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------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From:          "Jayaweera, Wijayananda" <w.jayaweera@unesco.org>
Subject:       FW: Help Sagaramatha
Date:          Sun, 17 Aug 97 13:21:00 PDT

RADIO SAGARMATHA
A community's effort develop and democratize Nepal's media

by:

Binod Bhattarai
Station Manager
Radio Sagaramatha
Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists
P.O. Box 5143
Thapathali
Katmandu
Nepal.
Phone : +977-1-1231991
Fax: + 977-1-227691
E-mail: nefej@env.mos.com.np

------------------------------

Radio Sagarmatha is Nepal's first independent community broadcasting
station and represents South Asia's first effort at "public radio."
Radio


Sagarmatha was granted a broadcasting license on May 18, 1997.  With a
small broadcasting facilities already established, Radio Sagarmatha is
"on air" at 102.4 FM for two hours every morning. We are presently
testing our transmission, planning regular programming, training radio
producers and otherwise building up our institution.

Run and managed by an autonomous board of directors, Radio Sagarmatha
is  the realization of the dream of four Nepali NGOs. The idea to
set up a community broadcasting station was born at the Nepal Forum
of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ)  in 1993. Three like-minded
organizations, Himal Association, Nepal Press Institute and Worldview
Nepal and NEFEJ formed a team to campaign for a broadcasting license,
and put together resources for setting up the station.

It took five years after an application was registered-and countless
revisions and clarifications and meetings with government officials
and politicians-to obtain the broadcasting permission. Nepal's
changed from a monarchy, and a one party political system, to a
Westminster-type democracy in 1990. This opened up new possibilities
democratization of the electronic media, hitherto controlled by the
government. Instrumental in this process was Nepal's National
Communication Policy Act (1993)-prepared by a special task force
which had representation of some members of the organizations
behind Radio Sagarmatha. Private sector participation in FM
broadcasting, is one major provision of this act, which even lays
down basic programming principles for addressing issues  of
community interest.

Radio Sagarmatha is technically ready to go "on air," not taking into
account a number of issues and fine-tuning that needs to be done
before regular programming can begin. Among the major challenges are
the need to be addressed is to get the government remove restrictions
that Radio Sagarmatha's license imposes on commercial sponsorship
which is the only way this station can be sustainable over the long
run. Until the time Radio Sagarmatha would be permitted to do so, and
most importantly to begin regular broadcasting, it will have to seek
donor support not only for programming but also to meet institutional
expenses.

As the first independent community broadcasting station in South Asia,
the challenge ahead is Himalayan. More so in the Nepali context,
because by obtaining a broadcasting license and setting up a station,
we have initiated a process of democratization of the electronic
media, in the real sense. Our first challenge now is to prove to the
government and populace that public service broadcasting is feasible
and can be done by non-government institutions. Our ability to
achieve this objective would give future government reason to allow
other community operated and private companies to open broadcasting
stations. Along the same lines, our failure can also be equally
discouraging, especially in context of the democratization of
electronic media and the Nepali society: It could give governments
reason to refuse broadcasting permission to non-governmental
broadcasters for many more years.

Community broadcasting is a relatively new concept. This means we're
heading toward uncharted airspace.  Because our listeners are
urban-citizens of Nepal's social, economic and political center-we're
dealing with an intelligent, informed community. This listener make-up
is both a challenge and an opportunity. Getting attention of this
audience demands programming that is competitive, comparable and
superior to what already exists. As opportunity, because we're
dealing with a public that has always influenced Nepal's political
and economic decision-making, we are also in a position to influence
change. This environment shapes our mission. We hope to have
programming that is non-commercial but interesting, "objective" yet
sensitive to local sensitivities, and serious and informative despite
being apolitical. Because we are the people, we hope to be the Voice
of the People.

Radio Sagarmatha is beaming test signals from an antenna mounted on a
roof-top in Kaldhara, in the heart of Kathmandu. We are broadcasting
for two hours every morning and plan to expand programming as we
grow. Our long-term goal is to become an intelligent urban radio and
grow into resource center with the capability and expertise to set up
a network of community broadcasting stations in Nepal. Our small step
today thus has the potential to revolutionize information and
communications in the future. More so, in a region where millions do
not know how to read and write, and radio is and will remain the most
important medium of information and communication.

Radio Sagarmatha has a small core staff and hopes to mobilize
independent producers and communities for programming. The program
grid we are working is with simple but embraces the areas interest of
the community we serve. We talk about development and listen to the
voices of those that development seeks to serve.  We educate,
encourage and sensitize people on issues facing the community and
communicate useful information.


We have music, good recorded music, and will travel all over Nepal to
record vanishing musical traditions and oral history.

To be able to achieve these goals, Radio Sagarmatha needs support in
three fronts. Programming support is a relatively minor concern
because we hope to be able to raise funding locally. Technical
support is a critical because we are operating with a single set of
equipment and would be forced to shut down in the event of a break
down. The list of equipment is long and we are trying to reach out to
anyone who has used equipment to donate. Another critical area we
seek support is institution-building. Because we are not permitted to
raise funds through advertisements-only of those products we think
are not detrimental to public health, for example-we need support to
be able to survive.  On our survival and success, depends the future
of community public broadcasting and democratization of Nepal's
electronic media.


Binod Bhattarai
Station Manager
Radio Sagaramatha
Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists
P.O. Box 5143
Thapathali
Katmandu
Nepal.
Phone : +977-1-1231991
Fax: + 977-1-227691
E-mail: nefej@env.mos.com.np



___________________________________________________
Bruce Girard             Agencia Informativa Pulsar
Email: bgirard@pulsar.org.ec
http://www.web.net/amarc/pulsar.html
Fono/Fax: +593-2-501 180 o 551 674
Fax en Montreal, Canada: +1-514-221-2009
Av. Atahualpa 333, Casilla 17-08-8489, Quito, Ecuador