As part of a modernization drive, Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) has combined their radio and television newsrooms. In the future, reporters will be required to provide news reports in both media. It’s hoped that the convergence will allow the state-funded station to cut costs and do more with limited resources.

It was against this background that two DW-AKADEMIE trainers went to Bhutan’s high-altitude capital Thimphu to conduct a workshop with an enthusiastic group of 12 young BBS journalists. While several already had some radio production experience, many had previously only worked on the TV side of things.

Together, the group started with a review of the basics, such as news judgment and news writing for radio, before moving on to the interview and how to ask that all-important first question that will grab your listeners and keep them from turning the dial.

The focus was on the practical, and with every topic covered, workshop participants completed exercises that, while not exactly the real thing, got fairly close. Besides writing news, they gathered vox pops from people around town and grabbed interviews with some fairly prominent Bhutanese folk, including the coach of the national football (soccer) team and one of the country’s most famous actors. The group analyzed the interviews together and participants offered their colleagues their takes on the strong and weak points of each one.

Then the workshop tackled the radio feature and for many of the journalists, it was the first time they had learned about how to use natural/ambient sound in a radio reportage to evoke a sense of place for listeners and paint mental pictures that can turn a recitation of facts and opinions into a lively, almost “visual” piece, despite the absence of a screen.

For Kuenzang Choden, a producer in the English department at BBS, natural sound was something entirely new. She was excited about the possibilities, as she explains in this short clip.

Toward the end of the two-week workshop, the participants were divided into two groups and each was tasked with creating their own radio magazine program. Both ended up being thematic: one group chose to make a youth program; the other a soccer/football show.

The journalists used their new skills in presentation, interviewing and report production to put together two lively magazines. Reporters for the soccer show, called Druk Kangtsey, went to the training pitch to catch the national team in preparation for a tournament in India.

Convergence, not phase-out

As BBS continues its convergence drive, management was quick to point out that the merger is not a takeover, with radio being the loser. While television recently got brand-new studios and continues to grow in popularity (TV broadcasting was only allowed in the kingdom in 1999), radio is still the dominant medium for many people in this mountainous country.

Many Bhutanese live in remote regions without electricity where newspapers arrive late, if they arrive at all. A battery-powered radio is often the only link to the outside world.

Kesang, who heads the BBS radio department, is playing a key role in the convergence process, but in this video clip he insists radio will not go the way of the dodo.

Journalists’ special role

Besides the late introduction of television in this country of around 708,000 people, democracy was also a late arrival. Until a few years ago, the country was governed by an absolute monarchy.

In 2005, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, adored by his people and seen as a very benevolent monarch, shocked the nation by announcing major democratic reforms. He also proclaimed he would pass the crown to his son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, in order to give him time as head of state in the run-up to the transition to democracy.

Bhutan’s elections for its first parliament and the ratification of its first constitution were completed in 2008.

This major change has put a special responsibility on journalists’ shoulders, according to Thinley Dorji, the managing director of BBS since summer 2011. In the following video he talks about that as well as a government that might not be used to dealing with criticism from the media. He also addresses the country’s changing media landscape and what that means for the broadcaster.

By Kyle James

Thinley Yangchen Dorji, a producer at the Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation (BBS), takes us on a tour behind the scenes of Bhutan’s first homegrown TV show for kids. Called “My World”, it’s a 30-minute program for youngsters aged eight to twelve that began airing regularly in January. Welcome to “My World”!

Prior to “My World” there were no Bhutanese television programs for children. Foreign programming available via satellite was entertaining but had little educational value. Pema Choden, BBS’s General Director until the end of March 2011, approached DW-AKADEMIE for support. Her aim was to have a quality program tailored to children in Bhutan.

DW-AKADEMIE trainers Dani Leese and Thomas Rehermann initially flew to Bhutan in May 2010. There they worked together with the group of local television editors to develop the “My World” concept. The first episode was an immediate success. 

By Taufique Ahmed, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bangladesh is shocked by what has happened in Japan. People here have closely followed the news to get the latest updates from newspapers, TV, radio and online. 

It’s very tough for the media to handle what’s happening in Japan, as there is also another big issue that the people of Bangladesh worry about very much. Many people here are still taken aback by the latest events in Libya, because many Bangladeshis live and work there and have now become victims of the uprising in this North African country.

Japan's tsunami and earthquake are still important news in Bangladesh, as this country is also one of the sufferers of climate change. Nonetheless, Japan's nuclear crisis is also getting attention in the newspapers and at TV and radio stations here as the situation worsens.

Audiences wanted more than radio and TV could deliver

Government-owned radio and TV treated the triangle of disaster, i.e. earthquake, tsunami and nuclear catastrophe, in a diplomatic way. They were not doing any in-depth reporting asking why Japan was actually facing this disaster. They only covered the consequences in Japan that seemed unusual. Most of the people didn’t follow these stations.

TV stations couldn’t properly cover the disaster relief efforts in Japan – news on food, shelter and medication for the survivors of the disaster. Instead, viewers were always taken to the story of how the nuclear reactor burst. But that wasn’t what the audience wanted. Almost everyone was trying to find out how the survivors were actually getting through this tough time. 

Radios didn’t play that much of a role in this completely traumatic situation. They were only covering regular news without any breaking news updates. But whenever they did, it was all about the nuclear crisis or radiation leaks and about the death toll.

Newspapers do in-depth reporting

Bangladesh's newspapers, however, brought some insight about the disaster in Japan. They ran some probing articles, interviewed environment specialists, and presented the history of earthquakes in Japan.

The newspapers gave the tsunami more attention than the electronic media. They also asked the question how Bangladesh could tackle such a big disaster – what if Bangladesh was in place of Japan? People liked these kinds of articles more than what was actually happening at the reactors.  

In Bangladesh, newspapers principally rule the media. People all across the country devote most of their time to reading the papers.

As Bangladesh is vulnerable to earthquakes and other natural disasters, newspapers ran big stories about the earthquake, pointing out particulars of such a disaster.

Nevertheless, there still are not many stories on rescue efforts, even though people would like to hear more from survivors and how they experienced everything.

The people of Bangladesh were always checking the numbers of casualties and homeless people. They were really shocked and left condolence messages in newspapers or called different news offices to know more about the number of people who died.
People got very anxious seeing the pictures on TV of the tsunami waves crushing the city of Sendai.

Beside the local media, they particularly followed the live footage on BBC and CNN; on the other hand, journalists and a particular group who consume online media, stayed updated via mobile and the web. 

The crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant takes center stage

The nuclear issue became stronger in Bangladeshi newspapers as the story developed. Graphic images of the reactors showing what actually happened made the people more curious. Even in the tea-stalls, people shared their views on such a critical issue, which they did not even know about before seeing those images.    

Right now, all the news media are trying to focus on how Japan will actually recover from this great loss, as people are very much eager to know more about Japan’s future.

Photo credits:

People reading news pasted on wall in Old Dhaka by flickr / Sandy & Alan , courtesy of Creative Commons license

"Dhaka Daily News" by flickr / joiseyshowaa, courtesy of Creative Commons license