Our Media V - Local Organizing Committee report-

Contains :

1.Report of proceedings.
2.Report of field trip on last day
3.Declaration
4.Revised Conference Programme

1. Local Organising Committee Report – Our Media _V, Bangalore, India

The Our Media – Nuestros Medios conference was held in Bangalore at the United Theological College (UTC) from the 5th- 9th of December. The United Theological College and VOICES, were the local partners for organizing the conference.

At the outset the organizers wish to place on record their appreciation of the Our Media Steering committee’s choice of Bangalore for hosting the conference. It was a challenge in view of the fact that this was the first time that the independent, full fledged conference five days was being held in Asia. As in any conference, there were exhilarating moments of satisfaction as well as unplanned hiccups of discomfort. However, the overall the conference, we believe, has been very productive and appreciated by most participants in the conference. The local organizing committee places on record its appreciation of the total commitment and full involvement by all the participants in all deliberations during the conference.

The conference generated a substantial range of papers on community media issues which the committee plans to document in the form of a publication . This would include presentations and discussions that emerged both in Bangalore and Colombia . We hope to complete this process by the end of the first quarter of 2006 and will follow up in this regard with the panelists , discussants and participants in early 2006

In all about 70 registered as participants for the conference. Apart from the Indian delegations, there were participants from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Botswana, Brazil, Malaysia, U.S. Bolivia, Chile, Australia, Canada, Holland, Turkey and the U.K. A total of nine technical sessions along with the plenary opening and the final business session were tightly packed into three full days of deliberations and discussions. In addition, cultural programs, film screenings by Juan Salazar and Chris Joyner were hosted on two evening. Some of the delegates were also able to witness some classical dance, theatre and music events that were on in the city as part of the ‘Bangalore Habba’- the local city annual festival which coincided with conference week. Also a field trip was organized on the fourth day to Namma Dhwani (Our VOICES) -the community media initiative of VOICES in the village of Budhikote about 100 kilometers from Bangalore.

• The pre-conference workshops scheduled on December 5, had to be cancelled due to the absence of the delegates from Columbia and in particular Clemencia Roderiguez , who had planned the workshops. Instead an informal welcome session was held where we acknowledged the unfortunate issue of the Colombian colleagues who couldn't attend due to non issue of visa by Indian Embassy, as well as other participants from Uganda and Papua New Guinea who were also forced to cancel their trip at last minute for reasons beyond their control. Chairing the session, Dr. Rev. Joshva Raja of UTC welcomed the delegates on behalf of local organizing committee. He pointed out that the participants for the conference were an interesting blend of media practitioners, academicians and students of different cultural identities that gave room for different perspectives to be discussed through the conference. The active discussion during the session was an indication of the immense potential for future collaboration among this year's participants. Given the last minute cancellations from some of the delegates, a revised program was prepared and circulated to the participants.

• On 6 December, the formal session of the conference began with a welcome note given by Rajyotsava Awardee and Senior Trustee of VOICES, Professor K.E. Eapen. In his address, Dr. Eapen traced the legacy of community media and the present debates on policy change initiatives in India. Dr. Sham P Thomas, Professor in the Department of Communication, UTC welcomed the delegates. In his opening address, Alfonso Gumucio Dagron, Managing Director of Programmes of the Communication for Social Change Consortium provided a summary of the past four conferences, and pointed out that for the first time OM has been held in Asia, outside of the Americas or Europe; for the first time it isn't tied as a pre-conference to any other conference (ICA, IAMCR etc); for the first time it is being held for 4 days and has been organized without formal structures of funding in place.

This was followed by the fist plenary session with key note addresses by Raghu Mainali coordinator of Save Community Radio Nepal and Lawrence Laing a senior researcher from Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore. Raghu Mainali gave an overview of the FM Broadcast scene in Nepal, the present crisis situation in the country and the challenges for the independent radio movement in Nepal. Lawrence set the tone for the conference by his analogy of “media as empires of stone” and the fact that we need to speak about Our Media implies that existing media is not “ours”, partly due to the deafness of mainstream media but primarily due to failure of legal and legislative systems.

• The two afternoon sessions focused mostly on the experiences of community radio activists in India and absence of marginalized voices in mainstream media. The first panel- Politics of Community Media: Legitimizing Community Radio in India- was
chaired by Ashish Sen of VOICES. It provided a critical examination of lack of a suitable legal framework to define, promote and empower community radio in India. With representatives from two community based initiatives sharing their experiences, it was a powerful message to legitimize the struggle for community radio in India. The second panel- Community Media and Development- was chaired by Leela Rao, and was a continuation of the issue raised in the first panel with a broader perspective on community media. Along with use of local media for community empowerment, there was need for a critical appraisal of concept of democratic media when applied to grassroots network and marginalized communities such as Dalits. To capture these concerns and to ensure community participation in the creation of content different research approaches from India as well as illustrative cases from Nigeria, Uganda , Ethiopia and Kenya were presented.

• On the second day – December 7, there were two panels in the morning and two in the afternoon. The first morning panel- ICT and Communication for Social Change- was co-ordinated by Jo Tacchi and presented research findings from a regional research network initiated by UNESCO in 2002. The focus pf the presentations was on Ethnographic Action Research (EAR)reports from the UNESCO funded Community Media Centres in South Asia. Tanya Notley was the co-ordinator for the second session- Making Media Technologies Socially Effective and Culturally Empowering. The panel examined the complex interrelationships between social and technological networks and issues of access versus effective use based on research and field experience from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Australia.

• The third session of the day was chaired by Juan Salazar and the panelists presented papers on the theme- Intercultural Dialogue- Community Radio and Resistance. There was mix of experiences drawn from ongoing popular resistance by the Nasa people of Columbia, and exploratory analysis of community radio in South Asia and the case study of refugee information network in Tanzania.

• The last session of the day was an exploration of the theme- ICT for Development and Social Transformation and was chaired by Alfonso Gumucio Dagron. The presentations included research report on use of ICTs among aboriginal communities in Canada; a critical analysis of internet content regulation in Australia and a reseach on the relationship between the internet based independent news sites of Indymedia and mainstream media in The Netherlands. The presentations did not have single focused theme as in earlier sessions since it had not been planned as such .

• The day ended with a documentary film De la Tierra a la Pantalla (From Land to Screen) that was produced by Juan.F.Salazar in collaboration with Mapuche video maker Jeannette Paillan from Lulul Mawidha Communication Center in Santiago, Chile in 2004.

• The third day, 8 December, had two technical sessions in the morning and one in the afternoon. The fourth and last session of the day was the business session- a round table on OURfuture and citizens media.

The first session in the morning was moderated by TB Dinesh of Bangalore IT.Org, on the theme Social Impacts of IT in Bangalore. The panelists explored the different perspectives on the debate on how IT has impacted the society of Bangalore. While some saw the inevitability of change and need to see the positive influences of change, there were others equally concerned about the unbridled, unguided change and the consequent marginalization of the voiceless and poorer sections of society.

• The second session on Media Education for Democracy- was chaired by Steven Muthu or India and the presentation were a compilation of varied experiences such as the analysis of language newspapers in Sri Lanka and the making of television for children

• The third session on Interactive Media for Participatory Communication was chaired by Juan Salazar and panelists presented experiences of interactive Media practices and prospects for democratic interactivity in Australia as well as the reflections on alternative women’s media in Turkey.

• The final round table and business session discussed the conference statement and the plans for future activities of OUR MEDIA. The session was moderated by Jo Taachi , Dr. Rev Sham P Thomas , Alfonso Gumucio Dagron and Ashish Sen
The final session focused on three areas:
1) deliberating and finalizing the declaration ;
2) reflections on Our Media V
3) the way forward

• Mario Murrilo and Juan Salazar led the discussions on the draft declaration which was accepted in principle with the a few modifications . The latter related primarily to packaging and grammar. Suggestions were also made from the house regarding additions related to media democratization in Turkey and communication studies. These were incorporated into the final declaration

• There were several inputs on reflections and the way forward. While the participants were appreciative of the consultations, there were concerns raised that related specifically to Our Media V as well as the overall structure of Our Media .

On the positive side , it was felt that Our Media V generated and fostered the spirit of community . Apart from the discussions , several potential networks and partnerships had been informally discussed during the three days . Many of the participants – especially from South Asia – were participating in Our Media for the first time and expressed their appreciation both in terms of the concept of Our Media as well as the presentations/ discussions that had taken place.

The participants also noted that this was the first time that an Our Media consultation had taken place as a stand alone event without piggy backing on other meetings like IAMCR etc. The fact that the consultations had been put together without substantial funding was also a positive development.

