MCOM 404: Community Journalism Community Media MCOM 404: Community Journalism

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”

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”

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).

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

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.

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.

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,

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

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.

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.

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”

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