I work with a radio network that is called Radio Mundo Real, and I am based in Uruguay. I’d like to make some introductory remarks about alternative media, and alternative communications strategies and the crucial roles it can play in the struggles of social movements. Fortunately our region of South America has a very extensive network of community radios. When we talk about alternative community media, we aren’t just talking about the radio, but in our region, that is our primary source. In Latin America, community radio has turned out to be the most strategic means of communication for conveying the agenda for major social movements. The private sector media totally ignores the agenda of social movements. Fortunately in Latin America, there is a very heightened awareness among the social movements and social activists about how strategic alternative media and community radio is. That’s why we speak of a strategic alliance between alternative media and social movements. Spaces like this, the world social forum and other meetings and conferences are excellent opportunities for alternative media activists to interface with social movements, and for alternative media colleagues to exchange and inspire one another.

Of the social movements in Latin America, the indigenous peoples’ movements and small farmers’ movement are the movements that have made most progress in developing their own media and their own media strategies. This is a fruit that has been harvested from the permanent capacity building of the movements themselves, and also an awareness that we’re the only ones who can do anything for ourselves. One very telling example is the movement of landless people in Brazil, which may be one of the largest social movements in the world. There are 4 million people that participate in the movement. They have their own wire service, their own news agency which is both divulged by internet and other means as well. The community communication strategy is not just a channel of communication within the social movement itself, its not just a way of communicating with the most remote communities, it is also a way interfacing with the outside world as well. It is also a key tool for capacity building of the members of the movement itself.

Some of the fundamental principles of the alternative media movement include solidarity, working closely together and taking advantage of all of the meagre resources at your disposal. So this collaboration allows us to get information to the most remote communities. We have also found that there are new technologies, for example radio web, or internet radio, that is yet another channel for communicating, and another trick in the bag of tricks for alternative media. There are a lot of remote communities that don’t have access to internet. We aren’t going to fool ourselves into thinking that internet radio is now the solution, the great panacea to communication with all communities. What we are seeing is that we can link up internet radio with community radio and channel the information that is available on internet radio into the community networks.

I want to say a few things about the work that Radio Mundo Real (real world radio) is doing. Real World Radio is in Spanish, but our information is translated into English, Portuguese, we are working on getting our Italian and French translation up too. Our chief objective is to narrow the digital gap between the North and the South by promoting a strategic use of new communications technologies by grassroots organization, using the radio as a privileged interface between internet and the community. We seek to promote the democratic use of new information technologies by social organizations and to contribute to the convergence and interface of traditional and new communication technologies. We also contributed to the exchange of radio production, produced by community radio that we then feed into internet radio.

We are also very committed to ensuring that grassroots organization and their agenda are visible. Carlos mentioned that the campaign for water and life in Uruguay faced a total media blackout. This is a strategy for dealing with that sort of blackout. Among the issues that we cover: water, trans-national corporations, food sovereignty, environment, natural resources, indigenous peoples, the landless movement, small farmers’ movement, climate change and climate justice. I just want to cite some of the problems that we face. Sometimes we can’t broadcast to some of the areas that are more remote where there are very important social movements. Not surprisingly, we have funding problems. We are not bankrolled by the corporations. Just because we are alternative media, radio does not mean that we can always work for free, or that we can always give as much solidarity as we would like. Another problem that we have is that we are all human, and sometimes there are personal, political and economic issues that come up.

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The speeches from Regaining Control of the Commons: WSF 2007 are provided for information and educational purposes. The transcription has been undertaken on a volunteer basis. Due to resource limitations we are unable to provide a complete transcription. We apologise for the breaks in the text.

Disclaimer: The view in this and the other articles do not (neccessarily) represent the position or views of Friends of the Earth Australia nor Friends of the Earth International.