved from international military forces, foreign governments, as well as Afghan political leaders and warlords, the media have evolved at a fast pace that far exceeds what the actual market size of 22 million dollars could support. more at http://knowledge.insead.edu/Afghanmediabattleground081226.cfm# From venniyoor at gmail.com Sun Dec 28 19:31:55 2008 From: venniyoor at gmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:31:55 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Sangham Radio - pocket of cheer in 2008 Message-ID: <5479ae440812280601r668b6fbal91cbf77b99812625@mail.gmail.com> I came across this piece in the year-end issue of Outlook magazine (Special Issue: 'Thank god it's over', Jan 12, 2009). Sajan Songs Sung True There were some small pockets of cheer and life-affirming stories too... DEBARSHI DASGUPTA Andhra Pradesh: Finally, one about Dalits and how they are vociferously using self-run newspapers and radio channels to better their lives. In October this year, Sangham Radio, a community radio station managed by Dalit women from Andhra Pradesh, went live. It became the country's first rural community FM radio station. Its focus: women's issues, ecological agriculture and preservation of cultural traditions. Earlier, a group of Dalit women from Bundelkhand, UP, began a newspaper called Khabar Lahirya that raises development concerns ignored by the mainstream media. http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20090112&fname=Vxgood&sid=1 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081228/bceb1949/attachment.html From sumegha at hotmail.com Sun Dec 28 22:00:03 2008 From: sumegha at hotmail.com (sumegha agarwal) Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2008 16:30:03 +0000 Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio In-Reply-To: <887248.7738.qm@web1105.biz.mail.sk1.yahoo.com> References: <5479ae440812232318i1a47f09ag837aa9ca09363132@mail.gmail.com> <887248.7738.qm@web1105.biz.mail.sk1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Off late I was approached by one CR station owner to take up the role of PD with the station. This person rued about investment of few lakhs in setting up the station. This person's main concern was to recover the money invested ASAP. Idea was that I should not only earn my salary and also deliver lots of profit. That too with hardly having any program content worth broadcast available. Further discussions were held whereby partnership was offered and I was also asked for a marketing plan with clear timeline re: recovering revenue through advertisment. I too spent lot of time explaining the vision and scope of CR to this person. No doubt our discussions led to nowhere. tx sumegha Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:44:46 -0800From: arti at trfindia.orgTo: cr-india at sarai.net; venniyoor at gmail.comSubject: Re: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio This story is obviously the work of a highly imaginative desk editor -- especially the headline - because nothing much in the story seems to suggest that the Jamia station is going to rake in anything close to big bucks, what with Rs 50 for a 10 second ad. If they can raise enough to pay reasonable stipends to their staff, that will be a miracle.ArtiArti Jaiman Project Manager: TRF Radio arti at trfindia.org www.trfindia.org www.jaiman.org www.pitara.com--- On Wed, 24/12/08, sajan venniyoor wrote: From: sajan venniyoor Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radioTo: "CR India" Date: Wednesday, 24 December, 2008, 12:48 PM This is the second press story in a row on how CR is going "to set cash registers ringing". (Another one had appeared in Indian Express last week: 'Community Radio Must Earn Revenue') Not only is the story below factually incorrect (IMS Noida tells me that they are already broadcasting ads), this media projection of CRS as a cash-cow is sending out very wrong signals. Like many others on this list, I have often been approached by dubious individuals and NGOs in search of ringing cash registers courtesy 'community radio'. Very often in Delhi -- and recently in Patna -- I've had long, surreal conversations with people who assume that CR is a kind of cut-price commercial radio station. The tragedy is that, given the loopholes in the policy, anyone can set up a network of CR stations and turn them all into low-cost commercial FM channels without even bending the law. Unfortunately, it is the genuine community-based group, with little or no interest in making profits, that's grilled endlessly on their revenue model and why they don't plan to broadcast round the clock. The other sort, who prepare a business plan before they think of a programme plan, set the standards of 'sustainability' that the rest of us are supposed to shoot for. I guess it is difficult to tell whether it is cash registers ringing or bells tolling when one's ears are stuffed with greed and ignorance. Sajan 'This is Radio Jamia, and you can hear our cash register ringing' Hindustan Times, 24 Dec 2008 Come January, Radio Jamia on 90.4 FM — run by Jamia Millia Islamia University — will become the first campus community radio station in the Capital to air commercials. And this is exclusively meant for the benefit of local products and commercial ventures. "Our radio reaches out to people within 10 km. This new feature will provide a platform for the local tea stall, the nondescript beauty parlour, eating joint or even a small-time soap manufacturer within the area to popularise their product or service," said GR Syed, Reader and in-charge of Radio Jamia. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting allows community radio stations to have a five-minute commercial spot every hour. There are five operational community radio stations managed by educational institutions in Delhi, including those run by Delhi University (DU) and Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). DU and IIMC don't plan to introduce commercial spots in the near future. This will make Radio Jamia the first among them to generate revenue through advertisements. The station currently airs programmes for six hours every day. Private institutions, namely Jagan Institute of Management and Jagannath International Management School, run the other two stations. "The commercial length will be anywhere between 10 and 30 seconds and we've decided on a tentative charge of Rs 50 for the same. Currently, our volunteers and radio jockeys work without pay. We would like to start paying them a token amount with the money earned through advertisements," said Syed. If needed, students of the Mass Communication and Research Centre will also help produce the commercials. "They will, however, have to pay the rent for the using the university studio," said Syed. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=IndiaSectionPage&id=7a66cbb5-7e23-41a8-91c9-1a187b110da5&&Headline='This+is+Radio+Jamia,+and+you+can+hear+our+cash+register+ringing'_______________________________________________cr-india mailing listcr-india at sarai.nethttps://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india _________________________________________________________________ It's simple! Sell your car for just $40 at CarPoint.com.au http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fsecure%2Dau%2Eimrworldwide%2Ecom%2Fcgi%2Dbin%2Fa%2Fci%5F450304%2Fet%5F2%2Fcg%5F801459%2Fpi%5F1004813%2Fai%5F859641&_t=762955845&_r=tig_OCT07&_m=EXT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081228/5e6d73be/attachment.html From media at web.net Sun Dec 28 22:38:18 2008 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:08:18 -0500 (EST) Subject: [cr-india] INDIA: Experts ask media to boost Community Radio Movement Message-ID: <49319.216.108.22.182.1230484098.squirrel@flymail.web.net> December 28, 2008 Experts ask media to boost Community Radio Movement http://studyinindiainfo.com/2008/12/experts-ask-media-to-boost-community.html [excerpt] . Have you ever heard anybody calling radio an 'Idiot Box'? Never. Yet Radio experience in India has mostly been from gigantic broadcasting house, All India Radio. The recently emerged FM radios are only cosmetic boredom, like TVs, to the concept of development of grassroots of population. The conference on 'Community Radio : Practices and Possibilities' at Indira Gandhi National Open University recently discussed a plethora of issues dogging the grassroots and lamented the current state of Indian community radio (CR) movement started way back in 1951 during India's initial Plan years. Indian Media drew most flak for ignoring a movement very core in the concept of democracy and development of a nation. They should have prioritized the CR movement and its processes of how to create awareness among umpteen communities about their rights, opportunities, vocational expertise, knowledge and the need to avail themselves of these. They should have concertedly raised region and issue-specific CRs addressing target communities, with a view to improving their living condition. Instead, what the post-Independent Indian media did was far removed from the necessity of development journalism, was what ired the speakers in the conference. The Government Policy of Community Radio, 2002 promised to set up over 4,000 CRs, but till date India only set up 45, that too mostly in public sector. Compare this with its 35-year-old neighbour – Bangladesh' feat. It already charted 140 CRs to boast of. The Bangladesh Government officially adopted a CR policy only in 2008, in response to the World bank vision for "a world free of poverty". Former Information Commissioner Dr OP Kejariwal stressed, "Though our generation speaks of globalization, we rather need more focus on glocalisation. So along with broadcasting, we need narrowcasting. If we adapt modern broadcast technologies for local broadcasts, we have community radio, where we have communities participating not only as broadcasters but as listeners too." Lauding the efforts of the School, Vice Chancellor Professor V N Rajasekharan Pillai said, "Community Radio programme is a new tool for information dissemination at the grassroots level. It fits well in the IGNOU's larger aim of improving the quality of life of the masses. It's probable that Community Radios go on to revolusionise not only developing countries, but also the developed nations where underprivileged and marginalized communities still exist." Former director of IGNOU's nerve centre Electronic Media Production Centre (EMPC), Dr R Sreedhar, who currently is Director of Commonwealth Educational Media Centre in Asia (CEMCA), identified the basic problems in development of CRs in India. He said, "The lack of media literacy, training and professionalism have been basic hurdles in disseminating awareness programmes of the Community Radio." Dr Sreedhar also explained how easy is it to generate fund for making the CRs self-sufficient, even without any outside funding. Suman Basnet, South Asian regional director of World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters or Associacion Mundial De Radio Comunitarias (AMARC) narrated highlights of evolution of CR and said, "India is the first country in South Asia to have an independent CR policy. Miracles of community radio broadcasting are just waiting to happen." A conglomerate of over 4,000 community radios in 115 countries, AMARC is only eager to hand-hold genuine Indian efforts to solidify the CR movement in South Asia. From media at web.net Sun Dec 28 22:40:54 2008 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:10:54 -0500 (EST) Subject: [cr-india] Community Radio, one of the development tools for the voiceless. Message-ID: <49340.216.108.22.182.1230484254.squirrel@flymail.web.net> Be Community Radio one of the development tools for the voiceless. Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC).is promoting the advocacy with the government in relation to community radio with other organizations since its emergence. Community Radio is playing very significant role in the countries of South Asia responding to other regions of the world. Recently Information Ministry of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh formulated Community Radio Installation, Broadcast and Operation Policy 2008 and we would thank the Government for this policy. State is still a sweeping entity to the poor people in Bangladesh, where to reach is tiresome and dialogue is beyond imagination. At the same time, even their own community neglects the voice of the poor people. In this circumstance, promoting, empowering and extension of community radio can play significant role in alleviating poverty through creating easy access of the poor to the information highway. more http://bnnrc.blogspot.com/2008/12/be-community-radio-one-of-development.html From venniyoor at gmail.com Mon Dec 29 10:28:06 2008 From: venniyoor at gmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:28:06 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] "Future of radio news" Message-ID: <5479ae440812282058t372eec8el265a3c6af7dbdc37@mail.gmail.com> Here's a remarkably self-serving article on the state of radio newsby, I assume, a former Indian Information Service (IIS) officer. He writes: "With passage of time, rival radio networks will come up in the private sector. The Union cabinet is reported to have acceded to this long-standing demand by the corporate sector. Ham and community radio is also in the offing. In developed countries, government-owned radio stations, like the Voice of America, have poor listening; AIR has to break the mould, as it is now under a corporation. The Prasar Bharati is reportedly hamstrung by inadequate funds; many regular posts, hitherto manned by Indian Information service personnel have been abolished, or remain unfilled." Passing lightly over the author's ignorance of radio -- he apparently thinks ham radio is a broadcast medium -- I should add here that the reason why most people stopped listening to AIR and DD news is primarily because it is manned by Indian Information service personnel. The idea that civil servants are ideally suited to broadcast the news is a peculiarly Indian fallacy, which even politicians don't buy. (When the NDA government wanted to 'professionalize' DD news in its final days in office, they brought in Deepak Chaurasia of Aaj Tak, and kicked out most of the IIS officers. The improvement in DD News was immediately visible). We are now told that private radio stations -- including community radio, I suppose -- will be allowed to re-broadcast only AIR & DD news. Having done their best to reduce AIR & DD news to PIB handouts of the "The Minister of State for Textiles announced in Tbilisi today..." variety, they now want to bestow their kiss of death on private radio stations as well. Sajan Future of radio news Bibekananda Roy, The Statesman, 28 Dec 2008 Forecasting future is in the domain of astrology. Being no astrologer, I cannot predict the future of radio news but having worked in senior positions in All India Radio (News), I can cite certain challenges before AIR news, being aired from Delhi and 44 regional stations throughout day and night. Over 600 news bulletins are broadcast, every day, in various languages and dialects which are heard by some 12 per cent of India's population. Television news from Doordarshan and private channels are watched and heard by some 32 per cent people, ie, by about 35 crore people. The future of radio news has to be seen in the context of its present status, because as TS Eliot wrote, years ago: "Time present and time past/ are contained in time future/ and time future contained in time past." The challenges before radio news in "time past" were different from the present. Only 30 years ago, AIR news had no rival in the broadcast arena. Newspapers have been in circulation in India since the Bengal Gazette in 1818. When radio news was started in 1927 by the Indian Broadcasting Company, it left printed news far behind in immediacy and reach. That way, news in print was never a competitor with broadcast news. The combined reach of some 50 thousand newspapers and periodicals in over 20 languages and dialects in India is about 12 crore, ie, less than one-tenth of population, whereas some 44 per cent of India's 115 crore people either watch TV, or listen to AIR or both. The first real competition came from TV news from 1965, intensely from 1982 after the Asian Games in Delhi. TV news is audio like radio news; additionally, it has the video which in 43 years from its modest beginning in India, took it ahead of radio news. There being no other broadcasting organisation except AIR in India, radio news holds the monopoly; even the immensely popular FM radio bulletins are compiled by AIR news rooms. Globalisation is demolishing monopolies and competition is enhancing quality of products and lowering prices. With no rival in the radio domain, All India Radio is under no compulsion to upgrade its fare and quality. Having served AIR news for 20 years, between 1970 and 2000, I have no qualm in admitting that quality has remained about the same since 1970 when I first joined Kolkata station as a correspondent. In 38 years since, formats of national bulletins from Delhi have somewhat changed with lot of voice-casts and occasional live coverage but not as much as used in TV news. Foreigners visiting or living in India complain about news bulletins going in split hours, like 0815, which are difficult to remember. Some medium-wave channels, like Kolkata B, are nearly inaudible and have too narrow band-width. The prestigious Spotlight programme from Delhi has given way to a kind of tete-a-tete between a journalist and a compeer; the "Current Affairs" programme, however, has remained the feather in the crown. In the last two years, a number of new bulletins have been launched, even from inaccessible stations like Kargil but I doubt, if listeners have correspondingly increased. In urban India, people tune to radio to listen to cricket or football matches and election results during power-offs and while out of homes; in cities and towns of West Bengal particularly, transistor sets are brought and switched on in the wee hours of the Mahalaya day to listen to Mahishasur Mardini which never stales. I believe, the main challenge before the AIR news, now and in future is, and will be, to woo back its listeners. Probably taking a cue from my suggestion, made in a letter to the editor of The Statesman, a world news bulletin bas been started from Delhi, this year. Because of the very real freedom of the press, India's media are of world standard but readers, viewers and listeners of media have little interest in world news. AIR and Doordarshan news will improve if the bulletins carry more of field reports, filed from mobile phones. Two Kolkata-based newspapers and two private TV channels gave excellent coverage of the year-long violence in Nandigram in 2007 andthe tumultuous events leading to the closure of Nano from Singur; comparatively, AIR and DD coverage were a pittance. AIR news will not have a future, unless it becomes, not a rival, but complementary to TV news. It can score over news on the idiot box where visuals are not necessary, or are a distraction. With passage of time, rival radio networks will come up in the private sector. The Union cabinet is reported to have acceded to this long-standing demand by the corporate sector. Ham and community radio is also in the offing. Organisational in-house broadcasts are also a possibility. In developed countries, government-owned radio stations, like the Voice of America, have poor listening; AIR has to break the mould, as it is now under a corporation. The Prasar Bharati is reportedly hamstrung by inadequate funds; many regular posts, hitherto manned by Indian Information service personnel have been abolished, or remain unfilled. Time has come for AIR news to shed its monopolistic pride and indolence and jump into the media fray to woo back its listeners by better technology and more resources of money and manpower. Happily, AIR language bulletins are still very popular in rural areas, particularly in homes without TV or newspapers, but they have lost a sizeable section of urban listeners. Therefore, AIR news has to strive to bring them back with more efficient gathering, presentation and programming of news and news-based programmes which both urban and rural people should, and want to, hear. Merely adding bulletins, or increasing the number of news-originating or news-relaying stations, is not enough. (The author held senior positions in All India Radio news in Kolkata, Delhi and Singapore between 1970 and 2000) http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=4&theme=&usrsess=1&id=237974 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081229/2cc18a6c/attachment-0001.html From v1clist at yahoo.co.uk Mon Dec 29 18:08:00 2008 From: v1clist at yahoo.co.uk (Vickram Crishna) Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:38:00 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [cr-india] AMARC AsiaPac interview Message-ID: <43309.25366.qm@web26606.