Silk-Road Radio

Silk-Road Radio uses an entertainment-education strategy in its radio programmes, along with fact-based reports to deliver its messages. This strategy was considered to be appropriate as the focus countries in the programme, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan were key locations on the historical 'Silk-Road' trading route. Along the way, travelers would stop to listen to stories, which provided light entertainment and instruction for listeners. Prior to the establishment of Silk-Road Radio, UNESCO Tashkent collected ancient tales from the Silk Road in an anthology entitled "Tales from the Silk Road". Silk-Road Radio sought to continue this tradition, with stories in the form of radio dramas and reports, adapted to a modern context. The programming has touched on a wide range of issues: drug-addiction, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, legal and human rights in accordance with national Constitutions, privatisation and profitability of agriculture, travel and trade restrictions between the countries of Central Asia.

Silk-Road Radio has the following key components.

• The Silk-Road Soap - aired twice a week, in Uzbek language, is mainly designed for a mature, rural audience. Recording of the Silk-Road Radio is conducted in the studios of Radio Uzbekistan.
• The City Soap - designed primarily for an urban, youth audience, it is broadcast two times a week on independent FM radio stations in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, along with the BBC Uzbek service. The language of the City Soap is contemporary and colloquial.
• Storyline Reports - explore social issues covered fictionally in the Silk-Road Soap operas, in a more factual way through interviews with people. There are three types of storyline reports: vox-pops (mixture of people’s voices on a certain question), interview and a case- history. Each storyline report focuses on a particular problem and explores an educational message and solutions to a problem raised. According to the project website, music also plays important role in entertainment education aspect of the radio programmes.

To ensure that the Silk-Road and City Soaps remain topical, relevant and accurate, storyline reporters and researchers visit different parts of Central Asia to investigate the issues covered in the Silk-Road and City Soaps. These reporters and researchers both contribute ideas to the storylines of the Silk-Road and City Soaps, and prepare the storyline reports which reinforce the themes of the dramas. The storyline-reporting mechanism is the key strategy for identifying new themes to be incorporated into the storylines of the radio dramas and reports. To further ensure that the storyline is relevant and accurate, an audience evaluation team continually collects feedback from listeners, conducts surveys and focus-group discussions, aimed at collecting up-to-date and accurate listener data.

Training is a major component of the project, which brings together a team of scriptwriters, producers, reporters and actors. Training has been undertaken on diverse topics such as production of message oriented storyline reports and technical production.

Silk-Road Radio has also produced a number of publications including CD and cassette compilations of audio programmes, and educational storybooks.

Health, Rights, Economic Development