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This article, within the context of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Community Media Association (CMA) in 2023, and its role within the context of British radio history, will draw on grey literature from the CMA digital archives, including policy statements, policy briefings and background material for the lobbying actions during the period 1997–2007. First-hand material to be discussed will draw on interviews with key actors involved in policy-making until the introduction of Community Radio into legislation, as well as on press releases, statements and policy documents of the regulators Radio Authority and the Office of Communications, policy statements and documents published by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, statements from the BBC and commercial radio representatives and parliamentary records of the debates on community radio legislation. The analysis and discussion of this material will help to establish the role of the main players in policy-making and regulation and how events unfolded between the outcome of 2 May 1997 general election, when the Labour Party took power, and 20 July 2004, when the Community Radio Order (CRO) was approved. It will also trace the development of the lobbying action of the CMA, the discussions and the tensions preceding the government's approval to go ahead with a new sector. It will argue that, despite having the merit of introducing a new sector in licensed radio broadcasting, after three decades of community media activists campaigning, the Labour Party fell short on its promises of funding the sector in its initial phase, denying it a solid and sustainable start. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this joint work, a central argument is that responses to art – such as commentary on paintings – construct narratives that run parallel to these artistic works. The commentaries are not 'attached' to the works, and although much of their appeal is due to being inspired by the artworks, they still retain degrees of autonomy and independence. The select paintings by Maysaloun Faraj and the commentary on these paintings by Shakir Mustafa will examine ways of narrativizing art to reflect on the urge to create, receive, interpret and circulate cultural products. What makes such an urge even more telling is the environment in which it emerges. The paintings that inspired commentary appeared on a group Facebook site dedicated to making home a subject for drawings and paintings during the COVID-19 shutdown. In its various physical and metaphorical facets, home thus becomes a locale for scrutinizing issues of belonging to a certain place and the possibilities of creating communal connections beyond that space. Central to our inquiry is investigating the impact of generating and disseminating cultural works in a public domain and at a globally stressful time. That these works are by individuals of Iraqi descent living in the United Kingdom and the United States is significant in showing the nature and extent of discursive dialogues involving multiple cultural backgrounds. Negotiating a culture of origin that is specifically Iraqi in fluid and global settings such as those of the current pandemic will certainly problematize notions of origins and belonging. It becomes difficult at times to draw lines between components of identity, and at times like these, cultural analysis flourishes. In our paintings and commentary, we seek to reflect on the dynamics of belonging and departures, specifically when they occur in a global and communal experience that defies borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has been a pivotal player throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, yet there is very little research on how China's role and effort have been interpreted among African countries that are diverged in their crisis responses. Through content and discourse analysis of the local media and more than 50 in-depth interviews, this study investigates media representation of China during the coronavirus pandemic in the Kenyan and Ethiopian newspapers, specifically Kenyan's Daily Nation and The Standard, and the Ethiopian Herald and The Reporter. This study finds that Kenyan newspapers adopted a more critical and problem-centred narrative, as many of its news articles are organized around problems such as the 'debt-trap diplomacy', and the mistreatment of Africans in Guangzhou during the pandemic. Unlike Kenyan newspapers, Ethiopian newspapers adopted a more positive and favourable tone towards China. This article also captures the dynamics behind the production of China-related news during the pandemic, and discusses how the media environment, professional norms, journalistic habitus, the 'rules of games' (i.e. who counts as an important source) have fundamentally shaped the news production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional notions of journalism focus exclusively on professionals, often embedded in media outlets and publishing houses. However, preceding decades have seen transformations in the understanding of journalism. This contribution sets out to explore the role of community media in working towards the recognition of participatory, not-for-profit journalism, more diverse discourses and enhanced participation, especially in relation to minorities. This research draws on policy documents at the European level, reports from European projects with community media involvement as well as on interviews with community media activists and journalists. As a result, we can show strategies of bringing peripheral actors to the centre by using community media based on access and participation, social inclusion, giving a voice and media literacy development. The study proposes a model of the role of community media in shifting peripheral