In November 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the implementation of the Local Community Radio Act of 2010, which marks the largest expansion of community radio stations in U.S. history. The act responds to the decade-long community radio movement in which many civilian groups advocated that community radio—an “old-fashioned” yet affordable public medium—still plays a significant role in fostering the expression of diverse voices and citizen participation in this digital era. Despite the successful advocacy effort in the policy-making arena, the real impact of community radio remains a question. Who listens to and participates in community radio? Does the connection between community radio and community exist? This dissertation investigates audience interaction and participation in the U.S. community radio sector, seeking to empirically and theoretically advance audience research in community radio and alternative media in general. Methodologically, this dissertation is based on case studies from two community radio stations KOOP and KPFT in Texas through multiple methods including 5-year ethnographic fieldwork, in-depth interviews with 70 individuals including staff, programmers and listeners, a web-based listener survey with 131 respondents, and a textual analysis of producer-audience communication platforms such as blogs and social networking sites. The results demonstrate the limitations of audience interaction and participation caused by resource constraints and community radio programmers’ tendency to speak with themselves. Therefore, I recommend that community radio broadcasters should consider developing systemic approaches to evaluate and facilitate audience participation, which requires an understanding that the value of community engagement lies beyond audience size or the amount of listener donations. This dissertation concludes that community radio remains relevant in this digital era. This affordable and accessible form of alternative media to some extent bridges a digital divide. The medium also facilitates the development of a genuine relationship between radio programmers and listeners, thus the formation of virtual and real communities. These are the very elements that make meaningful dialogues possible in any communication environment. / text

Palach Press: Press and Literary Agency. The Exile Agency Study and the Comparation of the Presentation of the Affairs with the Official Mass Media in the Czechoslovakia. Abstract This thesis is a study about literary and press agency Palach Press. The agency was established by Jan Kavan and operated in London in 1970s and 1980s. Its main purpose was to provide information on Czechoslovakia to western journalists and Czech journalist in exile. There was a communication of the alternative public sphere because of a non-functional public sphere, where should be free exchange of opinions. There was a distribution channel of altered camping cars, attached to the Palach Press agency, used to smuggle literature and other materials to Czechoslovakia. Second part of the thesis is practical and focuses on the actual production of Palach Press agency and compares it with information provided by official media in Czechoslovakia, especially with the news published by Czechoslovak press agency. Content analysis is based on the criteria of objectivity.