Pathways to Critical Media Education and Beyond (2003)

Chapter 6 (Global Context) Media Monitoring for Gender Advocacy: The GMMP 2000 Experience Teresita Hermano 6.1 The Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) The Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), according to media and gender specialist Margaret Gallagher, is \"one of the most extraordinary collective enterprises yet organised within the global women’s movement.\" First conceived in 1994 at the WACC international conference in Bangkok on ‘Women Empowering Communication’, the first GMMP was organised by the women’s lobby group MediaWatch Canada in 1995. Five years later, the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), based in London, organised an even more comprehensive study, and published the results in a report entitled Who Makes the News? The Global Media Monitoring Project 2000. 6.2 GMMP 2000 More than a thousand volunteers in 70 countries participated in GMMP 2000. They all monitored the news on radio, television and newspapers on the same day on the 1st of February 2000. It was an exciting day of solidarity for the volunteer monitors from all over the world, linked only by e-mail and a common task. E-mail started coming in to WACC that morning, first from the Philippines, then from many other countries that were monitoring at the same time, and the incoming e-mail messages were immediately shared with all the groups. The monitoring group from China, for example, wrote to say how pleased they were to be included ‘in this historic event’. A church women’s group in the US mobilised the largest contingent of volunteers – hundreds of men and women across the states, all monitoring the news that day. A volunteer in Nairobi wrote: \"I can’t believe I am having so much fun here in Kenya, knowing that people are out there, doing the same thing.\" 85

Media Monitoring for Gender Advocacy: The GMMP 2000 Experience Table 1: Participating Countries in GMMP 2000 Continent No. of Countries Total Data Records Africa 11 3,169 Asia 14 13,334 Caribbean 3,431 Europe 6 15,309 Latin America 21 4,652 Middle East 4,044 North America 8 4,436 Oceania 4 1,993 Total 2 50,368 4 70 At the end of the research exercise, the groups submitted a massive total of 50,853 data records contained in coding grids, along with photographs of the volunteers, newspaper clippings, media logos and the monitoring coordinators’ notes with more qualitative information on the news that day. As it was only a one-day study, it had its limitations. But it provided a sufficiently broad snapshot of the world’s news that day. It must also be emphasised that although the monitors were volunteers, the data analyst company and the consultants were professional researchers and media and gender specialists. The basic aim of the study was to analyse how women were represented in the news around the world. But another objective was to empower local groups, mostly women, to give them research tools they would need to monitor the media, and provide the results for them to use in awareness- raising and advocacy. For many NGOs, some of whom had never done any research study before, it was a wonderful discovery that even statistical research projects can be democratised. With the number of people who have participated in both GMMP exercises and in follow-up workshops, the GMMP media monitoring tools have probably become the mostly widely used in the world. 86

Media Monitoring for Gender Advocacy: The GMMP 2000 Experience WACC had the materials translated into French and Spanish, while some other countries translated the original English text into their own language. We had sent out the GMMP 2000 kit to the monitoring groups three months in advance so that they had time to become familiar with the coding procedure. Each kit consisted of the News Monitoring Guide detailing the instructions, the coding guide and the coding sheets for radio, television and newspapers. It also contained an open-ended News Analysis questionnaire, which allowed coordinators to put the news in context. On the actual monitoring day, volunteers had to tape and code the major radio and TV newscasts, as well as the two main news pages of the major newspapers. The questions asked in GMMP 2000 related to some of the most consistently debated issues on media and gender equity. 6.3 Result of GMMP 2000: Highlights Here are the highlights of the GMMP 2000 results: Table 2: Gender of News Subjects in Three Media 100 Male Female 80 78 87 83 82 Percent of news subjects 60 40 22 17 18 20 13 0 Radio Newspapers Total Television Only 18% of the people in the news that day were women. 87

Media Monitoring for Gender Advocacy: The GMMP 2000 Experience The results have hardly changed since the first GMMP five years ago, despite various women’s campaigns and huge world conferences. In 1995, the first GMMP showed that 17% of the people in the news were women. Although women were never the majority featured in any news topic, women were more likely to be found in stories about the arts, entertainment and celebrity news, in stories on education and health. They were least likely to be the news subjects in stories about labour and politics. Such news topics were, of course, dominated by men. Table 3: Percentage of Men and Women in Selected Story Topics 100 94 Men Women 90 85 88 6 80 71 15 12 National 70 65 Labour Politics % of women and men 60 50 29 40 35 30 20 10 0 Arts Education & Entertainment The women in the news were much more likely to be identified by their family status – as wife, daughter, etc. In fact, the only occupation where women in the news outnumbered men was that of homemaker or parent – 81%. Even more significant was the fact that 25% of women had no stated occupation at all, compared to just 9% of the men. 88

Media Monitoring for Gender Advocacy: The GMMP 2000 Experience Table 4: News Subjects Identified by Family Status 35 Men 30 27 30 Women 25 All 24 Percent identified by family status 22 22 21 21 20 18 15 15 9 12 5 10 10 8 6 8 7 67 7 54 5 4 4 3 4 2 Asia Carri- Europe Latin Middle North Oceania TOTAL 0 bean America East America Africa It was not surprising that women who made the news were more than twice as likely as men to be portrayed as victims – victims of crime, accidents, sexual violence or other victims. In the UK, for instance, the news that day was dominated by the story of a doctor who killed his elderly patients. So there were 15 women in all whose names and photographs that appeared on the front page of the news, but they were all murder victims. 89

Media Monitoring for Gender Advocacy: The GMMP 2000 Experience Table 5: News Subjects Portrayed as Victims 20 19 Women Men 18 8 Percent of news subjects who are victims 16 TOTAL 14 12 10 87 65 4 3 4 3 22 2 00 Other Crime Accident Sexual Violence As journalists, women’s representation in the news was significantly better. However, we must note that it is among TV announcers where women form a slight majority and in newspapers where they have the lowest presence. Women accounted for 56% of TV announcers and 36% of reporters. On radio, women accounted for 41% of announcers and 28% of reporters. In newspapers, women are 26% of the reporters. 90

Media Monitoring for Gender Advocacy: Male The GMMP 2000 Experience 74 Female Table 6: Announcers and Reporters 26 100 80 72 60 56 64 59 44 36 41 40 Percent 28 20 10 0 Announcers Reporters Announcers Reporters Reporters Television Radio Newspapers Do women reporters use more female subjects in their news stories? The results from GMMP 2000 show that there is a gender difference, which may be small, but statistically significant. In the stories filed by female journalists, 24% of the news subjects were women, compared to 18% of the news subjects in stories filed by male journalists. This seems to support the campaign of some activists to get more women employed in the media. 91

Media Monitoring for Gender Advocacy: The GMMP 2000 Experience Table 7: Selection of News Subjects by Female and Male Reporters Subjects selected by Subjects selected by female reporters male reporters Region % Female % Male % Female % Male Total No. of News Africa 12 88 10 90 Subjects 84 Asia 20 80 16 77 850 79 2,204 Caribbean 26 74 23 84 1,029 89 5,056 Europe 25 75 21 77 1,051 80 Latin America 15 85 16 82 968 1,933 Middle East 13 87 11 721 North America 26 74 23 13,812 Oceania 31 69 20 Overall 24 76 18 Some of you might say that all of these results are just a reflection of the real events happening in today’s world. As one female journalist once famously claimed: \"News is news. It has no gender.\" We must remember, however, that this position reflects a traditional set of news values and structures that have defined what can be considered news. And while it is true that women are a minority in positions of power in politics or business (which are traditionally the leading topics of the news), we must ask if this minority is properly represented, and why women are not equitably represented in news about the arts, health, education and other topics, which are supposed to be traditional female fields. The qualitative analysis of GMMP 2000 clearly shows that there were many stories that were missing a badly needed female perspective that day. The Canadian monitors, in their News Analysis form, wrote: \"The under- representation of women is astounding. Child poverty, single mothers at work and school, and women in business – women are so present, yet where is the 92

