Role of Community Radio in Post Disaster Recovery: Comparative Analysis of Japan and Indonesia

Abstract

In the event that communications infrastructure and disaster wireless systems are severely damaged during a natural disaster, the means to pass information on to disaster victims is lost. Furthermore, it is quite common for large scale blackouts to occur during such natural disasters. In such disaster situations, radio acts as a resilient medium of communication that is not influenced by blackouts, and even in cases where broadcasting equipment is damaged it is a medium for which operation can be restored relatively easily. In such situations it is not radio stations that cover a wide broadcast area, but rather low output radio stations (community radio stations being one such example) located in local communities that are capable of playing a major role in collecting, transmitting, and sharing detailed disaster related information specific to these individual communities and the unique needs of disaster victims living in such communities. This chapter provides a comparative analysis of role of community radio in Japan and Indonesia and exemplifies the future role, the community radio should play for effective risk reduction.