edition-dw-akademie-in-the-service-of-the-public-functions-and-transformation-of-media-in-developing-countries-pdf

Part III Nepal: Radio Sagarmatha, an Asian Community Radio PioneerBoard too. 64 It meets monthly to review and plan activities.Currently, the five member board is elected for two years andheaded by a chairman. NEFEJ appoints the station manager asthe executive chief of the station and the deputy station managertoo.Generally, there are three types of “owners” or licenseholders of community radio stations in Nepal: NGOs, corporativesand others such as village bodies or municipalities. 65 Byfar most of the community radios in the country are run byNGOs although the level of financial aid to the different stationsvaries greatly. This has led to widespread criticism if theconcerned stations can truly be independent from the agendaof the NGO to whom they are attached.Despite the fact that Radio Sagarmatha started its operationsin 1997 already, there is still no legal framework underwhich the now more than 250 community radios in 70+ districtsof the country work. Up until now, rules and regulationsregarding the media in general and the role of the press in Nepalin particular can be found in the Radio Act of 1957, 66 that hasbeen amended many times, as well as in the Broadcasting Actof 1993, and the interim constitution of 2007. Meanwhile thegovernment has established a nine-member working groupand is hopeful to finally come up with binding regulations bythe end of 2014 in order to give the community radio sector a“separate identity.” 67 As of now, community radios were onlymentioned as being “non-profit-making FM stations.”All in all, the growth of the sector has been somewhat chaoticin the past years. As one expert has said, it was based “on sentiments,emotions, and ideals” 68 rather than a planned strategy.Especially after the end of the civil war in 2006, when the governmentwas no longer afraid that airwaves could be used bythe former Maoist rebels for their propaganda, licenses wereissued en masse. Between April 2006 and July 2007 about 150licenses were issued and in early August 2011, the governmenthad issued 393 licenses and of these, 228 were community stationsand the remainder commercial radios. 69 One of the reasonsfor this rush is that receiving the license is quite cheap.For a 100 Watt transmitter, the license fee is 20,000 NepaleseRupees, approx. 150 Euros. A small station can be run on a budgetof ca. 1.5 million Nepalese Rupees (11,200 Euros) a year. 70In the absence of governmental regulations and guidelines,ACORAB – the Association of Community Radio Broadcastersin Nepal – has come up with its own “constitution,” a set of criteriaits members should adhere to. This includes that “at least60% of the programming should be localized. The programs ofthis category should be either dealing with local issues of thecommunities the concerned stations are serving or should bein the local language to give the communities a platform andsupport dialogue. The remaining 40% of the programmingcan deal with issues of national interest, can be rebroadcastsfrom other stations or could be entertainment based. 71The absence of a clear definition and binding criteria hasmade it in many cases difficult to differentiate clearly betweencommercial and community radio stations in Nepal as the stationselects most of the times its label on its own. A report submittedin December 2012 by ACORAB and the United NationsDemocracy Fund (UNDEF) states: “Community radios face anumber of governance and accountability related challengesincluding: inconsistent application of community radio principles,domination by elite groups, increased politicizationand loss of local control and content. Despite large numbersof stations that use the label ‘community radio’, many of thesestations would score low or fail if a well-researched set of criteriawere applied to their operations.” 72Three Nepali organizations in particular need to be mentionedwhen it comes to journalistic ethics. In 2003 (amendedin 2008), The Press Council Nepal 73 has come up with a “Codeof Journalistic Ethics.” 74 The Press Council Nepal is an autonomousand independent body set up by the government in 1972to monitor originally the print media only and promote freedomand ethical standards of behavior. It now also deals withcomplaints against journalists, publications, and broadcastersand advises the government on media development policy.51Osang & Buerki 1999.52Ibid.53The IIJ was founded in 1962 andseeked to improve the performanceof print and onlinejournalists It later becamepart of Deutsche Gesellschaft fürInternationale Zusammenarbeit(GIZ), and in 2013 its operationswere taken over by DW Akademie.54NEFEJ 2014b.55See Ministery of Foreign Affairsof Denmark 2014.56Noronha, May 22, 1999.57Lodge, March 21, 2014.58Yale University 2014.59Free Press Unlimited 2014.60NEFEJ 2014c.61Radio Sagarmatha 2014b.62Mohan Chapagain, Chairman ofthe Association of CommunityRadio Broadcasters Nepal(ACORAB).63NEFEJ 2014a.64See: Shivakoti.65In 2011, out of 242 licensedcommunity radio stations183 were run by an NGO, 54 by acorporative and the rest byvillage council, a municipalityand educational institutions.In: CRSC 2011.66The original text of the RadioAct of 1957 can be foundunder http://www.asianlii.org/np/legis/laws/ra201463/.67Mohan Chapagain, Chairman ofthe Association of CommunityRadio Broadcasters Nepal(ACORAB).68Ibid.69Pringle & Subba 2007, 10.70According to data provided bythe Association of CommunityRadio Broadcasters Nepal(ACORAB).71Mohan Chapagain, Chairman ofthe Association of CommunityRadio Broadcasters Nepal(ACORAB).72ACORAB 2012.73Press Council Nepal 2014.74Press Council Nepal 2008.Edition DW Akademie In the Service of the Public 211