Media Monitoring for Gender Advocacy: The GMMP 2000 Experience coverage?\" The French monitors reflected that the coding results \"reinforced the impression that the media allow very little space for women … this raises the question of what is news, what makes the news, and why.\" Before the end of 2000, WACC published the results, complete with more qualitative analysis and detailed country results. We provided the participating monitoring groups with copies of the published report, suggested drafts of press releases for their use, and shared information and tips on how the other countries were using the results. Parallel to this, WACC was conducting a series of conferences on Gender and Communication Policy, which suggested various gender issues to consider in media reform. Finally, WACC commissioned and published a handbook on this topic, written by Margaret Gallagher, entitled Gender Setting: Agendas for Media Monitoring and Advocacy. This contained useful stories of how women’s groups have used media monitoring as a platform for lobbying, and the strategies they have used to counter media violence against women, sexism in advertising, degrading or stereotypical portrayal and other media concerns. In a sense, GMMP 2000 reflected where WACC was going in its Women’s Programme work. For years, we had organised workshops and conferences on women and media issues. But we wanted to go beyond awareness-raising to stimulate advocacy and lobbying towards policy reform, not just on media but also on gender issues. It was in 1997, during WACC’s first conference on Gender and Communication Policy (held in the Philippines), that we announced a plan to do a follow-up GMMP study that would be more useful to the participating countries in their education and advocacy work. 6.4 Achievement of GMMP 2000 So what has GMMP 2000 achieved? The accomplishment of the research aims of GMMP might have been easier to assess than its longer-term objectives. Among the research aims that were clearly met were: a) To create an international database on the portrayal of women in the world’s news, b) To establish a benchmark against which changes could be measured in future monitoring, and c) To provide a research instrument that could be applied easily in subsequent monitoring at the local and international levels. 93

Media Monitoring for Gender Advocacy: The GMMP 2000 Experience The impact of GMMP 2000 needs a long-term assessment, which WACC has not yet made. However, there has been anecdotal evidence gleaned from feedback that many groups have embarked on follow-up activities after GMMP 2000. For example, right after the GMMP 2000 monitoring day, the volunteer group in the Netherlands, numbering around 85 people, travelled together by bus to the seat of government in The Hague and held a press conference there on the initial results of their news monitoring. In Guatemala, CEDEPCA conducted follow-up workshops for grassroots groups to teach them the monitoring skills learned from GMMP 2000, so they could do further studies to be used for lobbying the media. In France, the Association of Women Journalists, after participating in the first GMMP, concluded that the monitoring \"has changed the way we ‘read’ the media and it will help us to show other journalists how and why things need to change.\" The Association then went on to use the GMMP methodology to do a more comprehensive study of the French media in 1999, and they participated again in GMMP 2000. In Jamaica, the Assistant Executive Director of the Broadcasting Commission went so far as to describe the usefulness of the GMMP 2000 report to communication policy development, saying it had \"extremely important information to the Commission’s work, particularly in the formulation and implementation of content standards for gender portrayals in the Jamaican mass media.\" For WACC, as for many of the activist groups, media literacy is an integral part of media advocacy. Lobbying, after all, is more effective when it involves more than just the lobbyists -- and engages the wider public. In the UK, for example, when a TV ad is considered offensive, the Independent Television Commission acts on the basis of complaints from the public. It gauges the strength of public reaction by the number of complaints it receives. A media literate public is therefore absolutely essential for successful media advocacy. Let me give you some examples of media and gender advocacy groups that have strong media education and media watching or monitoring components in their work. I will cite only non-Asian examples, as you will have the chance to listen to several Asian case studies at this seminar. MediaWatch Canada, which was founded 20 years ago, has been one of the pioneers in ‘media watching’. It has always believed that ordinary citizens themselves are the agents of change, so its main effort has been in grassroots education and action, with its own role as ‘facilitating consumers to advocate 94

Media Monitoring for Gender Advocacy: The GMMP 2000 Experience on their own behalf and to provide leadership in terms of research and analysis.’ Its education and public advocacy programme helps people to understand how the media operate and to develop critical media awareness. It helps the general public to comment more effectively on media content and has, for example, issued tips on how to write an effective complaint letter. MediaWatch further intervenes with media industry and regulatory bodies, pressuring them to meet their obligations under existing policies and regulations on gender portrayal. Women’s Media Watch Jamaica is another NGO that has been working on similar lines. It has been particularly active in conducting workshops (many of them supported by WACC) for young women – and men – not only on critical media awareness, but also on their own gender roles. Recently it held a workshop with inner city teenage boys to explore their concept of masculinity and relations with the opposite sex. The boys claimed that they needed sex to prove their masculinity. Through role-play, games, drawing and video, the boys came to the conclusion that sexuality involved their whole person – including their emotions and intelligence, and that sexuality could be expressed in different ways. Women’s Media Watch has published a training manual for Gender-Sensitive Analysis of the Media, which starts with definitions of gender and gender roles, and goes through the various critical issues on media and gender, particularly on media violence against women. Women’s Media Watch in South Africa is a fairly recent spin-off of the group Mediaworks, which has been a multi-media campaigner against racism and sexism in the country’s media. After conducting a series of workshops on Gender and Communication (also supported by WACC), Mediaworks formed a Media Watch network from among the course participants. Women’s Media Watch has taken up complaints against exploitative and sensational media reporting of rape crimes against women, sexist and racist advertising and reporting, and has organised demonstrations to bring home their grievances. Once it brought a group of women, including its disabled members in wheelchairs, to demonstrate with posters in front of the South African Broadcasting Commission, to protest against a soap ad that they claimed was racist. The posters proclaimed that it takes more than soap to wash out racism and sexism in the media. Believing that wit and audacious humour add to media interest in any event, the women gave out small bars of soap to passers-by, and blew soap bubbles at them. 95

Media Monitoring for Gender Advocacy: The GMMP 2000 Experience 6.5 Conclusion WACC subscribes to the same advocacy principle as most NGO activists who ‘think global and act local’. Even with a global campaign, it is ultimately the citizens themselves who have to push for change. With GMMP 2000, WACC facilitated this by sharing the ownership of the project -- by consulting participating groups on the questions they considered important, by providing them the monitoring tools and results, the detailed analysis per country, the feedback from monitoring groups and press information. The monitoring groups have responded by making this project their own – by using the GMMP results as the basis for lobbying for better media representation of women, by doing follow-up work in media education through monitoring workshops and by using the GMMP model for further media studies. We hope that we have stimulated the growth of grassroots researchers and we continue to share the results of the project by putting the report on our website and retelling our experience in the use of the methodology and the lessons learned from coordinating the study. As we noted in the GMMP 2000 report, women’s representation in the news has long been considered a critical media issue. The media after all are the main setters of public agenda – and they choose what they consider important enough to be news. So what does women’s limited visibility in the news say about their importance? We are all constant consumers of news, and although we may occasionally question what we see or hear, we are rarely able to put the news under such scrutiny and on such a wide scale. The GMMP 2000 therefore, doesn’t just revitalise the international women’s movement through its joint day of action but also allows us to reflect back to the media just how the news portrays women and represents their views. ❖ 96

Media Monitoring for Gender Advocacy: The GMMP 2000 Experience References Bangkok Declaration, Final Statement at the conference on ‘Women Empowering Communication’, Media Development, Vol. XLI, No. 2, pp. 25-26, 1994. Cishecki, Melanie, ‘MediaWatch Canada: Our Lobbying Experience’, paper presented at WACC Regional Conference on Gender and Communication Policy, Kingston, Jamaica, 19-21 November, 1998. Del Nevo, Maria, ‘Developing Gender Sensitive Communication Policies’, Media Development, Vol. XLVII, No. 3, pp. 3-6, 2000. Engendering Communication Policy in Asia, New Delhi/London: Asian Network of Women in Communication/World Association for Christian Communication, 1998. Gallagher, Margaret, Women’s Participation in the News: Asia (London: World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), 1996). ----- ‘The Global Media Monitoring Project: Women’s Networking for Research and Action’, in Kaarle Nordenstreng and Michael Griffin (eds.) International Media Monitoring, Cresskill, NJ, Hampton Press, pp. 199-217,1999. ----- ‘Reporting on Gender in Journalism’, Nieman Reports, Vol. 55, No.4, pp. 63-64, 2001. ----- Gender Setting: New Agendas for Media Monitoring and Advocacy (London: World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) and Zed Books, 2001). Hermano, Teresita Z., ‘The Legacy of Bangkok’ in Rina Jimenez-David (ed.) Women’s Experiences in Media, Quezon City: Isis-International and WACC, pp. 2-5, 1996. ----- and Anna Turley, ‘Who Makes the News’, Nieman Reports, Vol. 55, No. 4, pp. 78-79, 2001. Marchese, Josie, ‘A Day in the Life of Women in the News’ in Rina Jimenez-David (ed.) Women’s Experiences in Media, Quezon City: Isis-International and WACC, pp. 21-25, 1996. MediaWatch, Women’s Participation in the News: Global Media Monitoring Project ( Toronto: MediaWatch, 1995). Spears, George and Kasia Seydegart with Margaret Gallagher, Who Makes the News? Global Media Monitoring Project 2000 (London: World Association for Christian Communication, 2000). (1999-2000) Tindal, Mardi, A Day in the News of the World: A Study Guide for the Global Media Monitoring Project (London: World Association for Christian Communication, 1996). United Nations, Platform for Action and the Beijing Declaration (New York: Department of Public Information, United Nations, 1996) Van Dijck, Bernadette, ‘Changing Images: A Long Road’, Media Development, Vol. XLVII, No. 3, pp. 28-29, 2000. Women’s Media Watch, Whose Perspective? A Guide to Gender-Sensitive Analysis of the Media, (Kingston: Women’s Media Watch, Jamaica, 1998). 97



