This Issue publishes a comprehensive study on the functioning of Community Radio in Sri Lanka which, while examining concerns peculiar to community radio, raises pertinent issues about the very nature and operation of the broadcasting sector in Sri Lanka, particularly regarding issues of licensing by an independent authority.

These are questions that are very relevant at this time, given the arbitrary nature of cancellation and suspension of such licences by the relevant regulatory bodies.

As the Study itself makes clear, the very term’ Community Radio’ (CR) is a misnomer for the types of radio stations that operate ostensibly using this terminology for their functioning. By their very definition, community radio stations are owned and managed by the community. In contrast, the radio stations that function as ‘community radio stations’ in Sri Lanka, even during the time many years back when there was no overt interference by the government, functioned under the aegis of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC). The involvement of the community in the actual operation of the radio station was marginal at best though the efforts taken by individuals at that time to bring about a process of genuine evolution of these stations to serve the needs of the community, needs to be acknowledged and appreciated.

The information gathered from the field visits and the indepth interviews conducted for the purposes of the Study clearly illustrated the utility role that the stations performed at a point in the early stages of their development. However, as the management of the once premier state broadcaster became progressively politicized through the years, the impact that this development had on the vibrant functioning of ‘community radio stations’ was dismal; the case study of the dire consequences that befell once such community radio station in Uva is a good illustration.

There is no doubt that community broadcasting has not been able to justify its encouraging beginnings due to it being submerged within the framework of a politicised SLBC. This is seen by the routine change of its Chairman upon change of political power at elections, the blatant use of SLBC airwaves for party propaganda and the summary rejection of staffers who oppose such propaganda processes. As a result, community radio stations, functioning so far under the aegis of SLBC, have also been exposed to severe political influences that override their objectives.

As the controller attached to the now almost defunct Girandurukotte station lamented, “our interventions (that were earlier commonplace and part of our ordinary functioning) in respect of such basic matters such as retrieving lost identity cards, educating people of the harmful aspects of using aluminium utensils in cooking and the beneficial effect of the consumption of honey and training new settlers with no experience of agriculture and farming, on the essentials of cultivation, have now all been brought to nought.”

A positive feature emerging from the interviews was the acknowledgement by both broadcasters and communities that law/regulatory reform in relation to the regulation/functioning of CR has now become imperative. In a context where legal questions are often thought of as esoteric and far removed from ordinary people, increased awareness of the law and its limitations was a good indication as to the presence of the necessary ground support for change in the legal environment.

The segment of the Study pertaining to the Legal/Regulatory structure of CR assesses the current regulatory/legal framework in relation to the broadcasting regime. It details proposals and recommendations for reform in order to bring about an appropriately enabling legal/regulatory environment for the proper functioning of community radio initiatives within the country.

The analysis is generally referable to the provisions of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation Act No 37 of 1966 (as amended) in the context of judicial decisions that have attempted to define the parameters within which such a regime should operate together with ancillary legislation such as the Telecommunications Act, No 25 of 1991 (as amended by Act, No 27 of 1996). The workings of these laws are examined in the context of legislative provisions in regard to devolution of power through the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

The Study also looks at other developments that have impacted on this process, particularly the reports of domestic and international committees that have examined these same issues in the past.

It includes a separate segment analysing elections law as applicable to the electronic media, given that this is a very relevant point of time at which external pressures, (due to malfunctioning governance and electoral processes), may negatively intensify in regard to the functioning of community radio stations, as the case study on Uva Community Radio (UCR) demonstrates.

As the Study shows us, Sri Lanka exemplifies a country where the choice is starkly between a politicised state broadcaster (SLBC) and a largely commercially driven and market operated private broadcasting sector that also operates on (somewhat subtler) political agendas. It is the authors’ view that recommendations in regard to bringing about a more satisfactory regulatory framework insofar as community radio is concerned cannot be considered in isolation from concerns that impact upon private broadcasters or for that matter, the SLBC.

Though the limitations of what could be accomplished in a currently highly tension ridden political environment are conceded, the Study strongly recommends that holistic proposals should address concerns in regard to the entire broadcasting regime in this country.

Even if, in the future, community radio operates on an independent platform, general reform of the broadcasting regime and most vitally, an independent Broadcasting Authority established in line with conditions laid down by Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court in 1997, should accompany or be a condition precedent to bringing about systematic reform of Sri Lanka’s broadcasting culture.

Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena