Radio Sutatenza: Difference between revisions

'''Radio02Radio Sutatenza''' was a [[Colombia]]n station which broadcast cultural and educational programs between 1947 and 1994. It was the first [[community radio station]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Section V: Rural Radio: Case studies from the USA, Latin America and Africa|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/Y4721E/y4721e0c.htm|website=www.fao.org}}</ref>

Initial broadcasts used a 90 Watts transmitter which was made by the priest's brother. In 1948, General Electric donated a 100 receptorreceptors and a 250 Watts transmitter and years later, donated a 1000 Watts transmitter. By 1978, Radio Sutatenza was the biggest Latin-American radio network for rural education, with a power of 600 kilowattsKilowatts.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-3701311|title=Hace 60 años se fundó Radio Sutatenza en Boyacá|last=|first=|date=|work=[[El Tiempo (Colombia)]]|access-date=20 June 2019}}</ref>

It started with programs where the farmers performed local music. Later, Father Salcedo, with the support of a Catholic organization called Acción Cultural Popular – ACPO – and the rural community, developed a series of courses on math, writing, agricultural instruction, health and sanitation, among other subjects that aimed to diminish illiteracy and improve farmers' life quality.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/radio-sutatenza-una-revolucion-cultural-en-el-campo-colombiano/529745|title=Radio Sutatenza, el medio con el que los campesinos le 'hicieron la guerra' a la ignorancia|last=Rodríguez|first=Laura|date=23 June 2019|work=[[Semana]]|access-date=20 June 2019}}</ref> Even though it was not a Catholic radio, it was mainly funded by the church and it was blessed by Pope Paul VI during his papal visit to Colombia in 1968.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://caracol.com.co/radio/2017/08/23/nacional/1503487088_534869.html|title=Hace 49 años Pablo VI bendijo los transmisores de Radio Sutatenza hoy Caracol Radio|last=|first=|date=23 August 2017|work=[[Caracol Radio]]|access-date=20 June 2019}}</ref> Radio Sutatenza freely talked about topics that were not strictly within in the church's ideas, such as family planning.

Radio Sutatenza grew to the point where it aired 19 hours of educational programs per day, covering 687 towns and the four main Colombian cities at the time.<ref name=":0" /> It distributed 6,453,937 handbooks, answered 1.229,552 letters from students, it created a weekly newspaper called PeriódicoEl CampecinoCampesino, and educated about 8,000,000 farmers around the country. It also became a model for other rural education initiatives in Latin America, such as Fundación Radio Escuela para el Desarrollo Rural (FREDER) in Osorno, Chile; Instituto de Cultura Popular (INCUPO) in Reconquista, Argentina; Escuelas Radiofónicas Populares de Ecuador (ERPE); Radio Onda Azul in Puno, Perú; Asociación Cultural Loyola (ACLO) in Sucre, Bolivia; Radio Occidente in Tovar, Venezuela, and Escuelas Radiofónicas de Nicaragua.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.radionacional.co/noticia/campesinos/radio-sutatenza-la-primera-revolucion-educativa-del-campo-campo|title=Radio Sutatenza: la primera revolución educativa del campo para el campo|last=Morad|first=Gloria Elizabeth|date=20 August 2017|work=[[Radio Nacional de Colombia]]|access-date=20 June 2019}}</ref>