---Apologies for cross-posting--- Dear All, on behalf Community Radio Support Center's Coordinator, Raghu Mainali, I would like to inform you about the publication of the book * Community MHz: Assessing Community Radio Performance in Nepal. A Pilot Assessment of 15 Stations* published by Community Radio Support Center (CRSC)/ Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ) with the support of UNESCO, Kathmandu. * *This book, and previous publications, can all be downloaded from CRSC's page at http://www.nefej.org/en/crsc/crsc-publications.html For further informnation, please contact directly CRSC at: [log in to unmask] Best Regards, Salvo ---------------------------------------------------------* Executive Summary * 1. Independent FM radio is fairly recent in Nepal. The first few radios were established in the mid-1990s. Most of them were licensed and established after 2006. Until late August 2011, the government had issued 393 licenses. The licensees include nongovernment organizations (NGOs), cooperatives, local government bodies, commercial entities and the state-run broadcaster. Nepal still lacks a comprehensive law on broadcasting, despite specific guarantees for broadcasting in the Interim Constitution 2007. 2. This document reports on the pilot assessment of 15 community radio stations -- or of radios that claim to be community radios -- based on the Community Radio Performance Assessment System (CR-PAS) developed by the Community Radio Support Centre (CRSC)/ Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ). The CR-PAS seeks to assess community radio stations in seven performance areas: participation and ownership, governance, programs, resource structure and management, station management, financial management and networking. It uses a set of 60 indicators and is intended to be a practical tool that the stations could eventually adopt for continuous self-assessment. 3. Following a brief overview of radio in Nepal, this report provides an overview of the CR-PAS and the assessment process. Thereafter, it reports on the findings and analysis both of all the radios that were assessed and also of individual stations, leading to conclusions and recommendations. 4. The CR-PAS provides a basis for rating stations -- based on their performance scores, from A to E. A being model radios and others between those endeavoring to become community radios to those that are close to becoming model radios. None of the assessed stations scored enough points to come under category A. Eight of the assessed stations came under category E, three under D, two under C, and two under category B. Though some of the stations under category E had obtained the minimum points required by the CR-PAS, they did not meet the minimum requirements in one or more of the seven composites or performance areas. Further, one station that obtained the highest aggregate score did not obtain the minimum points required under one set of indicators. 5. Among the findings, there were stations that did not produce their own newscasts, those that had political and/or business interests in their boards, and also those that did not have separate bank accounts. There also were stations that had produced much of their own content, had independent representatives in their executive boards and had begun establishing financial systems and procedures. Only three stations had scores that was above the minimum required by the CR-PAS as well as the prescribed minimum for all seven composites. There are also variations in the performance of the stations across indicators. Overall, the findings provide a snapshot of the state of community radio, including both the positive aspects as well as those areas that need to be rectified. 6. Generally, the stations that scored well on the CR-PAS had good programming and good governance systems. Radio program was a weak point for some stations, for other it was resource mobilization and financial management. Though there were weaknesses in terms of participation and ownership, it was attributable to lack of law and policy to some extent, and not necessarily something entirely under the control of the stations. 7. Even though the CR-PAS was not intended to be a rating system, the pilot assessment suggests that it can be developed into one that could be of use to regulators and also for stakeholders supporting the independent radio movement in Nepal. Further, an assessment tool like the CR-PAS has to be a living document, one that can accommodate improvements as radio stations also improve. Its major strength is its acceptance by community radios. Therefore the study recommends continuously revisiting the CR-PAS and refining and simplifying its indicators to prepare tools that can be used to assess the performance of community radios as well as other broadcasters -- after fine-tuning the indicators for measuring specific issues say in commercial radio or television. This assessment has provided some feedback for revising and updating the indicators. 8. The findings suggest that stations that have been in operation for a longer period or have narrowly defined audience groups they want to serve cannot necessarily perform better unless they address to other performance areas. Further, despite everything that has been said about local radio in Nepal, there was a major gap in the efforts of community 9. The assessment report has 14 specific recommendations relating to law and policy, those addressed to donors, individual stations and CRSC/NEFEJ. -- =========================================================================== Salvatore Scifo =========================================================================== Vice-President, Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE) E: [log in to unmask] W: http://www.cmfe.eu =========================================================================== CMFE is a network of policy experts, organizations and federations, which aim to support the role of Community Media in Europe. Registered in Belgium as an International NGO, business n.0822992342 Supported by the EU under the 'Europe for Citizens Programma 2011' ===========================================================================