A Quiet Revolution: Australian Community Broadcasting Audiences Speak Out

2008 ◽  
Vol 129 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Meadows ◽  
Susan Forde ◽  
Jacqui Ewart ◽  
Kerrie Foxwell

Around four million listeners in an average week tune into community radio stations around Australia, primarily to hear local news and information — evidence of a failure by mainstream media to meet their diverse needs. This discussion draws from the first qualitative study of the Australian community broadcasting sector to explore the role being played by community radio and television from the perspectives of their audiences. The authors argue that community broadcasting at the level of the local is playing a crucial role in the democratic process by fostering citizen participation in public life. This suggests a critique of mainstream media approaches and the central place of audience research in understanding the nature of the empowering relationships and processes involved. The authors argue that the nature of community broadcasting aligns it more closely with the complex ‘local talk’ narratives at the community level, which play a crucial role in creating public consciousness. They suggest that this quiet revolution has highlighted the nature of the audience–producer relationship as a defining characteristic of community media.

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 109-124
Author(s):  
Janey Gordon

This article examines the current environment of audio transmission services in the UK with particular regard to the community radio sector. Community radio stations in the UK are having to consider the extent to which their audiences choose to listen on an FM analogue signal and whether this is sustainable for them. The number of new platforms that a listener is using to access audio programming now includes DAB, SSDAB, TV carriers and online services. There are also developments to the actual receivers that may be used, in particular the use of smartphones to listen via online Wi-Fi or 4G. Currently there are no plans for an FM turn off in the UK and a hybrid system of transmission and reception is the most likely outcome for the foreseeable future. The consequences of this environment for the broadcasters, the listeners and the audio content are discussed in turn. A sample group of twelve community radio stations have been studied to assess current practices. This group are the remaining stations from the original Access Pilot community radio stations that went on air in 2002 and so are the oldest and most established of the UK stations. This article provides baseline definitions where relevant and uses recent data from national audience research, regulatory and other bodies to assess what people are listening to and how, along with examples from public service and commercial radio, as well as community radio.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-55
Author(s):  
Jana Wilbricht

Rural US Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected by digital divides, insufficient infrastructures, and health disparities, so that community radio still represents a key medium in the lean mediascapes of these communities. The first US radio stations licensed to American Indian/Alaska Native tribes began broadcasting in 1971, about 50 years after the rise of rural radio in the US, which until then had almost entirely ignored Indigenous news, concerns, and voices. This paper draws on interview data from 2016 fieldwork conducted in Alaska and Arizona with two community radio stations serving the local, mostly Indigenous audience, to highlight how its historical ties to social activism continue to play a role in how tribal radio functions as a medium today. Tribal radio stations value not only traditional journalistic standards, but also advocacy for the community, combating stereotypes, and view themselves as distinct from mainstream and other community media.


2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 5678-5691
Author(s):  
Lokesh Sharma Et al.

The main stream media has overlooked the importance of indigenous people and their culture. The failure of mainstream media in reaching and engaging the local communities has triggered the demand of Community based media. Over the years community media has been emerged as an alternate and viable option to the mainstream media. One of the popular forms of community media is the ‘Community Radio’ which is operated in a community, for the community and   by the community members. In last two decades gradually but the community radio has been expanded throughout the country in India.  Today, more than 250 community radio stations are operational in the country and most of these are serving the rural communities. This paper investigates the role of community radio stations in preserving and promoting the indigenous culture of the state of Rajasthan in India. The well known community radio stations of the Rajasthan state of India has been selected for the study. The findings of this study reveal most of the radio stations are playing an important role the preservation and promotion of folk art and culture of the state. 


2019 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael E. Comunale

This article examines the development of political opposition in Scotland from 1695 to 1701 in the context of the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies. It is argued that the potency of the political movement inspired by Darien derived from the view that King William was directly implicated in the failure of the colony. Three episodes in the Company's history—the loss of subscriptions in Hamburg, the appearance of memorials in the new world prohibiting English aid to the colony and the imprisonment of Darien sailors by the Spanish authorities—are examined in detail. The ramification of these controversies was increasingly seen as the result not of English interference, but rather the crown's refusal to act on behalf of the Company. Because a significant proportion of the population was invested in the Company, and because the press helped to keep Darien in the forefront of public consciousness, these issues transformed Darien into a major political grievance that united disparate political factions in support of a single cause. Although the alliance inspired by Darien was temporary, it, nonetheless, played a crucial role in disrupting the political status quo.


Author(s):  
Татьяна Николаевна Золотова

В статье рассматриваются советские и постсоветские традиции празднования Дня Победы, анализируется его роль в современном социокультурном пространстве России. Источниками для работы послужили материалы по Омскому региону - результаты опросов и личных наблюдений автора, данные средств массовой информации и официальных источников. Делается вывод о центральном месте Дня Победы в современном праздничном календаре и его важной роли в объединении российской нации на основе мемориализации общего исторического прошлого. Автор объясняет значимость праздника для населения страны сохранением традиционных ценностей и смыслов, а региональные особенности празднования и процессов коммеморации - различными факторами исторического, экономического, политического, социокультурного порядка. Празднование 70-летнего и 75-летнего юбилеев Победы отразило позитивное изменение общественного сознания в постсоветской России, что проявилось в увеличении интереса к историческому наследию, усилении чувства благодарности ветеранам и гордости за их подвиг, осознании причастности каждого к историческим событиям славного прошлого страны. День Победы, выполняя главные функции праздника, поддерживает преемственность традиций, объединяет различные социальные группы, воспитывает уважение к историко-культурному наследию и патриотизм. This article examines the Soviet and post-Soviet tradition of Victory Day celebrations and analyzes their role in modern Russian socio-cultural space. It is based on materials from the Omsk Region, including the results of surveys, data from the mass media and official sources, as well as the author’s personal observations. The author describes the central place of Victory Day in the modern holiday calendar and its important role in uniting the Russian nation by memorializing a common historical past. The author considers the role of the holiday in preserving traditional values and meanings, and describes the regional features of the celebration and the processes of commemoration as shaped by various historical, economic, political, and socio-cultural factors. The celebration of the 70 th and 75 th post-Soviet anniversaries of the victory reflected a positive change in public consciousness that was manifested in greater interest in the historical heritage, an increased sense of gratitude toward veterans and pride in their accomplishment, and an awareness of everyone’s involvement in the historical events of the country’s glorious past. Victory Day, performing the main functions of a holiday, supports the continuity of tradition, unites various social groups, and promotes patriotism and respect for the historical and cultural heritage


