Community Media

1. Community Media MCOM 404: Community Journalism

2. Community Media • Jankowski, one of the most cited scholars in electronically mediated community journalism, used “community media” as an all-encompassing term to refer to “a diverse range of mediated forms of communication: • print media such as newspapers and magazines, • electronic media such as radio and television, • and electronic network initiatives that embrace characteristics of both traditional print and electronic media”

3. Community Media • The International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) explain that community media “originates, circulates and resonates from the sphere of civil society. • This is the field of media communication that exists outside of the state and the market (often non-government and non-profit), yet which may interact with both”

4. Community Media • Fuller’s (2007) definition of community media did not seem as inclusive; • she used “community media” to define electronic media that is operated by citizens, • has roots in social justice movements of the 1960s in North America, • and has begun to take hold in developing nations through the support of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

5. Community Media • Moore and Gillis definition: (2005) contrasted community media with community journalism, • arguing that the latter defines a “process” of doing journalism • that is similar to the advocacy style of journalism espoused by scholars of civic or public journalism

6. Community Media • By community media, it refers to grass roots or locally oriented media access initiatives predicted on a profound sense of dissatisfaction with mainstream media form and content, • dedicated to the principles of free expression and participatory democracy, • and committed to enhancing community relations and promoting community solidarity.

7. Community Media • If those distinctions between the concepts of community journalism and community media meant only differences in the type of media channel, it would be one thing, • but those differences may also speak to differences in the roles those media play in their communities— • differences based on those media’s organizational structures, community relationships, • and what they consider to be news values.

8. Characteristics of community media • Jankowski defined the characteristics of community media as • (a) Empowerment of the politically disenfranchised, • (b) shared, local ownership, • (c) Local content, • (d) Nonprofessional and volunteer ownership, • (e) Electronic distribution,

9. Characteristics of community media • (f) Geographic distribution, and • (g) Noncommercial finance structure, although they might also include sponsorship, advertising, and so forth.

10. Characteristics of community media • Fuller did not draw on traditional community journalism, • focusing instead on a style of alternative media that is citizen driven • and focuses on providing a means by which marginalized groups can participate in community discourse and create their own community identity.

11. Characteristics of community media • In many developing nations that have diverse language groups and lower literacy rates, it is radio that may do the work of defining community. • In South Africa, for example, it’s been said that there are more radios than there are mattresses.

12. Characteristics of community media • Jankowski’s proposed that most of the research examining community media to date falls into four general themes: • (a) Democratic processes, • (b) Cultural identity, • (c) The concept of “community,” and • (d) an “action perspective to communication”

13. Functions of community media • To provide information transfer for giving community members access to knowledge • To watch the community environment • To mobilize to direct people’s actions • To establish networks for community members • To establish community identity • To create new value and culture • To transform member’s experiences/problems into a community’s common experiences/problems