Radio waves in cyberspace

Santoso

An old complaint about radio is that it can't be repeated. Listeners who missed it the first time are then forced to rely on word of mouth for the news. Fortunately there are now internet sites devoted to radio. These store the sound in files so they can be heard again at any time and repeated as often as necessary. Obviously useful for foreign listeners, these sites are also becoming important for news broadcasting within Indonesia. Quite a few radio broadcasters now use the internet - it's fast, cheap and interactive.

Exploring the convergence between cyber and radio broadcasting technology grew popular after the Suharto regime collapsed. New initiatives flourished once the tight regulations that shackled radio were loosened. The old requirement forcing all radio stations to carry official Radio Republik Indonesia news relays more than a dozen times a day was dropped. But this change also created a new need. Every broadcaster - and there are hundreds of private radio stations here - now had to provide their own news programs. Either that or use a radio news service - among them Radio 68H News Service, usually abbreviated 68H: http://www.radio68h.or.id.

The 68H site offers two products. First, dispatches of short duration (1-2 minutes), also available in English. Second, half hour programs, among them Morning Bulletin, Afternoon Bulletin, and Talkshow hosted by well-known radio personality Wimar Witoelar. Radio station operators can simply download the dispatches and present them in their own style. The longer programs are ready to use just as they are.

Unfortunately some remote stations such as in Palu (Sulawesi), Padang (Sumatra) or Kupang (West Timor) might need more than 8 hours to download a 30-minute program! This is caused by poor telephone lines and shoestring internet providers. For that reason, 68H will have begun using satellite to transmit these programs by February 2000.

The Jakarta-run 68H program commenced in April 1999. It represents a cooperative effort of the Institute for the Free Flow of Information (Isai), the (US-based) Asia Foundation, and the (Czech) Media Development Loan Fund. At the moment 68H serves about 130 radio stations, 50 of them through direct cooperation and the remainder through a news syndicate in West Java.

Speeches

Still on radio news services, you will find Quadrant at http://www.masima.com/quadrant. This service was initially set up to serve the needs of stations within the successful Masima group of radio broadcasting companies. But in view of the huge demand for radio news, Quadrant decided to also offer their product outside the group. Beside news dispatches, the site carries features, and a useful archive. Many important broadcasts, such as Megawati's political speeches, or the inauguration speech by Amien Rais as chairman of the consultative assembly MPR, can be heard again through this site.

A growing field is the exchange of information between regional radio stations. Unesco facilitates such exchange on their site: http://www.unesco.or.id/localrad/frontpage.htm. About 25 radio stations in various regions present their daily coverage on the Unesco site. Although the news is not always completely fresh, this is a valuable effort to improve communication between the regions. The Unesco site also includes information about their journalistic training activities. The site would be even more useful if it carried sound files, instead of just written messages as at present.

Another site run by an international organisation that supports independent radio is http://www.internews.or.id. It offers information about Internews activities such as training, as well as production packets such as a women's radio journal. You can also read a summary of their weekly programs here. Unfortunately there are no sound files - those interested can order cassettes. A strong point of this site is its interest in the law on radio broadcasting in Indonesia.

Another growing trend is for radio broadcasters to put news up on their own sites. A prominent example is Radio Nikoya in Banda Aceh: http://www.nikoyafm.2000c.net. This highly dynamic site presents the latest developments in Aceh. If you want to know about Surabaya, try Radio SCFM on http://scfm.surabaya.indo.net.id. For Makassar (for many years known as Ujung Pandang, in Sulawesi), look up Radio SPFM on http://listen.to/spfm. And there are many other radio sites around Indonesia, all demonstrating just how important this internet-radio convergence has become, and all supporting the free flow of information. One of the good results of reformation, enjoyed by tens of millions of radio listeners.

Santoso (tosca@isai.or.id) is the coordinator of Radio 68H.