The Eastern region of India comprising Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Chattisgarh is considered the poorest by the government, with many media-dark areas in terms of coverage. These states are also the main focus in the UN CCA and UNDAF. They are moreover home to several tribal communities and scheduled castes and carry a very low literacy rate, particularly among women. Most of the villages in this region are not electrified which restricts access to electronic media. The reach of newspapers is negligible due to low literacy. The media furthermore tend to be...
IPDC Project evaluated: No
Since 1990, no suspensions or bans have been imposed on any Beninese media organisations. The daily newspaper, La Pyramide, first published in June, 1996, has as its mission to promote investigative journalism in a journalistic universe in which the predominant focus is on commentary. While its main objectives centre on promoting the right to education, information and communication, it is also confronted with a number of problems, including printers who sometimes reject layouts for reasons of illegibility or delay. The newspaper has no digital cameras for use on reporting assignments. La...
Problems facing CMCs in India include: lack of awareness by marginalised community groups and decision-makers of the vital use of CMC tools in advocating for change and improving quality of life; lack of adequate capacity for the operation of CMC tools; lack of access by communities to such tools and information. This project will address more specifically the lack of awareness by two disadvantaged communities on the possible applications of CMC tools. The target communities, Chanderi and Pranpur, are very poor weaver communities long dependent on this profession for their livelihood....
Despite the activity of the media and the number of channels that disseminate information, Trinidad and Tobago has yet to achieve a truly pluralistic media landscape giving voice to the multiplicity of groups that make up the country. Community stations like Radio Toco in Trinidad have however shown that community media have a significant role to play in community mobilisation, media diversity, and in the overall bolstering of media pluralism in Trinidad and Tobago. The Nariva/Mayaro county is a large bay on the east coast of Trinidad, with some 11 000 residents. In January 2005,...
The convergence between radio and the Internet is providing new strength to community radio. Not only are community radios being empowered to reach new latitudes, but also Internet users are learning from a participatory experience that is expected to contribute much to social change. In this context, a need for Community Multimedia Centres (CMCs) in rural areas of East Africa has emerged. The establishment of CMCs in such areas envisages a combination of community radio with telecentre facilities, under community ownership. Telecentres provide numerous ICT services, such as access to the...
Bhutan is going through fundamental changes, and independent news, views and information affecting the Bhutanese society are of paramount importance. Freedom of speech, press and expression are new concepts in Bhutan. Only a strong presence of independent press can reinforce these ideals enabling a free flow of information and exchange. Otherwise, the news and information will continue to be dominated by the government media. The project envisages the establishment of a news and public service announcements (PSA) production unit, extension of the FM service to lower Wang valley (Talakha...
Guatemala is a multiethnic, multilingual and multicultural nation that is still emerging from and struggling with the legacy of its 36-year civil war. The inequities and discrimination that helped fuel the repression of the war years still affect the country, particularly in the autochthonous highlands provinces that bore the brunt of the civil conflict. In part as a result, Guatemala suffers from the world's third most unequal distribution of wealth, with poorly developed and underfunded public education, especially in rural, autochthonous areas. Roughly 60 % of Guatemalans are...
While ZBC is a national station, it does not receive any subvention from the government and runs its own affairs. ZIZ TV is however hindered in its attempts to meet audience needs because of outdated equipment (over 15 years old in some cases) and because its library is full of video material (dating back to 20 years) recorded on analogue/VHS tapes, a situation which makes the material largely inaccessible and threatens its very preservation. In addition, media professionals are not sufficiently trained on digital archiving and the related technologies. ZBC, being the only television...
In the absence of community and rural radio stations, the Smallholder Farmers Rural Radio is a major initiative that will benefit the rural poor farmers living in rural and isolated communities that have no access to the media, and in communities that daily newspapers do not reach. Since there are no agricultural extension services, the Smallholder Farmers Rural Radio aims at building the agricultural capacity and know-how of rural farmers in the disadvantaged communities of Imo State. The community radio has proven to be an effective tool to massively communicate with the underprivileged...
In Bangladesh, the vital development problems in the media sector include lack of skill, lack of professionalism and of social commitment, financial constraints of the media houses, violence against and intolerance towards journalists. The first two abovementioned will be treated under the framework of this project. Objective and sensible journalism that the society expects from the media cannot be pursued in Bangladesh for insufficient skills, inappropriate professional approach and social commitment of the journalists. As people from various disciplines enter the profession without...
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