Chapter 7 (Asian Context) Networking for Gender Empowerment: A Case Study of the Asian Network of Women in Communication (ANWIC) Leela Rao 7.1 Introduction Debate on media education and reforms has been an ongoing activity especially in the past few decades. As repeatedly pointed out in several roundtables following the MacBride Commission report in 1980, the onus of carrying on the debate has clearly shifted from the organised section of governance and media to the parallel stream of NGOs and citizens initiatives. During the past decade in particular the need for expanding the debate of NWICO to beyond just news and information flow and to include cultural products has been strongly expressed. Several scholars have also pointed out the lacunae in earlier debates of near total absence of women’s concerns in all these articulations. It is in this context that I would like to review the work of Asian Network of Women in Communication as a partner and promoter of the debate on media education and reforms in Asia with a specific gender orientation. Briefly, let me give an overview of the genesis of ANWIC and its growth over the years. The Asian Women’s Desk started in 1989 in Manila with five countries as members. It was transformed into ANWIC in a matter of three years. Since 1993 the ANWIC secretariat has been located in India. But the credo of ANWIC is to have a mobile secretariat that moves from country to country periodically. The principle of a mobile secretariat is two-fold – firstly, it is essentially democratic in nature and secondly, it is a process of empowering the partners in the network. 99

Networking for Gender Empowerment: A Case Study of the Asian Network of Women in Communication (ANWIC) In the early 90’s the network was expanded through a series of workshops sponsored by WACC, in a number of countries in Asia. Generally women who interested in media and women’s issues as well as NGO/ institutes with similar interest were the coordinators for the workshops in each country. They in turn became members of the steering committee of ANWIC. In a period of ten years the network has grown to include14 countries. 7.2 Vision Statement Of ANWIC Full equality and equity to women through media at home, at the place of work and in the community/society. This would be realised through each participant’s own field of work, in women’s organisations, through media advocacy and through regular media awareness workshops. The network would provide the support system to help women look into themselves, rediscover their self-worth as women, strengthen themselves and nurture a deep concern for fellow women. As an outlet for documenting these experiences of women from different countries and also to share our vision with others, a publication Impact was brought out three times a year. ANWIC has also been associated with media monitoring exercises on a larger canvas with other networks and international organisations. 7.3 Expansion within Countries The members of the network have integrated ANWIC’s agenda into their own work and advocacy activities for gender empowerment have expanded horizontally within each member country in several ways depending on the orientation of the co-ordinator/organisation as follows. a) Through mainstream media: Those who were originally part of a media organisation or media research, continued their work with the additional mandate of Anwic. For example, Asmita Women’s Publishing House, a media and resource organisation, is the Anwic member for Nepal. It is also the first women’s publishing house in Nepal. Starting with publishing a 100

Networking for Gender Empowerment: A Case Study of the Asian Network of Women in Communication (ANWIC) monthly feminist magazine Asmita, the organisation has now branched out into creating literacy support materials, a radio programme (shakthi) broadcast on a FM station, and a continuous series of media awareness training programmes. It has also been a partner in several media watch activities. b) Women’s Media Centre (WMC) – Cambodia has been continuously organising media monitoring activities since 1996 and has made impressive impact on the media scene in Cambodia. Pakistan Television (PTV) in partnership with UNDP created the project called Portrayal of Women in Media. Through this project, a module on gender sensitivity has been developed for training media professionals, particularly television producers. It has also set up gender committees in all PTV centres. c) Through training/ Alternative media. Those who were into women’s development, integrated media awareness programmes into their activities. For example, at the Women’s Development Centre in Sri Lanka (WDC-Sri Lanka), media-related activities have become among the important activities of the resource centre. WDC conducts workshops for local level women’s organisations facilitating the development of a media watch group. It also facilitates training programmes in the use of alternative media forms like street theatre and puppetry in awareness- raising. Its annual Kantha Mela is a forum for grassroots level workers and organisers to gather and share experiences on issues of concern to them. The Mela also provides an outlet for creative expression for these women through poster designing, skits, debates and poetry sessions. In Japan, media education and monitoring watch is a continuous programme. d) All workshops engage in public discourse on issues of concern - such as the one at Jakarta on gender and violence. 7.4 Collective Activities Post-Bangkok Conference and the 1995 GMMP, it was clear that research on television and women was scarce across several countries. So in late 1996, a cross-cultural study of television in eight countries in Asia was initiated. 101

Networking for Gender Empowerment: A Case Study of the Asian Network of Women in Communication (ANWIC) There were several common trends in the development of television in the Asian region. Most significant was perhaps the emergence of foreign satellite channels on the media scene despite state regulatory mechanisms and in some cases enforcement to limit the spread of satellite foot-prints across Asia. The ground reality is that most urban areas now have direct access to foreign satellite channels and an increasing proportion of the rural landscape is being connected through cable network. In this evolving scenario, what is the space available for women to articulate their views and debate issues of concern? Does similarity of development lend itself to some common guidelines to evolve policy for women-centred programmes on television? Arguing for a more democratic media, McChesney makes the point that democratic media must ‘reflect diversity of citizens, opinions and accountability of the powers that be and the powers that want to be’. If this is a bench-mark to assess the women-centric entertainment content in Asian television, there is no diversity visible. The study findings reveal that there is little in terms of policy regarding women and television in the Asian countries. Women are addressed as being part of the news content, documentaries or the drama genre. But they rarely have an opportunity to speak out their views or play a role other than that of the stereotype. The study shows that prime time television entertainment reinforce the patriarchal nature of the society and the media turning female audience into mere consumers. Apart from this, the study did indicate certain common trends and some exceptional variations in the perception of the medium. 7.5 Major Findings a) Uniformity in development of television in the countries, and the influence of western modes of production/presentation. b) Distinctive alternative ways of dealing with the emergence of transnational content developers and channel providers such as in China. The Women & Children Channel of the Sichuan Cable TV was launched on January 18, 1995, also known as Channel 4 of the Sichuan Cable TV. The channel transmits its programmes to more than 30 cities and counties including Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, which covers a population of over 20 million 102

Networking for Gender Empowerment: A Case Study of the Asian Network of Women in Communication (ANWIC) in an area of 20,000 square kilometers. Its show time runs 16 hours daily. However, in the overall television system in the country, this may still be a single digit percentage of total content. Along with the conditioned mindset observed among most media professionals as well as organisations that stall any progressive gender oriented television content, it is equally important to realise it is a conditioned mindset that receives the message. 7.6 Localisation of the Global In an increasingly liberalised media environment in India, a process of localising global content has been commented upon by several media analysts. One extension of this process is that to make the content palatable to local audience, indigenous production and distribution networks have emerged. Therefore, media assessment exercises need to percolate to different layers of audiences. This demonstrates a need to take ANWIC to grassroot-level workers and organisations. a) Community-based Workshops A series of workshops was organised in rural localities to conduct media monitoring and critical appraisal of media content. Initial explorations with similar groups in the areas, indicated that media is not viewed critically. It is not an issue of immediate personal concern. Media was distanced and seen mostly as a provider of information or entertainment. There was a need to relate media content to their environment. The aims of the workshops, therefore, were to conscientise women on the power of words and images in the mass media and help them understand and analyse the media projection of their status. 103

