PhD Thesis – BEYOND PROJECT: An Ethnographic Study in Community Media Education

ABSTRACT

BEYOND PROJECT: An Ethnographic Study in Community Media
by Shawn Naphtali Sobers

Research Question
“According to facilitators, participators and trainees of community media educational activity, what are the prime motivations of involvement, and what impacts and areas of sustainability result from the sector’s instances of pedagogy?”

Thesis Summary
The author of this thesis is active as a practitioner working within the area of community media education activity: the focus area of this research.  This research links practice to theory to address the central research question.  It employs methodologies informed by post-colonial theories including auto-ethnography and critical pedagogy to discuss the research findings in context of wider literature drawn from the disciplines of community media, community arts, media education, educational psychology, informal education, anthropology and cultural studies.

Community Media activities operate in a fragmented landscape of practice, making the notions of impact and sustainability problematic issues to negotiate, and presents difficulties with identifying related evidence.  This research presents extensive qualitative ethnographic investigation into the impacts and sustainability in the lives of facilitators, participants and trainees who have been involved in such projects for a minimum of four years.  This research evidences the prime motivations of why these stakeholders got involved with the projects from the very beginning, and maps these findings against the impacts and cultural sustainability as articulated, gaining an insight into both the pedagogic journey of the individuals, and the pedagogic qualities of the media projects.

This study employs a methodology that favours the stakeholders to speak for themselves, presenting individuals articulating what the impacts were on their own lives directly, thus matching the methodology of the study with the principles of the community media sector itself: to enable individuals to represent themselves.  At specific instances throughout this thesis the author will be referred to in the first person, due to the adopted additional methodology of autoethnography, which links analytical interpretation with personal exploration. 

Download pdf of full thesis – click here.

The rise of Pirate Radio in the UK [text and theme song]

Extract from ‘History of Community Media – Literature Review Part 1′ – Shawn Sobers (c) 2010

The 1960s saw a new phenomenon arise that changed the landscape of British radio (and arguably long term also television) forever – the advent of offshore pirate radio (Coyer, 2007: 18).  Finding a loophole in the law, repurposed fishing vessels became floating studios and transmitted radio shows into the UK from international waters, immune from law enforcement.  Following the lead from the European stations, these ‘pirates’ created new audiences alienated by BBC’s output, and were enough competition for the BBC and the British government to take notice.  In 1967, following significant BBC restructuring, Radio 1 was formed to provide popular music content, and also BBC local radio stations established in cities and towns across the UK, followed in 1973 by the commercial stations being allowed to broadcast for the first time with the creation of Independent Local Radio licences (ILR) (Coyer, 2007: 19). 

Still following the theme of “alternative voices to the mainstream media”, rising levels of immigration to the UK, particularly of commonwealth citizens from the Caribbean in the 1960s, created new audiences for the European and pirate offshore stations, who were largely playing soul, funk, and others forms of African American music (Hebdige, 1987).  The mid-1960s saw new legislation passed that made it harder for the offshore pirate stations to operate and they soon closed.  When Radio 1 became the dominant popular music station alongside smaller commercial broadcasters in the 1970s, some members of the Caribbean communities set up their own inland illegal pirate stations “geared…around a love of music and frustration that black music was largely absent from Radio 1 and the local commercial stations” (Coyer, 2007: 19). 

[End of extract.  See references at the bottom of this post.]

And now for a piece of suitable music.  (see the lyrics below)

Pirate’s Anthem  – Home T feat. Cocoa Tea & Shabba Ranks, Greensleeves Records, (C) 1989

Them a call us pirates
Them call us illegal broadcasters
Just because we play what the people want
Them a call us pirates
Them call us illegal broadcasters
DTI try stop us but they can’t

One station could not run England
Two station could not run England
Three station could not please the nation
Everybody wants to listen to the free station
Advertisers stay true make your dance hall ram
They take the equipment and put it in a van
If they broke down one we make five more strong

Down in England we’ve got lots of radio stations
playing the people music night and day
reggae, calypso
hip hop or disco
the latest sound today is what we play
on and on
off and on
on and off and on

If they turn it off we have to turn it on back
If they turn it off we have to turn it on back
If they broke it down we have to build it up back
If they take away our records then we get fresh stock
Now me love these stations me love them to the max
Me release a dub plate and all boom shack
The DTI fight but they can’t stop that

