Utilizing published and unpublished sources and working with interviews of a number of participants this thesis examines the evolution of the political influences that stimulated the Australian federal government's policy decisions on public broadcasting. The background to the federal government's original involvement in broadcasting in the early years of the twentieth century is investigated to put later developments into a broader perspective. Comparisons are also drawn with progress in other comparable Western countries to highlight the unique nature of the Australian model. Since broadcasting was never an issue, like health and education, which could capture votes from the electorate as a whole, government policy was driven by pressure from particular special interest groups as their influence waxed and waned and calls from individual electorates, when the interest was strong and the seat was marginal. The government decisions that resulted from this situation were ad hoc and expedient and no really coherent policy was ever implemented. This thesis examines the forces that led to the restriction in the expansion of broadcasting services after World War 2 and to the change in the influence of pressure groups in the 1960s which led to the establishment of FM and public broadcasting in the 1970s. A detailed exploration of particular interests, such as the Public Broadcasting Association of Australia, educational broadcasters and ethnic broadcasters shows how the influence of different groups changed over time. Once public broadcasting was established the main concern of both broadcasters and government was to keep the sector economically viable. A detailed analysis is provided of how the funding arrangements altered as the sector grew. There were always some idealists who saw public broadcasting as a vehicle for putting forward their own point of view. But, this thesis concludes that, by the early 1990s, apart from its role as regulator, which was the same for commercial broadcasting, government policy on public broadcasting was largely driven by the fact that minimal funding for the sector enabled government to ensure that essential non-commercially viable broadcasting services that would be far more expensive for the government to provide itself, were able to continue. / PhD Doctorate

This thesis examines the emergence of Community Radio in the United Kingdom. It places the sector within an historical context dominated by the BBC and strongly influenced by the subsequent arrival of commercial radio broadcasting. Understanding this historical context, which includes consideration of the role played by unlicensed 'pirate' radio operators, is, in the opinion of the author, a critical prerequisite necessary for assessing how and why current Community Radio practice has developed in the way it has. Primary research for this thesis includes a variety of semi-structured interviews with campaigners, practitioners and regulators and, whilst primarily focused on the emergence of the Community Radio sector within the British context, it does not ignore wider international perspectives. Recognising that, well before Community Radio began to emerge in the UK, much of the early conceptual development of the sector took place in other jurisdictions, the author also draws upon a number of international sources, including some primary research in the Republic of Ireland, Norway and the United States of America. The influence of two key factors, those of regulation and technology, are central to this research, the author arguing that these in particular have helped define (and constrain) the current position and future opportunities available to Community Radio within the United Kingdom. Legislation and regulation may have defined clear, and in some instances unique, operational objectives for British Community Radio, but when defining such objectives they have also had to take into account limited broadcast spectrum availability, constraining the scope and scale of the sector as a result. Beyond a consideration of the historical and of present day practice, this thesis also looks towards the future, examining current developments in digital broadcasting which offer the potential to counter such current capacity constraints and provide opportunities for additional community-based services in future.

This is an investigation of the diffusion of new information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly the Internet, by community broadcasting organisations. In order to understand ICT diffusion processes in community radio stations, this study focuses on a particular project which saw a large scale diffusion of Internet technologies across Australian community radio stations at the beginning of 1998. The Community Access Network (CAN) project was an initiative of the Australian government, and saw funding for the provision of an Internet ready computer to every licensed community radio station in Australia. In approaching this subject, this research employed social constructivist assumptions, expecting that ICT use, and in particular the CAN workstations, would vary from station to station, reflecting the cultural and organisational conditions in each environment. As such the study aimed to understand the ways in which ICT technologies have been used and understood by community ralo station management and their participants. Since community radio stations are organisations, this study employed Everett Rogers' framework for understanding diffusion of innovation processes within organisations, acknowledging that organisational variables act on innovation behaviour in a manner over and above that of the aggregate of individual members of the organisation. This approach provided scope for the investigation and comparison of organisational factors, as well as meaning making on the part of individual participants. The research was based on data collected from two case studies, chosen on the basis of their divergent social, cultural and organisational environments; 4EB in Brisbane, a metropolitan, ethnic community radio station; and 2NCR-FM in Lismore, a regional, generalist community radio station. Ethnographic methods of observation and interviews were employed to collect qualitative data, providing insider accounts of community broadcaster's use, experience, and understanding of the new technologies in their day-to-day broadcast practices. By looking at two different community radio stations, this research acknowledges points of similarity and difference across these organisational situations, identifying factors that contribute to variation in technology take-up in particular station programming emphasis, perception of need, organisational resources, role of innovation champions, training, ICT policy and broadcaster variables. Evidence drawn from these case studies, and the specific ICT investigated, contributes to a general understanding of factors in the diffusion of ICT technologies across the community broadcast sector, providing a frame of reference for anticipating subsequent innovation diffusion. In particular, there are implications for future diffusion projects which plan to deploy new technologies across the community radio sector. It also contextualises community broadcasting and ICT use within the field of new technology uptake by broadcast sectors in general.

