UNB, Dhaka :
Though there is a sharp fall in radio listenership among people in rural Bangladesh, community radio still can be an enormous tool to help vulnerable coastal people face cyclones, says a new study.
The airing of authentic news in local languages through community radios would be a great saviour for millions of people living in the isolated and vulnerable coastal regions, mainly small chars without electricity.
The study titled ‘Capacity Assessment of Community Radios for Disaster
Campaign in Bangladesh’ was conducted between super cyclones Titily and Fani that hit Bangladesh and Odisha coasts in 2018 and 2019.
This study is based on intensive observation of people’s behaviour during the campaign on cyclonic disasters, analysis of the radio programme contents and broadcast trends of four community radio stations-Radio Naf, Radio Sagor Diwp, Radio Krishi and Loko Betar-situated along the 710-km Bangladesh’s coastline from Teknaf to Barguna districts.
Mohammad Sahid Ullah, a professor at the Communication and Journalism of Chittagong University, led the study.
The study has found that lack of an adequate campaign plan is a roadblock to an effective grassroots campaign for community radio stations working in disaster-prone areas despite having potential in collecting, transmitting and sharing detailed disaster-related information.
The study, conducted under the Hoso-Bunka Foundation research grant award, recommends a communications plan for disaster campaigns combined with maintaining a network amongst community radio stations before, during, and after the cyclone aimed at contributing to community safety, a decrease in property damage, and overall morale in the shadow of cyclonic disasters.
Though there is a sharp fall in radio listenership among people in rural Bangladesh, community radio still can be an enormous tool to help vulnerable coastal people face cyclones, says a new study.
The airing of authentic news in local languages through community radios would be a great saviour for millions of people living in the isolated and vulnerable coastal regions, mainly small chars without electricity.
The study titled ‘Capacity Assessment of Community Radios for Disaster
Campaign in Bangladesh’ was conducted between super cyclones Titily and Fani that hit Bangladesh and Odisha coasts in 2018 and 2019.
This study is based on intensive observation of people’s behaviour during the campaign on cyclonic disasters, analysis of the radio programme contents and broadcast trends of four community radio stations-Radio Naf, Radio Sagor Diwp, Radio Krishi and Loko Betar-situated along the 710-km Bangladesh’s coastline from Teknaf to Barguna districts.
Mohammad Sahid Ullah, a professor at the Communication and Journalism of Chittagong University, led the study.
The study has found that lack of an adequate campaign plan is a roadblock to an effective grassroots campaign for community radio stations working in disaster-prone areas despite having potential in collecting, transmitting and sharing detailed disaster-related information.
The study, conducted under the Hoso-Bunka Foundation research grant award, recommends a communications plan for disaster campaigns combined with maintaining a network amongst community radio stations before, during, and after the cyclone aimed at contributing to community safety, a decrease in property damage, and overall morale in the shadow of cyclonic disasters.
