Background

In Azad Kashmir and North West Frontier Province where schools, colleges, hospitals, banks, courts and government offices were severely damaged by the October 8, 2005 earthquake, the media has also taken a major hit, severely affected information access to the affected.

The media infrastructure – including newspaper officers, radio and television stations and press clubs – sustained losses. Coupled with this, the destruction of radio and television sets, like other household items in thousands of homes, adversely affected the capacity to access information.

With illiteracy rates still high, radio, especially the non-commercial, humanitarian FM stations licensed by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) remains the most effective way of disseminating information to people affected by the earthquake.

Survey on Information Access in Quake-Affected Regions

A snapshot survey to gauge the state of information access was conducted two weeks after the quake in Batagram, Balakot and Mansehra in NWFP and Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakot in Kashmir . These were generally the worst-hit cities in their respective regions. Conducted by the Pakistan office of Internews, an international media development organisation, it showed interesting results: Before the quake, about 81% households had a radio and 52% had television sets. Of these, the radio sets of 76% and TV sets of 97% were destroyed by the earthquake.

The findings indicated that because the quake destroyed conventional sources of media there was a dramatic rise in non-conventional means of information giving way to rumours as the staple of information. Queried about their post-quake sources of information, a majority of respondents indicated multiple sources: 68% said they were now dependent on word of mouth, 28% on radio, 21% on newspapers, 15% on TV and 11 on the local administration.

A follow-up information access survey conducted four months after the baseline in the same cities as above produced evidence the public-private partnership of rebuilding information access was proving useful. Summary findings established that the new community radio media licensed by PEMRA and helped by Internews had in a short time become a major source of independent, reliable and useful information for the affected populations.

In late Oct 2005 while 28% said radio was one of their primary sources of information, in early March 2006, the percentage had gone up to a healthy 70%. In the follow-up survey, respondents mentioned one or more of all the PEMRA-licensed radio stations as their station of choice.

Radio Distribution Strategy

Based on data obtained in both information surveys, as well as in tandem with ERRA and government policies to help affected populations to relocate back to their houses, Internews Pakistan has developed a draft strategy to distribute 10,000 radio sets to affected people.

Distribution will take place as soon as the radio sets are released by the customs authorities in Islamabad in the following five areas first: Balakot, Mansehra and Battagram in NWFP and Muzaffarabad, Bagh, Rawalakot and Mirpur in AJK.

Criteria for Prioritizing Radio Distribution

Internews has considered the following factors in setting the priorities for radio distribution:

1. Earthquake-Affected Areas. The above-mentioned areas were among the most devastated by the earthquake. Affected people currently living in these cities whose homes have been destroyed are in the most need for information about the reconstruction phase, and so are priorities for radio distribution.

2. Radio Signal Coverage. Affected people living in 1 to 10 km radius of PEMRA-licensed FM radio stations are a priority for distribution because signal access is guaranteed.

3. Radio Signal Content. The priority is to provide affected people with access to the humanitarian Jazba-e-Tameer program, which includes ERRA and government information on the reconstruction phase, currently broadcast on 7 PEMRA-licensed FM stations in affected areas. The stations also broadcast humanitarian programming related to relief and reconstruction.