This is an investigation of the diffusion of new information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly the Internet, by community broadcasting organisations. In order to understand ICT diffusion processes in community radio stations, this study focuses on a particular project which saw a large scale diffusion of Internet technologies across Australian community radio stations at the beginning of 1998. The Community Access Network (CAN) project was an initiative of the Australian government, and saw funding for the provision of an Internet ready computer to every licensed community radio station in Australia. In approaching this subject, this research employed social constructivist assumptions, expecting that ICT use, and in particular the CAN workstations, would vary from station to station, reflecting the cultural and organisational conditions in each environment. As such the study aimed to understand the ways in which ICT technologies have been used and understood by community ralo station management and their participants. Since community radio stations are organisations, this study employed Everett Rogers' framework for understanding diffusion of innovation processes within organisations, acknowledging that organisational variables act on innovation behaviour in a manner over and above that of the aggregate of individual members of the organisation. This approach provided scope for the investigation and comparison of organisational factors, as well as meaning making on the part of individual participants. The research was based on data collected from two case studies, chosen on the basis of their divergent social, cultural and organisational environments; 4EB in Brisbane, a metropolitan, ethnic community radio station; and 2NCR-FM in Lismore, a regional, generalist community radio station. Ethnographic methods of observation and interviews were employed to collect qualitative data, providing insider accounts of community broadcaster's use, experience, and understanding of the new technologies in their day-to-day broadcast practices. By looking at two different community radio stations, this research acknowledges points of similarity and difference across these organisational situations, identifying factors that contribute to variation in technology take-up in particular station programming emphasis, perception of need, organisational resources, role of innovation champions, training, ICT policy and broadcaster variables. Evidence drawn from these case studies, and the specific ICT investigated, contributes to a general understanding of factors in the diffusion of ICT technologies across the community broadcast sector, providing a frame of reference for anticipating subsequent innovation diffusion. In particular, there are implications for future diffusion projects which plan to deploy new technologies across the community radio sector. It also contextualises community broadcasting and ICT use within the field of new technology uptake by broadcast sectors in general.

Will community television one day be lamented in the same way as the Glenn Valley Bridge Club in Pennsylvania, where no one remains 'who can tell us precisely when or why the group broke up' (Putnam, 2000: 15)? Robert Putnam's bestseller Bowling Alone proposed that people 'need to reconnect with one another' and rebuild their communities for the good of society. Although he may not have succeeded in instigating a revival of lawn bowls and bridge, Putnam did spark a debate about the meaning of "community" today and its role in bringing about positive social change. At a time when the communications landscape is set to transform with the introduction of digital broadcasting technology, this thesis looks at the status of community broadcasting and its role within civil society. Taking Australia's community television sector as its starting point, it aims to define the pressures, public philosophies and policy decisions that make community broadcasting what it is. This thesis is structured thematically and geographically. The introductory chapters establish the research question in relation to Australia's community broadcasting sector. As well as tracing the intellectual path of community media studies, it sets out to locate community broadcasting within broader intellectual debates around notions of community, governance and the media. These are brought back to the "on-the-ground" reality throughout the thesis by means of policy analysis, interviews and anecdotal evidence. Chapters Three to Five map out the themes of access, the public interest and development by reference to community broadcasting in different regions. In North America I explore notions of free speech and first-come-first served models of access. In Europe, notions of "quality", public service broadcasting and the difficult relationship that community broadcasting has with public interest values. Through the Third World and the Third Way I examine how community broadcasting is implicated within development discourse and ideas of social change. The final chapter of the thesis moves into the virtual region of the Internet, looking at changing notions of access and the relevance of new communications rationales to the community broadcasting project. At the intersection of the various themes and models discussed throughout the thesis exists a strong rationale for the future of community broadcasting. Although new technologies may be interpreted as the beginning of the end of community broadcasting, I have argued that in fact it is an idea whose time has come.

