Removing Barriers, Increasing Effectiveness - amarc

• How do you participate in this station? If you do not, have you ever beenapproached to do so?Principles of AssessmentThe review of existing literature done for AMARC suggests that although thereare few specific guidelines for evaluating the impact of community radio, thereare several useful reference several publications.The nature of community radio itself, being participatory and adapted to thecultural, social and political context of each region, country and community, callsfor approaches to impact assessment, and even systems assessment, that areconsistent with the philosophy of participation and local ownership.Any assessment should serve the needs and interests of the community radioconstituencies, this is, the people from the community where the stationoperates. Assessments should be done in a participatory manner involving allstakeholders and constituents such as listeners, station personnel, affiliatedcommunity groups, NGOs and universities.If we accept these principles, then it is counter-intuitive for us to recommend asingle manual, or single tool, be used for assessing community radio.AMARC may need to develop a resource publication on assessing communityradio. The resource book should explain participatory approaches, their value,and provide examples from other efforts.AMARC Community Radio Social Impact Assessment 2007 Page 55 of 128