Removing Barriers, Increasing Effectiveness - amarc

opportunities and approaches to community media that have contributed tosustainability and the enlargement of the services provided.Second, community media is a key element needed for sustainable development:voicelessness and powerlessness are considered key dimensions of poverty.Democracy, equity and civil rights contribute directly to human security, wellbeing and opportunity. 68 By reaching out to local communities facing poverty,exclusion and marginalization; by encouraging them to access media in order tobe heard even in vernacular languages, community radio contributes to achievingthe MDGs. Community radio can also reinforce traditional forms ofcommunication such as storytelling, group discussion and theatre and canenable grassroots participation in policy-making and democracy.Radio also transcends the literacy barrier, which is a problem in many southerncountries. Radio is also considered a "women’s medium" because it doesn’trequire the full, undivided attention of its audience the way newspapers ortelevision do; meaning, women who must work continuously at one given timelike farmers and labourers, can perform their tasks even as they listen to theradio. 69Moreover as a proximity medium that addresses and is received by eachindividual listener, community radio can address particularly difficult themes suchas gender violence and stigmatized health issues among others.Fourth, community radio is the media sector that is better placed for developmentgoals. Some public owned broadcasters have independent governance andeditorial arrangements and a range of public interest programming. But theyoften fail to ensure audience access because of a top-down approach toinformation dissemination. Other state owned public media tend to remain theinstrument of the government in power. Instead of dialogue with their audiencethey maintain a one-way mode of communication. Private commercial media canalso contribute to the plurality of voices but they tend to pay little attention to theneeds and concerns of the poorer sections of society and remain accountableonly to their private owners and the marketplace.Community Radio: The ChallengesEven as community broadcasting is gaining legitimacy it is also facing newchallenges. How can its specific contribution to a pluralistic media landscape befurther recognized in law and country regulations? How can its social andeconomic sustainability be assured? How can it interface with the new media67 47 See, for example, Declaration of the Ninth United Nations Round Table on Communications for Development (2004) Rome: Food andAgriculture Organization68 48 Chapter 6, World Development Report 2000/2001, Attacking Poverty, New York: Oxford University Presshttp://www.worldbank.org/wdr69 49 Women and Community Radio: Opportunities, Challenges, and Responses* By Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, AMARC Women’sInternational Vice PresidentAMARC Community Radio Social Impact Assessment 2007 Page 84 of 128