Capacity building for participatory management of community radio: Case studies in Bangladesh

Community radio (CR) initiatives are conceptualised, set-up, and managed based on the ideals of participatory communication they serve to create a forum for marginalised narratives to be shared and heard in order to counter the various dominant discourses in mainstream media. For this reason, there is a need for them to be managed democratically as well as effectively, to ensure they are sustained to fulfil their various mandates. (Couldry, 2010; Howley (Ed.), 2010; Ullah, 2018.) In Bangladesh, there is a high focus on the production aspects of these initiatives; however, developing skills for the management aspects appear limited. With reference to four CR stations in Bangladesh, several management challenges -including lack of sufficient funding, managing human and material resources, and the need to enhance networking opportunities, were highlighted by practitioners. This paper explores the possibility that capacity building of personnel in management, implemented through a participatory approach, can result in addressing these challenges. Through analyses of the strengths and weaknesses observed in the stations, the paper goes a step further to suggest possible ways in which current practices can be improved with a view to making the stations more efficiently run and sustainable in order to serve their communities.