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 291-297
Author(s):  
Ankuran Dutta ◽  
K.G.L.A.N.S. Jayawardhana

Radio is considered as the most widespread electronic mass medium in the world and a unique means of reaching the world‟s poorest communities. However, as far as community radio (CR) is concerned, it addresses issues relevant to the public interest of a particular geographic group or community. It is the foremost medium that gives the marginalised a voice, when their voices are suppressed by the haves and the mainstream mass media which is also under the control of haves. The community radio in Sri Lanka has a four decade old history; yet, the country stands the risk of having this pioneering experience with CR locked away as a memory, as, of now, there is no community radio in true sense available in Sri Lanka. This paper has attempted to find out the reasons behind the failure of community radio broadcasting in Sri Lanka. Using semi-structured indepth interviews, eight leading community radio activists, advocates and researchers in Sri Lanka were interviewed. The causes identified for the failure of CR in Sri Lanka are state control over CR stations, an inexistent legal framework for community radio, inadequate funding, and human resources, misconceptions of responsible government authorities‟, the lack of knowledge about the true sense and relevance of community radio, the appointment of permanent staff from Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation than giving more priority to the volunteers from the same community, competition with mainstream media, and less dedication to community radio.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-292
Author(s):  
Gabriela Mihăilă-Lică

Abstract The paper analyses the image of Maria Rosetti, the first female journalist in Romania, one of the personalities that played a crucial role for the outcome of the Revolution of 1848, and the way in which she remained in the public consciousness. Born in Guernsey, Scotland, the sister of the diplomat Effingham Grant and wife of the Romanian revolutionary Constantin Alexandru Rosetti “made the cause of Romania her own“. Despite being a foreigner, through everything she did, Maria Rosetti tried to help her adoptive country evolve and become a modern unitary state. Besides playing an active role in the escape of her husband and of other revolutionaries arrested by the Turks, she was also the mother of eight children (only four survived) in whom she instilled the most fervent patriotism. Last, but not least, the wife of C. A. Rosetti used her literary talent for pedagogical purposes in order to educate the younger generations according to the desiderata of a new Romanian society. Admired by her contemporaries and by her followers, her portrait was immortalized by C. D. Rosenthal in the famous painting “Revolutionary Romania”, becoming a symbol of the love and of the power of sacrifice for her country.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-45
Author(s):  
Rashid Ali

The research paper problematises the very idea of community Radio’ as ‘participatory communicative tool.’ It uses Michel Certeau’s concept of ‘Strategy’ to understand the very evolution of Community Media in India since the setting of communicative strategy by state body polity to ameliorate the socio-economic conditions of the society. This theoretical perspective posits ‘participatory communication’ as linear, hierarchic and sedentary which is self-aggregating and creates a community of spectacle. The paper focuses on the tripartite division of community in the mediatised realm. The first division exists in the relationship between ordinary life and a specialist (Mainly civil society and NGOs). The second division looks at community as a hoodwinked entity in the wake of proxy ownership (often by politicians, bureaucrats and Armed Forces) of CR stations.  The third division exists in the semantics of the programme production and its receptivity by the ‘community.’ Through different case studies Community Radio Stations, the paper argues that ‘strategy’ is self-referential and poses a serious threat to everyday practice of life. However, it recommends that strategy as a statist tool should be replaced with tactics (Opposition of Strategy) which is in contradistinction with the idea of strategy.


2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 178-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Forde

Journalists and media researchers globally are increasingly expressing concern about trends in the news media industry which would appear to suggest a dire future for quality journalism, and thus democracy, in many developed democratic nations. The US State of the News Media report, now produced annually, regularly reports concerns by journalists and editors—and those who study them—about decreasing investment by news corporations in quality journalism (Pew Centre, 2005; 2006; 2007; 2008). The Australian Press Council has presented its own study to mirror that of the Pew Centre in an effort to report on the Australian context (APC, 2006; 2007). The author has, with colleagues from Griffith University, conducted research into the Australian community broadcasting sector for the past nine years. The research conducted since 1999 has been broad but this article will focus on one element of the research—the news and information services of community broadcasting. The community broadcasting sector is worthy of close investigation, because it is one of the few areas of the Australian media landscape that continues to grow. Importantly, quantitative research into the community sector indicates that 57 percent of the Australian population tune in at least monthly to a community radio station—and more than one in four listen at least weekly (McNair Ingenuity, 2008, p. 4). This article investigates the nature of community news offered by the Australian community radio sector through the perspectives of journalists and producers who deliver the news, and the audiences who access it.


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