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Ashish Sen, AsiaPac head of AMARC, is interviewed in the current issue of RadioandMusic by Aparna Joshi, following the recent meeting in Bihar, supported by Action Aid. It is an interesting interview, lengthy enough to cover several important matters. I have excerpted a few, with my comments inline. Technology: "There needs to be more information disseminated about the availability of appropriate and low cost technology in setting up community radio stations. For instance, very few are aware of NOMAD technology that is authorized manufactures of low cost transmitters. Most of us are aware only of BEL and WEBEL (also authorized dealers) whose costs are far steeper and beyond the reach of the aam aadmi. If community radio is to assert itself as a “voice for and of the voiceless” there needs to be greater impetus given towards providing and accessing low cost technology. " Comment: It is a pity that Ashish does not mention the possibility of DIY construction, something that actually helped his own VOICES aided community media station, Namma Dhwani, to come up, using cable radio, at a time when the government, sans policy, proscribed community broadcasting. While there are places in India where cable radio is not an option, because of the local population's geo-spatial, economic and gender distribution, it is still a viable and relatively inexpensive solution for many. In addition, self-made TXs are far cheaper than any manufactured set, and also encourage entrepreneurship (what Nehru called self-reliance) in construction and maintenance. Sure, the Nomad sets are 'authorised' (and represent an international effort to promote CR), but why has the government imposed the need for authorising particular manufacturers, instead of simply publishing standards and allowing Indians to help themselves? This is particularly poignant considering the interview talks about the meeting in Bihar, which is where the use of a DIY Tx led to an international outcry against Indian government policy on CR, leading to the amendments that finally kicked off true grassroots stations. Later in this interview, Sen talks about the need for strengthening the CR Forum, and I wish he had spelt out how this would help bring about self-reliance. C for campus or community?: "...the single window clearance should be applicable for ngo/cbo applicants alike and not just for campus radio applicants. There needs to be more inclusiveness – both in spirit and practice – within the sector. While respecting differences between campus community and grass roots community stations, we need to build bridges between both to ensure a vibrant community radio climate in the country. " Comment: In fact, the attitude of the government (both the Wireless Adviser office and the I&B ministry) has been directed in exacerbating differences between these two forms of public radio, perhaps in order to prevent them from chipping away at PB's remaining domain. Or maybe they are just ornery, eh? Rural/Urban divide: "The relevance of community radio in rural and remote areas is not disputed. But we also need to ensure that we do not lose sight of the wood for the trees. Community Radio has a vital role to play in addressing urban poverty and providing the urban poor and less privileged communities with a powerful voice." Comment: As has been pointed out on this list by others, some cities have as many as 3 campus stations jostling around each other, with no space yet given for any other form of grassroots 'voices'. Apparently the vision of a community-driven media service has not yet penetrated our worthy (and unelected, do I need to point out?) panjandrum's consciousness, despite so many years of desperate advocacy. Frequency allocation: "The paucity of frequencies for community radio stations, as articulated by official quarters, is worrying and needs to be reviewed." Comment: In fact, The Wireless Adviser openly allots only three discrete frequencies for CR, and completely ignores the paucity of actual usage of this band across the country. I recall someone (was it Sajan?) had advocated using this list to monitor FM usage across the country, and I think that is a very practical idea. Publishing such usage in the format of a distribution map will go a long way in making up the gap in information dissemination (unfortunately still a defining characteristic of the government). Without such action, it is fairly obvious that the office of the Wireless Adviser has absolutely no intention of taking proactive action to promote CR in India (be it in the form of community and/or campus radio stations. Commercial is another story, since we witness pains taken to enable nationally owned or promoted stations to maintain the same frequency across the country, presumably as a moneysaving branding exercise. Incidentally, in other countries such as the US, I believe such stations have a four letter callsign, not a frequency. When the move to digital broadcasting takes place, this question - or should I say opportunity? as in golden goose - will no longer be relevant). In late 1871, one of Bombay University's first engineering graduates, Samuel Nagavkar, joined the PWD in the erstwhile Mysore State. An upright man, he is quoted as later advising a son-in-law, who was about to take up a government post, that 'dishonesty did not consist only in being corrupt, but that a man who did not put forth his best effort in the discharge of his duties was "guilty of gross dishonesty." ' I fear that till today, this is observed more in the breach. News: "The ban on news. This contradicts and inhibits some of the key objectives of community radio which seeks to provide local/community information for local/community needs. Further, it is not clear what constitutes news." Comment: I mentioned in an earlier post what the government view on this is, as stated at the Ahmedabad consultation: acceptable news on non-government stations (including commercial, I assume, since they also languish in a grey area) consists of announcements, unlike on the government-owned channels. I suppose 'my sister's wedding' announcement will be allowed, but no comments on what the guests wore, or who showed up. Announcing the tsunami about to hit will be ok, but nothing about the hoarding of stocks by the unscrupulous, or sale by them of donated relief supplies, once said tsunami has passed, and decimated the listening audience. Monitoring of news: Ashish does not make any suggestions. However, several of us in this list have suggested this activity be devolved down to the local level, especially given the vibrancy of the local language and culture, without knowing which it is impossible to assess the value of the content. Needless to say, this is pretty well anathema to the Centre, which remains adamant about surrendering any effective power to the States. I see no reason why the States need be involved, actually, since the Centre can directly appoint local luminaries for this vocation. In any case, such monitoring is only meaningful in case of complaints, and even as it stands, recorded content (up to 3 months old) need only be sent to the Centre (in transcribed and translated form, mind you) in such an eventuality. This is not my opinion, I am repeating what I heard at the consultation. Quality of the CR Policy: "The need to review and extend the transmitter range especially in hilly terrain. (The current policy does take cognizance of this to the extent that it indicates that exceptions to the current 100 watt range can be made depending on the terrain). There is need to also reconsider the validity of mobile broadcasting especially in the context of emergencies and disaster situations. Another constraint is linked to the age of the NGO applicant. Currently, the policy permits NGOs that have been in existence for three years to be eligible for licenses. However, in areas vulnerable to floods and famines, there are credible and community based NGOs that have come up in the recent past." Comment: Again, Ashish seems focused on transmitter power (which is, incidentally, irrevocably linked to costs), rather than effective range. Multi-modal broadcasting (combining data and voice in modules) is cheaper and more robust for such situations, and promotes a variety of entrepreneurial talents in addition to the valuable skills involved in content management that typify the traditional CR deployment. Mainstream media provides precious few opportunities for serious comment on community radio, unsurprisingly, and each opportunity ought to be maximised. Revenue generation: "Sponsored programmes that are relevant to the community and development or educational could be other sources of revenue generation." Comment: Actually, sponsored programmes are specifically disallowed on CR. I think we need to focus on total cost of operations and total community earnings rather than looking at blinkered revenue models that derive from 'organised' revenue stream visions. By its very nature, a community is not organised, and any effort to organising it leads to internal politics. Failure to recognise this seminal fact will doom any grassroots community initiative, whether or not encouraged (and these are not) by the government. Looking ahead: "A core group has been formed to take the (Bihar consultation) endorsement forward." Well, that is good news. Will this group be aligned directly with the CR Forum? Vickram http://communicall.wordpress.com http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081229/7f66bd6a/attachment-0001.html From v1clist at yahoo.co.uk Mon Dec 29 18:10:59 2008 From: v1clist at yahoo.co.uk (Vickram Crishna) Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:40:59 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio References: <5479ae440812232318i1a47f09ag837aa9ca09363132@mail.gmail.com> <887248.7738.qm@web1105.biz.mail.sk1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <487286.51935.qm@web26602.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Owner, Sumegha? I wonder if this slant was noted, when this worthy 'managed' to get the license threaded through the thorny tangle of the process? Vickram http://communicall.wordpress.com http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com ________________________________ From: sumegha agarwal To: cr-india at sarai.net Sent: Sunday, 28 December, 2008 22:00:03 Subject: Re: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio Off late I was approached by one CR station owner to take up the role of PD with the station. This person rued about investment of few lakhs in setting up the station. This person's main concern was to recover the money invested ASAP. Idea was that I should not only earn my salary and also deliver lots of profit. That too with hardly having any program content worth broadcast available. Further discussions were held whereby partnership was offered and I was also asked for a marketing plan with clear timeline re: recovering revenue through advertisment. I too spent lot of time explaining the vision and scope of CR to this person. No doubt our discussions led to nowhere. tx sumegha ________________________________ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:44:46 -0800 From: arti at trfindia.org To: cr-india at sarai.net; venniyoor at gmail.com Subject: Re: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio This story is obviously the work of a highly imaginative desk editor -- especially the headline - because nothing much in the story seems to suggest that the Jamia station is going to rake in anything close to big bucks, what with Rs 50 for a 10 second ad. If they can raise enough to pay reasonable stipends to their staff, that will be a miracle. Arti Arti Jaiman Project Manager: TRF Radio arti at trfindia.org www.trfindia.org www.jaiman.org www.pitara.com --- On Wed, 24/12/08, sajan venniyoor wrote: From: sajan venniyoor Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio To: "CR India" Date: Wednesday, 24 December, 2008, 12:48 PM This is the second press story in a row on how CR is going "to set cash registers ringing". (Another one had appeared in Indian Express last week: 'Community Radio Must Earn Revenue') Not only is the story below factually incorrect (IMS Noida tells me that they are already broadcasting ads), this media projection of CRS as a cash-cow is sending out very wrong signals. Like many others on this list, I have often been approached by dubious individuals and NGOs in search of ringing cash registers courtesy 'community radio'. Very often in Delhi -- and recently in Patna -- I've had long, surreal conversations with people who assume that CR is a kind of cut-price commercial radio station. The tragedy is that, given the loopholes in the policy, anyone can set up a network of CR stations and turn them all into low-cost commercial FM channels without even bending the law. Unfortunately, it is the genuine community-based group, with little or no interest in making profits, that's grilled endlessly on their revenue model and why they don't plan to broadcast round the clock. The other sort, who prepare a business plan before they think of a programme plan, set the standards of 'sustainability' that the rest of us are supposed to shoot for. I guess it is difficult to tell whether it is cash registers ringing or bells tolling when one's ears are stuffed with greed and ignorance. Sajan 'This is Radio Jamia, and you can hear our cash register ringing' Hindustan Times, 24 Dec 2008 Come January, Radio Jamia on 90.4 FM — run by Jamia Millia Islamia University — will become the first campus community radio station in the Capital to air commercials. And this is exclusively meant for the benefit of local products and commercial ventures. "Our radio reaches out to people within 10 km. This new feature will provide a platform for the local tea stall, the nondescript beauty parlour, eating joint or even a small-time soap manufacturer within the area to popularise their product or service," said GR Syed, Reader and in-charge of Radio Jamia. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting allows community radio stations to have a five-minute commercial spot every hour. There are five operational community radio stations managed by educational institutions in Delhi, including those run by Delhi University (DU) and Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). DU and IIMC don't plan to introduce commercial spots in the near future. This will make Radio Jamia the first among them to generate revenue through advertisements. The station currently airs programmes for six hours every day. Private institutions, namely Jagan Institute of Management and Jagannath International Management School, run the other two stations. "The commercial length will be anywhere between 10 and 30 seconds and we've decided on a tentative charge of Rs 50 for the same. Currently, our volunteers and radio jockeys work without pay. We would like to start paying them a token amount with the money earned through advertisements," said Syed. If needed, students of the Mass Communication and Research Centre will also help produce the commercials. "They will, however, have to pay the rent for the using the university studio," said Syed. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=IndiaSectionPage&id=7a66cbb5-7e23-41a8-91c9-1a187b110da5&&Headline='This+is+Radio+Jamia,+and+you+can+hear+our+cash+register+ringing' _______________________________________________ cr-india mailing list cr-india at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india ________________________________ Sell your car for just $40 at CarPoint.com.au It's simple! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081229/c20dcd2e/attachment-0001.html From parminder at itforchange.net Mon Dec 29 18:35:56 2008 From: parminder at itforchange.net (Parminder) Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:35:56 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio In-Reply-To: References: <5479ae440812232318i1a47f09ag837aa9ca09363132@mail.gmail.com> <887248.7738.qm@web1105.biz.mail.sk1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <4958CB34.5080002@itforchange.net> Sumegha Your experience, and the earlier observations made by Sajan, are disturbing. And I hope they are disturbing enough for all of those in the CR movement to commit ourselves to understanding this phenomenon and take steps to fight it. It is not difficult to 'understand' this phenomenon if we realize that most of those who speak of setting up 'community' telecentres openly profess somewhat similar plans and expectations, as the person you met did. While in the CR movement one is still a bit on the defensive to take such a stand, it is considered quite respectable in the telecentre movement (speaking in general terms and not about all telecentre initiatives; our own organization supports community telecentres). This is the new 'sustainability' mantra as the primary yardstick of any ICT project. Basically what is meant to be said is that 'development should pay for itself' and governmental transfers or other kind of public funding may really not be required. Such practices have done precious little for communities, or for that matter for 'telecentres', but they have certainly been quite successful in entrenching a new ideology of business models and marketisation of development. What you see is simply an open expression of it. While one can understand the motivation and the strength of the dominant forces driving such an ideology, there also has been the problem that traditional development actors often acquiesce in treating new ICTs in a 'different' way. I never have been able to understand what is about the new ICTs - computers, Internet etc - that lends them to be seen primarily from a 'market' rather than a 'community' angle, as community radio is seen. Is there anything essential and specific to new ICTs vis a vis the old ones which is responsible for this. I don't think so. If anything, new ICTs because of their collaborative possibilities may be even better candidates for collective and community-based appropriation. However dominant forces, seeking an early advantage, have entrenched a solid ideology around the new ICTs, and traditional development actors who were either too busy figuring out ways to meet the so many developmental challenges, or took a simplistic attitude to new ICTs as just harbingers of neoliberal globalization, have largely failed to provide any alternative, pro-development, conceptions. (Apologies for such generalizations which may be unfair to some/ many.) I keep hoping that the community orientation of the CR movement could be used to communitize telecentre movement or ICTD, but the reverse looks like happening. The way forward from a CR perspective therefore may be to get more pro-active, and get on the offensive - challenge the dominant trappings and ideologies of telecentre practice and ICTD theory, to stop the damage that it seems to be causing to the CR movement. Meanwhile, I must clarify that I have nothing against markets - which are one of the principal institutions of our social organizing, nor against sustainability - a concept used since long in development practice, but in a much broader sense. The fact that I must immediately make such clarifications, or else risk being misunderstood or labeled regressive (if not something worse), speaks volumes about the dominance of a certain ideology. Apparently, one can use terms like business models and revenue streams in ICTD without any corresponding clarifications at all. Thats all, Sumegha, the person you met did. Parminder sumegha agarwal wrote: > Off late I was approached by one CR station owner to take up the role > of PD with the station. This person rued about investment of few lakhs > in setting up the station. This person's main concern was to recover > the money invested ASAP. Idea was that I should not only earn my > salary and also deliver lots of profit. That too with hardly having > any program content worth broadcast available. Further discussions > were held whereby partnership was offered and I was also asked for a > marketing plan with clear timeline re: recovering revenue through > advertisment. I too spent lot of time explaining the vision and scope > of CR to this person. No doubt our discussions led to nowhere. > > tx > sumegha > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:44:46 -0800 > From: arti at trfindia.org > To: cr-india at sarai.net; venniyoor at gmail.com > Subject: Re: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio > > > This story is obviously the work of a highly imaginative desk editor > -- especially the headline - because nothing much in the story seems > to suggest that the Jamia station is going to rake in anything close > to big bucks, what with Rs 50 for a 10 second ad. If they can raise > enough to pay reasonable stipends to their staff, that will be a miracle. > > Arti > > Arti Jaiman Project Manager: TRF Radio arti at trfindia.org > www.trfindia.org www.jaiman.org www.pitara.com > > --- On *Wed, 24/12/08, sajan venniyoor //* wrote: > > From: sajan venniyoor > Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio > To: "CR India" > Date: Wednesday, 24 December, 2008, 12:48 PM > > This is the second press story in a row on how CR is going "to set > cash registers ringing". (Another one had appeared in Indian > Express last week: 'Community Radio Must Earn Revenue > ') > > > Not only is the story below factually incorrect (IMS Noida tells > me that they are already broadcasting ads), this media projection > of CRS as a cash-cow is sending out very wrong signals. Like many > others on this list, I have often been approached by dubious > individuals and NGOs in search of ringing cash registers courtesy > 'community radio'. Very often in Delhi -- and recently in Patna -- > I've had long, surreal conversations with people who assume that > CR is a kind of cut-price commercial radio station. The tragedy is > that, given the loopholes in the policy, anyone can set up a > network of CR stations and turn them all into low-cost commercial > FM channels without even bending the law. > > Unfortunately, it is the genuine community-based group, with > little or no interest in making profits, that's grilled endlessly > on their revenue model and why they don't plan to broadcast round > the clock. The other sort, who prepare a business plan before they > think of a programme plan, set the standards of 'sustainability' > that the rest of us are supposed to shoot for. > > I guess it is difficult to tell whether it is cash registers > ringing or bells tolling when one's ears are stuffed with greed > and ignorance. > > Sajan > > 'This is Radio Jamia, and you can hear our cash register ringing' > > Hindustan Times, 24 Dec 2008 > > Come January, Radio Jamia on 90.4 FM — run by Jamia Millia Islamia > University — will become the first campus community radio station > in the Capital to air commercials. > > And this is exclusively meant for the benefit of local products > and commercial ventures. > > "Our radio reaches out to people within 10 km. This new feature > will provide a platform for the local tea stall, the nondescript > beauty parlour, eating joint or even a small-time soap > manufacturer within the area to popularise their product or > service," said GR Syed, Reader and in-charge of Radio Jamia. The > Ministry of Information and Broadcasting allows community radio > stations to have a five-minute commercial spot every hour. > > There are five operational community radio stations managed by > educational institutions in Delhi, including those run by Delhi > University (DU) and Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). > > DU and IIMC don't plan to introduce commercial spots in the near > future. This will make Radio Jamia the first among them to > generate revenue through advertisements. The station currently > airs programmes for six hours every day. > > Private institutions, namely Jagan Institute of Management and > Jagannath International Management School, run the other two stations. > > "The commercial length will be anywhere between 10 and 30 seconds > and we've decided on a tentative charge of Rs 50 for the same. > Currently, our volunteers and radio jockeys work without pay. We > would like to start paying them a token amount with the money > earned through advertisements," said Syed. > > If needed, students of the Mass Communication and