KOTHMALE INTERNET COMMUNITY RADIO WWW.KOTHMALE.NET
Learning Objective: To expand participants' awareness of the relationship between culture, context and strategy, in developing effective communication initiatives.
Different cultures can have very different approaches to communication for change. Before reviewing the Kothmale initiative outlined below, please consider the following insights into the Aristotelian and Buddhist approaches to change. These two approaches31 have significant and differing implications for communication strategies.
Aristotelian Model |
Buddhist Model |
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The text below describing the Kothmale Internet Community Radio Project www.kothmale.net/ is flanked by two columns that are labelled Buddhist and Aristotelian. We suggest that as you read this text, when you come across elements of the strategy that match an aspect of either of these approaches, that you tick next to the appropriate section. You might also want to add a brief explanation for your tick. An example is provided. Following this will be a short series of questions asking you to reflect on your own principles for effective communications and those embedded in the Kothmale experience.
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Aristotelian |
Project Description |
Buddhist |
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Project The Kothmale Community Radio Internet Project (KCRIP) builds on the success of the Kothmale community radio station and programming. The Internet project focuses on assessing the potential benefits of new communication technologies to remote areas. UNESCO is implementing it in collaboration with the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and the Media, the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, the Sri Lanka Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, and the University of Colombo. |
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Example: The station was set up to give people information, so the emphasis was on an asymmetrical relation between communicator and receiver. |
Context: The Kothmale Community Radio station is located at the top of a mountain in the central region of Sri Lanka, in an area that is mostly rural with small farms, rice paddies and tea plantations scattered between dense forest and small villages. It began broadcasting in February 1989. At the time, the Mahaweli Authority (a governmental development body operating in the central region), had relocated more than 2,900 families for Sri Lankas' second-largest damming project. Many people in the region lost their crops and farming land. The Mahaweli Authority set up the station with the objective of giving information to people who had been relocated. The station was also used to provide information about self-employment and health. By February 1991, the station aired only three days per week, with three hours of transmission each day. In 1999, the station moved to its current larger location in Mawathura, and broadcasts extended to eight hours per day. The morning broadcast was commercialised, so the station would collect approximately 75 percent of its operational costs from the commercial revenue. Financial management remained with the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. In 1998, UNESCO supported a new component, KCRIP, to provide Internet access to remote and rural regions of Sri Lanka using computers and a regional radio broadcast. Issues/Problems: 1. Much of Asia's poverty is concentrated in rural areas with limited access to information. Improved access to information is seen as an important tool that can enable communities to improve and diversify their rural livelihoods and manage their resources better. 2. Kothmale is quite isolated and depends on radio. 3. The community members involved felt that access to information from around the world would be of benefit, but that this could only be accomplished if there was an intermediary between the local people and the information available on the Web, such as trained local people at the radio station. 4. Youth in the villages lacked access to computers and technologies that they believed they needed to participate in a world dominated by new communications technologies. Level: This project is focused at the community level of Kothmale and the 25 km radius of its broadcast range. However, it works in partnership with the University of Colombo and the Sri Lanka Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and the Media. It is seen as a pilot project that may be reproduced in other communities. Process/Method: There are three basic features in this project which combine new information technologies with conventional radio. 1. A radio programme allows people to "Radio Browse" the Internet, with the information gathered interpreted in the local languages. Here, a daily two-hour radio programme has community broadcasters interpreting information from select Internet sites. The listeners direct queries to the radio station to find specific information from the Internet. The advantage is that the radio provides the requested information in the local languages, making Internet information accessible to those who do not understand English. 2. A mini Internet Service Provider (ISP) offers free local Internet access through the community radio. Besides an Internet Café at the station, there are two free Internet access points at Gampola and Nawalapitiya community libraries. This has been very useful for the community, as ISPs are usually located in capital cities, and rural users have had to pay long-distance telephone charges to access the Internet. This provides cheaper local telephone access plus use at community libraries is free. These library access points are also used as direct links to the radio station, to produce and air live programmes. 