Nagaland: Bringing back listening culture

September 9, 2022 70 Views No Comment

Community radio station 90.8 Hills FM in Dimapur launched

Morung Express News
Dimapur | September 9

90.8 Hills FM, Dimapur’s first community radio station was launched here today at Hotel Sente. With a ‘community first’ approach, it endeavors to use their voice to bring about a change of narrative in the society.

Under the tagline, ‘The Voice of Change,’ the community radio broadcaster is an initiative of a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Nagaland called the Faith Ministry Society. Speaking at the launch, S Hukavi Zhimomi, President, Faith Ministry Society said that it took them about 12 years to get license from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. “There were many hiccups along the way, but we did not give up. And today our dream has become a reality,” he said to a small gathering of well wishers.

Zhimomi drew attention to Dimapur which is home to 58 multi-ethnic tribes, different races from across the country and foreigners from neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh etc has transformed the city into a cosmopolitan metropolis.

For this reason, the Faith Ministry Society resolved to take up this project with the realization that it was ‘very difficult’ to bring people together without media as a medium of connecting the community and preserving the diverse cultures and traditions.

The community radio strives to be the voice of the people and bring back the listening culture. It will highlight the current grievances of the society, promote local talents and businesses, disseminate important information and inspire the community to build a brighter future.

By producing and transmitting authentic, immersive and educational programmes, it intends to create a community of well-informed listeners while also building a link between the government and the people. With a belief that the community is where the first change has to come – the first spark for a global fire, Zhimomi stated that “this is where you come in. It is now up to you, the community to avail this platform, because your voice matters.”

Top programmes on the airwaves of 90.8 Hills FM will include discussions on women empowerment, mental health awareness, disability talk, book reviews, government schemes awareness, music reviews, local music, animal show, panel discussions and stories by the fire.

On the section of ‘stories by the fire,’ Programme Manager, Ketho Sakhrie said that this major section will highlight stories surrounding the community, a family or an individual. It can be a story of any kind, which is often shared around the fireplace. In this regard, he made an appeal to the people to send in their stories in recording or written format at hillsfmnagaland@gmail.com. As a community radio station, he said that this section will provide a platform to individuals of all age groups and amplify the voice of the marginalised.

The 90.8 Hills FM debuted their live streaming at 1:00 pm today. Starting tomorrow (September 9), one can tune in from 4:00pm to 6:00 pm for the entire month. The company at present has a strength of more than 20 members and new interns will be joining in as well.

The event was graced by Khahwang, a class 6 student of Orphanage Home, Ganesh Nagar, Faith Ministry Society as the chief guest who launched the radio station in a ribbon cutting event. Rev Parmenas Jamir, Pastor, City Faith Church, Dimapur pronounced the invocation. Imali Hesso, Managing Director introduced the team and briefed on the community radio project. The programme was chaired by Radio Jockey (RJ) Yogen Chettri.

Delighted to be a part of the community radio, RJ Gugu Haralu said that it is going to be an asset for Naga society, and also for the Northeast states and India as well. She was positive that it will bring back the traditional way of communicating, and that it will help people to have patience, confidence and also give time to one another. “The beauty of the community radio is not just the radio as an instrument, but it is also bringing back relationships,” she added.

90.8 Hills FM is at present only confined to Dimapur, Niuland, Chümoukedima and some parts of Assam. However, it has plans to expand to other districts at a later stage. One can reach out to their social media handles @hillsfmnagaland on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Source: https://morungexpress.com/nagaland-bringing-back-listening-culture