"Most alternative media research has examined media content and the production process, largely ignoring another important component: the audiences of alternative media. To narrow this gap, this study investigates audience participation in one alternative media outlet: community radio. Case studies
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were conducted on 2U.S. community radio stations through participatory ethnography, in-depth interviews, and a listener survey. Results suggest that community radio continues to be relevant in this digital era. While people lose faith in mainstreammedia and become increasingly suspicious of online content, they still consider community radio the most trustworthy. The study also demonstrates the limitations of audience participation in community radio, and the difficulties this medium faces in adopting new technologies and adapting to this digital world." (Abstract)
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"Radio has been recognized as one oft he most cost-effective means of mass communication man has ever invented. The concept of radio communication run and managed by the community itself has gained serious attention since almost a half a century ago. The government of India in order to target specif
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ic communities launches Community Radio (CR) since the early 2000s. Today India has a functioning 200 CR in the country as against the expected 4000 stations. Though the country's communication network is one of the largest in the world, Community Radio is still at infancy. From the trouble in obtaining license to the managing station; from the technical limitations to limitations imposed on content to be broadcasted; from mode of financing to restrictive commercialization, Community Radio need total revamping of its entire regulations to meet the demands of the vast-multi-cultural society." (Abstract)
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"O presente artigo apresenta os principais resultados do projeto de pesquisa “Mídia Cidadã e Desenvolvimento Sustentável: mapeamento e análise de rádios comunitárias em áreas de pressão socioambiental na Amazônia”, que busca entender a dimensão e o papel potencial das rádios comunitá
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rias nos embates discursivos pelo desenvolvimento da região amazônica. O objeto da investigação são rádios comunitárias situadas em áreas de potencial conflito socioambiental na Amazônia Legal, o que inclui disputas por território ou pelo uso de recursos naturais, considerando-se grandes obras de impacto, mas também Unidades de Conservação e Terras Indígenas nos nove estados da região. Como produto central do projeto foi gerada uma cartografia digital sobre comunicação cidadã e desenvolvimento sustentável na região, na perspectiva de gerar insumos para o fortalecimento da comunicação comunitária como espaço de contra-hegemonia midiática e consequente empoderamento de grupos locais nas decisões que afetem seu bem-estar." (Resumo)
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"In this article, which draws on a detailed study of four community radio stations, we have highlighted a number of elements of community radio which contribute towards a democratisation of the public sphere as envisaged by Habermas and his followers. However, we have argued that democratic particip
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ation is still not optimised within the community media sector in that its discourse remains limited to local news reporting and information provision rather than targeting more radical, and arguably divisive, issues which would, as advocated by AMARC and other commentators, promote social change. This, we have argued, is the case largely because of the apolitical leanings of Irish policy framework; historical traditions which blur the distinction between public and commercial broadcasters at local levels; the somewhat limited scope of community radio training programmes in stations themselves; the weakness of linkages between stations and community groups; and the failure of the latter to understand the unique remit of community radio. The article draws lessons of specific interest to researchers and activists in these domains, as well as offering a framework of use to community radio researchers interested in examining the sector’s contribution to the democratisation and the re-animation of the public sphere more broadly." (Conclusion, page 45)
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"Internews set out to take stock of community radio stations (CRS) in Tanzania through a rapid, structured assessment. We were determined to understand the extent to which CRS across the country were providing a valuable public information service, and what barriers could be overcome and opportuniti
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es seized to increase their effectiveness in supporting two-way feedback and accountable governance. In order to ensure the success of future efforts to improve democratic and economic development in Tanzania, the system of producing, disseminating, sharing, trusting in and engaging with information must improve in equal easure. A team of Internews staff and consultants visited 22 community radio stations in Arusha (8), Dar es Salaam (2), Lindi (5), Mtwara (2), and Zanzibar (5)." (Internews website)
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"The Argentinian Law 26.522 on Audiovisual Communication Services (currently under reform) aimed at democratizing the media arena by recognizing multiple actors such as community broadcasters, school and indigenous media, among others. According to the legal classification, community broadcasters we
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re regulated as private non-profit media, despite having specific objectives, programming, organizational logic and economic conditions. Conversely, school and indigenous media merged into the public sector, even if they may act as community media. The article compares results arising from two research projects carried out in Northern Argentina through in-depth interviews with key informants from two indigenous radio stations and two school radio stations. The theoretical framework mainly draws on literature about community, alternative and popular communication. Results show that communities participate in such media foundation or management and that media content deals with cultural and political issues related to their interests or needs. Indeed, emerging features allow considering such broadcasters as community media." (Abstract)
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"The quest for competitiveness and popularity of a campus radio station needs to be balanced with the epistemological frames of community radio, which include participation, community ownership, and opposition to hegemonic discourse in the mainstream media as well as independence from political and