3. A community database is being developed as requested information is gathered and stored. The community radio is also developing its own computer database, deriving information requested by community members from the Internet. Much of the information on this Web site is available in the local languages, and is an attempt to solve the problem of non-availability of Internet information suitable to local rural needs. A collection of CD-ROMs will also be made available for community use. The project allows for direct Internet access, mostly used by young people, and indirect access, where listeners of the FM Radio are able to write in questions or provide topics for the radio station to broadcast. Trained volunteers research and gather information from the Internet and CD-ROMs, and translate it into Sinhala and Tamil. All but three of the weekly broadcasts are in the Sinhala language, since the area has an ethnic breakdown of around 70 percent Sinhala. There are also large Tamil and Muslim communities. In January 1999, the station began including weekly Tamil broadcasts. The questions are responded to through various radio programs including: one on human rights, a women's programme, a children's programme, one on health, and international news. Gradually all the data will be available for other community radio stations and citizens via the Web site. Furthermore, the station will broadcast online so other community radio stations throughout Sri Lanka can utilise it. A Friday evening program is particularly popular. A local lawyer hosts it and volunteers help with the research during the week. His topics have included international cultural belief systems and practices, world leaders and social movements, law and change, and scientific masters throughout history. The staff and volunteers frequently visit the communities to do field recordings and live broadcasts. This direct communication is important, as many people are geographically remote. The station is able to bridge the communication gap by interacting with the community through live and recorded broadcasts. Music is a very important aspect of Sri Lanka culture and each day traditional songs are aired. Buddhist prayer is also broadcast every evening and on full moon Poya days. Letters to the station average 50 per day (more on weekends). These letters include poetry, drama, history, songs and local event information. Members of the Kothmale FM listeners club deliver daily news summaries. Key Players:
Results and Reflections Students of the access centres are designing their own Web sites, using the Internet for research and school projects, and obtaining information on educational grants and institutions. Other members of the community have been able to directly access information regarding health, human rights, agriculture and other issues affecting their daily lives. Some examples are:
The radio programme has also supported blood donation campaigns, an exhibition on self-employment, an information campaign to prevent a cow disease epidemic, a fundraiser for local hospitals, and a library book donation drive. Providing information on human rights has been an important area of focus that has been made easier with convenient access to the Internet. Two local students, Madhushini Nilmabandara and Nilma Samrakool, do a weekly program on human rights. The University of Colombo's Human Rights Centre funds their program: "People were not aware of their human rights. So we give them information... how to take action to protect it. Now we have set up human rights clubs in schools and do programs with them (on radio)." The students come to the station to produce programs. They perform dramas about children's and women's rights, and discuss issues related to war in Sri Lanka. Problems The initial Kothmale radio project seems to be the one still addressing the problems of the rural population. The Internet component is mainly benefiting those that own a telephone line and can call in, or those that speak English and can browse the Web by themselves. The domination of the Web by the English language is a barrier to access, but the help of bilingual speakers from the community has assisted programme producers. Doctors, lawyers and teachers get involved in the program; they extract information from the Internet and interpret it for the listeners. |
For your culture, please list the five principles for effective communication that would be the equivalents of those described for Aristotelian and Buddhist cultures. Even if you consider yourself part of the Aristotelian or Buddhist traditions, it might be helpful to undertake this exercise. Perhaps you will reach different conclusions.
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Aristotelian Model |
Your Cultural Context |
Buddhist Model |
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1. Emphasis on communicator. 2. Influencing is a central concept. 3. There is a focus on control. 4. The emphasis is on outward processes from the communicator to the world or audience. 5. The relationship between the communicator and the receiver of information is assymetrical - the communicator controls the message. 6. Stresses intellect and rational action. |
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1. Emphasis on receiver. 2. Understanding is a central concept. 3. There is a focus on choice. 4. The emphasis is on both outward and inward processes - the message and how the receiver perceives and interprets the message. 5. The relationship between the communication and the receiver of information is symetrical - the receivers' understanding of the communication is as important as the original message. 6. Stress empathy and understanding |
What conclusions do you draw about the principles that underpin the Kothmale communication strategy?
Do you agree or disagree that these were the best principles on which to base that work? Why?
What conclusions do you draw for your own work?
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Considering the Theme and Learning Objectives for this experience please list one or more lessons you think are important for your own work. Please list these on the chart in "Drawing Your Own Conclusions" p89. |
Kothmale Community Radio Sri Lanka. UNESCO.
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/com_media/society_com_media.html#3 .
The Kothmale Web site: http://www.kothmale.net/ .
Alfonso Gumucio Dagron, Making Waves: Stories of Particpatory Communication for Social Change, The Rockefeller Foundation 2001. pp.127-132.
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