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Community radio is a type of radio service that caters to the interests of a certain area, broadcasting material that is popular to a local audience but is overlooked by more powerful broadcast groups. The term has somewhat different meanings in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia. In the UK, it originated in the many illegal pirate radio stations that came about from the influx of Afro-Caribbean migrants in cities such as London, Birmingham, Bristol, and Manchester in the 1970s. Therefore, "community radio" remains synonymous with "pirate radio" for many people there. In America, community radio is more commonly non-profit and non-commercial, often using licensed class D FM band transmitters, although pirate radio outlets have been operated in many places. Canadian and Australian community stations operate somewhat similarly to their American counterparts.

Contents 1 Vision, philosophy, and status 1.1 Conceptions of community in the literature 1.2 Models of community radio 1.3 Growth in the area 2 Examples by geographic area 2.1 Australia 2.2 Bolivia 2.3 Canada 2.4 India 2.5 Ireland 2.6 Japan 2.7 Jordan 2.8 South Korea 2.9 Sweden 2.10 Thailand 2.11 United Kingdom 2.11.1 The Access Radio Pilot 2.11.2 The Ofcom Community Radio Consultation 2.12 United States 3 See also 4 References 5 External links 5.1 National community radio federations

Modern-day community radio stations often serve their listeners by offering a variety of music selections that are not necessarily catered for by larger corporate radio stations. Community radio outlets may also carry news and information programming geared toward the local area, particularly immigrant or minority groups that are poorly served by other media outlets. Unfortunately, when these broadcasters are illegal pirate radio outlets, they sometimes refuse to respect other legal radio stations and other entities, such as emergency services, and interfere with their transmissions. This can give community stations and conscientious pirate stations an unwarranted disreputable image. Pirate radio stations can apply for a broadcasting licence but they will usually need to go off air for a time to present a legal case. Community stations and pirate stations (where they are tolerated) can be valuable assets for a region. Community radio stations are aligned with communities rather than corporations.

Philosophically we can see two distinct approaches to community radio, though the models are not necessarily mutually exclusive. One stresses service or community model - focused on what the station can do for the community. The other stresses involvement and participation.

Within the service model localism is often prized, as community radio, as a third tier, can provide content focused on a more local or particular community than larger operations. Sometimes, though, the provision of syndicated content that is not already available within the station's service area, is seen as a desirable form of service. Within the United States, for example, many stations syndicate content from groups such as Radio, such as Democracy Now!, on the basis that it provides a form of content not otherwise available.

Within the access or participatory model, the participation of community members in producing content is seen as a good in itself. While this model does not necessarily exclude a service approach, there is a tension between the two, as outlined, for example, in Jon Bekken's Community Radio at the Crossroads.

Community Broadcasting is Australia’s third media sector. As at June 2005 there were 442 fully-licensed community radio stations (including remote Indigenous services). The community radio sector in Australia fulfills a broad, but largely unacknowledged role in the Australian media landscape, particularly as a source of local content.

A 2002 report, found that 20,000 (or 0.1% of all Australians) are involved as volunteers in the community radio sector on a regular basis and volunteers equate for more than $145 million in unpaid work each year; ^[1] Nationally more than 7 million Australians (or 45% of people over 15) listen to community radio in each month (source: McNair Ingenuity).

The role of community broadcasting in Australia, according to the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia is to provide a diverse range of services meeting community needs in ways that are not met by other sectors. Community broadcasting is sustained by the principles of access and participation, volunteerism, diversity, independence and localism.

Although stations raise much of their resources through their own means, Government funding in the past ten years has greatly assisted stations in key areas such as transmission infrastructure, program development/distribution, online development and training.” ^[2]

53% of community radio stations serve an array of different communities of interest including: Indigenous and Ethnic, people with a print disability, young people, older people, arts/fine music, religious, gay and lesbian.

The remaining stations provide service which may be described as generalist, which address the interests of communities in particular geographic locations but will still address a range of diverse specialty interests.

