Radio Active is an urban Community Radio Station based in Bangalore that  works with diverse groups and heterogeneous communities  like the sexual minority community, people with disabilities, domestic workers,  people living with HIV/AIDS, auto-drivers, rag pickers and scrap dealers, environmentalists, animal activists, children etc

Ms. Pinky Chandran has been associated with the Community Radio sector since the launch of Radio Active in 2007. In an interview with One World, Ms. Chandran shares her views on broadcast of news on Community Radio Stations and how it impacts the communities they work with.

We have been working with the sexual minorities for the past four years through a regular program entirely produced by the sexual minorities and also several outreach campaigns. But when the Supreme Court judgement on Section 377 came out, we felt a complete sense of helplessness since the community members who so proudly call Radio Active their own were unable to talk, express their opinion, and hold discussions about the same on air. The current policy does not permit news and current affairs, but there is space for development news. What is development? We need to realise that this definition is as diverse as the communities involved in a community radio. To an individual who is a school dropout and a representative of the sexual minority community, what is development?

News and current affairs should be defined keeping in mind the context of Community Radio and not use the yardstick defined by mainstream media. The availability of platform to talk about issues of concern be it atrocities faced by the police, to finding employment, or the lack of acceptance, or to just simply use the medium to share stories, sing songs makes a big difference, especially in the context of freedom of speech and expression. So where does one draw a line? To mainstream media, the 377 judgment is news, but to the community directly affected, shouldn’t they be the ones to talk about it and express themselves?

Pinky Chandran is the Director of Radio Active Community Radio 90.4 MHz