STArTInG A LOCAL RADiO stAtiOn - Nai

Section 4: Community radionnnnnFocus. The purpose of the board should be clearly defined. Efforts must be made to ensure that theradio station or board membership is not used for personal gain.Commitment. All board members must believe firmly in the mission and goals of the station.Capacity. They must be willing to share and expand their knowledge and expertise (legal, administrative,financial and etc.) on behalf of the station.Accessibility. They must have time to attend meetings and work on tasks and issues at other times.Inspiration. They must be willing to make reasonable suggestions on how the radio station can bestachieve its goals.“An advisory board is helpful because it can help the station understand the community better.Understanding the needs of a community can be a big job for only one person and that’swhy an advisory board can be very supportive. Our advisory board has eight members, menand women, youth and elders who represent five districts where our station can be heard. Allfour local languages, Pashto, Dari, Uzbek and Turkmen, are also represented on the board. Themembers propose new program ideas, they listen to existing shows and provide the stationwith feedback and offer suggestions on how to improve our programs.”Nooragha Sharifi, station manager, Radio Darman, Aqcha, Jawzjan.Roles and tasks shared collectively by all board members:n Create fundraising and business development rules and strategies (including advertising)nnnnnnnApprove recruitment and management policiesCreate guidelines for program production, provide feedback on contentCreate rules of conduct for the advisory boardPrepare an annual report about the station’s achievements, challenges and lessons learnedPrepare an annual financial statement to show how income was generated and usedAttend meetings with donorsMediate if necessary to solve conflicts within the stationSuggested roles and tasks of individual board membersBoard ChairpersonnnnnnDevelops the agenda for each board meeting with input from the station managerChairs each board meeting and encourages discussionCoordinates between the advisory board and station managementRegularly visits the station to meet with the station managerInitiates evaluation of the station’s programs44 STARTING A LOCAL RADIO STATION: A MANUAL FOR AFGHANISTAN