Networking for Gender Empowerment: A Case Study of the Asian Network of Women in Communication (ANWIC) b) A typical ‘Gender and the Media’ workshop of ANWIC contains four components (i) Understanding gender as distinct from sex, seeing it in the light of new knowledge, confronting ‘notions’ and ‘positions’ of patriarchy. This was primarily to create an awareness of gender-related issues in their own context. The session generally questions existing norms of behavior and role prescription of women in society. This session is usually a group activity with discussion of posters/ graphics that depict stereotypical role models. (ii) Disseminating information about media content – such as advertisement, news, features, and serials. This is done in relation to the two most popular and available media - the print media and television. Discussions centre on how and why media portrayals reinforce social stereotypes and the need to question media approaches. (iii) Dissecting and critically examining gender issues within such a content – stereotypes of males and females as actors, creators and decision-makers. Generally newspaper clips, print/video ads and short film and TV programme segments are used for this session. Locating gender within the larger frame of the socio-cultural, economic and political context forms the follow-up discussion topic. (iv) A final session on alternative approaches in media projection with examples of short films and ads. The need for media appraisal, not merely criticism, is examined, and the role of collective intervention in meaningful social change is emphasised. After the workshop, the participants develop a critical outlook towards the media. They are aware of: • avenues for participation in the media – through letters, programme content, articles, etc. • how we can determine the media influence on us (by negotiating or choosing meanings), and • the existence of certain positive and alternative images of men and women, and that not everything about the media needs to be changed. 104

Networking for Gender Empowerment: A Case Study of the Asian Network of Women in Communication (ANWIC) c) Impact on the Audience (i) Participants ask for more workshops with more information, and for more people. (ii) They request for separate workshops for men and women, or combined programmes. (iii) They say, ‘We have become a better audience’. 7.7 Towards Media Education and Reforms a) The media would become more participatory and inclusive, as more people would respond or contribute views. That could simplify and demystify media for social change where change is positive. b) The media would be alert about what they project. For example, every audience survey of soap operas shows the diversity and high education levels of the audience. This compels the producers to introduce changes in the script. Gender-aware audiences in big numbers would make a difference to the content. c) It would encourage or compel an increase in female visibility in media organisations too. d) It would result in positive images of women and men in the mainstream media. e) It would create a sense of appreciation for the alternative images of men and women, beyond gender stereotyping. f) Apart from the ‘gender’ issue, it could lead to a general demand for policy change regarding the media. This could emerge as the media watch groups formed and enlarged by these programmes, would crystallise into a critical mass. Further, as consumers and as the audience, the participants would learn to exercise ‘informed choice’. ❖ 105



Chapter 8 (Indonesia) Building Friendship Among Religious Groups Through Communication: The Indonesian Experience Yoseph I. Iswarahadi 8.1 Introduction: PUSKAT Audio Visual Studio at a Glance PUSKAT means ‘Pusat Kateketik’ or Catechetical Centre. Puskat Audio Visual Studio (SAV Puskat) was established by the Jesuits in 1969 as part of the Catechetical Centre located in the city of Yogyakarta. During the first ten years, SAV Puskat concentrated on producing audio visual programmes for teaching religion. What started as a very simple photographic and recording studio has, in the course of the years, developed into a television training and production centre. Starting from 1995, the centre and its facilities were moved out from the city to the present location at Sinduharjo village, at the banks of a volcanic river (Boyong) with its source in the Merapi volcano. Today the Centre and the people who manage it live together with the people. In the course of its growth, SAV Puskat developed its vision (from an exclusive future to an inclusive one) as a media institution which provides communication training and audio-visual production for religious education and social development. Some of its video production have won international awards. For example: ‘Learning from Borobudur’ got the Golden Award in Frix Futura Berlin Festival in 1992, ‘The Highest Wisdom’, Second Prize, Religion Today Festival in Italy, 1999 and ‘Dreaming with Sudhana’, Third Prize, Religion Today Festival in Italy, 2000. Since 1995 an inter-religious programme has been broadcast nation-wide through a private TV station, Indosiar. In communication training, SAV Puskat serves individuals, non-governmental organisations, communities, private or state organisations, universities and TV stations. It has experience in carrying out special training on documentation and television. 107

Building Friendship Among Religious Groups Through Communication: The Indonesian Experience SAV Puskat is charaterised by religious pluralism, professionalism in its work and the non-profit focus of its activities. The vision of SAV Puskat is (a) to utilise inspirations from local, cultural and spiritual traditions to bring happiness to today’s society; (b) to build a multi-religious, multi-ethnic society; (c) to preserve the harmony of our nature; (d) to develop local cultures, and (e) to promote a non-violent movement and peaceful life in a pluralistic society. The mission of the centre is (a) to develop communication, both mass media and group media; (b) to promote dialogue in a multi-religious, multi-ethnic society; (c) to train people in media production and media use; (d) to develop local cultures through village halls; and (e) to motivate people’s participation in improving the content of media for social development. 8.2 Communication (Media) for the People SAV Puskat, as a Church institution, aims to actualise the values of the Kingdom of God through the communication media in the context of the multicultural Indonesian society. SAV Puskat is challenged to undertake pilgrimage creatively in order to find God who continuously works in this world while at the same time participate in His/Her work. Communication involves sharing our relationship with God. It should help people to be united firmly to form a peaceful community. The aim of media programmes is not only to encourage reading, listening, and watching but also to facilitate communication between people. This means that there should be a process of ‘take and give’ which enriches the life of the people. The most important thing is not media per se but communication which helps build solidarity and communality. To create and use media which engages with local culture is very important. Media is a means to encourage inclusivity. All media usage to proclaim the superiority of the Christians is opposed to the meaning of evangelisation. Media is a gift from God to serve the people, certainly not to manipulate them. When media is able to reveal the richness of culture and religious traditions, there is an opportunity for us to understand the Gospel better and in a comprehensive manner. Through media and communication activities, SAV Puskat motivates people to participate in the common struggle for building justice, peace and integrity of the Nature. 108

Building Friendship Among Religious Groups Through Communication: The Indonesian Experience SAV Puskat realises that this task is not easy, both in terms of the internal and external communities. However, this is our challenge, especially considering the multi-ethnic and multi-religious Indonesian context. This realities show that Indonesia is a rich nation. But if we cannot manage multi-culturalism wisely, the people will be divided. And there will be a painful chaos. Puskat Audio Visual Studio in Yogyakarta, as a media apostolate, has realised its responsibility to create a peaceful life among religious groups through the active use of communication. Inspired by Christian Principles of Communication (inspired by WACC), SAV Puskat has organised many media activities since 1985, involving people from various religious denominations. a) Village Hall: Minomartani (1990) and Sinduharjo (1995) The domination of communication technology by certain groups -- owners of large capital and the political elite -- have caused an ever-widening gap between those who have access to technology and the less privileged who possess nothing and do not have the opportunity to share the advantages of technological advances. For a large section of the community, this situation has robbed them of their human values. They have become nothing more than commodities. Their lives have totally come to depend on and to be determined by those who command technology. The less privileged have become dumb as they no longer have an opportunity to speak or speak up. They are paralysed because their creativity is extinguished through the tastes of those in command. SAV Puskat strives to fight against this kind of injustice by giving the community a voice and by conducting activities that satisfy their needs. Thus, changes towards ‘salvation and freedom from injustice’ can occur within the community through active communication interventions. Most of the employees of SAV Puskat live in Minomartani village, about 9 kilometers from the centre of Yogyakarta. There we can find people from all social levels and religious backgrounds. There are still traditional farmers but they are slowly but steadily pushed away by new settlers from the city, such as rickshaw drivers, construction workers, peddlers and low-income employees. Also, members of the well-to-do classes and intellectuals have started to build houses here threatening the residential space of the local community. 109

Building Friendship Among Religious Groups Through Communication: The Indonesian Experience To a communication institution like SAV Puskat, the situation of such a mixed population represents a challenge: How can the one motivate the various different neighbourhoods to become a harmonious community, where people care for each other and collaborate with each other in answering their common needs? SAV Puskat uses communication media to achieve this goal. This is how the idea of a ‘village hall’ started. After designing a plan together with the community, SAV Puskat built the village hall. Meanwhile, together with people, we started some cultural activities in the community. In February 1990, the building was already constructed and the community started to use it. They inaugurated this building on August 14, 1990. It is a beautiful hall and is known as the ‘Village Hall of Minomartani.’ The name of the village means: ‘the Message (martani) of the Fish (mino).’ In this hall, which is a two-storey building, there are a set of traditional musical instruments called ‘gamelan,’ some indoor sport games, rooms for meetings and courses, a small audio studio, and a simple library. The people from various religious denominations use these facilities for their activities and to build a harmonious community. Their activities include performing arts, village meetings, art workshops for children, children’s dance courses and a library. In 1995 we built a similar village hall in Sinduharjo, a village where our present studio is located. The activities in the second village hall are similar. These two village halls are community cultural centres that serve as sanctuaries for endangered traditions and for individual or group art experimentation. b) Communication Training for Catechists, Teachers, and Seminarians The electronic era has raised the awareness of those who are responsible for proclaiming the Gospel. Every year SAV Puskat organises a formal communication training course in the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of Religious Education at Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta. Every year SAV Puskat also conducts a media awareness workshop for ministers, catechists, teachers, and seminarians. We are glad that these activities are supported by at least three important events. 110

