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| PROFILE Cont... | ... whatever you wanted to know about Radio Sagarmatha |
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 Radio
Sagarmatha : History |
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The history of Radio Sagarmatha is interwoven with the gradual loosening
of government control over the airwaves. From the time of the new
constitution in November 1990, the drive to get Radio Sagarmatha on the
air was instrumental in bringing about a new communications environment
and a new awareness of the importance and need for independent,
public-interest broadcasting.
The main organizational vehicle in the campaign for an independent radio
was the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ). At least
initially, the key players were the forum’s executive and members —
to be joined later by other prominent media organizations —
essentially a small group of journalists committed to investing the
freedoms of the constitution with some substance and determined to see
some innovation in the country’s communication system capable of
addressing the country’s needs as a new democracy. Their strategy was
local FM radio and their goal became Radio Sagarmatha.
In 1991, the government struck a special task force charged with the
development of a National Communications Policy. The then General
Secretary of the NEFEJ was the only non-government member on the
committee. After repeated attempts to put independent FM radio on the
agenda for discussion were rejected by Radio Nepal and other members of
the committee, support was sought outside the task force committee. With
assistance from the Vice-chair of the National Planning Commission,
NEFEJ was eventually successful in having a provision allowing for
private sector sponsorship of educational and recreational FM
broadcasting included in the National Communications Policy of 1992.
In part to test the commitment of the government to the new policy, in
October 1992, only four days after its passage by parliament, NEFEJ
registered an application for an independent FM station. The government
did not act on the application and gave as the primary reason, a lack of
guidelines and regulations for implementing the policy. NEFEJ began to
lobby key political and civil service figures in the interest of
developing a legislative framework which would include and support
independent FM broadcasting and specifically community/public radio. The
National Communications Policy was followed in June of 1993 by the
National Communications Act which laid out broad guidelines for
broadcasting in Nepal, specifically procedures for obtaining a license,
goals of broadcast programming, fees, foreign and private sector
participation, advertising, rights and responsibilities of broadcasters,
and sanctions. Another piece of the puzzle was in place, but the
government still stalled and justified its delay by arguing that
broadcast regulations were still absent.
This argument seems suspect in light of the government's approval of
three TV licenses to foreign
agencies. Many believe the real reason behind the delay in
introducing regulations was to allow Radio Nepal to establish their own
FM frequency which it did in late 1995. FM Kathmandu, while officially
and financially a venture of the state broadcaster, was and continues to
be programmed by a series of commercial FM ventures to whom blocks of
time on the frequency are sublet. Ironically, the highly commercialised
nature of the service and its heavy reliance on Western programming
models and music is thought to have influenced public opinion in favour
of still unlicensed Radio Sagarmatha, whose interest lay in local
programming in the public interest.
To persuade the political forces responsible for the development of
broadcast regulations of the need for variety in the emerging broadcast
system, journalists and communications experts from across the region
were gathered at a symposium on Community Broadcasting in South Asia
held in Kathmandu, October 1993. The then Minister of Communications was
a principle guest. Following the symposium the Minister sought
assistance from NEFEJ in the next step, the development of legislative
guidelines and regulations. The strategy seemed promising, but shortly
thereafter, in late 1994, during mid-term elections, Nepal’s first
democratically elected government fell and a new one was formed. The
process of convincing the Ministry of Communications’ politicians and
civil servants of public-interest media’s importance and Radio
Sagarmatha’s merit began again.
In June of 1995, regulations governing broadcasting were enacted
providing a specific structure for application procedure, licensing and
fees. All the pieces of the puzzle, legal and technical, were in place,
but the country was in political turmoil and without a sitting
parliament for four months as parties battled it out in the courts.
Again the government changed and with it, the Minister and Secretary for
Communication. The new Minister, whose support was critical for any
progress, was not supportive and so NEFEJ’s strategy changed.
The focus shifted to building support in other areas. NEFEJ wrote an
open letter concerning the situation and appealed to embassies and INGOs
for help. With assistance from foreign delegations to Nepal, the
strategy yielded results. But just as the Minister seemed to be coming
around, the government again changed.
Building on the organisational resources and radio production experience
of NEFEJ and with the financial support of UNESCO and others for
training and equipment acquisition, by the end of 1996, the foundations
for a radio station were soundly placed. All that was lacking was a
license. Despite years of stalling by successive governments and
political appointees fearful of taking the rap for an unpredictable
experiment which might unleash anarchy, the determination of the Radio
Sagarmatha group was stronger than ever.
