PSM INNOVATIONS

Colombia’s local radio stations working for peace

In Colombia, local radio stations are being established to help communities rebuild after decades of conflict. 

8 March 2022

The first emisora de paz (‘peace radio station’) was launched in 2019 and last month, the twelfth was launched in Mesetas, a municipality in central Colombia.

The initiative was borne out the 2016 Peace Agreement signed between the national government and the FARC (Colombia’s largest rebel group). The Peace Agreement commissioned RTVC via Radio Nacional de Colombia, to set up peace radio stations to teach inhabitants in former conflict zones, like Mesetas, about the Peace Agreement. It has an additional mandate to connect communities through culture, music and information.

The creation of “peace radio stations” is an innovative way of using public media as a tool for peacebuilding and empowerment, and to document the transformation of communities affected by violence. There are 20 proposed peace stations to be installed in total in areas impacted by conflict across the country.

Juan Ricardo Pulido, coordinator of the peace stations emphasised the distinction of the RTVC Public Media System from external influences: “This is public radio, we are neither from the guerrilla nor from the Government, we are an ally of the communities to tell their stories, work on their complaints, their problems, everything they are.” The peace stations produce 104 hours of local programming every month made by local journalists, which are also distributed through RTVC’s various digital platforms, including social media and YouTube.

This innovative project reflects the various roles that public media play in different contexts. In Colombia, RTVC is using its unique societal role to unify and amplify the voices of citizens impacted by decades of armed conflict. Simultaneously, RTVC is addressing the news deserts which exist in these remote and marginalised communities. And it is doing both these things in the name of peace.

“This is public radio, we are neither from the guerrilla nor from the Government, we are an ally of the communities to tell their stories, work on their complaints, their problems, everything they are.” – Juan Ricardo Pulido, coordinator of the peace station, Radio Nacional de Colombia

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Header image: Microphone in radio studio stock photo. Credit: avdyachenko/iStock