Research Centre > will also help produce the commercials. > > "They will, however, have to pay the rent for the using the > university studio," said Syed. > > http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=IndiaSectionPage&id=7a66cbb5-7e23-41a8-91c9-1a187b110da5&&Headline='This+is+Radio+Jamia,+and+you+can+hear+our+cash+register+ringing' > > > _______________________________________________ > cr-india mailing list > cr-india at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Sell your car for just $40 at CarPoint.com.au It's simple! > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > cr-india mailing list > cr-india at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081229/2c0c7f38/attachment-0001.html From venniyoor at gmail.com Mon Dec 29 21:07:01 2008 From: venniyoor at gmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:07:01 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] AMARC AsiaPac interview - Ashish Sen Message-ID: <5479ae440812290737t435c945cid89d4248ecad5fe4@mail.gmail.com> The RnM interview with Ashish Sen, head of AMARC Asia Pacific, is available here: http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/interviews/amarc-asia-pac-president-ashish-sen-we-need-more-information-disseminated-about-availabilit Sajan On Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 6:08 PM, Vickram Crishna wrote: > Ashish Sen, AsiaPac head of AMARC, is interviewed in the current issue of > RadioandMusic by Aparna Joshi, following the recent meeting in Bihar, > supported by Action Aid. > > It is an interesting interview, lengthy enough to cover several important > matters. I have excerpted a few, with my comments inline. > > Technology: "There needs to be more information disseminated about the > availability > of appropriate and low cost technology in setting up community radio > stations. For instance, very few are aware of NOMAD technology that is > authorized manufactures of low cost transmitters. Most of us are aware > only of BEL and WEBEL (also authorized dealers) whose costs are far > steeper and beyond the reach of the aam aadmi. If community radio is to > assert itself as a "voice for and of the voiceless" there needs to be > greater impetus given towards providing and accessing low cost > technology. > " > > Comment: It is a pity that Ashish does not mention the possibility of DIY > construction, something that actually helped his own VOICES aided community > media station, Namma Dhwani, to come up, using cable radio, at a time when > the government, sans policy, proscribed community broadcasting. While there > are places in India where cable radio is not an option, because of the local > population's geo-spatial, economic and gender distribution, it is still a > viable and relatively inexpensive solution for many. In addition, self-made > TXs are far cheaper than any manufactured set, and also encourage > entrepreneurship (what Nehru called self-reliance) in construction and > maintenance. > > Sure, the Nomad sets are 'authorised' (and represent an international > effort to promote CR), but why has the government imposed the need for > authorising particular manufacturers, instead of simply publishing standards > and allowing Indians to help themselves? This is particularly poignant > considering the interview talks about the meeting in Bihar, which is where > the use of a DIY Tx led to an international outcry against Indian government > policy on CR, leading to the amendments that finally kicked off true > grassroots stations. Later in this interview, Sen talks about the need for > strengthening the CR Forum, and I wish he had spelt out how this would help > bring about self-reliance. > > C for campus or community?: "...the single window clearance should be > applicable for ngo/cbo applicants alike and not just for campus radio > applicants. > There needs to be more inclusiveness – both in spirit and practice – > within the sector. While respecting differences between campus > community and grass roots community stations, we need to build bridges > between both to ensure a vibrant community radio climate in the > country. > " > > Comment: In fact, the attitude of the government (both the Wireless Adviser > office and the I&B ministry) has been directed in exacerbating differences > between these two forms of public radio, perhaps in order to prevent them > from chipping away at PB's remaining domain. Or maybe they are just ornery, > eh? > > Rural/Urban divide: "The relevance of community radio in rural and remote > areas is not > disputed. But we also need to ensure that we do not lose sight of the > wood for the trees. Community Radio has a vital role to play in > addressing urban poverty and providing the urban poor and less > privileged communities with a powerful voice." > > Comment: As has been pointed out on this list by others, some cities have > as many as 3 campus stations jostling around each other, with no space yet > given for any other form of grassroots 'voices'. Apparently the vision of a > community-driven media service has not yet penetrated our worthy (and > unelected, do I need to point out?) panjandrum's consciousness, despite so > many years of desperate advocacy. > > Frequency allocation: "The paucity of frequencies for community radio > stations, as articulated > by official quarters, is worrying and needs to be reviewed." > > Comment: In fact, The Wireless Adviser openly allots only three discrete > frequencies for CR, and completely ignores the paucity of actual usage of > this band across the country. I recall someone (was it Sajan?) had advocated > using this list to monitor FM usage across the country, and I think that is > a very practical idea. Publishing such usage in the format of a distribution > map will go a long way in making up the gap in information dissemination > (unfortunately still a defining characteristic of the government). Without > such action, it is fairly obvious that the office of the Wireless Adviser > has absolutely no intention of taking proactive action to promote CR in > India (be it in the form of community and/or campus radio stations. > > Commercial is another story, since we witness pains taken to enable > nationally owned or promoted stations to maintain the same frequency across > the country, presumably as a moneysaving branding exercise. Incidentally, in > other countries such as the US, I believe such stations have a four letter > callsign, not a frequency. When the move to digital broadcasting takes > place, this question - or should I say opportunity? as in golden goose - > will no longer be relevant). > > In late 1871, one of Bombay University's first engineering graduates, > Samuel Nagavkar, joined the PWD in the erstwhile Mysore State. An upright > man, he is quoted as later advising a son-in-law, who was about to take up a > government post, that 'dishonesty did not consist only in being corrupt, but > that a man who did not put forth his best effort in the discharge of his > duties was "guilty of gross dishonesty." ' I fear that till today, this is > observed more in the breach. > > News: "The ban on news. This contradicts and inhibits some of the key > objectives of community radio which seeks to provide local/community > information for local/community needs. Further, it is not clear what > constitutes news." > > Comment: I mentioned in an earlier post what the government view on this > is, as stated at the Ahmedabad consultation: acceptable news on > non-government stations (including commercial, I assume, since they also > languish in a grey area) consists of announcements, unlike on the > government-owned channels. I suppose 'my sister's wedding' announcement will > be allowed, but no comments on what the guests wore, or who showed up. > Announcing the tsunami about to hit will be ok, but nothing about the > hoarding of stocks by the unscrupulous, or sale by them of donated relief > supplies, once said tsunami has passed, and decimated the listening > audience. > > Monitoring of news: Ashish does not make any suggestions. However, several > of us in this list have suggested this activity be devolved down to the > local level, especially given the vibrancy of the local language and > culture, without knowing which it is impossible to assess the value of the > content. Needless to say, this is pretty well anathema to the Centre, which > remains adamant about surrendering any effective power to the States. I see > no reason why the States need be involved, actually, since the Centre can > directly appoint local luminaries for this vocation. In any case, such > monitoring is only meaningful in case of complaints, and even as it stands, > recorded content (up to 3 months old) need only be sent to the Centre (in > transcribed and translated form, mind you) in such an eventuality. This is > not my opinion, I am repeating what I heard at the consultation. > > Quality of the CR Policy: "The need to review and extend the transmitter > range especially in > hilly terrain. (The current policy does take cognizance of this to the > extent that it indicates that exceptions to the current 100 watt range > can be made depending on the terrain). There is need to also reconsider > the validity of mobile broadcasting especially in the context of > emergencies and disaster situations. > Another constraint is linked to the age of the NGO applicant. > Currently, the policy permits NGOs that have been in existence for > three years to be eligible for licenses. However, in areas vulnerable > to floods and famines, there are credible and community based NGOs that > have come up in the recent past." > > Comment: Again, Ashish seems focused on transmitter power (which is, > incidentally, irrevocably linked to costs), rather than effective range. > Multi-modal broadcasting (combining data and voice in modules) is cheaper > and more robust for such situations, and promotes a variety of > entrepreneurial talents in addition to the valuable skills involved in > content management that typify the traditional CR deployment. Mainstream > media provides precious few opportunities for serious comment on community > radio, unsurprisingly, and each opportunity ought to be maximised. > > Revenue generation: "Sponsored programmes that are relevant to the > community and development > or educational could be other sources of revenue generation." > > Comment: Actually, sponsored programmes are specifically disallowed on CR. > I think we need to focus on total cost of operations and total community > earnings rather than looking at blinkered revenue models that derive from > 'organised' revenue stream visions. By its very nature, a community is not > organised, and any effort to organising it leads to internal politics. > Failure to recognise this seminal fact will doom any grassroots community > initiative, whether or not encouraged (and these are not) by the government. > > Looking ahead: "A core group has been formed to take the (Bihar > consultation) endorsement forward." > > Well, that is good news. Will this group be aligned directly with the CR > Forum? > > Vickram > http://communicall.wordpress.com > http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081229/6c584f08/attachment.html From v1clist at yahoo.co.uk Mon Dec 29 23:25:20 2008 From: v1clist at yahoo.co.uk (Vickram Crishna) Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:55:20 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [cr-india] AMARC AsiaPac interview - Ashish Sen References: <5479ae440812290737t435c945cid89d4248ecad5fe4@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <388986.89995.qm@web26607.