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market influences. I contribute to these reflections by highlighting how within this frame ATL FM is facing dilemmas and challenges that have not occupied community media theorists so far. Through content analysis and in-depth interviews, I investigate whether a community radio can serve and encourage the participation of the local community when professional rather than community members exclusively manage it. I propose a conscious incorporation of stakeholders in the community radio business model as a possible solution to this dilemma." (Abstract)
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"Como parte de sus objetivos y tareas principales, el Observatorio Latinoamericano de Regulación Medios y Convergencia (OBSERVACOM) realiza un monitoreo sistemático de las regulaciones y políticas públicas de los países de la región respecto al acceso, la diversidad y el pluralismo en materia
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de medios de comunicación y libertad de expresión, prestando una especial atención a la situación de la radio y televisión comunitaria. Como una de los resultados de este trabajo hemos realizado el siguiente informe comparado de la legislación existente en la materia, con el objetivo de analizar la compatibilidad de los marcos normativos latinoamericanos con los estándares sobre libertad de expresión aprobados por los órganos del Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos. A continuación, compartimos con ustedes los principales hallazgos de la investigación, esperando sea un aporte útil para el desarrollo de sus funciones." (Página 3)
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"Koch FM is a community radio station located in Korogocho, a slum in Nairobi, Kenya. The station aims to provide alternative information, education and entertainment content. Producers at the station and community members who make up the station’s audience have different perceptions of Koch FM’
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s role. While the producers envision Koch FM as the provider of information and a space for community voice, the community evaluates the station’s performance based on parameters drawn from commercial broadcasters. Consequently, the station acts as a space where sometimes-contradictory ideals play out. In exploring these contrasting viewpoints, this article highlights contextual production practices and the shifting audience expectations facing community radio in Kenya’s vibrant radio broadcast environment. The data are the outcome of ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2014 and 2015." (Abstract)
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"Este artículo expone los principales rasgos del mercado de la radio y la televisión de señal abierta en el Perú, y hace hincapié en los niveles de concentración de la inversión publicitaria, el control de las frecuencias y el marco regulatorio hecho a la medida de los grupos mediáticos más
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poderosos del país. También analiza las posibilidades de sostenibilidad económica, crecimiento y modernización de buena parte de los medios locales y regionales en un contexto mundial caracterizado por acelerados cambios tecnológicos y transformaciones en los hábitos y estilos de consumo de las audiencias. Asimismo, describe algunas fortalezas y estrategias desplegadas por las radios y televisoras locales, comerciales y con objetivos de desarrollo social (educativas y comunitarias), orientadas a posibilitar su permanencia en el mercado y sentar las bases para el complejo tránsito hacia la digitalización de la producción y distribución de contenidos multimedia." (Sumilla)
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"Partizipative Medienarbeit führt nicht automatisch zu einem demokratieorientierten Programm. In Abhängigkeit von den Rahmenbedingungen ist dieses manchmal nur schwer zu realisieren. Comrnunity Radios sollte daher nicht per se eine demokratiefördemde Wirkung zugesprochen werden. Vielmehr sollte e
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ine realistische Einschätzung in Abhängigkeit von den beeinflussenden Faktoren vorgenommen werden, die sich von Land zu Land und vielleicht auch innerhalb eines Landes unterschiedlich darstellen können. Der Fokus sollte dabei zunächst auf der Arbeit in den Stationen liegen, denn ein demokratieorientiertes Programm erscheint nur glaubhaft, wenn die damit verbundenen Ansprüche auch innerhalb der Stationen bewusst sind und gelebt werden." (Seite 338)
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"We draw on insights from a two-year research project, Politics and Interactive Media in Africa (PiMA), and the related applied research pilot, Africa’s Voices, which worked with local radio stations in eight Sub-Saharan African countries. We examine the social and political significance of new op
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portunities for voice, debate and claim-making in the mediated public sphere that interactive broadcast media enables, and how an approach to citizen engagement that values pluralism and inclusivity and is not extractive, might better seize opportunities that interactive broadcast offers. The chapter critically reappraises what kinds of engagement count in communication for development, what kinds of ‘publics’ audiences in interactive shows constitute and how we should understand the power of these ‘audience-publics’." (Abstract)
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"This article examines the role of participation in development through community radio. Ordinary people participate in community radio through programme production, financing, management and the daily operations of the station. This enables them to define the development problems faced by their com
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munities, and to find solutions to those problems – they therefore participate in development through community radio. As such, the term ‘participation’ is presented as an empowering factor for ordinary people and as a potential solution to the many development problems faced by the community. Using Nkhotakota community radio station in Malawi as a case study, the article employs Sherry Arnstein’s ladder of participation to evaluate various forms of participation in the media and in development. The article finds that ordinary people’s participation in the media is low or reduced. The argument is made that while some development goals require the full involvement of the people (e.g., access to media technology, participation in programme production, management and daily operations of the station), others do not require full-blown engagement for development to be realised. Therefore, community radio can encourage development even when members of the community do not participate fully in the activities of the radio through other means such as promoting development initiatives started by non-governmental organisations (NGOs)." (Abstract)
