Radio Sutatenza

Radio Sutatenza was a Colombian radio network which broadcast cultural and educational programs between 1947 and 1990.[1] It was the first community radio station,[2] conceived as a direct response to the high levels of illiteracy in rural communities at the time.[3]

Radio Sutatenza
Broadcast areaColombia
FrequencySee list
Programming
Language(s)Spanish
FormatCommunity radio
Ownership
Sister stationsBachillerato por radio
History
First air date28 September 1947 - 17 February 1990[1]

Radio Sutatenza was established in 1947 by the Catholic priest José Joaquín Salcedo Guarín in the Colombian town of Sutatenza, located in the Tenza Valley, Boyacá, who founded the Escuelas Radiofónicas (Radio Schools).[4] Radio Sutatenza was conceived as a direct response to the high levels of illiteracy in rural communities at the time. Radio Sutatenza was granted a license from the then Colombian Ministry of Communications with the call sign HK7HM.[3]

Initial broadcasts used a 90-watt transmitter manufactured by the priest's brother. In 1948, General Electric donated 100 radio sets and a 250-watt transmitter and, years later, donated a 1 kW transmitter. By 1978, Radio Sutatenza was the largest Latin American radio network for rural education, with a power of 600 kW.[5]

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.[6] 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.[7] 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 four main Colombian cities at the time.[3] It distributed 6,453,937 handbooks, answered 1,229,552 letters from students, it created a weekly newspaper called El Campesino, 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.[8]

Despite its important role in improving the education of millions of people, by the late 1980s Radio Sutatenza was on the verge of bankruptcy and ended being sold in March 1989, with its powerful transmitters, to Caracol Radio, the largest radio network in Colombia.[9] The last broadcast was made on 17 February 1990.[1] The rest of the literacy project by ACPO folded by 1994.

Stations

As of July 1969:[10]

  • Bogotá: 810 kHz AM (HJGL, 300 kW), covering Central Colombia (Cundinamarca, Caldas, Risaralda, Quindío, Boyacá, Santander, Tolima, Huila, and Meta)
  • Barranquilla: 960 kHz AM (120 kW), covering northern Colombia (Atlántico, Bolívar, Córdoba, Sucre, Cesar, Magdalena, Norte de Santander)
  • Medellín: 590 kHz AM (HJCR, 10 kW), covering Antioquia, Caldas, and Chocó.
  • Cali: 700 kHz AM (HJCX, 120 kW), covering western Colombia (Valle del Cauca, Cauca, Huila, Risaralda, Caldas, and Nariño)
  • Shortwave stations:
    • 5075 kHz (25 kW)
    • 5095 kHz (50 kW)
    • 6075 kHz (10 kW)
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References
  1. Vargas Gaitán, Katherine (17 February 2016). "Hace 27 años: la última emisión de Radio Sutatenza". El Campesino. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  2. "Section V: Rural Radio: Case studies from the USA, Latin America and Africa". www.fao.org.
  3. Rojas Gaitán, Karen Juliete (14 June 2017). ""El tablero era un pedazo de tela y las clases se dictaban por la radio": Alberto Celis". El Espectador. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  4. Emblin, Richard (15 April 2015). "A remembrance of 'Radio Schools' | The City Paper Bogotá". The City Paper Bogotá. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  5. "Hace 60 años se fundó Radio Sutatenza en Boyacá". El Tiempo (Colombia). 30 August 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  6. Rodríguez, Laura (23 June 2019). "Radio Sutatenza, el medio con el que los campesinos le 'hicieron la guerra' a la ignorancia". Semana. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  7. "Hace 49 años Pablo VI bendijo los transmisores de Radio Sutatenza hoy Caracol Radio". Caracol Radio. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  8. Morad, Gloria Elizabeth (20 August 2017). "Radio Sutatenza: la primera revolución educativa del campo para el campo". Radio Nacional de Colombia. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  9. "Grupo Santo Domingo, tras el poder de la información". El Tiempo. 16 November 1997. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  10. "Ad for 'Eternoticias', a daily newscast broadcast on Radio Sutatenza and sponsored by Eternit". El Tiempo (in Spanish). 21 July 1969. p. 7C. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
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