Community media may somewhat be perceived
as old-fashioned and very little attention or research has gone into this sector
of the media (Rennie. E., 2006). Now, before we go any further into the topic, according to UNESCO,
community media is characterized by their accountability to the communities
they serve and they emerge as a result of popular movements that strive to
attain an important space in citizen participation as well as the demand and right to own and operate free from commercial or political interference (UNESCO, 2013).
It serves as an alternative medium
to public and commercial media as it engages in a social agenda that amplifies
views and concerns about context specific issues and facilitating public
platforms for debate and discussion.
As community media are independent,
community owned and run media, they are often done so with limited funds and
takes a whole lot of personal sacrifice of time and funds, while getting
minimal returns. Now, while community media seems unappealing to larger broadcasting
companies due to the low income returns, it is still very much alive due to the
fact that it allows and encourage open dialogue, local transparency, freedom of
speech as well as a platform to be a voice to the voiceless.
One common example is community
radio, which has grown numerously worldwide, serving as a mechanism for
increased access to education, communication and self expression among rural
areas. The management is driven by involvement and participation of the community
members and decision making bodies that reflect a strong sense of ownership
about their own agendas and become self- empowered to publicly express
opinions, promote community culture, history and language (DCFMF, 2013).
Take Simli Radio from Ghana for
example , a study by Al-hassan et. al, has established that Simli Radio has worked to
improve awareness and knowledge of solutions to community development problems
ranging from culture, rural development, education, hygiene and sanitation,
agriculture to local governance.
The
station has also promoted small and medium enterprise development by creating
market opportunities for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) operators and
consequently improved sales and incomes. The study has also noted that regular feedback
is essential in identifying listeners’ preferences and the taste of various
listeners segments and to avoid politics and religion (Hassan, Andani &Malik., 2011).
Closer to home (Malaysia), community media also plays a key role in dispensing a wide range of important and transparent information as while the mainstream media are under heavy
government control or are lacking in certain sectors, community media comes to
fill in the void in the form of;
Blogs: paultan.org (automotive),
Community
newsletters: Subang Jaya Echo,
Facebook pages: Malaysian Crime Awareness Campaign,
Magazines:
Monash (Monga) magazine,
Community
Radios: not as frequently used, instead internet radio broadcasting is used more
often instead for
entertainment purposes,
Community
newspapers: Ipoh Times and,
Youtube:
can be used by anyone (Rahman A.R, 2007).
In a nutshell, community media is still very much alive at
present despite the lack of research, attention, and should be given much more attention and credit than what it is currently accredited for.
Biblography
Doha Centre For Media Freedom. (2013). Conference Pushing
development of community media. Retrieved from http://www.dc4mf.org/fr/node/3385
Hassan, Andani & Malik, (2011). The Role of Community Radio in Livelihood Improvement: The Case of Simli Radio. The Journal of Field actions, 5 (1), Retrieved from http://factsreports.revues.org/869
Rennie, E. (2006). Community media: a global introduction.
Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield
Rahman A. R. (2007). Malaysia Media blog: Voice of the Community. Retrieved from http://malaysianmedia.blogspot.com/
UNESCO (2013). Community Media. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/media-development/community-media/
Hi Daryl! A nice, clear, and informative post about the community media.
ReplyDeleteI just want to ask/confirm one thing, as you've mentioned above the examples of community media includes blogs, YouTube, etc. I'm wondering if community forums (e.g. entertainment, music, drama) are under the community media category as well since it's also the platform whereby people/members whom generally share the same interest interacting with each other, sharing info, opinions and such..
Thank you!
Thank you Nindy, well yes they are very much a part of community media, such as fan made forums about actors, miniature model building or Korean dramas I suppose. A loose definition of community media is as follows; "Community media is any form of media that is created and controlled by a community, either a geographic community or a community of identity or interest". It transcends geographical boundaries should interest come into play. So yes, community forums are very much deemed community media. Thank you for your question.
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