Community radio and its sustainability: Case from Nepal
Bishal Kumar *
Community radio is important for social transformation as it addresses social and cultural injustices within communities. In Nepal, ‘community radios’ are referred to by various names: community radio, cooperative radio, NGO-run radio, which operate under different objectives throughout the country (Banjade 2006). These radio stations are important communication tools and often referred to as a good example in South Asia (Ibid.). Whatever their name or objective, they are representative of the bottom-up approach. In Nepal, several research projects have studied the positive impacts of community radio stations on society and after the advent of Internet technology, the number of radio stations has been increasing (543 total stations), out of which the number of CR stations is more than 280.

This paper explores the sustainability of Nepal’s CR stations because they are not just mushrooming, they are also facing serious challenges, especially those in rural areas, such as the influence of advertisers, investment, political alienation,  lack of trained human resources and low volunteerism. These challenges indicate that it is difficult to maintain operational costs. So the question of sustainability looms large. This study explores possible ways out to ensure sustainability using focus group discussions and interviews with research participants backed-up with in-depth interviews of selected opinion leaders and journalists.

Reference
Banjade, A. 2006, ‘Voice to the Voiceless in Western Nepal: An Audience Survey of Community Radio Madanpokhara’, The Journal of Development Communication, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 72-91, <http://www.banjade.com/arjun/resume/jdc.pdf>, accessed 18 Sept. 2014.
* Mr. Bishal Kumar Bhandari is a doctoral student at the Kathmandu University, Nepal.