Things started to heat up in early 1997. The battle had been carried
into the international media. The station had equipment and trained
staff. The time to act had come. Five years of struggle, waiting and
playing by the rules with no results had inured the key players against
the risks. And the risks were real. The National Communications Act
specifically set the punishment for unlicensed broadcasting at one year
in jail and a fine of NC 10 000. Faced with these possible
repercussions, housing the station, at that point an illegal venture,
was a problem. In the end, the first home for Radio Sagarmatha was in
one of the key players houses.
With all of the internal components in place and with a broadcast
engineer present, at the start of April 1997, NEFEJ, requested a
temporary license with which to test its set-up. The request was met
with silence. Acting with the advice of lawyer, NEFEJ decided to proceed
and on April 2nd began five days of test broadcasts. The government was
confused as to who was doing these transmissions. On the third day Radio
Sagarmatha’s programme director deliberately informed the director of
Radio Nepal who informed the Secretary of Communications. Within a
matter of hours a letter arrived from the Ministry demanding who had
provided permission for the broadcasts, how the equipment had been
obtained and who was testing the signal. NEFEJ informed the government
that the equipment has come through official channels and had received
official Ministry sanction (although in fact the transmitter had arrived
under the guise of other, less dramatic- sounding equipment. The
government threatened strong action reminding the station that their
actions were illegal.
The events of early April were news. Local media, along with the BBC,
IPS, and PANOS publicised the stand-off. After meeting with the Nepali
and English language editors of Gorkhapatra and Rising Nepal, the
government-owned dailies, both newspapers published sympathetic stories
on the front page. With the offer of free legal costs, NEFEJ was
prepared to take the case to court. The government backed down a step.
After years of battling different governments, support for Radio
Sagarmatha was strong. Key members of the campaign team had met with
professional associations of lawyers and professors, local NGOs, local
and international media, foreign embassies and INGOs. During the
controversial test broadcasts in that month, the station announced
in mid-April that they would begin broadcasting, with or without
government sanction or a license. The date they chose to launch the
station was May 22, 1997, a day of peace, the Lord Buddha’s birth
date. They informed the government that if legal actions were taken
against them, the station would take their public and media support and
use it against them in local level elections set for May 26 of that
year.
Three days later, four and a half years after the application, a
license came. As promised, on May 22, 1997, Radio Sagarmatha began
broadcasting, the first independent station in South Asia. |
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| License |
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The Day the License Came It was Programme Director Raghu Mainali who received the license from the Ministry in May of 1997. After so many years and so much work, it was an important and memorable moment. “The Joint Secretary said to me as he handed over the license: You have won the war. I said: Lately, you have obeyed the law.” - Raghu Mainali, May, 1997.
License Restrictions When Radio Sagarmatha’s license was finally granted it came with a series of fourteen conditions and restrictions. Salient among them:
Relations with the government since the license
In light of the official relationship between Radio Sagarmatha and the
various governments and bureaucrats of Nepal from 1992 to 1997
subsequent official relations have been non-interventionist and
productive. Between September and December of 1998 the Minister of
Communications was particularly sympathetic to community radio and many
pending and new applications were endorsed during this period. -
August ‘98 License
extended to 13 hours per day -
October Permission to rebroadcast BBC Nepali
Service -
November Lifting of commercial programming restriction
Licensed for 24 hours
Licensed for mobile service on 102.4 FM to broadcast anywhere in
the country
Permission to rebroadcast BBC World Service in English |
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| Radio
Sagarmatha : Structure & Staffing |
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Structure
NEFEJ is the parent organization of Radio Sagarmatha and the
station is headed by an autonomous Board of Directors
constituted by NEFEJ as the broadcast license holder. Internally, RS
functions within a conventional structure headed by a station manager who
sits on the Board of Directors as a member/secretary. Directors play
little or no role in day-to-day operations. Direction is set by the
Station Manager and radio programming directed by Program
Director. The station functions largely without regular meetings or
committees. Staffing
RS has the following staff positions: station manager, program director,
full-time producers, co-producers, audio & computer technicians, music
librarians, an engineer (on retainer), accounts & administrative
officers, marketing manager and all other regular assistants and office
helpers. You can contact any of them through email at the Contacts
page. The station also benefits from the contributions and experience
of international co-operant and other friends.
Volunteers are an increasingly important part of RS’s programming and
operations, a significant number of whom are reimbursed for expenses or
paid an honorarium. |
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