Pirates
Illegal broadcasters
Just because we play what the people want
Them a call us pirates
Them call us illegal broadcasters
DTI try stop us but they can’t
Oh no they can’t 

One station could not run England
Two station could not run England
Three station could not run the nation
That’s why everybody wants to listen to the free station
To advertise your dance and ram your session
If it’s music you want and get them new brand
Action stations get set everyone
If they broke down one we build five more strong

They’re passing laws
They’re planning legislation
Trying their best to keep the music down
DTI why don’t you leave us alone
We only play the music that the people want

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References from extract:

Coyer, K. (2007). Mysteries of the black box unbound: An alternative history of radio, in K. Coyer, T. Dowmunt, T. and A. Fountain (Eds.) (2007). The Alternative Media Handbook, Routledge, Oxon, UK. P.p. 15 – 28

Hebdige, D. (1987). Cut’n’Mix: Culture, Identity and Caribbean Music, Routledge, London

Community Media as ‘Third Cinema’

I haven’t written here much lately as I had to put all my writing energy into finishing writing my PhD, which is now done, (the viva in May, wish me luck!!!).  There are a few places I want to take my research further in the future, one of which is to develop the discourse of positioning the films made in community media educational projects as a form of ‘Third Cinema’, the independent political film tradition  1. 

Mike Wayne describes Third Cinema as “a body of theory and filmmaking practice committed to social and cultural emancipation.  This body of filmmaking is small, indeed tiny in terms of world cinema output.  Yet Third Cinema films are amongst the most exciting and challenging films ever made….It challenges both the way cinema is conventionally made (for example, it has pioneered collective and democratic production methods) and the way it is consumed.” (Wayne, 2001)

I’m sure this description will resonate with those of you who facilitate the making of films with young people and adults in participatory contexts.

I’m interested in how community media is active in the sense that, rather than only documenting and reflecting on a social situation or problem, it also seeks solutions.  Solutions are often sought through either;

1) the promotion of debate when the work is screened (in schools, community centres, on community radio, etc);

2) through the use of allegory in the actual narrative;  

3) by using the work in training situations for community workers, counsellors, teachers, police, etc, to affect change in decision makers’ attitudes towards a situation.  Community media work is often used in mediation sessions with disputing members of a community as a tool for conflict resolution.

A ‘debate active’ community media ties in with my realisation that community media educational activities are primarily a form of action research (though often without the actual research!) rather than ethnographic in intention.  At the start of my PhD I was thinking that community media is very ethnographic as the films and radio programmes shine a light on their communities, engaging in oral history, unearthing hidden stories, etc, and therefore do anthropology in their own back yards.  I now realise however that these activities are more in the vein of action research, in that they work according to a method to affect change.  They instil a pride in their communities and cultural identities, promoting hidden stories to show the communities have ‘value’, ‘depth’, and a seriousness that can inspire younger generations to take pride in their surroundings, and the people who live there, or to raise awareness and educate about a certain social issue or problem.   

The use of the term ‘action research’ is of course problematic as community media facilitators on the whole do not conduct long term research studies about what they do and the effect it might have.  (That is essentially what my PhD was.)  I guess what I am suggesting by using the term, is that community media education is ‘lived’ action research, rather than academic.  The impacts of how participants have used the projects to progress themselves are evident in life, though often not analysed.  This is where Dr Alexandra Juhasz’s positioning of the term ‘Media Praxis’ becomes useful.  It is ‘Media as Action’, not solely ‘Media as Observation’.  Hence the difference between ‘Research as Action’ (action research), and ‘Research as Observation’ (ethnography).

Thus for participatory producers to consciously make a film, radio programme (etc), knowing they want the work to have an active impact on the audiences regarding their sense of self-worth as a community, and also on the behaviour of audience as individuals, is a politicised act.  This politicised community media practice and community media process sees the work residing in the realm of the larger film tradition of ‘Third Cinema’.  This again demonstrates how community media practice embodies a deep sense of history and theory that is ‘lived’, experienced and worked through, rather than consciously drawn upon and overtly realised.  The realisation of its context in history can only strengthen the work and confidence of community media facilitators.  It has long been realised in academia that community media is politicised and operates as an element of the Habermas’ notion of the Public Sphere, (Howley 2005, and Lewis 2006).  I would now like to take those ideas into the discourse of Third Cinema and methodologies such as ‘lived’ action research.

Soon on this blog I will create some ‘screening rooms’ where community media productions can be discussed in context of ideas such as Third Cinema, the Public Sphere and other notions that I feel are useful to actual community media practice (praxis).  I hope you join me.  Pass the popcorn!

———————

Footnote

1 – First Cinema are “dominant, mainstream” movies, and Second Cinema are ”art[house], authorial” independent films.  (Wayne, 2001, page 2)

 

References

Howley, K (2005), Community Media: People, Places and Communication Technologies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pages 19-20

Lewis, P. (2006). Community Media: Giving “a voice to the Voiceless”, in P. Lewis and S. Jones (Eds.) (2006). From the Margins to the Cutting Edge: Community Media and Empowerment. IAMCR, Hampton Press, USA. Pages 32-33

 Wayne, M. (2001) Political Film: The dialectics of Third Cinema, Pluto Press, London, page 5

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Channels of activity and emphasis of thought in Community Media (a methodology of mapping)

Since 2004, whenever I have given a paper at a conference about community media I have shown a table on powerpoint, (see the first table below).  I would go on to explain how this table informed my definition of the sector – which is according to the main areas of emphasis of activity by practitioners.

 My description and definition of community media states that the channels of activity are according to the main motivation of the action, ranging from;

-  the community stations that have no overt political agenda;
- the media activists using technology as a tool for political and social campaigns;
- media education with a media industry agenda;
- and educational projects that use technology as a tool to aid transferable skills. 

This isn’t to say that there isn’t cross-over between these channels, as there definitely is and the lines are blurry.  But I feel this framework does capture the main strands of motivation in community media practice, which are then delivered in an infinite amount of variations.

(I’ve written a chapter about this in a book called ‘Understanding Community Media’ edited by Kevin Howley, to be published in November this year by Sage.)

.

.

What I have now come to realise is that this framework is not only the means for me to define and understand what happens in community media practice, it is also the hypothesis by which to map the thought processes in community media theory and participation. 

For example, for my literature review chapter I wrote up the history of the idea of Media Literacy, and I found that the different opinions on what the concept was by scholars fit into the same framework according to the main areas of emphasis (see table below). 

 .

.

I have also written up the history of community media according to what has been  mentioned in community media & arts texts, starting at the Egyptian Hieroglyphs in pre-history (Caton-Rosser, 2006: 14) through to the UK government setting up Creative Partnerships in 2001 (Harding, 2005: 14), which in some cases has tried to be to UK schools and freelance artists/media facilitators what Roosevelt’s New Deal was in 1930s USA.  (This history also contains moments such as Thomas Paine’s pamphleteering, the world’s first community radio station, the MacBride Report, the founding of Deep Dish TV, the Rodney King incident, and the use of video by the Zapatista movement and the Chiapas Video Project in Mexico, amongst many, many, many other references!)

I’m now in the middle of mapping this history according this framework, and already it seems to be making sense! 

My next task after this is to analyse and interpret the piles of text data I have got from the interviews I conducted with participants of community media projects, many of which are longitudinal studies spanning 13 years worth of reflection by participants, looking at the impact on their lives, (some were 14 years old when they first regularly attended media workshops and are now 27!).  As well as other types of analysis and interpretation, I will also map the motivations of the individuals involved according to this framework.

Obviously these thoughts are still a work in progress.  I will be writing about this more over the summer and hope to get some journal papers published about this alongside my thesis at the end of the year.  (I especially want to get my history of community media chapter published!) 

Thanks for reading this, any comments welcome as always.

Shawn

 

References:

Caton-Rosser, M. S. (2006), ‘ Case studies of how community media enact media literacy and activism in the public sphere’. PhD Thesis

Harding, A. (2005). Magic Moments: Collaborations between Artists and Young People. Black Dog Publishing. London, UK

Open letter to the Prime Minister regarding Community Radio in the UK

I recently c0-signed this letter initiated by Steve Buckley, President of AMARC and Director of Sheffield Live fm.  See the letter in it’s original context at http://www.sheffieldlive.org/lettertogordonbrown/

 

==========

Open letter to the Prime Minister from 82 community radio leaders, media scholars and experts including representatives of 60 community radio stations from all nations and regions.

Rt Hon Gordon Brown
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2AA

20 July 2009

Dear Gordon

It is five years since the Community Radio Order 2004 came into force. The growth, since then of community radio has been described by Ofcom, in its Annual Report 2008/09, as “one of the great UK broadcasting success stories in the last few years”.

Over 200 community radio services have been licensed by Ofcom since 2004. Around 150 of these services are on air, creating around 400 jobs, involving over 10,000 volunteers, and serving a potential audience of more than 10 million people.

Yet this new sector is economically very precarious. Six stations have failed to launch, three have handed back their licences. Others are at high risk. This is not only a result of the recession but is a direct consequence of a failure in government policy.

Community radio broadcasters, the vast majority unpaid volunteers, are disappointed that their achievement is not matched by greater government recognition and support.

The Community Radio Order 2004 restricts community radio to a maximum 50 per cent of revenue from advertising and sponsorship and, in some locations, advertising is prohibited entirely. This settlement was to be complemented, in part, by a sizeable Community Radio Fund. The governments own impact assessment, in line with the recommendations of the Everitt Report, suggested the Fund would require 3-4 million per annum. In its first year 500,000 was provided and all 17 applicants were supported. Average grant per station was 26,119. Since then annual government spending commitments to the Fund have not increased at all. In 2008/09 the Community Radio Fund received 117 eligible applications, against which only 30 grant awards were made, with the average grant per station being just 14,978.

To put this in context, the money available annually through the Community Radio Fund to support the operating costs of 150 community radio stations is less than the annual salary of a Radio 1 breakfast DJ. From being widely applauded in 2004 as a model of good practice, the UK settlement for community radio is now looking poor in comparison with many other western European countries. France, for example, provides around Euro 25 million per annum for around 600 community radios.

The sums needed to put the community radio sector in the UK on a sustainable long term footing are modest by comparison with the governments separate proposals for investment in local news consortia, the objectives of which can partly be met by the provision of news and information services on community radio stations.

We are aware the Department of Culture Media and Sport is currently conducting a review into the Community Radio Order 2004. Alongside that review must also be a serious commitment to support the sustainability and development of community radio and its continuing delivery of social and economic benefit, by substantially increasing the government’s public spending contribution to the Community Radio Fund.

Yours

Steve Buckley and Frank Wilkes (Directors), Sangita Basudev (Chief Executive)
Sheffield Live! 93.2 FM
15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield S1 2BX

Karl Hartland (Station Manager)
209radio
Citylife House, Sturton Street, Cambridge CB1 2QF

Andrew David (Managing Editor)
Siren FM
University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln LN6 7TS

Duncan Moore, Chris Brookbanks, Tony Cudlip, Jayne Drake, Phil McGrath
Diversity 103.5 FM
Lancaster & District YMCA, Heart of the City, Fleet Square, Lancaster LA1 1EZ

Peter Bray (Secretary)
Radio Wey
St Peters Hospital, Guildford Road, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 0PZ

Rev. Peter Wright
Tynedale FM (Tynedale Community Radio)
Hexham Swimming Pool, Market Street, Hexham NE46 3NS

Peter Vautier
London Chinese Radio (London Huayu)
54 Camberwell Rd, London, SE5 0EN

Julian Mellor (Chair)
10Radio
West St, Wiveliscombe, Somerset TA4 2JP

Robert Ball
BRfm, Blaenau Gwent
Lakeside Studios, Unit 23 Blaenau Gwent Workshops, Pond Road, Nantyglo NP23 4BL

Derrick Francis
Gloucester FM
The Trust Centre, Conduit Street, Gloucester, Gloucestershire GL1 4XH

Gina Hine (Station Manager)
ALL FM (96.9)
19 Albert Road, Levenshulme Manchester, M19 2EQ

Jennifer Ogole (Chief Executive Officer)
BANG Radio
2nd Floor, 89-93 High Street, Harlesden, London NW10 4NX

Clive Glover
Radio Verulam 92.6 FM
PO Box 1092, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL1 9QB

Willie McCool
K-Town FM
c/o The Library Building, 34 Main Street, Kinglassie, Fife KY5 0XA

Tom Buckham (Station Manager)
Future Radio/Future Projects
168b Motum Rd, Norwich, Norfolk, NR5 8EG.

