Search

The present research aims to understand how Venezuelan media sector has changed since the implementation of the new media policy in 2000. This is a review of the media structure in the late 90 and compared with the current. This work looks to identify the changes generated in media by the new communication policies. These changes are linked to a diversification of ownership, but especially to an unprecedented growth in the public and community media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community media represent a crucial input in development processes, playing an important role in democratization, social struggles and awareness raising, impacting on the cultural and social dimensions of change. But despite this important role, often community media face difficulties due to the constraints created by national media laws. The article focuses on frequency allocation processes and funding mechanism to foster sustainability of community media. It looks at the cases of United Kingdom, where the communication regulator OfCom has opened a process to license community radios, and Brazil, where thousands of "illegal" community channels face repression while a consultation process is taking place with the aim of incorporating practitioners' suggestions into a new policy framework, to demonstrate how practically media policies can be re-shaped to meet the needs of community media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]