Community broadcasting more than any other form of media in this country shapes and reflects the national character in all its diversity. The sector is unique in its capacity to provide fresh programming by and for Indigenous, Ethnic and RPH communities.

Community broadcasting stations also have a strong commitment to local news, information; the promotion of local and Australian music, arts and culture; and to providing training in media skills.

When a not-for-profit community group applies to the regulator, the Australia Communications and Media Authority, for a community broadcasting licence they specify what community interest they intend to serve. Licensees are selected by the regulator on the basis of suitability and on the merits of the licence application and the capacity to serve identified community interests. Upon grant of a 5 year renewable licence each station is then required to continue to serve the community interest for which the licence was granted.

One of the most famous examples of community radio is miners' radios in Bolivia. They are funded by trade union dues and operate mainly at a local and regional level. There were more than 25 such radio stations during the period from about 1960 to 1985. Changes in government policy eliminated many unionised mining jobs after 1985 and some radios were sold or ceased to exist. In spite of many difficulties five stations continue to broadcast.

La Voz del Minero Radio Pío XII RadioVanguardia de Colquiri Radio Animas Radio 21 de Diciembre Radio Nacional deHuanuni... these were some of the mostimportant radio stations created, funded and managed by Bolivian mining workers. It all started in 1949, with one radio station in the mining district of Catavi. During the next 15 years, other districts followed: they bought the equipment, they trained young people from their villages, and the workers themselves funded the experience by giving a percentage of their salary to sustain their radio stations.

Most of the radio stations started small and precariously, only equipped by very simple means. A few of them managed to get foreign support and evolved into more sophisticated radio stations, with better equipment and installations. A few, even built a theatre next to the premises, so union meetings would take place and betransmitted live through the radio. Radio Vanguardia for example, had a beautiful theatre decorated with large murals narrating thestory of the Colquiri mining centre. One particular scene on the mural depicts the attack by Bolivian Air Force planes in 1967, when the country was under military rule.

In the early 1970s, 26 radio stations were in operation, all in the mining districts of the highlands of Bolivia. At that time miners' unions in Bolivia were still very powerful and considered among the most important and politically advanced in Latin America.

In times of peace and democracy miners' radio stations were integrated into the daily life of the community. They became the closest and most effective replacement for telephone and postal services.

People would get their mail through the stations and post messages of all kinds, which were read several times during the day: calls for a meeting of women from the Comité de Amas de Casa (Housewives Committee); messages from the union leaders about their negotiations with the government in the capital; messages of love among youngsters; announcing a new play by Nuevos Horizontes drama group (often staged on the platform of a big truck, with workers illuminating the scene with their own lamps); announcements of sport activities, burials,births and festivities.

In times of political upheaval the union radio stations would become the only trustworthy source of information. As the military captured newspapers, radio and TV stations in the capital and othercities, the only information available would come from the miner'sradio stations. All of them would join the cadena minera until thearmy would penetrate the mining camps and assault the stations, which were usually defended to the death by the workers. A film by Bolivian filmmaker Jorge Sanjinés, The Courage of the People, re-enacts the attack on the mining district of Siglo XX by the army in June 1967. Another film, a documentary, by Alfonso Gumucio Dagron and Eduardo Barrios, titled Voices of the Mine and produced by UNESCO, describes their political and social importance.

In times of political and social crisis the miners' radio stations would air reports on the political situation; they would also link for live transmissions when an important sporting or cultural event took place in the mining district. Other than that, each station had full independence from the next.

Certainly, miners' radio stations were important because miners were important. But also, Bolivian miners were more influential than ever because during several decades they had powerful means to communicate their ideas. As the importance of mining in Bolivia declined in the 1980s, the unions were weakened and some of the radio stations disappeared along with the mining districts.

Community radio stations in Canada are also similar in format to American community stations. Most commonly, Canadian community radio stations target commercially underserved minority language communities such as Franco-Ontarians, Acadians or the First Nations, although some small communities also have English language community stations. Community radio stations are most commonly operated by cooperatives.

