The coverage of environmental issues in FM radios in Nepal: the current status and challenges

Radio stations particularly those of local FM have an influential role in disseminating environmental concerns among the wide populace. This study provides the first nationwide assessment of FM radio coverage of environmental issues in Nepal by using data collected from a web-based questionnaire sur...

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Published inHeliyon Vol. 6; no. 7; p. e04354
Main Authors Paudel, Prakash Kumar, Bastola, Rabin, Lopchan, Pashe Tamang
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2020
Elsevier
Subjects
Community awareness
Environmental communication
FM radio
Mass media
Media strategy
Online survey
Social science
FM radio
Environmental communication
Social science
Media strategy
Mass media
Community awareness
Online survey
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Summary:Radio stations particularly those of local FM have an influential role in disseminating environmental concerns among the wide populace. This study provides the first nationwide assessment of FM radio coverage of environmental issues in Nepal by using data collected from a web-based questionnaire survey from 102 radio stations. We found that environmental programs were covered in 57% of radio stations, but they were among the least popular ones. Among various categories of environmental programs, the general category was the most common and popular, followed by forest and wildlife conservation and water resource management. Surprisingly, environmental pollution and disaster risk management were ranked as being less popular in comparison to their coverage. Environmental programs were mostly broadcasted weekly (73%) during prime time (morning and evening). Although there were agreements among respondents on the importance of environment program for radio stations (agreement = 0.74), nearly 22% of all radio stations terminated such programs in the past and only a few of them were interested to relaunch them in the foreseeable future. Limited funding was the most reported challenge followed by difficulty in finding environmental experts and radio journalists. We recommend the Government of Nepal to formulate a media engagement strategy to strengthen environmental campaigns in the face of rapid environmental change in Nepal. Social science; FM radio; Mass media; Environmental communication; Community awareness; Online survey; Media strategy
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:2405-8440
2405-8440
DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04354