This study investigates the relationship between media and democracy with a particular focus on Australian community broadcasting. I put forward the thesis that the value and purpose of community broadcasting are located in its community development function, rather than in its ability to transmit alternative information. This suggests that an analysis should emphasise community rather than media. Community development promotes the empowerment of ordinary people so that they can confidently participate in management and decision-making - that is, the procedures and norms that underpin democratic practices. In the case of community media, the relationship between democracy and media is located primarily in its volunteers. To understand this relationship, I link together concepts of the public sphere and social capital. The public sphere is understood as multiple and diverse and linked to other publics via the web of relationships forged among people with shared interests and norms. I argue that a community public sphere should be understood as a cultural resource and managed as a common property. The public sphere is thus conceived to have a more or less porous boundary that serves to regulate membership. Understood as a bounded domain, the public sphere can be analysed in terms of its ideological structure, its management practices and its alliances with other publics. This approach also allows for a comparison with other similar public spheres. The study identifies two main ideological constellations that have shaped the development of Australian community broadcasting - professionalism and community development, with the former gaining prominence as the sector expands into rural and regional communities. The ascendancy of professional and quasi-commercial practices is of concern as it can undermine the community development potential of community broadcasting, a function that appears to be little understood and one which has attracted little research. The study presents a case study of three regional and remote rural community radio stations and compares them from a social capital perspective. Social capital is a framework for understanding the relationship between the individual and the community and explores this relationship in terms of participation in networks, reciprocal benefits among groups and individuals and the nature of active participation. Demographic and organisational structures of the three stations are also compared. By taking this approach, each station's capacity for community development and empowerment is addressed. The results of the fieldwork reveal that the success of a community radio station is related to 'community spirit' and demographic structure. They reveal that the community radio station in the smallest community with the lowest per capita income was best able to meet the needs of its community and its volunteers.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-07T15:09:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1322835 bytes, checksum: 5e2693c69b1117a33d0d8d59530310ba (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-12-01 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Community communicative practice of broadcasting comes from Europe and it is a growing movement in South America, specially in our country. Comunnity radios are a major impact kind of media when it comes to segmented groups in terms of media coverage, covering, specially community subjects, of marginalized groups, of social segmented groups not attented by the called conventional media type. In this work, a community radio bibliographic research was developed, and it has as its main objective to watch its origin, as well as its history, concerning legislation and its social and educational role, besides the current situation of these media stations, that have enabled popular participation. Are also analyzed in this work some radio practices in several brasilian regions. We present a board of the evolution of these practices in Brazil and in the world, its several names since its beggining, the freedom of expression guarantee subject and the Fala Garotada Project s experience. Finally, we point to the contribution that community radios can give to the environmental issue. / A prática comunicativa de radiodifusão comunitária surgiu na Europa e se constituiu um crescente movimento na América do Sul, sobretudo, em nosso país. As rádios comunitárias são hoje um tipo de mídia de grande representação em grupos mais segmentados em termos de abrangência midiática, atuando, principalmente, enfocando assuntos das comunidades, dos grupos marginalizados, dos grupamentos e segmentos sociais não contemplados pelas mídias tidas como convencionais. Nesse estudo, é feito um levantamento bibliográfico sobre as rádios comunitárias e tem como objetivo observar sua origem, trajetória, legislação que a cerca, papel sócio-educativo, além da atual situação dessas emissoras que têm possibilitado cada vez mais um espaço de atuação e participação popular. Também são abordadas nesse trabalho, algumas práticas das rádios em várias regiões brasileiras. Apresentamos um panorama de sua evolução no Brasil e no mundo, os vários nomes que estas adquiriram desde o seu surgimento, a questão da garantia da liberdade de expressão, a experiência do Projeto Fala Garotada. E, finalmente, apontamos a contribuição que as rádios comunitárias podem dar à questão ambiental.

This dissertation examines nonprofit, co-operative, and volunteer media enterprises operating outside Saskatchewan’s state and commercial media sectors. Drawing on historical research and contemporary case studies, I take the position that this third sector of media activity has played, and continues to play, a much-needed role in engaging marginalized voices in social discourse, encouraging participation in community-building and local governance, fostering local-global connectedness, and holding power to account when the rights and interests of citizens are jeopardized. The cases studied reveal a surprising level of resiliency among third sector media enterprises; however, the research also finds that the challenges facing third sector media practitioners have deepened considerably in recent decades, testing this resiliency. A rapid withdrawal of media development support from the public sphere has left Saskatchewan’s third sector media at a crossroads. The degree of the problem is largely unknown outside media practitioner circles, even among civil society allies. I argue this relates to the lack of recognition of nonprofit, co-operative, and volunteer media as a distinct third sector, thus obscuring the global impact when hundreds of small undertakings shed staff and reduce operations in multiple locations across Canada. At the same time, there is increasing recognition that such media have the potential to fill a void left by commercial and state media organizations that have retreated from local communities. Accordingly, this dissertation makes the case for a coordinated media development strategy as a component of the social economy. The challenge is to build useful mechanisms of support among civil society allies that do not replicate oppressive donor-client relationships that are all too common in the arena of governmental and private sector support. While never simple, the opportunities and social benefits are considerable when citizens devise the means to participate in the creation of a robust, diverse media ecology.