In larger cities, community-oriented programming more commonly airs on campus radio stations. Some cities do, however, have community radio stations as well. Most community stations in Canada are members of the National Campus and Community Radio Association, or NCRA.

The province with the largest number of community radio stations in Canada is Saskatchewan. The majority of those stations are affiliated with Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation, an aboriginal public radio network.

In India, the campaign to legitimise community radio has been going on since almost the past decade. The Supreme Court of India ruled in judgement of 1995 that "airwaves are public property" came as an inspiration to groups across the country, but so far only educational (campus) radio stations have been allowed, under somewhat stringent conditions.

Anna FM is India's first campus community radio which is run by Education and MultiMedia Research Centre (EM²RC) and all programmes are produced by the students of Media Sciences at Anna University

Ireland has had self-described community radio stations since the late 1970s, though it was not until 1995 that the first 11 licensed stations came on air as part of a pilot project run by the Independent Radio and Television Commission. Early stations were represented by the National Association of Community-Radio Broadcasters, which in 1988 published a guide to setting up new stations. More recently licensed stations have formed CRAOL as a representative group.

Japan has a series of low power community radio stations across the country.

The first community radio was established in Jordan using the internet. AmmanNet.net was established in November 2000 as a means of bypassing government restrictions on private non governmental radio. In 2005 AmmanNet radio received license as an FM station and was able to broadcast to the people of Jordan's capital Amman. AmmanNet has also been involved in the training of other community radio stations in Jordan, one as part of evillage in the twin villages of Lib and Mleih and another as part of King Hussein University in the southern city of Maan. Also AmmanNet is involved in training Arab media activists in Internet radio. A program was launced to train and launch nine gulf-based radio stations as part of khaleejnet.net

Korean government licensed a few small power community radio stations in the year of 2005. Maximum power is 1 Watt and it reaches 5km.

In Sweden, community radio (närradio) was introduced in 1978 with test transmissions. Regular transmissions started next year. Commercials were not allowed until 1993.

Community radio in Thailand saw fast growth during the government of Thaksin Shinawatra, taking advantage of a delay in the establishment of a regulatory authority. Thailand's 2,000-3,000 community radio stations, often operating unlicensed, have been accused of causing interference with air traffic radio and other radio stations[1]. However, selected community radio stations have been the target of police crackdowns, causing critics to accuse the government of political interference.[2]

Community radio has recently been taken up in the United Kingdom by the radio industry regulator Ofcom as the name for the new 'third tier' of the UK radio industry. The idea for this new level of radio broadcasting was piloted by the Radio Authority (now Ofcom) in 2002 with the licensing of 15 "Access radio" stations (now superseded by "community radio"). The one-year licenses were extended in 2003 for a further year, and in 2004 a consultation was issued by Ofcom on the creation of community radio. The first full licences for Community Radio stations in the UK were issued in 2005.

Community radio stations are usually limited to broadcast areas smaller than commercial or BBC local stations, usually within 5 kilometres (km) of their transmitter. They focus on a specific community (such as an ethnic minority group) or on a range of listeners inside their small broadcast area. Their job is to benefit communities rather than make a profit.

In order to get a community radio licence, applicants must demonstrate that the proposed station will meet the needs of a specified target community, together with required "social gain" objectives set out in the application.

A target community can be defined either by geography or by reference to a particular sub-community in an area, otherwise known as a "community of interest". A geographic community can be any defined local area, particularly those which would not sustain a fully commercial broadcaster. A community of interest can be any identifiable local community; existing Community stations are aimed at groups as diverse as the elderly, religious groups such as Christian and Muslim, lifestyle groups such as gay and transgender and cultural/recreational groups such as artists.

Community stations are not permitted to raise more than 50% of operating costs through on-air advertising and/or sponsorship; the remainder of operating income must be met through other sources. This can include public funding via grants, donor income, lottery funding or charities.

Alternative methods of broadcasting include short-period licences, known as Restricted Service Licences, allowing community groups and special events to run local area low power stations for up to 28 days, and webcasting.