actors to more central positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article recognizes the potential and possibilities of digital media in COVID-19 crisis management in different democratic systems. It is the comparative analysis of information management during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland, the United Kingdom and Italy. From the theoretical approach, the crisis management usually deals with two main models. The first one is defined as the post-reactive model, which is based on reacting to events after the first symptoms of the crisis and the communication model remains the top-down process. The second one is described as the pro-reactive model, which is based on building a dialogue space with the participatory community and it is the bottom-up communication process. In this case, the community becomes an active partner in bridging the crisis. The main goal of the proposed article is to examine the ways in which digital media influences the quality of strategic communication management in local public spaces and what type of crisis management strategy is applied to each political culture. The article discusses the pros and cons of information distributed through digital platforms by both the media and public institutions in terms of community awareness and crisis governance. The article applies a mixed method approach, which includes content analysis (media and governmental digital services), interviews (with the authorities' members and media representatives) and social media network analysis (mainly Facebook). The analysis has been ongoing since the beginning of the pandemic in Europe (March–September 2020). The research has demonstrated that the shape and distribution of information during the pandemic were of great importance for the quality of information strategy activities. The problem was noticeable disinformation at all levels, which was the result of a lack of control over the message and the pursuit of sensation or conspiracy. It was clearly observed that without the support of crisis communication during the pandemic by the media, mainly digital platforms, it would be impossible to implement it. In all three countries, social media was the 'information management centre' in the COVID-19 era, but the activity of individual municipalities was slightly different. As far as the urbanized and semi-urbanized level is concerned, some consistency can be observed. In all three cases, communication on social media platforms was conducted very intensively and with the use of various tools (texts, statistics, instructional videos, scientific articles, infographics, etc.). All the 'organizers' of the local public sphere (presidents, mayors, journalists, service representatives) tried to keep in touch with the inhabitants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FUTURES on Air was a public engagement project delivered as part of FUTURES2020, a European Researchers' Night event, which consisted of a series of co-produced radio conversations between community programme makers and researchers, which was broadcast across stations in the southwest of England, November 2020. FUTURES on Air explored the role of community media, specifically community radio, in relation to alternative forms of public engagement with researchers, and as impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For most Americans, public service media (PSM) are synonymous with National Public Radio for radio and audio and Public Broadcasting Service for television and video. However, these national services do not fully circumscribe the PSM sphere in the United States. US community media are non-commercial, locally controlled outlets that produce content intended for local audiences, most often focused on local concerns associated with housing, education, government and the arts. This study provides an overview of the present state of community media in the United States. It draws on a variety of sources, including data from the industry, and from the professional press, as well as a series of extensive informational interviews with community media leaders around the United States. The subjects include representatives from community radio and community television outlets that serve urban, suburban and rural markets. After compiling and analysing the quantitative and qualitative data, several key indicators emerge that help to describe the current state of community media in the United States and point towards challenges and opportunities ahead for the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connectivity made possible by the diffusion of digital technologies has offered new possibilities for the public to interact with media, including radio. However, interactions are often framed by globally managed platforms, owned by companies with values based on maximizing profit, rather than prioritising Illich's forms of conviviality. In this article, we draw on experiences from the Grassroot Wavelengths project that introduces an innovative peer-to-peer platform to support the creation and management of community radio stations. We offer insight into the practices of participation in community media, where the users influence decisions concerning the technology, the content, the actors and the organization policy of the radio station, through a participatory design approach. These collaborations between researchers and users, together with a focus on the development of relational assets in local contexts, are fundamental in an attempt to design a platform that fosters conviviality and offers an alternative way to consider participation in community media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific Ontology: Integrating Naturalized Metaphysics and Voluntarist Epistemology, Anjan Chakravartty (2017) New York: Oxford University Press, 296 pp., ISBN 978 0 19065 145 