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"For over five and one-half years, the Civil Society and Media Leadership (CSML) Program, led by IREX in partnership with The Carter Center and Social Impact, contributed to building a more capable, collaborative, and agile civil society and media sector in Liberia. The CSML team provided intensive
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support including training, mentoring, small grants, and equipment to over 60 civil society organizations and 35 media outlets in 15 counties. IREX has distributed over $6 million in grants to civil society organizations to conduct advocacy, reconciliation, civic and voter education, Ebola awareness raising, and contribute to their own organizational development. Community radio stations have received a total of over $400K worth of equipment, including 19 transmitters. The Carter Center trained 3,500 chiefs, women, and youth to advance access to justice and resolve community disputes, and broadened awareness of Freedom of Information to over 15,000 Liberians across the seven original target counties. Beyond these outputs, CSML has contributed to true impact, fostering an improved and enhanced civil society and media sector. These accomplishments are a result of the collaborative effort of IREX and its wealth of partners both international and national who sought, together, to achieve the goal to “sustain peace in Liberia through greater inclusion, giving a voice to, informing and engaging Liberian citizens.” As a result, in part, of the CSML program, IREX’s civil society partners conduct advocacy that is more informed and less confrontational, engage the media as a key stakeholder, and have more productive strategies for engaging local and national government." (Executive summary)
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"O trabalho compila sete teses jurídicas que podem ser usadas para a defesa de rádios comunitárias em processos judiciais, trazendo informações como a argumentação e a legislação que serve de base para a tese, o momento processual que ela deve ser usada e a jurisprudência já existente. O
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objetivo é buscar garantir que princípios constitucionais e penais e os padrões internacionais que dispõem sobre a questão sejam respeitados. Voltado para a comunidade jurídica, o trabalho visa fazer um contraponto ao cenário de hostilidade às rádios comunitárias no Brasil. Segundo levantamento da ARTIGO 19 junto a 657 acórdãos julgados entre 2009 e 2012 pelos Tribunais Regionais Federais das cinco regiões do país, mais da metade (54%) das ações propostas contra rádios comunitárias são de natureza penalPara a ARTIGO 19, o direito administrativo e civil é muito mais adequado para a aplicação de sanções, especialmente ao verificarmos um cenario em que o direito penal vem sendo aplicado de forma desproporcional e desnecessária." (Página web artigo19.org)
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"Community media can be a key role for building social capital, trust and respect between communities, groups and individuals and function as a dialogue platform for parties to a conflict. Through their locally embedded work, community media are in a privileged position to be able to mediate between
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different groups and operate as mediators and include local communities in their programmes and thereby create a platform for the local population to engage, encounter and exchange. The community media network in the South West region in Cameroon seeks to combine these qualities and account for the local diversities constituting the strengths of the members involved." (Conclusion, page 68)
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"Zu sagen, in Peru gäbe es keine Community-Radios, wäre falsch. Mittlerweile operieren 14 Basisradios sogar mit einer entsprechenden Lizenz, denn ein 2004 verabschiedetes Gesetz schreibt gemeinschaftlich organisierte Sender offiziell als dritte Säule fest. Doch unzählige lokale Stationen, die au
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fgrund ihrer Praxis als Community-Radios bezeichnet werden können, strahlen ihr Programm ohne oder unter anderer Lizenz aus. Gründe dafür gibt es viele – unter anderem verhindern Zentralismus, Behördenwillkür und ein kompliziertes Verfahren, dass Lizenzen für Community-Radios beantragt werden. Zudem hapert es bis heute an der Umsetzung des Gesetzes. Dessen ungeachtet ist über mehrere Jahrzehnte unter anderem Label eine vielseitige Radiolandschaft mit partizipativem Charakter entstanden." (Seite 1)
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"En octubre de 2009, la Ley 26522 inaugura un escenario inédito para las radios y televisoras del sector social-comunitario. La norma, por primera vez en la historia de la radiodifusión argentina, reconoce a todos los medios sin fines de lucro –incluidas las cooperativas- como prestadores legale
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s de los servicios de radiodifusión, les reserva un tercio del espectro radioeléctrico, no les impone restricciones para su funcionamiento, les asigna un lugar de representación en el Consejo Federal de Comunicación Audiovisual, y establece un fondo de fomento. La Ley se basa en el paradigma de la comunicación como derecho humano [...] Desde entonces y hasta 2015, los medios sin fines de lucro del país contaron con las condiciones más favorables para su emergencia y desarrollo que se conocieron hasta ahora. No obstante, se enfrentaron también a nuevas dificultades y desafíos a resolver, tales como: las condiciones para su legalización, la fortaleza de la gestión institucional y económica para asegurar su sostenibilidad y crecimiento, la cantidad y calidad de producción temática y estética para disputar sentidos y alcanzar masividad, la formalización de sus relaciones laborales para evitar la precarización laboral, entre tantos otros. Para pensar políticas públicas que contribuyan a la resolución de estos problemas y para que las radios y televisoras no lucrativas puedan diseñar estrategias en ese sentido, fue y sigue siendo necesario contemplar aquello que distingue a estos medios de los privados y estatales, las diferencias entre los diversos tipos de medios no lucrativos, las particularidades de las regiones donde se desarrollan, las especificidades de las tareas desarrolladas por sus trabajadores, el contexto general en que se producen." (Presentación, página 5-6)
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