Chris Barnes (Operations Manager)
The Hillz
WATCH Ltd, 12 Victoria Street Hillfields Coventry CV1 5LZ

Steve Suttie (Station Manager)
Salford City Radio
Radio House, Chorley Road, Swinton, Manchester M27 5AW

Sean Og Mac Braoin (Chairman)
Iur FM (Newry)
Iontaobhas na Gaeilge, WIN Business Park, Canal Quay, Newry BT35 6PH

Darren Craig
Blast 106
30 Stranmillis Gardens, Belfast BT9 5AS

Sutish K Sharma
91.8 Hayes FM
Media House, 160 Uxbridge Road, Hayes, Middlesex UB4 0JQ

Al Garthwaite (Director)
South Leeds Community Radio
Hillside, Beeston Road, Leeds LS11 8ND

Sagheer Akhtar
Pendle Community Radio 103.1FM
15 Cross Street, Nelson, Lancashire BB9 7LE

Phil Gibbons (Station Manager)
Bristol Community 93.2fm
The Beacon Centre, City Academy Bristol, Russell Town Avenue, Bristol BS5 9JH

Trevor Lockwood
Felixstowe Radio
3 Great Eastern Square, Felixstowe, Suffolk, IP11 7DY

Steve Saville
Forest Community Radio (Forest FM), Verwood, Dorset
Unit 2 Enterprise Park, Blackmoor Road, Verwood, Dorset BH31 6YS

Javed Sattar
Awaz FM, Glasgow
1st Floor, 64 Darnley Street, Glasgow, Lanarkshire G41 2SE

Sheila Vanloo (Station Manager)
Radio St. Austel Bay
Tregorrick Park, St Austell, Cornwall PL26 7AG

Mark Smith (Station Manager)
Alive Radio
The Convent, Maxwell Street, Dumfries DG2 7AH

Amjid Riaz
Unity FM
c/o The Bordesley Centre, Stratford Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham B11 1AR

Gordon Sharpe (Project Manager and Director)
TMCR FM
The Winning Post, Marshland Road, Moorends, Doncaster, DN8 4PB

Chris Jones and Barry Badger (Directors)
Harborough FM (HFM Radio)
Innovation House, Valley Way, Welland Business Park, Market Harborough,
Leicestershire LE16 7PS

Ed Baxter (Programming Director)
Resonance104.4fm
144 Borough High Street, London SE1 1LB

Andy Green (Founder/Station Manager)
Bay FM Radio Ltd
8 Myrtle Road, Exeter, Devon EX4 1PZ

Blair Crawford (Executive Director)
Hope FM/Bournemouth YMCA
Delta House, 56 Westover Road, Bournemouth BH1 2BS

Nick Wright (Station Manager/Trustee)
Canalside Community Radio
Unit 2B Clarence Mill, Clarence Road, Bollington, Cheshire SK10 5JZ

Pete Muldoon (Station Manager)
Halton Community Radio 92.3fm
Bluebell Lodge, King Arthur’s Walk, Castlefields, Runcorn WA7 2NE

Amarjit Khera (Chair) and Andrew Wass (Manager/Administrator)
Desi Radio
The Panjabi Centre Ltd, 30 Sussex Road, Southall, Middlesex UB2 5EG

Noel Moore
Drive 105.3FM
1 St Joseph’s Avenue, Derry/Londonderry BT48 6TH

Paul Stellings (Station Manager)
Vixen 101
34A High Street, Market Weighton, Yorkshire YO43 3AH

Dave Brown
Peace FM
St Mary’s Parsonage, Parsonage Street, Manchester, M15 5WD

Dylan Jones
Voice FM
Unit 21, Bowen Industrial Estate, Aberbargoed, CF81 9EP

Shirley Ludford (Manager and Trainer)
Swindon 105.5
County Ground, County Road, Swindon SN1 2ED

David McGealy (Station Manager)
Oldham Community Radio 99.7fm
PO BOX 997, Oldham OL1 9EB

Baz Reilly (Station Manager)
Castledown Radio Ltd
Castledown Media Centre, Tidworth Road, Ludgershall SP11 9RR

Nicola Rule (Administration Director)
Huntingdon Community Radio
c/o 19 Croftfield Road, Godmanchester, Cambs PE29 2ED

