Community Radio : The Voice of the People
The sun illuminates the green patches of cauliflowers and cabbages in the field as farmers arrange sacks of crops to be dispatched to the city. Karuna Bista sports her Kurtha Suruwal, arms herself with a cassette recorder, and prepares to take the first story for the day. Broadcasting within a 60-kilometer radius, Radio Palung is perched up in the hill south of Nepal, and Karuna’s voice is heard by 2,000 households, reaching as far as Bihar, India. Karuna is one of the 9 reporters in Radio Palung, a community radio that is 3-hour drive from Kathmandu city. The station prides itself of installing the first audio tower in Asia, with distinct amplifiers that generate the voice news in 3 languages - Tamang, Newari and Nepali. Karuna captures narrative snippets of farmer’s activities, recording their daily experiences on vegetable diseases, and consulting experts on how to resolve it. Informally, farmers share their views on site, and this is broadcasted to listeners usi...
