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

With regard to Vokaribe, no systematic study has yet beenmade of the approximately 500,000 inhabitants in the neighborhood.Vokaribe has an active fan group and in recent meetingsfor its relaunch many local representatives and communitymembers were actively involved. Vokaribe has systematizedsome lessons learned about participative processes, as PatriciaRendón explains: “You never can speak for others. Everyonehas his or her own voice. The most we can do as Vokaribe is topromote and help to get that voice heard.” 69Radio Intag makes an important social contribution forthe region, strengthening local identities and defending itsenvironment. For many inhabitants, this radio station is amain reference and they even feel that they can visit the radiostation and share their concerns. Its core team makes skillfuluse of modern technologies, including the internet. There aresome well-prepared programs and reports and solid supportthrough international solidarity networks. However, the outletis under pressure: In a global political context in relationto the massive promotion of extractive industries in the region,it finds itself in the middle of a political conflict betweenecologists and enterprises authorized by the government. Itsformal status as a private radio station is no longer adequatefor its social goals. There are signs of “fatigue” related to lowparticipation of the community, political pressures, and financialconstraints.In order to better understand the audience, Javier Torres,an Ecuadorian scholar, carried out a survey of Radio Intag'slisteners. One of the main results is that almost 75 percent ofthe population (about 19,000 people) listen regularly to RadioIntag, and that radio reception and use in mining areas isweak. Until recently, the most popular program with the audiencewas the live transmission of early morning mass; anotherpopular format is the local background information program“Revista Intag” and a participative cultural program wheremusicians from local communities come into the studio toplay their rhythms and tell anecdotes from a peasant’s life.Public Service: General FunctionsCreating a Public SphereRadio Pio XII undoubtedly contributes to the creation of apublic sphere. It offers comprehensive information on provincialand local dynamics, and promotes a pluralistic forum onimportant development and governance issues – especiallyin a highly polarized national context. In many cases, Pio XIIis the only source of information relating to indigenous andpeasant people from small Andean villages.The editorial policy seems to be focused on constructivecriticism with regard to the solution of visible dysfunctionsand of responsibilities for wrongdoing. Pio XII has the credibilityto moderate debates and facilitate between conflictingpolitical organizations and actors. In recent years, the editingteam has been trying to respond to the management’s qualityrequirement to be more “educative,” gives much more socialand contextual orientation and has improved the backgroundreporting. Nevertheless, the range of journalistic formats usedis still limited and the quality of many concrete communicationalproducts could be still significantly improved. The useof investigative journalism is in very early stages.Vokaribe is still in its pilot phase, and it is difficult to drawany conclusions as to its general functions. The radio teamseems to have a clear idea of journalistic standards with regardto balanced information and inclusion of pluralistic opinions.But Vokaribe radio does not play the role of “watchdog” andcritical observer of public policies in the area. Nor does it seekto uncover irregularities through investigative journalism –which would no doubt mean increased security risks for reporters.The focus is on local cultural life and its potential. 70Radio Intag is similar to Radio Pio XII in that its goal is tooffer comprehensive local news. Additionally, it uses the newsservice of independent agencies like ALER (Latin American Associationof Radio Education), CORAPE (Coordinator of PopularEducational Radio of Ecuador), and Radio Netherlands to coverthe national and international news. However, Radio Intag hasits own political agenda and a mission against mining projectsfor the sake of environmental protection, and it does not treatthese issues without bias, giving the same space to the supportersof these extractive projects. In some of its programs,President Rafael Correa is criticized severely for his extractiveindustry policy. On the other hand, the broadcaster gives theofficial government channel (including live transmissionsof presidential speeches) almost three hours for its standardprogram. This fact shows that Radio Intag is committed to itsconvictions, but not in an “obsessive” or “dogmatic” way. Evenif investigative journalism is not very well-developed, somebackground programs raise awareness about certain hiddenissues, such as the migration of young people to the big cities.Supporting IntegrationRadio Pio XII plays an important role for social integration inthe region. It promotes cultural expression which would otherwisenever be heard on the radio and it thereby empowersdisadvantaged and repressed people. It has several participativemechanisms of consultation and reflection with civilsociety, but the final decisions are taken by the establishedinternal instances. One recent innovation is a target-grouporienteduse of new technologies, such as a webpage (mainlyfor journalists interested in local news), Twitter (for media experts),and Facebook (for people who had to leave the area andwant to stay in contact). 71Initially, Vokaribe involved local leaders and members of thecommunity, together with a group of professionals from otherneighborhoods. The integration of different cultural voices isits main strength. There have been several training cycles incommunity radio production, the use and combination of newtechnologies via Facebook, Twitter and internet platform is innovative.One of the best examples of community integrationis an annual fair of community radio stations in Barranquilla,240