Steve Morris (Station Manager)
WCR FM
Newhampton Centre, Newhampton Road East, Wolverhampton WV1 4AP

Mary Dowson (Manager)
BCB 106.6fm
11 Rawson Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD1 3SH

Stanton La Foucade
StreetLife FM
Outset Centre, 2a Grange Rd, Walthamstow, London, E17 4EL

Tony Nixon (Managing Director)
Rossendale Radio CIC
Haslingden Community Link & Children’s Centre, Bury Road, Haslingden BB4 5PG

Jamie Stephens (Head of Radio and Company Secretary)
CSR 97.4 FM
Mandela Building, University of Kent, Canterbury Kent CT2 7NW

Chrissy Moog
Sine FM
53-57 Netherhall Road, Doncaster, DN1 2PG

Paul Golder (Chairman)
Phoenix FM
Baytree Centre, Brentwood, Essex CM14 4BX

Ayesha Special K (General Manager)
Burngreave Community Radio BCR 103.1 FM
Sorby House, Multimedia Resource Centre, 42 Spital Hill, Sheffield S4 7LG

Alan Coote
The Bay Radio
25a Elliott Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH11 8LQ

Peter Dixon (Station Manager)
Radio Teesdale
Enterprise House, Harmire Enterprise Park, Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL12 8XT

Anne Marshall (Station Manager)
Wythenshawe FM
Suite A4, Alderman Gatley House, Hale Top, Wythenshawe, Manchester M22 5RQ

Dave Butler (Managing Director) and Jill Martin (Director)
LINK FM (London Borough of Havering)
St George’s Church and Centre, Chippenham Road, Harold Hill, Romford RM3 8HX

Bob McWilliam (Director/Station Manager) and Bruce Rodger (Director)
Celtic Music Radio
26 Richmond Street, Glasgow G1 1XH

Abdullah Shaheen Khan (Station Manager)
Muslim Community Radio 87.8fm
3rd Floor, West Wing, London Muslim Centre, 38 – 44 Whitechapel Road, London E1 1JX

Tari Sian and Sujata Sian (Directors)
NuSound Radio92 FM
PO Box 51092, London E7 8US

Ian Hickling
Transplan UK
6 Horn Street, Compton, Newbury, Berkshire RG20 6QS

Phil Korbell (Director)
Radio Regen
12 Hilton Street, Manchester, M1 1JF

Shawn Sobers
Firstborn Creatives
c/o Easton Community Centre, Bristol BS5 8SZ

Roger Drury
SOUNDWORK Community Projects
Woodend, Parkend Walk, Coalway, Coleford GL16 7JS

Michael J Fryer (Community Radio Producer/Manager)
Val Fryer (Community Radio Producer/Presenter)
Pry Rigg, Barnard Castle, Durham DL12 9LU

Deborah Wilson (Programme Leader, BA Journalism)
School of Journalism, University of Lincoln
Brayford Pool Lincoln LN6 7TS

Peter M. Lewis (Senior Lecturer in Community Media)
Department of Applied Social Sciences, London Metropolitan University
Ladbroke House, 62-66 Highbury Grove, London N5 2AD

Dr. Eryl Price-Davies (Principal Lecturer & Teaching Fellow,
Programme Leader – BA Broadcasting)
Thames Valley University
Grove House 1 The Grove, Ealing, London W5 5DX

Ieuan Franklin (PhD Research Student)
Centre for Broadcasting History Research, Bournemouth University
Fern Barrow, Talbot Campus, Poole, Dorset BH12 5BB

Salvatore Scifo (Researcher in Community Radio / Secretary, Community Media Forum Europe – CMFE)
Communication and Media Research Institute, University of Westminster
Harrow Campus, Watford Road, Harrow, HA1 3TP

Art World / Community Media World

I read with interest on BBC News that David Hockney (at 72 years old is regarded as one of the UK’s greatest living artists) is using his iPhone to create artwork, and that this may now be a new departure for him.  It started when he drew a picture on his iPhone and then emailed to 12 people straight away.  That instant production and unmediated distribution has inspired him to bring mobile technology into his main work.  How he will choose to exhibit this will be interesting to see, as the unmediated personal nature may be compromised in a public domain, possibly lost alongside Walter Benjamin’s elusive ‘aura’ – the unique element that “shrinks” from a piece of art when it is technologically/mechanically reproduced.  When the artwork becomes a reproduction, removed from the “realm of tradition” of the act of making.