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Yes, sorry about that - Yahoo apparently stripped off the embedded link. Vickram http://communicall.wordpress.com http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com ________________________________ From: sajan venniyoor To: CR India Sent: Monday, 29 December, 2008 21:07:01 Subject: Re: [cr-india] AMARC AsiaPac interview - Ashish Sen The RnM interview with Ashish Sen, head of AMARC Asia Pacific, is available here: http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/interviews/amarc-asia-pac-president-ashish-sen-we-need-more-information-disseminated-about-availabilit Sajan On Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 6:08 PM, Vickram Crishna wrote: Ashish Sen, AsiaPac head of AMARC, is interviewed in the current issue of RadioandMusic by Aparna Joshi, following the recent meeting in Bihar, supported by Action Aid. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081229/ab940baa/attachment.html From sumegha at hotmail.com Tue Dec 30 13:45:23 2008 From: sumegha at hotmail.com (sumegha agarwal) Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:15:23 +0000 Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio In-Reply-To: <487286.51935.qm@web26602.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> References: <5479ae440812232318i1a47f09ag837aa9ca09363132@mail.gmail.com> <887248.7738.qm@web1105.biz.mail.sk1.yahoo.com> <487286.51935.qm@web26602.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Sorry Vikram, I don't think it appropriate to disclose owner's name on this forum. lot of people looked at CR as a serious profit making venture due to lack of awareness and due to the fact CR is a new thing in India. Someday, this person might get fed up, hand over the station to some real CR people or could become a CR convert!!! sumegha Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:40:59 +0000From: v1clist at yahoo.co.ukTo: cr-india at sarai.netSubject: Re: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio Owner, Sumegha? I wonder if this slant was noted, when this worthy 'managed' to get the license threaded through the thorny tangle of the process? Vickramhttp://communicall.wordpress.comhttp://vvcrishna.wordpress.com From: sumegha agarwal To: cr-india at sarai.netSent: Sunday, 28 December, 2008 22:00:03Subject: Re: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio Off late I was approached by one CR station owner to take up the role of PD with the station. This person rued about investment of few lakhs in setting up the station. This person's main concern was to recover the money invested ASAP. Idea was that I should not only earn my salary and also deliver lots of profit. That too with hardly having any program content worth broadcast available. Further discussions were held whereby partnership was offered and I was also asked for a marketing plan with clear timeline re: recovering revenue through advertisment. I too spent lot of time explaining the vision and scope of CR to this person. No doubt our discussions led to nowhere. txsumegha Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:44:46 -0800From: arti at trfindia.orgTo: cr-india at sarai.net; venniyoor at gmail.comSubject: Re: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio This story is obviously the work of a highly imaginative desk editor -- especially the headline - because nothing much in the story seems to suggest that the Jamia station is going to rake in anything close to big bucks, what with Rs 50 for a 10 second ad. If they can raise enough to pay reasonable stipends to their staff, that will be a miracle.ArtiArti Jaiman Project Manager: TRF Radio arti at trfindia.org www.trfindia.org www.jaiman.org www.pitara.com--- On Wed, 24/12/08, sajan venniyoor wrote: From: sajan venniyoor Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radioTo: "CR India" Date: Wednesday, 24 December, 2008, 12:48 PM This is the second press story in a row on how CR is going "to set cash registers ringing". (Another one had appeared in Indian Express last week: 'Community Radio Must Earn Revenue') Not only is the story below factually incorrect (IMS Noida tells me that they are already broadcasting ads), this media projection of CRS as a cash-cow is sending out very wrong signals. Like many others on this list, I have often been approached by dubious individuals and NGOs in search of ringing cash registers courtesy 'community radio'. Very often in Delhi -- and recently in Patna -- I've had long, surreal conversations with people who assume that CR is a kind of cut-price commercial radio station. The tragedy is that, given the loopholes in the policy, anyone can set up a network of CR stations and turn them all into low-cost commercial FM channels without even bending the law. Unfortunately, it is the genuine community-based group, with little or no interest in making profits, that's grilled endlessly on their revenue model and why they don't plan to broadcast round the clock. The other sort, who prepare a business plan before they think of a programme plan, set the standards of 'sustainability' that the rest of us are supposed to shoot for. I guess it is difficult to tell whether it is cash registers ringing or bells tolling when one's ears are stuffed with greed and ignorance. Sajan 'This is Radio Jamia, and you can hear our cash register ringing' Hindustan Times, 24 Dec 2008 Come January, Radio Jamia on 90.4 FM — run by Jamia Millia Islamia University — will become the first campus community radio station in the Capital to air commercials. And this is exclusively meant for the benefit of local products and commercial ventures. "Our radio reaches out to people within 10 km. This new feature will provide a platform for the local tea stall, the nondescript beauty parlour, eating joint or even a small-time soap manufacturer within the area to popularise their product or service," said GR Syed, Reader and in-charge of Radio Jamia. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting allows community radio stations to have a five-minute commercial spot every hour. There are five operational community radio stations managed by educational institutions in Delhi, including those run by Delhi University (DU) and Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). DU and IIMC don't plan to introduce commercial spots in the near future. This will make Radio Jamia the first among them to generate revenue through advertisements. The station currently airs programmes for six hours every day. Private institutions, namely Jagan Institute of Management and Jagannath International Management School, run the other two stations. "The commercial length will be anywhere between 10 and 30 seconds and we've decided on a tentative charge of Rs 50 for the same. Currently, our volunteers and radio jockeys work without pay. We would like to start paying them a token amount with the money earned through advertisements," said Syed. If needed, students of the Mass Communication and Research Centre will also help produce the commercials. "They will, however, have to pay the rent for the using the university studio," said Syed. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=IndiaSectionPage&id=7a66cbb5-7e23-41a8-91c9-1a187b110da5&&Headline='This+is+Radio+Jamia,+and+you+can+hear+our+cash+register+ringing'_______________________________________________cr-india mailing listcr-india at sarai.nethttps://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india Sell your car for just $40 at CarPoint.com.au It's simple! _________________________________________________________________ Messenger's gift to you! Download free emoticons today! http://livelife.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=669758 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081230/632a33e7/attachment-0001.html From sumegha at hotmail.com Tue Dec 30 14:55:11 2008 From: sumegha at hotmail.com (sumegha agarwal) Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:25:11 +0000 Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio In-Reply-To: <4958CB34.5080002@itforchange.net> References: <5479ae440812232318i1a47f09ag837aa9ca09363132@mail.gmail.com> <887248.7738.qm@web1105.biz.mail.sk1.yahoo.com> <4958CB34.5080002@itforchange.net> Message-ID: Parminder, Well! it's to each according to their exposure and awareness. For me, this was an experience I quoted in the context of the original thread re: cash registers. This person's approach was normal as could be for a buissnessman. This person came from an extreme commercial end and I came from CR end with a view to explore possibilties to gether to make it commercially viable. Missing was a committment from my part re being sure about earning mega bucks through minor community spots! And you are so right about 'development should pay for itself' . I worked with a CR in station and we endeavoured to be self-sustainble. This was by way of having radio spots, selling air time to community groups, producing programmes for educational institutions and socially conscious groups, raising money through memberships and running annual radiothon. this gave us enough to sustain a CR with 15 and more employees and many be over 300 volunteer broadcasters. we were backed by unversity consortium, which gave regular funding. So here was a successful CR which sustained itself. As such I don't find talking about buisness/marketing as regressive as money is must for any venture. In the instance I quoted, it was about difference in committment. At the CR station I worked with for almost a decade, we faced the same issue with broadcasters. Most of them were committed to the social awareness part of it and some purely 'used' our station as a launch pad to get into better paid public and commercial radio. So all kinds of people floated thru our station but station never drifted from its committment which was ensured by well-established code of practise, guidelines. CR broadcasters national umbrella body and so on. So that experience didn't disturb me except that I had to let go of a chance to put to pratice my CR exprience in an Indian setting. I have moved on. sumegha Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:35:56 +0530From: parminder at itforchange.netTo: sumegha at hotmail.com; cr-india at sarai.netSubject: Re: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radioSumegha Your experience, and the earlier observations made by Sajan, are disturbing. And I hope they are disturbing enough for all of those in the CR movement to commit ourselves to understanding this phenomenon and take steps to fight it. It is not difficult to 'understand' this phenomenon if we realize that most of those who speak of setting up 'community' telecentres openly profess somewhat similar plans and expectations, as the person you met did. While in the CR movement one is still a bit on the defensive to take such a stand, it is considered quite respectable in the telecentre movement (speaking in general terms and not about all telecentre initiatives; our own organization supports community telecentres). This is the new 'sustainability' mantra as the primary yardstick of any ICT project. Basically what is meant to