HIV/AIDS education's biggest challenge is getting the information out to as many people as possible. Community radio offers a low-cost or no-cost option to reach people in a radius of up to 30 kilometers per station.

Most communities in Thailand have a community radio station thanks to a Thai government initiative some years back. Once you've located a station near you, you have a variety of options for getting the word out.

Radio Formats

• Public Service Anouncement (PSA)
  • PSAs are short (1-2 minutes max.) and are meant to be a short yet frequent reminder of key information
• Special
  • A special announcement is basically a kind of PSA set up to relate to a particular event, such as World AIDS Day.
    
• Guest Interview
  • Invite an expert on for a show
• Call-in Show
  • Let the listeners ask questions. Radio is a great medium, because callers can be anonymous and feel more comfortable despite the sensitivity of the HIV/AIDS topic
• Pre-Recorded Drama
  • Uses a story to convey a social message.
    

Live versus Pre-Recorded

The beauty of radio is that you can do a program live and off the cuff, or you can pre-record the PSA and ask the station to pop it in and push play.

Volunteers with Radio experience

The following PCVs have radio projects going on at site. Though they may not focus on HIV/AIDS-related issues, they may be able to help you break into the powerful medium that is community radio.

• John Roseberry, TCCO 119
• Matt Smith, CBOD 119
• Scott Hajek, TCCO 119

Further Resources

The following files are from the HIV/AIDS 2007 Positive Networks Conference workshop session on radio broadcasts.

Radio Programs prepared in the Workshop

• Group 1: mp3 | dvf
• Group 2: mp3 | dvf
• Group 3: mp3 | dvf
• Group 4: mp3 | dvf
• Group 5: mp3 | dvf

Note: Each recording has two format options. One is dvf, which is more compact, but not all computers can play it. The other is mp3, which any computer can play, but the filesize is bigger. If you want to try the dvf, go to "dvf" on the wiki for instructions on how to get your computer to play it.

Powerpoint presentations

1. The Power of Community Action
2. The Power of Community Radio
3. Utilizing Community Radio in Public Health Education

Workshop Activities

• Directions
• Group Handouts