New voices in Indonesia

Challenges and opportunities

The Indonesian government acknowledged the existence of community radio stations with the ratification of the Broadcasting Law in 2002. There are still constraints to their smooth functioning, however, in particular unclear regulation and low-skilled community radio activists. They also remain in an inferior position to commercial broadcasters, for whom community radio stations are potential competitors. Yet, community radio in Indonesia has helped improve democratic processes and promote local culture.

Combine Resource Institution, Indonesia and a British media consultant conducted a study for the World Bank Institute in 2005, analysing the legal framework for and mapping community radio. Research was conducted in West Java Province in Java Island and Lombok Island in West Nusa Tenggara.

Gaining recognition for community radio was not easy. At first the government objected, arguing that multiple community radio stations would be a waste of frequencies and could also result in national disintegration.

However, community radio activists and civil society groups held lengthy discussions with parliament members and provided them with concept papers about community radio. They also held numerous workshops and meetings with different groups, particularly commercial broadcasters and government officials. Community radio's existence was eventually accepted by the government, although restrictions still obstruct development. These include:

• Community radios can only operate on three frequency channels: 107.7, 107.8 and 107.9 Megahertz (MHz) on the FM band. The distance between each is only 100 Kilohertz (KHz), which is against International Telecommunications Union regulations that state there must be at least 350 KHz between channels. Conflicts often arise, especially with those commercial radios that broadcast on 107.6 MHz FM.
• Effective Radiated Power (the power output of the transmitter) is a maximum of 50 watts and the broadcasting range is a maximum of 2.5 kilometres. As the landscape in Indonesia is very diverse, such regulations can probably only be effectively applied in Java Island. Most other villages cover a larger area than the regulation provides for.
• Community radio stations are prohibited both from selling commercial advertising and receiving funds from international agencies. Therefore they have to rely entirely on funding from within their communities.

Despite this, community radio is expanding. Java Island alone has more than 400 stations. In the last four years, several of them have played strong roles in democracy and development:

• Angkringan FM, a community radio in Yogyakarta promoted the transparency of village administration by airing a meeting between the village executive and the community representative body on village regulation and budget allocation.
• In a remote village, a community radio activist reported on the progress and weakness of infrastructure projects, including how the project allocated funds. Because of this, the project was compelled to share information about the budget.
• Primadona FM in Lombok went against the trend of playing Indonesian and 'western' music, broadcasting instead programmes with traditional themes, local music and poetry and using local languages which enabled interactive dialogue with listeners.

Training from civil society organisations to enhance station management, journalism skills, broadcast production and community involvement has contributed to these outcomes. But broadcasting management, journalism skills and ability to raise funds remain relatively low. The study proposes that to create a better environment for community radio in Indonesia:

• International institutions need to support policies and regulation beneficial for community radio development, including regulating licensing procedures and allocating frequencies to more than just three channels.
• Community radio networks in the various regions need to be strengthened.
• Radio personnel skills must be expanded through training, mentoring and manuals for establishing community radio stations, organisation and management, best practices and lessons learned.

Imam Prakoso
Combine Resource Institution
Jl Ngadisuryan 26
Yogyakarta, 55133
Indonesia
T/F +62 274 418929
iprakoso@combine.or.id

Community Radio in Indonesia World Bank Study by Imam Prakoso and Nicholas Nugent, 2005

Views expressed on these pages are not necessarily those of DFID, IDS, id21 or other contributing institutions. Copyright remains with the original authors but (unless stated otherwise) any article may be copied or quoted without restriction, provided both source (id21, insights) and authors are properly acknowledged and informed. Copyright © 2004 id21. All rights reserved.