Other Voices: The Struggle for Community Radio in India

Vinod Pavarala is Professor of Communication and Dean, Sarojini Naidu School of Communication, University of Hyderabad. After completing a dual Masters in Communication & Journalism and Sociology, he obtained his PhD from the University of Pittsburgh, USA. He has taught at the University of Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, USA), and the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, and has been a Visiting Fellow at Princeton University. For over five years he has been one of the leading campaigners for a national policy on community radio and has played a significant role in the drafting of the policy approved by the Union Cabinet in late 2006, permitting community-based organizations to start their own radio stations. Pavarala is the author of Interpreting Corruption (Sage, 1996) which looks at the social construction of corruption in India.

Dr Kanchan K Malik is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad, (India) and has been teaching post-graduate Journalism and Mass Communication courses for nearly 15 years now. She obtained her Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Hyderabad in 2005/6. Her doctoral work has been published by Sage as a much-reviewed book, Other Voices: the Struggle for Community Radio in India co-authored with Prof. Vinod Pavarala. With a dual Master′s in Economics and Mass Communication, she worked as a journalist with The Economic Times, New Delhi for two years before settling for a career in academics. She has worked on several research projects and published research papers on media interventions by non-governmental organizations for empowerment at the grassroots level. Her work has also contributed to policy advocacy efforts for Community radio in India. She has also worked on the research ＂Religions, Ethics and Attitudes towards Corruption＂ as part of the Religions and Development project of the University of Birmingham. Her scholastic and research interests include, Print Journalism; Community Media (and Gender); Media Laws & Ethics; and Communication for Social Change. She is a Faculty Fellow, UNESCO Chair on Community Media and Associate Editor of the e-newsletter - CR News brought out by her department in partnership with UNESCO.