9, h/bk, £53.00 The Discursive-Material Knot: Cyprus in Conflict and Community Media Participation, Nico Carpentier (2017) New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 471 pp., ISBN 978 1 43313 753 2, p/bk, €55.95 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Catalonia, the smaller media publishing in the Catalan language – usually calling themselves proximity media instead of local media – is a significant and particularly dynamic sector of the media industry's environment. In a constant struggle to be visible against the backdrop of the state-focused Spanish media measurement systems, different approaches have been tested to portray a more accurate picture of the importance of these media, to increase their advertising revenue and also to assess the impact of Catalonian media and culture. This article analyses the effect produced in the audiences of the local media integrated in the Associació de Mitjans d'Informació i Comunicació (Association of Information and Communication Media) by the changes observed in the Communication and Culture Barometer published by the Communication and Culture Audiences Foundation (FUNDACC). The objective of this article is to delineate the challenges that these media have to face to be market-significant from an audience measurement standpoint and how the media measurement institutions are a key player in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review of: The Routledge Companion to Local Media and Journalism, Agnes Gulyas and David Baines (eds) (2020) Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 522 pp., ISBN 978-0-81537-536-4, h/bk, £152.00 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 were 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 FROM AUTHOR]

The literature about community radio in Kenya has focused on sustainability challenges, but not much on existent production practices and audience evaluations of the station. 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'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 FROM AUTHOR]

Starting with considerations on the ongoing transformation of broadcast journalism borne by technological, economic and societal changes, the study aims at clarifying the role of Austrian community media in relation to the public and commercial sector. Setting out from the assumption that legal documents codify social change, and hence are barometers for collectively recognized conceptions and norms and of the changes they undergo, all Austrian legal texts and funding guidelines concerning broadcasting were subject to a comparative analysis with respect to their underlying perceptions of the societal role of broadcast media. The analysis has shown that there is no longer a broadcast journalism as such, but rather that several images of the role of broadcast journalism and conceptions of its function exist side by side. Different conceptions of democracy are perceptible as the basis of their legitimacy and they reflect the change from a traditional representative model to a participatory conception, such as is especially widespread among younger generations. Alternative forms of broadcast journalism, as practiced by community media, are thus acquiring greater significance: forms that no longer treat media communication as one-directional, but rather as fundamentally participative offerings - in order to encourage and empower people to become aware of and responsible for their social environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community radio in Australia is now well established and considered an important part of the radio sector, however, in today's economically driven world it is at the bottom of the media money pile. In order to argue for its continuing existence, funding and development in an ever-changing media landscape, some means of capturing its value is essential. This article describes the development of a theoretical framework of value for community radio. The content of the framework was achieved by, first, examining, community media/radio literature through five relevant lenses of analysis. Secondly, a subsequent meta-analysis was applied to consolidate the framework. In order to test the utility of the draft theoretical framework of value, three case studies were conducted with different types of community radio stations in Perth, Western Australia. Two primary research methods were used: interviews with staff and audience focus groups. The testing exercise provided a multimodal insight into the values of community radio as reflected in real life practice. The analysis revealed how value was perceived by participants across three stations as personal motivations, and second, that value at individual stations was contingent upon the characteristics of the individual community radio stations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community radio is one of the resources that can give ordinary or disenfranchised people a voice. This opportunity can be increased through the combination of community radio and mobile phones. Using focus group discussions, face-to-face interviews and observations, this article examines how this combination can improve ordinary people's participation in media production and in public life in Malawi. It also examines the extent to which marginalized people are using mobile phones to voice their concerns through community radio in Malawi. I argue that the proliferation of mobile phones can accord community radio stations increased ability to give people a voice through use of text messaging and phone-in programmes. It can also expand the resources with which ordinary people have a voice. When people are accorded the right to voice their concerns and be heard, they can remove a major communication barrier that prevents them from enjoying the life they value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]