be said is that 'development should pay for itself' and governmental transfers or other kind of public funding may really not be required. Such practices have done precious little for communities, or for that matter for 'telecentres', but they have certainly been quite successful in entrenching a new ideology of business models and marketisation of development. What you see is simply an open expression of it. While one can understand the motivation and the strength of the dominant forces driving such an ideology, there also has been the problem that traditional development actors often acquiesce in treating new ICTs in a 'different' way. I never have been able to understand what is about the new ICTs - computers, Internet etc - that lends them to be seen primarily from a 'market' rather than a 'community' angle, as community radio is seen. Is there anything essential and specific to new ICTs vis a vis the old ones which is responsible for this. I don't think so. If anything, new ICTs because of their collaborative possibilities may be even better candidates for collective and community-based appropriation. However dominant forces, seeking an early advantage, have entrenched a solid ideology around the new ICTs, and traditional development actors who were either too busy figuring out ways to meet the so many developmental challenges, or took a simplistic attitude to new ICTs as just harbingers of neoliberal globalization, have largely failed to provide any alternative, pro-development, conceptions. (Apologies for such generalizations which may be unfair to some/ many.)I keep hoping that the community orientation of the CR movement could be used to communitize telecentre movement or ICTD, but the reverse looks like happening. The way forward from a CR perspective therefore may be to get more pro-active, and get on the offensive - challenge the dominant trappings and ideologies of telecentre practice and ICTD theory, to stop the damage that it seems to be causing to the CR movement. Meanwhile, I must clarify that I have nothing against markets - which are one of the principal institutions of our social organizing, nor against sustainability - a concept used since long in development practice, but in a much broader sense. The fact that I must immediately make such clarifications, or else risk being misunderstood or labeled regressive (if not something worse), speaks volumes about the dominance of a certain ideology. Apparently, one can use terms like business models and revenue streams in ICTD without any corresponding clarifications at all. Thats all, Sumegha, the person you met did.Parminder sumegha agarwal wrote: Off late I was approached by one CR station owner to take up the role of PD with the station. This person rued about investment of few lakhs in setting up the station. This person's main concern was to recover the money invested ASAP. Idea was that I should not only earn my salary and also deliver lots of profit. That too with hardly having any program content worth broadcast available. Further discussions were held whereby partnership was offered and I was also asked for a marketing plan with clear timeline re: recovering revenue through advertisment. I too spent lot of time explaining the vision and scope of CR to this person. No doubt our discussions led to nowhere. txsumegha Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:44:46 -0800From: arti at trfindia.orgTo: cr-india at sarai.net; venniyoor at gmail.comSubject: Re: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio This story is obviously the work of a highly imaginative desk editor -- especially the headline - because nothing much in the story seems to suggest that the Jamia station is going to rake in anything close to big bucks, what with Rs 50 for a 10 second ad. If they can raise enough to pay reasonable stipends to their staff, that will be a miracle.ArtiArti Jaiman Project Manager: TRF Radio arti at trfindia.org www.trfindia.org www.jaiman.org www.pitara.com--- On Wed, 24/12/08, sajan venniyoor wrote: From: sajan venniyoor Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radioTo: "CR India" Date: Wednesday, 24 December, 2008, 12:48 PM This is the second press story in a row on how CR is going "to set cash registers ringing". (Another one had appeared in Indian Express last week: 'Community Radio Must Earn Revenue') Not only is the story below factually incorrect (IMS Noida tells me that they are already broadcasting ads), this media projection of CRS as a cash-cow is sending out very wrong signals. Like many others on this list, I have often been approached by dubious individuals and NGOs in search of ringing cash registers courtesy 'community radio'. Very often in Delhi -- and recently in Patna -- I've had long, surreal conversations with people who assume that CR is a kind of cut-price commercial radio station. The tragedy is that, given the loopholes in the policy, anyone can set up a network of CR stations and turn them all into low-cost commercial FM channels without even bending the law. Unfortunately, it is the genuine community-based group, with little or no interest in making profits, that's grilled endlessly on their revenue model and why they don't plan to broadcast round the clock. The other sort, who prepare a business plan before they think of a programme plan, set the standards of 'sustainability' that the rest of us are supposed to shoot for. I guess it is difficult to tell whether it is cash registers ringing or bells tolling when one's ears are stuffed with greed and ignorance. Sajan 'This is Radio Jamia, and you can hear our cash register ringing' Hindustan Times, 24 Dec 2008 Come January, Radio Jamia on 90.4 FM — run by Jamia Millia Islamia University — will become the first campus community radio station in the Capital to air commercials. And this is exclusively meant for the benefit of local products and commercial ventures. "Our radio reaches out to people within 10 km. This new feature will provide a platform for the local tea stall, the nondescript beauty parlour, eating joint or even a small-time soap manufacturer within the area to popularise their product or service," said GR Syed, Reader and in-charge of Radio Jamia. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting allows community radio stations to have a five-minute commercial spot every hour. There are five operational community radio stations managed by educational institutions in Delhi, including those run by Delhi University (DU) and Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). DU and IIMC don't plan to introduce commercial spots in the near future. This will make Radio Jamia the first among them to generate revenue through advertisements. The station currently airs programmes for six hours every day. Private institutions, namely Jagan Institute of Management and Jagannath International Management School, run the other two stations. "The commercial length will be anywhere between 10 and 30 seconds and we've decided on a tentative charge of Rs 50 for the same. Currently, our volunteers and radio jockeys work without pay. We would like to start paying them a token amount with the money earned through advertisements," said Syed. If needed, students of the Mass Communication and Research Centre will also help produce the commercials. "They will, however, have to pay the rent for the using the university studio," said Syed. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=IndiaSectionPage&id=7a66cbb5-7e23-41a8-91c9-1a187b110da5&&Headline='This+is+Radio+Jamia,+and+you+can+hear+our+cash+register+ringing'_______________________________________________ cr-india mailing list cr-india at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india Sell your car for just $40 at CarPoint.com.au It's simple! _______________________________________________ cr-india mailing list cr-india at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india _________________________________________________________________ It's simple! Sell your car for just $40 at CarPoint.com.au http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fsecure%2Dau%2Eimrworldwide%2Ecom%2Fcgi%2Dbin%2Fa%2Fci%5F450304%2Fet%5F2%2Fcg%5F801459%2Fpi%5F1004813%2Fai%5F859641&_t=762955845&_r=tig_OCT07&_m=EXT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081230/0757af0d/attachment.html From v1clist at yahoo.co.uk Tue Dec 30 16:28:53 2008 From: v1clist at yahoo.co.uk (Vickram Crishna) Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:58:53 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio References: <5479ae440812232318i1a47f09ag837aa9ca09363132@mail.gmail.com> <887248.7738.qm@web1105.biz.mail.sk1.yahoo.com> <487286.51935.qm@web26602.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <114160.6604.qm@web26607.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> I didn't expect anyone to state it. I only wonder how a complex process of interviews and detailed submissions can be thought of as necessary, yet so easily subverted, as for this worthy to make it through the very first, early bird, applications. At the same time, dozens more are held up, and who knows how many dozens, hundreds, or thousands, not even submitted, merely because the process is too daunting, or else they are disqualified by default. And this is hailed (only by the ministry, it is true) as a citizen-friendly policy, part of our growth into a participatory democracy! Vickram http://communicall.wordpress.com http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com ________________________________ From: sumegha agarwal To: v1clist at yahoo.co.uk; cr-india at sarai.net Sent: Tuesday, 30 December, 2008 13:45:23 Subject: RE: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio Sorry Vikram, I don't think it appropriate to disclose owner's name on this forum. lot of people looked at CR as a serious profit making venture due to lack of awareness and due to the fact CR is a new thing in India. Someday, this person might get fed up, hand over the station to some real CR people or could become a CR convert!!! sumegha ________________________________ Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:40:59 +0000 From: v1clist at yahoo.co.uk To: cr-india at sarai.net Subject: Re: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio Owner, Sumegha? I wonder if this slant was noted, when this worthy 'managed' to get the license threaded through the thorny tangle of the process? Vickram http://communicall.wordpress.com http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com ________________________________ From: sumegha agarwal To: cr-india at sarai.net Sent: Sunday, 28 December, 2008 22:00:03 Subject: Re: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio Off late I was approached by one CR station owner to take up the role of PD with the station. This person rued about investment of few lakhs in setting up the station. This person's main concern was to recover the money invested ASAP. Idea was that I should not only earn my salary and also deliver lots of profit. That too with hardly having any program content worth broadcast available. Further discussions were held whereby partnership was offered and I was also asked for a marketing plan with clear timeline re: recovering revenue through advertisment. I too spent lot of time explaining the vision and scope of CR to this person. No doubt our discussions led to nowhere. tx