CBA General Conference - 2004
NEWS AND SPEECHES
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Reaching Young Audiences
Tarique Imam, Director General Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation
We are living in an era, which is influenced increasingly by media in shaping events and actions of individuals, institutions and nations. The available opportunity is being utilized as we all are employing this powerful tool to promote our programmes and policies at different levels and in different directions. In this context, our effort for reaching young audiences with various messages is crucial in terms of societal objectives. But before I proceed further, I would like to mention that I would mainly be talking about state concerns driven by welfare and development objectives.
I shall begin by giving a general idea of the broadcasting lay- out in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s mass media sector was opened to private sector about two years back. However, barring a few FM radios in the private sector, the landscape continues to be occupied by the public sector.
More than ninety percent of the airtime used nationwide is filled by Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) programmes.
Geographically, PBC transmission covers not only the territory of Pakistan but also goes much beyond. PBC Broadcast both in Medium Waves (MW) as well as through Short Wave (SW). We also have an expanding network of FM radios that mostly broadcast entertainment programmes locally. PBC’s FM programmes are youth oriented.
The range of PBC broadcasts in terms of population coverage is more than 95%.
Twenty-five stations of PBC, located in all four provinces of Pakistan, broadcast programmes in Urdu – the national language - and in local language(s) spoken in respective regions. Some stations of PBC also broadcast programmes in English, which is widely understood in major urban areas.
With the rise and rapid expansion of commercial media, driven by market concerns, the need for public service media has assumed special importance. The governments in the developing countries have two options:
(1) Pay for the Broadcast time in the private media for airing public service programmes; or
(2) Operate their own media, which will have to be subsidised.
In Pakistan, the government is following a two-pronged strategy to achieve this goal. The private networks have been obliged to set aside part of their broadcast time for airing public service programmes and, secondly, the official media is being subsidized to exclusively cater to public service needs. This is important for socio-economic integration and public involvement in development.
One focus of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation is to help integrate the marginalized and vulnerable sections of society in the main stream.
In this context, some social indicators about Pakistan might be of interest to you:
- About 20 million children are 5 to 9 years old.
- About 13 million children do not go to school.
- Some 67% of the total population lives in rural areas.
- Roughly 50% of the population comprises of women.
Our special audience programmes are geared to educate women, farmers, youth and children about their rights and the opportunities available to them for their empowerment and development.
Let me now give you some idea of the average weekly duration of PBC’s special-audience programmes from our main channels.
We broadcast more than 17 hours of weekly programmes for children, 58 hours of programmes for women, and more than 14 hours of programmes for students and youth. PBC’s 08 FM stations broadcast more than 131 hours of programmes weekly. These programmes are designed for the young generation.
As you all know, preparing meaningful and, at the same time, interesting programmes for youth and children in the broadcast medium is a considerable challenge. I feel very satisfied to say that at PBC, we have been able to devise innovative programmes for the welfare, entertainment and growth of youth and children. Some of the programmes are partly directed to parents. Other areas are health, hygiene and better living environment and social interaction. Through entertainment and education we are trying to help our children and youth become useful and enlightened members of the global society.
We have designed series of programmes for youth and children to promote the objectives. Some of the items are:
- Education: This is a broad area and we are covering this through programmes of different nature such as science and technology in the context of latest developments and its application in Pakistan.
- Computer Science: Computer science, its application and scope, is a subject, which is both current and inspiring. There is tremendous interest and enthusiasm among the younger generation to pursue this field. Experts are invited to share knowledge on the subject with the audience.
- Discussion: Another important aspect is regular discussion that is arranged on issues of national and global importance. For example, environment, dangers of nuclear proliferation, terrorism, poverty reduction and other issues that are relevant to Pakistan and also to international community.
- Quiz: We arrange regular quiz programmes for different age groups. Through the programme, we are promoting quest for knowledge in this group.
- Our educational institutions
• Field of research
Interviews with the PhD level scholars.
• University round-up.
Highlights of academic and extra-academic activities of a University.
• Thinkers corner
Thoughts of a Scholar on a specific topic.
• Web to web
Information regarding websites for students and youth.
• For a bright future
Career Counselling Programmes.
• Fresh thoughts
Interview with a leading student writer.
• Our country
How to help make the country prosperous.
• Sports flash
A report based on interviews with young players.
• Eradication of narcotics.
How can you contribute in the eradication of drug menace from the society.
• When I was a student
Interviews of successful senior teachers and executives.
• Talent corner
Interviews with outstanding students for their achievements in the extra-curricular fields.
Following are the programmes designed specially for the children:
• Children from different countries
Introduction of children from different countries with special reference to their culture and education.
• Beautiful birds
Introduction of beautiful birds with special reference to environment they live in.
• My village
An introduction of his village by a child.
• Story time
Tales for young children.
• Our universe
An introduction of different stars and planets in the universe.
• Friendly animals
Stories of pet animals.
• Puppet show
A depiction of Pakistani culture through puppets.
• Word puzzle
How to learn English language.
• Promising child
Introduction of an outstanding child.
• Creative writings by children
To help children develop creative writing skills.
• Healthy mind, healthy body
Information about healthy living.
• What I want to be
Interviews of students about their future plans.
• Environment and better living
Environmental awareness.
• Help the poor
A documentary on motivating children to help the poor segment of society.
With such a programme mix, we aim at training young minds with enlightened concepts and, at the same time ensuring that they remain anchored to traditions.
Radio Pakistan, as a public service institution, feels responsible for informing and educating vulnerable sections of the population on all aspects of their lives. The objective is to enable them to get a fair deal in life and achieve a meaningful integration as useful partners in the society.
As I mentioned earlier, nearly fifty percent of our population consists of women. This vast segment of the population is in need of state support and guidance. Specially in rural areas, the traditions are rigid and not conducive to the integration and development of women in general. PBC has, therefore, an important role to play in providing them the much needed support and guidance. We formulate our programmes in the light of their need to know, such as, family laws, women’s education, and general information directed towards rural and urban women. While we try to encourage the urban women for more participation in normal activities of daily life, for those living in rural areas, we try to develop better understanding of their potential and role as mother as well as a contributor to the general economic well being of their family and the society at large. Besides health tips and community livings we also provide women with legal advice to develop awareness of their rights and privileges.
In conclusion, I would like to stress that the interests of vulnerable and marginalized sections of the population cannot be fully promoted and protected by market-driven private sector media. Reaching out to young or other groups with development and welfare-oriented messages is a role which is best performed by public service broadcasting. In the developing countries where institutions are still evolving and taking shape, there is no option but to rely on state sponsorship. In Pakistan, PBC is fulfilling this vital role.
I look forward to receiving inputs from this gathering, which, I am assure, will help us in further improving the quality of our programmes, specially for young audiences.
Thank you.