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BRAZIL: Community Radio Stations Demand Reform of Airwaves

By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO, Apr 21 (IPS) - The Government has presented a
bill to the Brazilian Congress to regulate community radio
stations that commercial broadcasters would prefer to shut
down.

Independent radio stations have rapidly proliferated in recent years,
putting the government in a cross-fire between supporters of the
stations and those opposing the un-regulated use of the airwaves. The
Brazilian Radio and Television Association (ABERT), representing
commercial broadcasters, has started a campaign to demand order on
the airwaves and close down more than 2,000 ''pirate'' broadcasters.

''The government's inaction on the pirate stations violates the
Constitution,'' declared jurist and former Justice Minister Saulo Ramos,
who spoke out on behalf of ABERT.

ABERT President Joaquim Mendonca said he would only accept the
independent transmissions if they were closely regulated by law - which
should ensure that the frequencies and ranges of the community radios
do not affect commercial broadcasters.

This proposal is included in legislation tabled by the government in
Congress last week, which limits informal radio transmitters to 10 watts
and a range of 400 meters. The bill also requires that the broadcasters
be officially licensed and restricts their content to public service and
cultural information intended to serve the local community.

In Sao Paulo and other states, radio and television business
entrepreneurs have accused the informal broadcasters of damaging the
industry by selling low-priced advertising.

Communications Minister Sergio Motta encouraged the community radio
movement when he declared in 1995 that he supported community
broadcasting and announced a proposal to regulate it.

National Association of Community Radios president and journalist
Nivaldo Manzano blamed the legislative delay on the ''oligarchies'' that
dominate the Brazilian media.

In reports disseminated in various media, Manzano accused the
Communications Ministry of daily closing ''dozens of transmitters'' to
keep Brazil at ''the margin of the world'' in community radio
broadcasting.

The journalist says Brazil is one of the few countries ''where this sort of
publicly useful service is still a matter of police interest.'' He added that
community radio is recognized and accepted in many other parts of the
world, rich or poor.

Manzano said that neighborhood associations, non-profit groups,
cooperatives and universities had participated in the community radio
movement, which provides communities with a voice to speak out and
make their demands heard.

He asserted that the stations were protected by the Constitution's
recognition of private, state and public broadcasting and its prohibition
of monopoly or oligopoly in the communications industry.

Manzano also noted that the Inter-American Convention on Human
Rights provides support for community or public (as distinguished from
government) radio by defending the right to expression and the free
circulation of ideas without abusive interference from the government or
private interests.

Commercial radio operators are worried by community radio's rapid
growth since a Sao Paulo court absolved a broadcaster charged with
radio ''piracy'' in 1991.

In the 1980's, when the ''free radio'' movement got started, there were
no more than 100 isolated broadcasters that were very vulnerable to
repression. But their number had grown to 1,000 by mid-1995, and
Manzano says there are now 2,500 of these broadcasters. At this rate of
growth, there will be more than 10,000 informal radio stations by the end
of the century.

The idea of independent community broadcasting in Brazil emerged in
the 1970's but the movement only began a decade later. The first
independent broadcasters were harshly repressed by the military
regime that held power until 1985. In 1986, the broadcasters began to
organize themselves in associations.

The first National Meeting of Free Radios was held in Sao Paulo in 1989
and three subsequent conferences have been held to demand ''an
agrarian reform of the air.'' This metaphor compares the community
radio cause with the current movement of Brazilian landless peasants
occupying unworked lands to seek justice.

The community radios are also participating in a Forum to Democratize
Communications initiative that is pressuring the government to legalize
new and more participatory forms of communication.
(END/IPS/cs/mk/96)
________________________________________________________
Bruce Girard
AMARC - Pulsar
Email: bgirard@pulsar.org.ec
http://www.web.apc.org/amarc/pulsar.html
Tel: +(593-2) 525-521    Fax/Tel: +(593-2) 542-818
Avenida America 3584, Casilla 17-01-1171, Quito, Ecuador