Community radio embodies a distinctly powerful form of communication that values the social, the cultural and the egalitarian elements of communicative democracy. There is expanding interest in the importance of democratic media and communications systems, and the space of community radio presents both a sustained relevance, and a renewed capacity, for a world faced with a crisis of democratic communication. Scandals continue to engulf digital media corporations, exposing their role in privacy breaches, surveillance, political manipulation and deception. There is growing awareness of the need to disentangle media and communications from the profit imperative embedded in capitalism. The following is, in part, a call for greater attention to be focused on community radio experience and social engagement in the work towards media democratisation.
Community radio arose in the middle of the twentieth century from community action that demanded greater participation in, access to, and ownership of, the media. The need developed due to many factors, including a concern over the monopolisation of media ownership, and identification of the limited media access for a diversity of citizens. Community radio promoted the idea that everyday people could produce and present their own media content in a community radio station run and owned by the community, and that this would enhance democratic participation and promote a better society. Additionally, community radio arose amidst inequalities of communication rights and information flows. The need for greater democracy in the media grew globally and remains pertinent today.
This book presents a deeper understanding of the experience of community radio within a communication for social change (CfSC) agenda. Approached from a critical perspective, CfSC is a field of inquiry that focuses on the empowering potential of communication (RodrĂguez et al. 2014). It emphasises dialogue and participation, community ownership and self-management, and considers the tool of communication as central to a process of education, self-determination and emancipation (Figueroa et al. 2002; Gumucio-Dagron and Tufte 2006). CfSC champions democratic communication, agency and the power unleashed through the political act of community-based information and knowledge creation (Dutta 2011; Thomas and van de Fliert 2015).
This study presents two diverse case studies of âsuccessfulâ community radio stations, and situates the work within a localâglobal context. Through gathering thick, historically contextualised, qualitative data from multiple aspects I have sought to more intimately investigate the multi-layered communicative practices and encounters within a community radio setting. In light of the technologically determinist and celebratory tone frequently equated with the potential of ânewâ and âsocialâ media, my aim is to focus solely on the often-hidden space of community radio whose initial reasons for existence remain highly relevant today despite dramatic changes within media and communication technologies.
The capitalist system of our times is neoliberalism, which advocates individual freedom and development through the strengthening of free markets, free trade and private property rights (Harvey 2010, p. 2). Under neoliberalism there is a strong tendency to commodify all aspects of social interaction, including the spaces of media and communication. Some claim that this enables greater freedom of expression and speech within society, and that there is a necessary causal connection between a âfree marketâ and âfreedom of speechâ for all (Friedman 1987, p. 3). Media and communicationsâincluding information technology in all its formsâare central to the ongoing expansion of global capitalism. Simultaneously, they are at the core of the idea of democracy, which requires opportunities for all to be informed and engaged, and to communicate freely. Is this a problem? Increasingly scholars identify that the commodification of communication displaces democracy, creating a disconnect between the democratic requirements of communicative participation and access, and the communicative means by which to pursue a common social good, due to the dominance of commercialised communication (Dean 2010; Fuchs 2012; McChesney 2013). Community radio, it may be argued, emerged as a direct result of this growing disconnect between global capitalism and democracy.
The community radio form is, in theory, specifically dedicated to providing access to those marginalised by the mass media, thereby increasing societyâs democratic involvement and promoting greater equity. How is this being achieved? What is the personal experience of the participants as it relates to social change in their own lives? What type of content is being created and how does it relate to broader social change? Is the form applicable in diverse global settings? Does the on-air content elicit changed behaviour, or different activity in the everyday lives of the listeners? Community radio is ubiquitous yet remains underrepresented in media studies and scholarly enquiry with regard to its purpose, function and outcomes. In particular a deeper understanding of its capacity to facilitate social change is largely unexamined.
My purpose within this book is to investigate community radioâs contribution to CfSC using a case study approach with multiple data collection strategies in order to map voice as a form of agency in a community radio setting. How does the social process of voice unfold, and what type of voice is facilitated in the unique mediaspace of community broadcasting? I will also explore possible spaces for CfSC within the community radio form by hearing from listeners and practitioners, as well as examining on-air material and considering the historical context and intent of the stations. Furthermore, I want to interpret the outcomes of community radio through the frameworks of citizensâ media (RodrĂguez 2001) and political economy of communication (PEofC). Both hold relevance as theoretical lenses through which to view the community radio form, yet neither are widely used to critically engage with community radio practice.
Neoliberalism constrains communicative democracy, and we need to understand more deeply the potential of community radio as a vehicle for CfSC. It is imperative to take a âglobal perspectiveâ and an international approach to these concerns, and my choice of case studies primarily draws from my experience with, and connection to, the relevant stations. The two stations presented in the following chapters are 3CR Community Radio (3CR) in Melbourne, Australia, and Radio Communidade Lospalos (RCL) Vox Populy in Lospalos, Timor-Leste, both of which I will introduce shortly. In undertaking research at both 3CR and RCL I reviewed historical documents, interviewed past and present station workers, mapped a week of on-air programming and conducted a listener survey.
About the Author
I first volunteered at 3CR in 1991 and have continued on since that time as a broadcaster, management committee member, and am currently a paid staff member. J...