The Access Radio Pilot, initiated by the UK Radio Authority, was designed to test the demand for community radio and to see whether such small-scale radio broadcasting projects were feasible. Some of the projects targeted a particular community of interest, ranging from religious and minority groups to children and older people, others such as Manchester's ALL FM and WythenshaweFM targeted geographical communities.

Access Stations included:

• ALL FM 96.9 - serving the communities of Ardwick, Longsight & Levenshulme in Manchester.
• Cross Rhythms City Radio - Stoke-on-Trent
• Resonance FM - in London, run by the London Musicians Collective.
• BCB 96.7 [3]- serving Bradford's diverse communities, with a mix of ethnic programming, specialist music and sport.
• Desi Radio - in London, serving the Punjabi community.
• Sound Radio [4] - serving a range of groups in Hackney in London.
• WythenshaweFM [5]- serving the large housing estate of that name in Manchester.

See http://www.ofcom.org.uk/ for downloads of the two New Voices evaluation reports of the scheme

The Ofcom community radio consultation was issued on 17 February 2004. The consultation gave a brief outline of the Access radio projects, and made some proposals as to how the new sector would be managed. Included in the consultation were a series of questions which interested parties were invited to suggest comments on. These included whether community radio stations should have a cap of 50% of their income coming from advertising, and the order and method by which licenses should be applied for.

The closing date for contributions was 20 April 2004, and since this date all of the contributions have been published on the Ofcom website.

Following the success of the pilot scheme, applications for full licences were invited in 2004 and the first full licences awarded in 2005. FutureFM are a particularly interesting example of a UK community station. They will broadcast full time to the Norwich area in April 2007. As a part time station, their impact has been so successful that recently the station was awarded £150,000 to support the social inclusion of young people who are referred by agencies such as the Police. These young people are trained to broadcast and encouraged to use their skills. In September 2006 Future FM were awarded £608,000 grant to move to new premises in the middle of a run down housing estate.

American community radio stations are often staffed by volunteers and air a wide variety of programming. They are generally smaller than public radio outlets. Community radio stations are distinct from public radio in that most of their programming is locally produced by non-professional DJs and producers, where public radio tends to rely on more syndicated programming. Community stations often try to reduce their dependence on financial contributions from corporations in comparison with other public broadcasters. These stations are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission. Many community stations are licensed as full-power FM stations, while others - especially newer community stations - are licensed under low-power broadcasting rules.

The National Federation of Community Broadcasters formed in 1970 as an umbrella organization for community-oriented, non-commercial radio stations. The NFCB publishes handbooks for stations and lobbies on behalf of community radio at the federal level. The Grassroots Radio Coalition is a very loose coalition of stations that formed as a reaction against increasing commercialization of public radio and lack of support for volunteer-based stations (including in the NFCB). Some stations are part of both groups.

• International Freedom of Expression Exchange
• World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC)

• Bekken, Jon. "Community Radio at the Crossroads: Federal Policy and The Professionalization of a Grassroots Medium" in Sakolsky, Ron and S. Dunifer (eds.) Seizing the Airwaves: A Free Radio Handbook. (also available online)
• Girard, Bruce (ed). "A Passion for Radio: Radio waves and community"
• UNESCO. "How to Do Community Radio: A Primer"

• Bolivian Miners' Stations (by Alfonso Gumucio Dagron)
• http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Community_Radio/
• http://www.developingradiopartners.org
• http://www.bushradio.co.za/
• http://www.angelradio.co.uk

• Prometheus Radio Project (USA based)
• Digital Dance Radio & Community (EU based)
• National Federation of Community Broadcasters (USA based)
• Grassroots Radio Coalition (USA based)
• Pacifica Radio Network (USA based community radio network)
• National Community Radio Forum (SA based)
• CB Online - Community Broadcasting in Australia
• Community Media Association (UK based)
• Community Media Network - radio page (Ireland)
• Highlands & Islands Community Broadcasting Federation (Scotland)
• About community radio in India
• Commmon Frequency (USA based)