As the world's population climbs to 6 billion and globalization of media, trade and international politics gallops ahead, the voices of local peoples are often getting lost. This is especially true in developing countries where a lack of telecommunications infrastructure and community-oriented media make it difficult for local people to air their ideas and concerns. Yet, it is exactly their stories that need to be heard. The effects of environmental degradation, economic crisis and social injustices are felt most immediately at the village level and the contribution that local knowledge can make is frequently overlooked.

Community-based broadcasting is one solution. It's not enough that such events are broadcast via a professional commentator; there is a danger that too much valuable information will be lost and community strengths sapped if people lack the opportunity to act on their own behalf. Indeed, local opinions and experiences need to be broadcast by the very people who intimately understand the challenges and possibilities.

The effects of climate change on livelihoods in Canada's far North serve as a case in point. The Inuit in that region are experiencing changing weather patterns and encountering new species of animals and insects in the region, which are adversely affecting their traditional hunting patterns, altering the behaviour of game and creating new health problems. The implications of these changes cannot be conveyed in a 30-second sound bite on mainstream media, yet, their concerns need to be brought forward to those that are emitting most of the greenhouse gases causing climate change. IISD is working with people in Sachs Harbor on Banks Island, using participatory video to document climate change through Inuit eyes. Their concerns and observations will then be brought forward to government officials and the public.

Similarly, other groups are developing and using community radio and making their own videos. These tools are proving to be accessible as the technology becomes cheaper and because literacy is not an issue. In addition, they lend themselves well to the oral tradition common to many cultures. For example, the April 1999 issue of "Sources" from UNESCO tells how an illiterate team of women from Pastapur-a village in India-filmed the effects of a recent drought on the area's poor farmers and got five minutes of air time on state television. Consequently, they were able to give their view on a story that otherwise wouldn't get coverage.

Some local peoples are now also broadcasting their views via the Internet. UNESCO recently awarded the first annual Web prize to a Brazilian site on the Kamayura and Urubu-Kaapor tribes. And efforts to safeguard the forests of Uttar Pradesh in India are being highlighted at the Uttarakhand Web site.

Even so, these local efforts point to some of the paradoxes for those working in local broadcasting. While the technology is cheaper and more prevalent then ever, local voices are getting lost in the swelling clash of media sights and sounds. And the World Wide Web-the newer and more-favoured technology that is being touted as open and accessible-requires infrastructure and literacy levels currently beyond the reach of many. [communities telling their stories their way]

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Word Watch
	Community radio n. model of broadcasting where grassroots organizations establish and manage the radio station and in which listeners are involved in production and management. More in Word Watch Glossary
Virtual Ideas
	Lots of Community Radio Links Lots of Community Video Links

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© 1999 International Institute for Sustainable Development