Participants were concerned about the descriptive nature of some of the presentations. Many cancellations – even at the last minute – had compelled panels to be re packaged. These, in turn, had diluted the focus of some of the panels. It was also noted that the numbers of participants varied from more than 70 to less than 40 on certain days. Given that there was no workshop on December 5th, participants felt there was no need for a pre conference day.

• On the way forward, participants were primarily concerned about structure . They drew their concerns from the issues that emerged at Our Media V. It was felt that there should have been more awareness about the consultation. This would have promoted more participation. The Our Media website was specified as a case in point that could have provided more information about the meeting. Likewise the websites of UTC and VOICES should have also had specific and current information about the conference.

Concerns were raised about the functioning of the steering committee (most of who were not present at the meeting). There was also need for more clarity on the organizational process involved. The issue of funding was debated as this also impacted the scale of the meeting. On the positive side (as mentioned earlier) was the fact that the consultation had taken place, given the uncertainties and limited funding, was a welcome development.

(A more comprehensive account should be provided by Jo Taachi and will be subsequently incorporated into the report )

CONSTRAINTS

As mentioned at the beginning, the interactions and sharing of experiences were enriching and empowering in many ways. Several participants also indicated the promise of continuing dialogues to establish linkages in different projects and activities of mutual interest. However, certain constraints of the Organisers need to be presented to facilitate better planning of future conferences.

The local organizing committee came into the picture quite late in the planning. As such were several issues that could have been sorted out earlier cropped up at the last minute and in a way affected the conduct of the conference.

The steering committee was in charge of the program and screening the panel proposals. As such the themes of the panels and the papers suggested were already decided prior to the conference. However last minute cancellation by several members, in one case the entire panel, left the local organizing committee with no choice but to merge panels and re –organise sessions. In the process the original focus of some of the panels was altered. Also, we had to discard parallel sessions as originally planned and prune the program to about nine technical sessions.

The suggestion therefore, is that the local organizing committee should be involved in program planning from the very beginning, as soon as the location of the next conference is finalized.

As Alfonso mentioned in his opening remarks, the finances were a major source of uncertainty. Except for three or four panels that were sponsored, or the co-ordinators ensured participation, it was not clear how many would eventually register and attend the conference. This was a major problematic for the local organizers. Without definite commitment of participation, it was quite a difficult task to ensure adequate accommodation, and other local logistics. Though no one can ensure complete participation from all those who have a desire to do so, there is need for some kind of seed funding that the local organizers must have to ensure viability of the conducting the conference.

The non issue of visas for the Columbian delegation was unfortunate in the extreme. However, it must be pointed out that the local host, UTC had informed the Steering committee members as well as those who made direct enquiries to apply for tourist visa which is relative easy to obtain. The problem of the Columbian delegates was brought to our notice about three weeks ahead of the conference. Given the bureaucracy way of functioning every where in the world, India is no exception, it was really a difficult task to complete the formalities in time for the conference, though every effort was made by UTC and other partners in Bangalore.

We therefore suggest that the local organizers are to be consulted in such matters as they know the ground realities and are best equipped to handle crisis situation given adequate time.

Our Media Field Trip Report

A total of 24 people from Our Media Bangalore attended the field trip to Namma Dhwani on the 9th of December 2005. The group arrived in Budikote at eleven in the morning and there was a small presentation about the resource centre and Namma Dhwani by Rajkumar who is the resource person for the telecentre. He talked about the history of the radio station and its relationship to the resource centre. He also spoke briefly about the local information network based on narrowcasting with the other resource centres in the district.

This was then followed by the group splitting up into smaller groups which had informal discussions with community member groups like self help group women, school children, youth who were attending the computer training and members from the management committee of Namma Dhwani and the Resource Centre.

The entire group then went on a visit to the community member’s houses where they could watch the cablecast as received by a television set. They also interacted with one woman who is a member of the management committee. The group then came back to the station for lunch.

The trip concluded with a visit to the nearby village of Ambedkar Colony which Namma Dhwani reaches through loudspeaker narrowcast. The participants had an opportunity to interact with the community members from AB Colony and listen to the loudspeaker narrowcast.

In addition to these activities, the participants also interacted with the studio managers at Namma Dhwani and observed their process of cablecast.

OM V Organizing Committee
Bangalore, India, December 2005