Gestión y seguimiento de las operaciones de transporte por carretera.

A senior producer at the station told me that the radio management encouraged all the producers to always listen to the community and do ‘social networking’ by conducting road conversations and identifying community concerns and their pressing problems. According to him, this was the main channel through which the producers received information on community problems as well as their interests (S. Adhikari, personal communication, July 6, 2007). As local community volunteers could not make their own radio programmes, this was also the main route through which they could access RS and present their views on air.

Each day the station was open to the public for one hour and during this time, the community members could walk in, meet the staff and discuss and share their interests. Visitors were also offered the opportunity to view the station’s equipment. The producer of weekly programme, Sagharmatha Sangheet, which basically hunts community talent, said during the open hour he also meets and tests the talents of locals. According to the producer Kiran Pokhrel, those who can sing are encouraged to participate in his programme which gives opportunity for the community members to come to the studio and sing so that they get known in the community. In addition to singing, he also identifies participants who are good at debating, giving speeches and writing poetry, songs and stories. Hence, through this programme, he said RS was able to help them build a career and at the same time strengthen the radio’s warm relationship with the community (K. Pokhrel, personal communication, June 24, 2007).

From time to time RS makes general public announcements requesting people from all walks of life to phone the radio station on specific matters of public concern and give their opinions. During the time I was in Nepal, the country was gearing up for its parliamentary elections. There was also much public interest about the fate of the King once the country became a republic. During this period, the station kept its phone line open to collect public feedback. Although this was great material for any participatory programme, the station never got to broadcast it. Urbashi Basnyat, one of the people who helped in the CD production said, she simply recorded them on CDs, labelled them as “public feedback on issues of national concern” and dispatched them to the relevant government authorities (U. Basnyat, personal communication, July 6, 2007).

One of the most important groups of people the station keeps in touch with is those living on the streets of Kathmandu. Like many in the developing countries, Kathmandu is no stranger to several types of street-dwellers who make the road their permanent home. They include the very poor, the disabled, the homeless and those who search the rubbish dumps on the street corners. On the street, there are also vendors, those operating footpath businesses such as boot polishing and repairing handbags. These are the people who use the streets as their source of income. Everyday, RS broadcasts a 15-minute programme that interviews people on the streets focusing on their lifestyle, their concerns, their hopes and their aspirations for a better future. In these programmes, the station also plays songs they requested. The only drawback of this programme was, according to Rishi Acharya, one of its producers, that it lasted only 15-minutes per day. Although this was a rich source for making real participatory programmes and keeping in touch with the very grassroots of the community, RS was unable to expand this time-slot due to programmes that were produced or sponsored by the NGOs and other similar organisations wanting their programmes to be fitted in during the evening hours (R. Acharya, personal communication, June 30, 2007).

As an attempt to engage the youth and those who have access to the Internet, the station has developed its own website. According to the manager, many listeners who are now living overseas listen to the radio podcasts on the website to keep in touch with what is happening

in the country and in their community. The manager told me that the station received many requests from Nepali expatriates wanting to listen to the radio live on the Internet. The radio had not yet made live streaming of its broadcasts on the Internet during the time I visited the station. However, now the station could be heard on the Internet. As Internet use was gaining popularity in Kathmandu, the manager viewed the Internet as the future road to keep in touch with not only the expatriates but also the next generation of Nepal youth who would most likely be accessing the radio from a computer instead of using a radio receiver. The radio manager said he already had a plan to develop its current website so that RS could engage the Nepali expatriates and those at home in a single forum (M. Bista, personal communication, July 9, 2007).

RS has never done a survey to find out listener numbers or get listener feedback. However, the station receives hundreds of letters every week and this was seen as an indication that the radio station was popular among the locals. Almost all the letters were song requests. According to the radio manager, “unlike requesting for a song, writing a letter especially about a programme was not easy, so people don’t write letters to discuss issues”. However, when he or the radio staff visit different parts of the city neighbourhoods, they discuss radio programmes and get community feedback. This was how the station identified and connected the programmes to the needs of the community (M. Bista, personal communication, July 9, 2007).

According to the radio manager, RS enjoyed much support in the local community. This was most strongly evident in 2006 when the government shut down RS saying it was supporting terrorism. When the local community heard the news, they organised a huge demonstration against the closure. According to the radio manager, until he saw the public support on the street, he never thought the public had such huge admiration for the work they did. Describing the demonstration the manager remarked:

The demonstration made us feel very proud as it made us realise we have really been doing a very good public service to the people. Until we saw the public demonstration on our behalf, we never thought the public had that huge admiration for our work. The shut

down and the public reaction against the shut down were in fact the best moment in the history of the radio (M. Bista, personal communication, July 9, 2007).