Building Friendship Among Religious Groups Through Communication: The Indonesian Experience Firstly, the Fourth Consultation on Communication and Theology (WACC) in Kaliurang-Yogyakarta (August 1994). From this consultation, some important recommendations: i) A special course for theology and communication should be emerged introduced in every school of theology. In this course should be included the philosophy of communication and media education; and (ii) There should be special communication training programmes for the lecturers. Secondly, in August 1994 the Commission on Catechetic of Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Indonesia organised a national workshop on media awareness. This workshop recommended that parish priests, catechists, and teachers of religion should develop media awareness in their ministries. Thirdly, the World Congress of WACC, July 2001 also recommended that Christian communicators should promote peace education through the media. The method we used in these activities is the ‘narrative-contextual-inclusive’ approach. This is the way Jesus communicates with his people. There are four principles: (i) utilise symbols and parables to challenge the audience in order to encourage them to participate in the struggle for justice, peace and integration with creation; (ii) dialogue with the actual situation and Christian tradition; (iii) explore an alternative way of life; and (iv) offer a preferential option for the poor. Based on these principles, we trained our catechists and seminarians using the following steps: • In the early part of the first semester, they are trained in a workshop on popular theatre. During the one week, they stay in a village and observe and communicate with the people (most of whom are Muslims). Based on their observations, they compose a script and prepare a drama together with the villagers. At the end of the workshop, they present the story in the form of a theatre show. After the performance, they hold a discussion with the audience. 111

Building Friendship Among Religious Groups Through Communication: The Indonesian Experience • During the first semester, they are trained on how to use audiovisuals to proclaim the gospel values. They are trained to use folklore, biblical stories and stories of life, so that they learn religious values ‘owned’ by other religious traditions. Then during the second semester they practice this method among the Christians. During the following semesters they undergo another programme called ‘Shared Christian Practice.’ • During the seventh semester, they study how to communicate with people from various religious denominations. This subject is also called ‘Philosophy of Communication’, because they analyse religious TV programmes and other kinds of TV programmes which influence the behavior of the people. Outside the formal institution, we also conduct communication training programmes for teachers, priests, or ministers coming from Java and other provinces of Indonesia. One example is the ‘Media Awareness Training’ sponsored by WACC. c) Producing and Broadcasting Inter-religious TV programmes Officially, the Catholic Church considers mass media such as television as very useful to proclaim Gospel values. In the new culture created by modern communication, television can be used as a new way of evangelisation. Even the Church encourages Christians to be more active and creative in using the media, not only to spread Christian messages, but also to act in more direct cooperation with other religious groups to ensure a united religious presence in the very heart of mass communication. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church, especially in Indonesia, still lacks the people who give serious attention to using mass media (in particular television) for evangelisation. Most of the Catholic production houses lack good equipment and financial and human resources. Our research in 1999 (and later in 2001) reveals that among the Catholic production houses in Indonesia, SAV Puskat is the most active and consistent in producing Catholic television programmes for evangelisation. It is important and critical to keep in mind that in pursuing evangelisation through television in Indonesia, SAV Puskat does not focus on the Church’s doctrine but on the Gospel values to bring happiness for all people. 112

Building Friendship Among Religious Groups Through Communication: The Indonesian Experience Since February 1995, SAV Puskat has produced Catholic religious programmes (PIK) with INDOSIAR broadcasts every two weeks. In its production, SAV Puskat always tries to convey Gospel messages using television language which is full of symbols, images, songs, and stories. With well-trained staff, SAV Puskat is able to produce PIK programmes with a variety of creative ways of presentation. Further, the process of PIK production is supported by the inclusive vision of SAV Puskat, its participative management, and its financial support for its work. Generally speaking, SAV Puskat has maximised as much as possible the good opportunity offered by INDOSIAR to broadcast PIK programmes every two weeks. The data taken from the 292 feedback letters (in 1999) reveal that PIK programmes can be accessed in 17 provinces (62.9 per cent of the whole Indonesian archipelago). Most of the feedback letters say that PIK programmes are effective, especially to increase knowledge about Catholicism and other religions and to strengthen the faith of the audience. The staff members of KOMSOS KWI (Commission on Communication, Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Indonesia) and INDOSIAR also say that PIK programmes are effective to promote evangelisation in Indonesia. They are satisfied with the content, format and technical quality of PIK programmes. The effectiveness of PIK programmes is also confirmed by other experts and religious leaders. They say that PIK programmes are progressive, dialogical, communicative, and relevant to daily life. The survey of 267 respondents (conducted in1999) also reveals that most of PIK viewers are satisfied with the programme content, format, duration, presenters, and signal quality. Most of PIK viewers also say that their confreres like PIK programmes. Most PIK viewers admit that PIK programmes are useful, especially to increase knowledge about Catholicism and other religions, to deepen the audience’s faith, and to improve the audience’s attitude towards other religions. The fact that the people bought PIK cassettes and used them for discussion is also a sign of the effectiveness of PIK programmes. In 1999, about 100 members of PIK programmes belonging to various religious backgrounds organised a three-day inter-religious retreat in our compound. 113

Building Friendship Among Religious Groups Through Communication: The Indonesian Experience Based on the positive status and progress of PIK programmes as described above and our latest research in November 2001, it can be concluded that SAV Puskat has a good prospect of continuing to use television for evangelisation in 2002 and beyond. Producing PIK programme every two weeks is a great contribution of SAV Puskat to evangelisation in Indonesia. Nevertheless, SAV Puskat should pay attention to some weaknesses of PIK found in this study as a challenge to produce Catholic/inter-religious TV programmes in more creative ways. d) Community Radio Community radio is our newest activity. Started last June 2002, this FM radio service is located at the Village Hall of Minomartani. This radio is organised by the community near the Village Hall. It broadcasts its programme from 6 p.m. until midnight for the people who live around the village hall (within a radius of 3 km). The radio encourages the listeners to build a harmonious community and peaceful life among the believers from different religions, and to preserve local culture. 8.3 Conclusion What we are doing through media and communication activities among people from different religious backgrounds and denominations, as described above, are our efforts to develop a new approach to evangelisation. For us, this new evangelization means giving witnesses for justice, peace, and the integration of all creation in the spirit of Jesus, as we know in the Gospel. The people who have goodwill are able to understand it and the poor especially experience it as good news. This kind of evangelisation is not limited to the Church documents. All ‘windows’ and ‘doors’ are open to find out God’s presence in the world. Jesus gives examples of this openness of heart: the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-36), the leper (Luke 17:11-19), the faith of the centurion (Matthew 8:5-13), etc. A new evangelisation gets its inspiration from Jesus so that people from any religion will be happy because we love them. ❖ 114

Chapter 9 (India) Democratising Media: From Mass Media to Community Media* Ashish Sen 9.1 Voices • “We can't use government radio. It is used as a tool for propaganda. They will go to a village and say that they have given so many buffaloes to this village; we have given so much land to this village. That kind of radio will not allow poor women to discuss their own problems and issues...” (Metalukunta Susilamma from Pastapur village in Andhra Pradesh) • “You people often come to shoot work on the Gene Bank in our village. But there are seasons when it is impossible to shoot and you are not able to come. Maybe we can do our own recording and give it to you.” (Laxmamma from Pastapur village in Andhra Pradesh) • “We want people outside to know about issues that concern us.” (Ipappally Malamma from Pastapur village in Andhra Pradesh) • “My experience in Namma Dhwani community audio production/radio is huge. Because of this we are reaching 22 villages and thousands of villages. We can narrowcast programmes on agriculture, medicine and educational programmes...” (Balu from Boodikote village, Karnataka) • “The children come in their free time from nearby villages, they give suggestions and make their own programmes. We need these kind of (community audio production) centres all around the country.” (Amresh from Hunkaldurga village, Karnataka) * Some of the material in this paper is based on an article which the author has recently been commissioned to write for Vidura magazine, a quarterly on media brought out by the Press Institute of India (PII). 115

Democratising Media: From Mass Media to Community Media These are just a few of the many underprivileged voices from rural India where more than 60 per cent of the country’s population resides. A couple of months after the 75th anniversary of radio broadcasting in the country (July 23rd 2002 marked the occasion) , it is worth reflecting whether their voices remain on the periphery, leave alone the centre of mainstream media. In many ways, their concerns begs a larger question which scrutinises the relationship between media and development, between the Right to Information and the Right to Communicate. While there are no easy answers, the implications are evident. 9.2 The Indian Media Experience The Indian media experience represents a gallery of stark contrasts. Contrasting the government’s efforts to bridge the digital divide and take information technology to the masses, the colonial and fossilised Indian Telegraph Act of 1885 continues to hold sway across the air waves over the India sub-continent. On the one hand, the Supreme Court judgment of 1995 has endorsed that ‘airwaves are public property.’ However, in the practical realm, lines between public and private ownership remain conveniently blurred. While private radio has made an entry into the Indian broadcast arena and the government allows foreign investment in print media, community radio remains to find legitimacy under the law of the land. Obviously, some are more equal. In many ways, the traditions of the Indian media fall between these two points of the pendulum arcs. In his essay on the ‘Great Indian Media Bazaar’, noted journalist and editor of the Frontline magazine, N. Ram has outlined the role of two media traditions in the country's democratic process: An older tradition of a diverse, pluralistic and relatively and independent press which has its roots in the Indian independence movement; and a broadcasting tradition which has been vulnerable to manipulation and which began with the appearance of radio as a prop of the British colonial state.The last two decades of the 20th century saw the advent of private media and its flowering - especially in the broadcast and cyber media arena -- under the umbrella of globalisation and liberalisation. 116

Democratising Media: From Mass Media to Community Media Underlying these media traditions has been the growth of small autonomous media outfits of subaltern groups and their organisations - groups and organisations to which the voices of Susilamma, Laxmanna and Ippapally belong. These initiatives, while small in number, demonstrate the transformative power of community and participatory media. Unfortunately, in many cases, they remain isolated initiatives struggling to receive legitimacy and recognition from the State. Yet paradoxically, in terms of need, the role of the media in bridging the development gap is more keenly felt today than ever before. The nineties, especially in the socio -economic context, yields a disquieting picture. Globalisation's impact on the poverty map leaves much to be desired. Even the World Bank statistics point to a rise in the number of poor, with ‘40 million people’ in India having joined their ranks during the nineties. Noted journalist P. Sainath, in his article, ‘The Age of Inequality’, vividly punctuates this point: “There was no decline at all in the all-India incidence of poverty between 1990 and 1997. The absolute number of poor went up by almost 70 million. Importantly, the incidence of poverty rose in the 1990s in a phase where the GDP growth had picked up. The poor have not gained from the reforms...” The lessons from current media trends would indicate the need for the following: a) A more substantial interplay between media and development. Despite constitutional guarantees, several rights related to basic needs of the Indian citizen have not been realised. The onslaught of globalisation has, in many instances, worsened their plight. The media's coverage of these issues needs to be strengthened. This demands an appraisal not only of processes in the existing media traditions, but also widening the scope and legitimacy of media democratisation in the country. b) The two tiers of public (i.e. the government) and private media are already a legitimate part of media processes in the country. However, a third tier - that of community media - needs to be strengthened and in many cases - legitimized. 117

Democratising Media: From Mass Media to Community Media The case for community radio legitimacy is an apt example. Community radio assumes additional significance in a country like India given its huge socio-economic and regional disparities. Priority needs to be given in issuing of community broadcasting licences to rural areas and other regions and communities that are least developed in terms of various socio- economic indicators. This is also based on the fact that the least developed regions and communities of the country are also least served by media. c) Proponents of community media have, for long, advocated legitimacy of community broadcasting (i.e. community radio) as a rights issues. In the current socio-economic climate there is a need for a revision in this approach. Rights need to be viewed within a development paradigm. After all, basic rights stem from basic needs. Consequently, the demand for community radio/broadcasting legitimacy would be strengthened by rooting it in the fact that the denial of information aggravates the poverty gap. 9.3 Community Radio Specifically, the case for community radio legitimacy assumes significance in providing teeth to the reality of the right to information. Information -- without the right to communicate - could be akin to a white elephant. Community radio's legitimacy is underscored by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which upholds the Right to Communicate ‘without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.’ However, its relevance in the Indian context assumes additional and critical significance in the context of the right to information movement in the country. Five states in the country already have the act in place underscoring the recognition that information and its access is a critical requisite if the gap between the rich and the poor is to be bridged. Community media, especially community radio, could provide a vital bridge in such a development paradigm. 118

Democratising Media: From Mass Media to Community Media The case for legitimizing community radio in the country received substantial advocacy support with the Bangalore Declaration of 1996. The declaration which was ratified by media experts across the country at a consultation organized by VOICES (a development communications NGO based in Bangalore) urged the government to endorse community radio through legislation. It justified its concern by reiterating the Supreme Court judgment of 1995 which declared that ‘Airwaves are public property.’ Five years later the climate had changed, but unfortunately not for the better. While the road to private radio had begun to take shape, there was no policy change as far as community radio was concerned. Against this backdrop, a South Asian consultation on community radio in Hyderabad organised by VOICES in partnership with the Sarojini Naidu school of Culture and Communications and the Deccan Development Society (DDS), and supported by UNESCO culminated in the Pastapur Initiative. The initiative called for a three-tier system of broadcasting in the country: ‘a state-owned public service network (the existing framework), commercial private broadcasting, and non-profit, people-owned and managed community radio stations.’ Shortly afterwards, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), with New Delhi’s blessings, mooted the idea of Gyan Vani. Gyan Vani is not community-owned or managed, but up to 40 per cent of its programmes are to be sourced from local communities. Operational in about five centres since November 2001, Gyan Vani, notwithstanding its education-centric character, represented a small opening in New Delhi's door. While this brought some cheer to community radio advocates across the country, their optimism began to wane in the absence of any further visible movement from the government. An interview with the Information and Broadcasting Minster, Sushma Swaraj early in the year indicated that ‘a firm policy’ in regard to community radio would be announced very soon. Unfortunately, despite occasional murmurs from New Delhi, the gap between promise and reality remains to be bridged. 119

Democratising Media: From Mass Media to Community Media 9.4 Government and Community Radio Until 2001, All India Radio (AIR) was the only radio operator in the country . Its coverage is massive: 89.51 per cent of India's geographic area and 98.82 per cent of the population. AIR operates at the national, regional, and local levels. Its vast apparatii has often been trotted out to project the official view that there are existing spaces which need to be adequately exploited. However, this view would not only appear to have run out of steam, but also not taken cognizance of ground level realities. The All India Radio and Gyan Vani networks may be impressive but do not provide active community access across the country.While the local radio stations (LRS) were set up to serve the needs of the local community there would appear to have been a marked divide between precept and practice. The first Director of the AIR local radio station in Nagercoil, Mr. K. Anjaneyulu pointed out that, “A local station serves a small area. Its aim should be to reach into the heart of the community it is expected to serve. In short, local radio should identify itself so completely with the interests of its local population that the heart of the people beats in every pulse of the programme it broadcasts.” If this was an unrealistic promise, the expectation which it generate was also belied. Locally originating programmes have, very often, not led the stations' broadcast services. In fact the reverse has often been true with surveys indicating an increase in relayed programmes from regional/ national services. Moreover, the LRS network, impressive as it may be in terms of size, does not cover substantial parts of the country. Two examples of community radio/ audio initiatives in the country are situated in areas which are outside the pale of the LRS network. Boodikote village in Kolar district, where the Namma Dhwani (Our Voices) community audio initiative is based, is situated on the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh border. Not surprisingly, the community speaks a mix of Telegu-Kannada. However, the nearest AIR station is Bangalore some 95 km away. It hardly needs stressing that AIR Bangalore broadcasts cannot serve the needs of the Boodikote community or even speak the same language. 120

Democratising Media: From Mass Media to Community Media 9.5 Private Broadcasters Currently, five private FM stations are on air - the result of a process set into motion as early as 1994 when the government of India decided to lease time to private companies on AIR FM frequencies. The path towards private radio was set more firmly in 1999 when the government of India announced a framework under which licences to operate fully independent FM radio stations in selected urban areas would be granted to private radio stations. With licences going to the highest bidders, there has been a predictable ownership concentration of new radio operations within established print and TV commercial media houses. By agreement, private broadcasters are allowed programming related to ‘social development’, but restricted from broadcasting news or current affairs. So the question that confronts us today is: how long will community voices need to wait to be heard. 9.6 Inner Voices • “We talk about Samma and Sajja (some minor grains). We always talk about marginalised food grains, marginalised people, marginalized languages, marginalised issues. This does not interest the mainstream radio.” (Pushpalata from Pastapur) • “We can't accept government radio... that kind of radio will not allow poor women to discuss their own problems and issues. Our radio will help in our analysis of our experiences and our problems.” (Metlakunta Susilamma) • “We want people outside to know about issues that concern us.” (Ippally Mallamma) 121

