Radio Relief Arrives in Aceh. Really!

Michael Hedges March 28, 2005

Media support agencies and international broadcasters are moving personnel and equipment to Indonesia’s Aceh province, re-building destroyed radio stations.

The Boxing Day (December 26th) Asian tsunami devastated parts of several countries, but none more than this part of Indonesia. Most infrastructure was destroyed leaving people without food, water or shelter. As aid started to arrive, few means of public information were left standing.

UNESCO ‘s media assessment team found at the end of January 20 local radio stations on the coast of Aceh either completely destroyed or severely damaged. The Indonesian government listed 16 stations operating in the province before the tsunami. Other reports indicate only 12. Four radio stations were reported on-air at the first of March. Many media workers were reported dead or missing, affecting newspaper, television and radio operations.

Internews, a US-based media support organization, launched in early March an emergency radio program providing news and information for people displaced by the tsunami.  Government broadcasters with close ties to the region moved to support their affiliate stations. Broadcaster association Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) organized shipment of several thousand receivers, with batteries, to the affected regions, including Sri Lanka and the Maldives. First Voice International, the non-profit arm of WorldSpace Satellite Radio, distributed satellite receivers.

Radio Netherlands (RN) announced last week (March 23) the construction of three mobile radio stations – “Radio Station in a Box” – to replace facilities completely destroyed.

“Radio is a vitally important means of communication in Aceh and a major source of information for listeners,” said RN General Director Jan Hoek in a press release. RN affiliated radio stations in Aceh will borrow the mobile radio stations until their own facilities are re-built, after which they will be deployed in other regions.

The Internews program  - Peuneugah Aceh or News from Aceh – expands to two hours daily from April with news, features and talk shows focused on re-building and reconstruction. It’s distributed via satellite and 23 local re-broadcasters and will be produced for six months.

Internews was tasked by the UN with facilitating cooperation between international aid agencies and local media.

Funding for the Internews project comes from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the UK Department for International Development (UK DID) and HIVOS, the International Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries and the Canadian International Development Agency. The $1 million Knight Foundation grant, its first for emergency assistance to media, also funds two other support efforts, $400,000 to support of print and television journalists through the International Center for Journalists and $100,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists for a fund to protect Indonesian journalists from government harassment. The $700,000 UK DID grant supports public information radio. UNESCO’s International Program for the Development of Communication (IPDC) approved a $500,000 grant to enable Aceh radio stations to resume operations.