Community Media and the Third Sector

Across every region of the globe, the early days of community broadcasting were full of protest, rebellion, and technical wizardry: mobile broadcasters operating illegally from the back of vans (United States), students barricading themselves in [Page 116]radio studios to avoid closure (Australia), video activists inserting their own productions into cable programming (Italy), and singing the news on air when it was against the King's command to announce it (Nepal). In some countries, community broadcasting has resulted in more sinister outcomes: military attacks, loss of life, and imprisonment (Bolivia and Thailand, for example).

The history of community media contains such extreme episodes because of its challenge to the dominant paradigm of broadcasting control. This entry examines what it means to construct a separate mediasphere for community use. The campaign for community media has been a battle for resources and legislative provision for nonprofit, accessible media outlets, designed to serve those who are not otherwise represented in the media. The “Third Sector” of media requires laws and organizational structures significantly different from those of commercial and public service broadcasting.

Of course, there is much more to community media than the policy limitations imposed upon them. Starting from the policy perspective, however, two broad themes are uncovered: First, it can help us to understand how community media fit within broader structures of the media and society. Second, digital media are radically altering the playing field in terms of community media's core principles: access and participation. The guidelines that determine what, until recently, has been thought of as “community media” arose in the second half of the 20th century when the broadcast media reigned. As the Internet becomes the dominant communicative platform, it is worth revisiting that history in order to determine whether community media is still a relevant concept.