Democratising Media: From Mass Media to Community Media • “A village girl says - Sir, I have given programmes in this centre. Now I am writing a story on child marriage… here we can see the social responsibility of the child who wants to share her feeling on this platform.” (Amresh) So where do we go from here? Despite seeming government intransigence, ground level initiatives by a few communities make a strong case for community radio. While their approaches may seem different, there are underlying similarities which reiterate the primacy of community voices. These are briefly discussed below: a) Chalo Ho Gaon Mein This is a partnership between the National Foundation of India, Alternative for India Development (AID) and Manthan Media Collective, Ranchi. Target Group 45 villages from Lesliegunj and Panki divisions. Partners National Foundation for India (NFI), New Delhi; Alternative for India Development (Lesliegunj Section); and Manthan Media Collective, Ranchi. Focus Empowerment of communities with special emphasis on women. Media Local AIR FM station at Daltongunj (the district headquarters) AID selected one project co-ordinator and each community volunteer was asked to identify three villages they could serve. Place Palamau District of Jharkhand, keeping in mind geographic proximity to their native villages. At the workshops, the volunteers were acquainted with the techniques of audio presentation and production. NFI requested for a 30-minute slot on Sundays at 7.20pm on AIR Daltongunj to be allotted to AID on commercial terms for the community 122

Democratising Media: From Mass Media to Community Media participatory programme 'Chala Ho Gaon Mein' from August 2001, and the first community radio programme of Daltongunj went on air on August 9th. b) Namma Dhwani (Our Voices) Namma Dhwani is a partnership between the Boodikote community in Kolar district, MYRADA (an NGO committed to integrated development) and VOICES (a development communications NGO). Namma Dhwani has been operational for two years and has a community audio production centre which started in September 2001. Computers were introduced into Namma Dhwani in April 2002 with a view to develop the project into a community information centre with web broadcasting playing a critical role. Place Kolar District of Karnataka. Target Group Communities living in and around Budikote sector in Kolar. In the Budikote Sector, 1930 families live below the poverty line. Literacy levels are abysmally low, particularly among women. Partners MYRADA, Kamasamudra and VOICES, Bangalore with technical support from AIR, Bangalore. Objective Develop community audio production and broadcasting skills using audio and internet with a view to ultimately develop Namma Dhwani into a full fledged community media information and broadcasting centre. Focus Generate awareness about the concept of audio broadcasting as a means of communication and empowerment. Media AIR MW station at Bangalore. Narrowcasting and Weekly Market Broadcasts using the Loudspeaker. Awareness and capacity building for making radio programmes marked the first stage of the project. 123

Democratising Media: From Mass Media to Community Media This was done through a series of workshops starting with a modest exploratory two-day effort in April-May 2000 at MYRADA's training centre in Kolar. By the end of six months the community were producing programmes with support from AIR, many of which were broadcast over AIR FM. The Community Audio Production Centre 'Namma Dhwani Samudayik Doorsampark Matu Mahiti Kendra' which was supported by UNESCO in Budikote, Kolar was inaugurated on 21 September 2001. The centre is managed by two members from the community, supported by six community volunteers. Apart from periodic broadcasts over AIR, weekly community programmes are narrowcast at community centres. Since January 2002, weekly market broadcasts/narrowcasts using loudspeakers have been taken place. The mandi (market) takes place next to the production centre. c) Kunjal Pachaee Kutch Ji The project which strengthens community participation in radio is a partnership between Kutch Mahila Vikas Sanghathan and the Dhrishti Media Collective. Place Kutch district of Gujarat Target Group Women in Kutch villages Partners Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, Bhuj and Drishti Media Collective, Ahmedabad Focus Empowerment of women for Panchayat functions Media AIR MW station at Bhuj In the first year, the following specific gender-related issues were raised in the serial: (i) Women's leadership and governance, 124

Democratising Media: From Mass Media to Community Media • A girl's right to education, • Female foeticide, • Harassment of brides for dowry, • Unnatural deaths and suicides of women at their in-laws’ home, • Pressure on women to produce boys, and • Maternal mortality and disregard for mother’s health. KMVS plans to make this into a regular feature so that the Ujjas team's work becomes a part of the coordinated effort of KMVS towards integrated development of Kutch both as a region and as a cultural identity. d) Pastapur Community Media Centre This is a partnership between the Deccan Development Society (DDS), Pastapur, and Women Speak to Women programme of UNESCO. Place Zaheerabad area in Medak District of Andhra Pradesh. Owners and Audiences 100 Dalit women's groups (sangams) consisting of nearly 4,000 members in 75 villages of Medak district. Partners DDS and Women Speak to Women programme of UNESCO. Focus Participatory development and empowerment of women. Media FM station designed to work on audiocassette technology. It has a 100-watt transmitter, which can reach a radius of 30 km. DDS was identified as a suitable partner for UNESCO's ‘Women Speak to Women’ project and received part funding from UNESCO, for the building, acoustics treatment and all equipment including recorders, mixers, microphones, cables, installation etc. The building has three octagonal- shaped blocks consisting of the studio, transmitting/control room, the dubbing section, the director's cabin and the reception area. 125

Democratising Media: From Mass Media to Community Media The Pastapur Women's radio, in spite of its long time readiness to go on air, has not received a community-broadcasting licence from the Central government which is still finalising the regulations of the new broadcasting legislation. In the meantime, the studio facilities are being used to produce audiocassettes. They already have over 200 hours of recorded programmes, some of which are being edited into one-hour magazine modules. In October 2001, a community media centre was inaugurated at Pastapur. 9.7 Conclusion These are examples of community voices waiting to be heard. Government radio, notwithstanding the arguments of Akashvani local radio proponents, cannot begin to articulate their needs and concerns. For one, as Ipapally’s, Laxmanna's and Balu's experiences demonstrate, the essence of community radio does not stop at media democratisation, but springs from a bottom up and participatory process which mass media - government or private -- cannot comprehensively address. But even otherwise, the gap is all too evident. Consider Namma Dhwani's case: Situated on the border of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the villagers of Boodikote speak a mix of Telegu-Kannada. The nearest AIR station is Bangalore which broadcasts in chaste Kannada. Not surprisingly, the local community desires a ‘radio of their own’. In many ways, community radio has the potential to realise Mahatma Gandhi's wisdom that radio is Shakti (power or primal energy). But this, in turn, is dependent on the periphery of Indian media moving close to the centre. At the root of the reality of the right to information lies the legitimacy of the right to communicate. Without the latter much of the terra firma of information dissemination pales into nothing. ❖ 126

Chapter 10 (Malaysia) Virtual Democracy in Malaysia Steven Gan ‘The Internet has helped put press freedom on the front burner.’ 10.1 \"We have a plethora of publications but we don’t have a free press.\" Malaysia is a democracy. We have freedom of speech, but no freedom after speech. There is freedom of movement, but no freedom of assembly. We have a plethora of publications - about a dozen or so newspapers in four different languages - but we don’t have a free press. Clearly, the government had a complete monopoly on the distribution of information until the emergence of the Internet. But while this technology has enabled us to finally break through the government’s barriers, we are not near breaking its monopoly on power. The only advantage we have as online journalists over the traditional media in Malaysia is that Malaysiakini – our online publication, www.malaysiakini.com – does not need to apply for a publication licence. Indeed, we still must deal with many other restrictive laws that keep the traditional media in check. And the number of laws which directly and indirectly impinge on press freedom in Malaysia is not five nor 10, but 35. For example, under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), almost all government documents can be labelled ‘State Secret’ and thus not be eligible for release to the public. The OSA effectively inhibits civil servants from giving information, including that which is not strictly categorised as secret, for fear of retribution or demotion, or worse still, out of fear of being punished with a mandatory jail sentence. In addition, there is the Internal Security Act, which allows detention without trial, and a number of journalists have been arrested under this draconian law. Its threat casts an ominous shadow on the work done by all journalists. 127

