Effectiveness Of Community Radio In Preservation And Promotion Of The Indigenous Culture

Abstract

The main stream media has overlooked the importance of indigenous people and their culture. The failure of mainstream media in reaching and engaging the local communities has triggered the demand of Community based media. Over the years community media has been emerged as an alternate and viable option to the mainstream media. One of the popular forms of community media is the ‘Community Radio’ which is operated in a community, for the community and by the community members. In last two decades gradually but the community radio has been expanded throughout the country in India. Today, more than 250 community radio stations are operational in the country and most of these are serving the rural communities. This paper investigates the role of community radio stations in preserving and promoting the indigenous culture of the state of Rajasthan in India. The well known community radio stations of the Rajasthan state of India has been selected for the study. The findings of this study reveal most of the radio stations are playing an important role the preservation and promotion of folk art and culture of the state.