Radio Singera Keeps a Beat on the Community Pulse
Although only eight months old, Radio Singera can already claim credit for a major scoop: it was the first media outlet to broadcast a demonstration in Chisinau, Moldova, against that country’s National TV and Radio Company for violating journalists’ rights. Reporters with cell phones provided listeners with live, on-the-air coverage from the protest site.
The achievement is all the more unusual and exemplary given that Radio Singera is a radio station run by high school students. It is located on the premises of a lyceum in Singera, a town of some 15,000 inhabitants located on the outskirts of Chisinau.
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| High School student Cristina Strechi, 16, prepares a radio segment |
The idea for the radio station came from a strategic plan that Singera residents and municipal authorities had developed in cooperation with USAID's Local Government Reform project (LGRP). The project is designed to provide technical assistance to develop transparent lines of communication between residents and city managers with a goal of improving city services and, ultimately, people’s lives.
“The most important element is to keep the residents informed on what is going on in the city. We feel the pulse of the city here,” explained Singera Mayor Ghenadie Iurco, who added that student reporters often catch up with him after work on his way home to ask a question or two.
City residents gave the nod for the creation of the radio station after extensive public debate and dialogue, which included public roundtables, the creation of a public-private strategic planning working group, including one of the first public hearings held in Moldova. The strategic planning working group identified five central issues important to Singera residents. One of those issues – “how to increase information for residents” – quickly became a priority.
Singera resident, Victor Mocanu, a long time radio broadcast buff who for decades had run a quasi-underground radio station from his home – and had faced the scrutiny of KGB officials when Moldova was still part of the Soviet Union – lobbied successfully to create a local radio station as the vehicle for increased communications between city officials and residents. With the help of Lubov Poitsan, a professional journalist who is now program director for the station, Mocanu helped to get the school involved and even picked the student staff. The Civil Information Organization, which Mocanu heads, then secured a $20,000 grant from the Soros Foundation for the purchase of broadcast equipment. Meanwhile, municipal officials have provided premises in the school, paid for utilities and helped to obtain the required licensing, which cost an additional $1,000.
On June 30, 2004, Radio Singera went on the air. Today it broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week with a variety of programs that provide fodder for community dialogue, including “Salt on the Wound,” which addresses social problems; “Culture of Peace,” which discusses issues regarding world peace and human rights; and “I Have a Right,” which deals with voters’ rights. Many of the programs are “call-in” shows, with individual students leading the discussions. The students who run the station have their own reasons for joining Radio Singera. Some are there merely to see first hand how a radio station is run. Others have decided they want to pursue radio broadcasting and journalism as a career.
As it continues to expand, Radio Singera is currently looking to develop its news programming by establishing ties with Radio Liberty, Deutsche Welle or BBC as international news sources. The city is also refurbishing a basement section of the school to house the ever more popular media outlet.
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