sumegha ________________________________ Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:44:46 -0800 From: arti at trfindia.org To: cr-india at sarai.net; venniyoor at gmail.com Subject: Re: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio This story is obviously the work of a highly imaginative desk editor -- especially the headline - because nothing much in the story seems to suggest that the Jamia station is going to rake in anything close to big bucks, what with Rs 50 for a 10 second ad. If they can raise enough to pay reasonable stipends to their staff, that will be a miracle. Arti Arti Jaiman Project Manager: TRF Radio arti at trfindia.org www.trfindia.org www.jaiman.org www.pitara.com --- On Wed, 24/12/08, sajan venniyoor wrote: From: sajan venniyoor Subject: [cr-india] when cash registers ring for community radio To: "CR India" Date: Wednesday, 24 December, 2008, 12:48 PM This is the second press story in a row on how CR is going "to set cash registers ringing". (Another one had appeared in Indian Express last week: 'Community Radio Must Earn Revenue') Not only is the story below factually incorrect (IMS Noida tells me that they are already broadcasting ads), this media projection of CRS as a cash-cow is sending out very wrong signals. Like many others on this list, I have often been approached by dubious individuals and NGOs in search of ringing cash registers courtesy 'community radio'. Very often in Delhi -- and recently in Patna -- I've had long, surreal conversations with people who assume that CR is a kind of cut-price commercial radio station. The tragedy is that, given the loopholes in the policy, anyone can set up a network of CR stations and turn them all into low-cost commercial FM channels without even bending the law. Unfortunately, it is the genuine community-based group, with little or no interest in making profits, that's grilled endlessly on their revenue model and why they don't plan to broadcast round the clock. The other sort, who prepare a business plan before they think of a programme plan, set the standards of 'sustainability' that the rest of us are supposed to shoot for. I guess it is difficult to tell whether it is cash registers ringing or bells tolling when one's ears are stuffed with greed and ignorance. Sajan 'This is Radio Jamia, and you can hear our cash register ringing' Hindustan Times, 24 Dec 2008 Come January, Radio Jamia on 90.4 FM — run by Jamia Millia Islamia University — will become the first campus community radio station in the Capital to air commercials. And this is exclusively meant for the benefit of local products and commercial ventures. "Our radio reaches out to people within 10 km. This new feature will provide a platform for the local tea stall, the nondescript beauty parlour, eating joint or even a small-time soap manufacturer within the area to popularise their product or service," said GR Syed, Reader and in-charge of Radio Jamia. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting allows community radio stations to have a five-minute commercial spot every hour. There are five operational community radio stations managed by educational institutions in Delhi, including those run by Delhi University (DU) and Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). DU and IIMC don't plan to introduce commercial spots in the near future. This will make Radio Jamia the first among them to generate revenue through advertisements. The station currently airs programmes for six hours every day. Private institutions, namely Jagan Institute of Management and Jagannath International Management School, run the other two stations. "The commercial length will be anywhere between 10 and 30 seconds and we've decided on a tentative charge of Rs 50 for the same. Currently, our volunteers and radio jockeys work without pay. We would like to start paying them a token amount with the money earned through advertisements," said Syed. If needed, students of the Mass Communication and Research Centre will also help produce the commercials. "They will, however, have to pay the rent for the using the university studio," said Syed. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=IndiaSectionPage&id=7a66cbb5-7e23-41a8-91c9-1a187b110da5&&Headline='This+is+Radio+Jamia,+and+you+can+hear+our+cash+register+ringing' _______________________________________________ cr-india mailing list cr-india at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india ________________________________ Sell your car for just $40 at CarPoint.com.au It's simple! ________________________________ Download free Holiday emoticons today! Messenger's gift to you! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081230/6258ff37/attachment-0001.html From ardicdxclub at yahoo.co.in Wed Dec 31 10:45:40 2008 From: ardicdxclub at yahoo.co.in (sakthi vel) Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:45:40 +0530 (IST) Subject: [cr-india] Indian Broadcast industry awaits govt nod to key policies Message-ID: <165826.67690.qm@web95409.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Come Advertisement 2009, the broadcast and cable industry will once again be looking at the government for a slew of policy initiatives in sectors like FM radio, cable distribution platforms and mobile TV, which otherwise remained stuck this year due to several reasons. The expansion of conditional access system (CAS) across 55 cities and a clarity on the revenue-sharing formula with DTH firms are among the pending issues on which initiatives from the government may come in 2009, industry sources say. 2009 may also see the nod from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) to some of the 150-odd pending applications from broadcasters who are looking to launch more television channels. Among the major policy initiatives that may get a push from the I&B ministry include approval to the third-phase expansion of private FM radio that will eventually see setting up of at least 500 new FM stations. The final recommendation in the matter has already been submitted to the I&B ministry by the broadcast regulator. "Once the music royalty issue between FM radio firms and the music industry is sorted out, we expect the government to announce the third phase roll out of FM radio," a senior executive of a leading FM station said. So far, over 250 FM stations have come up across 91 cities. On the cable front, some of the large cable companies like Digicable, Hathway, InCable and DEN, among others, are waiting for a clear policy on the new cable distribution platform called Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS). According to industry sources, the file on HITS has been waiting for the I&B ministry's nod for over six months now. "Currently, only Essel Group has the licence to operate HITS. A clear policy in the matter will open doors for other companies to seek HITS licence," said a source in the cable industry. HITS enables a pan-India distribution of cable channels using a satellite, a technology similar to that of direct-to-home (DTH) operators. However, in HITS the end-users are the cable operators, while in DTH, the end-user is the consumer. In 2009, the I&B ministry is also expected to clear its stand on the much-controversial expansion of CAS that has so far been limited to the select parts of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. "CAS expansion in 55 cities as recommended by Trai will be a tricky issue for the I&B ministry. Then there is a Delhi High Court order in the matter so CAS will remain a challenge for the government even in 2009," said a representative of MSO Alliance, the apex body of cable distribution firms who were successful in getting CAS enforced in January 2007. In 2008, the major initiative taken by the I&B ministry was the policy announcement on Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) in September. According to the I&B ministry's statement, IPTV will open the doors for another mode of distribution of signals whereby 400 permitted satellite TV channels will get distributed through the telecom networks. © 2008 Business Standard http://www.afaqs.com/main1.html _____________________ Jaisakthivel, Chennai, India Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to http://messenger.yahoo.com/invite/ From bpssn54 at gmail.com Wed Dec 31 15:35:46 2008 From: bpssn54 at gmail.com (sanjay bharthur) Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:35:46 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] =?utf-8?q?=28no_subject=29?= Message-ID: <70c960d00812310205w55b4e7c0n40b4d9f631fd3b7@mail.gmail.com> Of late and seeing many postings and debates about CR I am a bit concerned as to whether we are over defining CR and its mandate. This concern is relevant because we ought to move into a realistic plane. The platform upon which a different CR policy was fought had its purpose and sincerity that none can doubt. However, that approach and philosophy is not evident across the spectrum of CR stations that have come up and are likely to come up. Are our expectations of them skewed or oversimplified. We were concerned about sustenance and advocated limited advertisement support model. Now can we push our argument to suggest that advertisement support in a pluralistic market place can be choosy. We were wary of partnerships and now partnerships of all hues including government support is likely. State governments that were callously left out of broadcasting activities have now found unique opportunities to partner with cbos-recall the karnataka government approach- that we heard while we were at Bangalore. If let a hundred flowers bloom is our avowed intention can we stop the variety and diverse interests and motives of intending CR operators?. Content is one aspect that we agonised and so did we on operational parameters. My concern is overreaction to attempts at someone somewhere exploiting CR's philosophy and or its exising licensing framework will isolate us from the larger concerns. We may want to reflect. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081231/7129d94d/attachment.html From tlsbhaskar at gmail.com Wed Dec 31 16:50:19 2008 From: tlsbhaskar at gmail.com (T.L.S.Bhaskar) Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:50:19 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Impact Study on Role of Community TV in Empowering Women Message-ID: Dear All Can anyone help me with the follwoing? 1. List of references of role of community tv in empowering rural women- theory, case studies, success/under implementation stories, experiences 2. Any articles that I can read about how to conduct an impact study on the role of community tv in empowering women- how to choose the subjects for a proposed study, identifying social parameters to measure to know if there is a change due to the intervention (CTV) in both short-term and long-term 3. Can you direct me to researchers who have actually carried out such studies so that I can interact and learn from their expertise 4. Organisations which can guide me conduct an impact study as advisers/teachers 5. CTV centres in AP that I can visit in person and learn from their experience. I appreciate your assistance, and I look forward to hear from you, You can email me at tlsbhaskar at gmail.com OR tls.bhaskar at yahoo.com With thanks and regards Bhaskar -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20081231/71bb75f4/attachment.html