Removing Barriers, Increasing Effectiveness - amarc

commission, tasked with developing conditions for a healthy, vibrant local andpluralistic media. The government is being careful not to give the monopoly ofmedia to any one company, either economically or ideologically.JD: So let’s be clear about what is being said here. We are at the WorldCongress for Communication for Development, and we are often asked about theimpact of our work and for evidence that it makes a difference. You’re saying thatit took a long time. It took 10 years to get to where we are now? That perhaps theimpact after three or five years was quite difficult to discern, but, after 10 years,you’re not talking about a few thousand or even a few hundred thousand peoplebeing educated. You’re talking about a society fundamentally being transformed?You’re saying that transformation would not have taken place without communitymedia? Is that the claim being made here?RM: Yes. We are trying to produce an act of communicating. We are notmanufacturing consent. We are not manufacturing the news. We are trying todevelop discussion and consensus about common issues.JD: Raghu, thank you very much, indeed.AMARC Community Radio Social Impact Assessment 2007 Page 73 of 128