Virtual Democracy in Malaysia But the most intrusive of all laws, as far as the journalists are concerned, is the Printing Presses and Publications Act. It provides the government the right to suspend or revoke printing and publishing permits. And its decision is not subject to review and cannot be challenged in court. The act keeps the press on a short leash by also requiring annual applications for all printing and publishing permits. In 1987, the licences of three newspapers were susspended under this law in a sweeping crackdown on political dissent. The law also allows the government to fine or jail writers, editors, printers and publishers for spreading ‘false news.’ Recently, a number of anti-government publications ran afoul of the law. The independent weekly Esklusif and pro-reform monthly magazines Detik and Al-Wasilah were banned, while the organ of the opposition Islamic Party, Harakah, was punished with a reduction in its frequency from eight to two issues a month. Given such a hostile environment, media organisations in Malaysia are not surprisingly obsessed with self-censorship. My personal experience, as part of an investigative team for The Sun, an English language daily, offers an illustration of this. In 1995, working with two colleagues, I helped unearth the deaths of 59 detainees, mostly Bangladeshis, in a detention camp for illegal immigrants. They died of beri-beri, a symptom of malnutrition and typhoid, diseases which are easily preventable. We wrote that this was a case of criminal neglect on the part of the police who ran the camp. The story was spiked hours before it went to print. When it became known that the paper was not going to run the story, the reporting team decided to hand the information over to Tenaganita, a non- governmental organisation that supports migrant workers. It wasn't until Tenaganita exposed the deaths at a press conference – and these deaths were confirmed by the government – that the newspaper had the courage to run the story, but not without four revisions. That was not the end of the story. The whistle-blower, Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez, was subsequently arrested for spreading ‘false news’ under the Printing Presses and Publications Act, a law originally used to muzzle the press. Those who wrote the story were interrogated by the police for more than three days. 128

Virtual Democracy in Malaysia 10.2 Cyberspace: The Only Democratic Space Left In Malaysia All of this helps to explain why the only democratic space left in Malaysia is cyberspace. Malaysiakini went live two years ago and even today we are still very much of a cowboy outfit. Despite this, we have 100,000 visitors daily, which put us in the same league as major newspapers in this country. Our success is due to three key reasons: a) Government policy: To promote the Multimedia Super Corridor, Malaysia’s own Silicon Valley, the government has pledged not to censor the Internet. To its credit, the government has kept very much to its promise. b) Rise in political conscience: During the past few years, a growing number of Malaysians have developed a keen interest in democracy, human rights, good governance and the independence of the judiciary. c) The loss of credibility among the traditional media: Due to press self- censorship, readers are increasingly driven to the Internet in search of alternative sources of news. There is a fourth reason: There are journalists who are willing to draw a line in the sand and tell the government: “This far, no further”. 10.3 Malaysiakini: Problems and Challenges The profile of Malaysiakini’s readership is telling. Visitors who are younger than 18 are almost negligible, 0.02 percent. Teenagers are definitely not our market. Between 18-25, readership is eight percent, so we are not reaching college students either. Half of our readers are between the ages of 26 and 40, and the majority of our readers are working professionals. But consider this. Those who are 40 years old or older account for 46 percent of our readers. These are readers who are already in top management posts, who feel that they are not getting what they want from the highly censored traditional media. Many go online specifically to visit Malaysiakini. We are indeed introducing a new generation to the Internet. 129

Virtual Democracy in Malaysia We, too, have our share of problems. Our Website is apparently a huge magnet for hackers. We’ve lost count of the number of times that Malaysiakini has been hacked. I’m not going to speculate where these attacks come from, but the government last year vowed to launch ‘missiles’ against errant web sites. Suffice to say, protecting Malaysiakini from hackers is a major preoccupation for our small technology team. Malaysiakini journalists do not have official press tags, which are issued by the government to all working journalists. Our application for these passes was rejected last year. Consequently, we are banned from government functions, and more recently, we were banned from reporting on the Parliament. However, the ban is not strictly enforced and we continue to challenge it. And, of course, we face attacks from the government. Our sources of finance have been made an issue. Pressures have been put on our advertising clients. And we were called ‘traitors’ by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. We expect worse to come. There has been discussion in government’s circles on amending the printing laws to require licensing for news websites such as Malaysiakini. 10.4 Concluding Remarks Still, the Internet has helped put press freedom on the front burner. It spurred mainstream journalists to, for the first time in recent years, call for an end to the restrictive printing law. Three years ago, they handed a petition – signed by more than 1,000 journalists – to the government expressing concern about ‘accusations that local journalists are merely a part of the government's propaganda machine and not professionals performing their duties to the best of their ability.’ The petition said: \"We further note that this perception, rightly or wrongly, has resulted in more and more people turning to alternative sources of information, namely, the Internet, foreign news reports as well as opposition party publications….\" To replace the printing law, the journalists proposed a press council to self- regulate the media. In response, the government acceded to the proposal to set up a press council, but not to the demand to repeal the printing law. 130

Virtual Democracy in Malaysia To this, we strongly object: A press council cannot operate in an environment where restrictive press laws remain and where news organizations are owned by either political parties or government cronies. At the prestigious Journalism Awards event six years ago, the Prime Minister told some 700 journalists who attended the gala event to behave themselves. He said Malaysians should not be unduly ashamed of laws which curtail their freedom of expression. \"Are we ashamed that there is no freedom of the press in this country?\" he asked. \"Do we, forever, have to apologise to the rest of the world for our laws? Could it be, perhaps, that we are right and they are wrong?\" Later that night, he presented a number of awards to journalists picked by a panel of veteran journalists for their outstanding news reports. One of the winners was ‘Shattered Dreams,’ the report about the deaths of immigrants in the detention camps, a story originally considered unfit for publication. But despite the irony of the award, Malaysian journalists have yet to prove Mahathir wrong. ❖ 131



Chapter 11 (South Korea) Media Reform in Cyberspace: The Case of Ohmynews Cheon Young-Cheol 11.1 Introduction Korean1 society was under military dictatorship from the 1970s to the 1980s. In those days, many journalists protested against the military authorities. Some of them went to jail and some lost their jobs by the actions of a dictatorial government. They launched a progressive daily newspaper, Hankyoreh. The funds for establishing the Hankyoreh came from the fund- raising campaign by the people. Citizens supported the Hankyoreh, because they strongly wished for such an alternative newspaper. At the moment, Hankyoreh is one of major daily newspapers in Korea. This is a story before the 1990s. South Korean society has been rapidly changing since 1990 and has become an information society. The Hankyoreh is an alternative print media belonging to society that has passed away. The Korean society today needs another alternative media, one suitable for the information society. 11.2 Emergence of the Internet The communication environment is rapidly changing in Korea. Internet users have sharply increased. Those who link to the Internet at least once a month using their personal computer total 25,650,000 persons (June 2002), which is 58% of whole population. In addition, those who use cellular phones number 30,000,000 (September 2002). Many of these users connect to the Internet through their cellular phone. 1 ‘Korean’ here refers to ‘South Korean’. 133

Media Reform in Cyberspace: The Case of Ohmynews The total number of broadband Internet subscribers of ADSL, home-LAN, cable, and satellite services is 10,000,000 (August 2002), which is 25% of the population. Most of broadband subscribers use it at home. This means 3 to 4 family members share it. This really means we can estimate the real total broadband Internet subscribers to be about 2 or 3 times the number of registered subscribers. Today, it is difficult to find out the Internet users who hook up through a modem. The emergence of the Internet provides people the real opportunity to produce and to deliver news at a reduced and affordable cost. For this reason, the media power, which had been monopolised by capital and authority, is changing. For example, at the moment, the number of personal Internet radio broadcasting stations in Korea is more than 600,000 (August 2002). Most of them broadcast their own radio programmes through the Internet. Anyone can establish his/her own broadcasting station in cyberspace. The youngest CJ (Cyber Jockey) of a personal Internet radio broadcasting station is just eight years old. Ahn Hyo-Ju has her own Internet radio broadcasting station and is very famous both in cyberspace and in ‘real’ space. She broadcasts her own music programme through the Internet for an hour (1-2 p.m.) every Friday. Almost two thousand people access to her music programme. This is an fine example of how the Internet is changing the concept of media ownership. 11.3 Establishment of Ohmynews Oh Yeon-Ho, a journalist, sought to find a new way to reform the media in South Korea, which has become an information society. He launched OhMyNews (www.ohmynews.com) as a citizen-initiated alternative online newspaper in February 2002. Ohmynews was launched as a general on-line newspaper, one among several such newspapers. It includes all kinds of news covering politics, society, culture, international affairs, education, the economy, IT, sports, and entertainment, among others. Ohmynews is financially supported through advertisements, the stock market, sale of the content and a print version of Ohmynews. Ohmynews uses text, graphics, photos, audio, and video materials. Today Ohmynews is not just an internet newspaper, but also an internet TV. 134