Summary

There are thousands of community radio stations in the Latin-American and Caribbean region that use radio to democratise communications. The vast majority of these radio stations do not have the financial resources to subscribe to news wires and generally these wires do not provide a civil society perspective nor have community interests in mind. The Pulsar Information Agency fulfills these needs by providing a free, daily news service to 2000 subscribers clearly focused on information from and for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Short news stories, ready for radio broadcast, are sent out daily via an email list to community radio stations. The news is read on the air as well as used as source material for preparing special editions and is used by small, alternative and labour printed press. This provides an alternative perspective on the life and work of the communities in the region.

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Origins of Pulsar

The regional Quito Office of AMARC (Asociacion Mundial de Radios Comunitarias) in Ecuador started the Agencia Informativa Pulsar (Pulsar Information Agency) in March 1996. Its primary aim was to answer the demand from community, alternative and university radio stations for information from Latin America and the Caribbean. Back then, it was clear that this initiative had great potential for broadcasting information to civil society, women and marginalized groups, through the technological combination of Internet and e-mail, and Latin-American and Caribbean radios.

There are thousands of radio stations in the region with the aim of using radio to democratise communications, but the vast majority do not have the financial resources to subscribe to news wires. Even if they did have the money for this, they would be hard pressed to find information services run with their interests in mind.

The Agencia Informativa Pulsar delivers services in a radio format addressing civil society needs. Short news stories are emailed out and broadcast immediately via community radio stations. News stories cover information from civil society, women's organizations, children's and indigenous communities' organizations. Pulsar also aims at making room for a different interpretation to mainstream events, adopting the perspective and point of view of NGOs and organized groups in every country.

Project methodology

The Pulsar network free daily news service is provided to 2000 subscribers via email lists with coverage of 50 countries. Most of the subscribers are radio stations but services are also provided to the written press, NGOs, community TV stations and universities. 20 news items are managed a day, clearly focused on information from and for Latin America and the Caribbean. Pulsar also maintains a web site which is updated daily.

The aim is to reach organizations and radio stations that need the information and don't have enough money to pay for a news service from the so-called big agencies.

Pulsar has a team of about 20 journalists on staff in different places. The team gathers and offers daily news about what is going on in their countries. This flow of information grows as each bulletin arrives, including communications and reports from NGOs, and international organizations such as UNESCO and UNICEF. Information is selected, edited and processed in Quito and then posted both to the email list and to the agency's Web page.
The Quito Team works seven days a week, with weekend shifts, in order to provide a publication space for any important event or any relevant stance a civil society organization has. Since the services have been designed for radio, information has to circulate quickly. This is achieved through the use of technologies such as Internet and e-mail.

Project ingredients

The Pulsar project has mixed the staff team’s commitment and personal effort with the generous collaboration from their own network of correspondents, implementing the news service using ICTs. Initially the dream of creating a news agency, over 4 years ago, was economically impossible. Financially it was impossible for small radio stations or for an organisation such as AMARC to develop the service. Options were either satellite or fax. Regular mail was out of the question since the broadcasts had to be immediate. The birth and subsequent growth of e-mail in the LAC region was a definite push to Pulsar becoming a real agency. The Internet provided the appropriate technology to widely distribute and exchange information at a low cost.

Thanks to technology, Pulsar is able to offer a variety of services including online call, which is the most popular with radio stations giving them permanent flow of information. Information is processed in Quito and immediately forwarded via email. For those radio stations that have the necessary technology, Pulsar is able to send audio clips as well. Future plans involve training staff at a number of stations as well as correspondents, in the use of this new tool. Through the use of audio clips Pulsar can offer live voice coverage of social actors all over the continent.

Impact of Pulsar

Today, Pulsar is the agency used by hundreds of community, alternative and university radio stations in LAC. Their news is read on the air as well as used as source material for preparing special editions. Even though this service has been designed for the radio, small, alternative and labor print press also reproduce the information.

The need to get information on Latin America and the Caribbean goes beyond regional borders. In Switzerland and Spain, where Pulsar has had long time collaborators, Pulsar's service has helped build information exchange networks on the LAC region among people and institutions that need to have an alternative interpretation of the region's reality.

At the same time, Pulsar has established alliances with other networks such as Recosur and POONAL, as well as with AMARC's partner networks who provide an important service in countries around the world.

Pulsar, a service provided in Spanish, serves as an inspiration to others. AMARC's member organizations in Brazil are now working on the development of a “Brazilian Pulsar”. Organisations in Canada have expressed interest in translating the daily news services into English in order to create an information chain on Latin America and the Caribbean, which could reach many more countries.

For more information:

AGENCIA INFORMATIVA PULSAR:
Casilla Postal 17-08-8489
Quito, Ecuador
Telefax (593-2) 501 180 y 551 674
http://www.pulsar.org.ec/