The Art World and Community Media have been related but strained bedfellows since the days of creation of both entities.  Caton-Rosser (2006) cites Egyptian hieroglyphics and Roman parchments as the forerunners of community media, and Goldbard (2006) cites the cave paintings at Lascaux southwestern France, painted 16,000 years ago, as the starting point of community arts (which she terms ‘cultural development’). (These cultural events in history are commonly viewed as being the starting points of the fine arts, literature and civilisation itself by Historians.) One of the strands of Community Media as we know is today grew out of community arts & media arts projects in the 1970s, (the other strands grew out of political activism, journalism, media democracy campaigns, media education, and radical pedagogy movements), and ever since, the creative ‘self expression’ role of community media has always been celebrated, but has also at times sat uneasy with some of the more politicised, critical and oppositional ‘alternative’ media’ elements of community media discourse, especially when ‘self expression’ becomes about the ‘self’, esoteric, and accused of elitism.

It is extremely timely therefore that the Community Media Association are soon to announce the appointment of a new post – an Arts Coordinator, whose role it will be to consult with the community media sector across England to draw up a strategy for the greater implementation of arts in community media, and also for community media to gain a greater role in the arts world.  The promotion of the setting up of financially secure structures to produce drama for community radio, in partnerships with local theatres, is one example that springs to mind – productions that can then be syndicated across different community radio stations.

Click here to download the pdf of the research report that led to the creation of the coordinator post, ‘The Arts and Community Radio’.  The research is an exploration of the role of arts in community radio stations across England.

A large number of arts and media graduates get their first freelance employment working in the community sector, without even realising it is a sector at all.  Greater understanding and awareness of community based work at education level, right through to the major galleries, would ensure that community media isn’t only viewed as a niche activity, but as the valuable part of the creative industries that we who work in it, already know it is.

And this is not to say that embracing the arts into community media activity is a negation of the politicised, critical, oppositional and radical motivations of the ‘alternative’ media foundations.  Just read the words of Augusto Boal if you are in any doubt about the role of the arts in social change.  He is talking about the role of theatre, but the same arguments can and have been made for all forms of art, from the Situationist’s Marxist agenda through to Hip Hop’s self relience roots.  

Alongside information media – the arts are the cornerstone of how cultures represent their own stories, experiences, hopes, fears and opinions.  The Community Media sector is missing a vital pivotal trick, if it doesn’t fully exploit all the tools it has on offer.  I shall be watching David Hockney’s new work with increasing interest.

 

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 - Benjamin, W. (1936), ‘Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’ Penguin Books, London. Page 9.

- Caton-Rosser, M. S. (2006), ‘ Case studies of how community media enact media literacy and activism in the public sphere’. Online Thesis – http://gradworks.umi.com/32/07/3207736.html - Page 14.

- Goldbard, A. (2006), ‘New Creative Community: The Art of Cultural development’. New Village Press. Oakland, CA. USA. Page 102

Open letter from the CMA to Ben Bradshaw,Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport

From: Community Media Association
Sent: Mon 08/06/2009 20:19
To: Rt Hon Ben Bradshaw MP
Subject: Open letter from the CMA to Ben Bradshaw,Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport

Rt Hon Ben Bradshaw MP
Secretary of State
Department for Culture, Media & Sport
2 – 4 Cockspur Street
London
SW1Y 5DH

Community radio & the wider community media sector

Dear Ben Bradshaw

I am writing to welcome you to your new post as Secretary of State for
Culture, Media & Sport.

The Community Media Association is the umbrella body representing
community radio and the wider community media sector. Community radio
in particular is one of the government’s real success stories, going
from 15 stations in 2001 to the current number of 201 licensed
stations, which is likely to rise to 300 by the end of next year. It
is the true “third tier” of radio, serving some of the most
disadvantaged and marginalised communities throughout the UK.

The CMA is also involved in urging the government to enable the
development of local television in the UK, through United for Local
Television, which would create many jobs in both the creative
industries and local journalism sectors.

Your colleagues at DCMS already have a wealth of information from the
CMA both on the future of the radio sector and local TV. I would
though welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss the future
of community media in the UK, particularly in the light of the recent
resolution by Europe’s Council of Ministers supporting the development
and expansion of community media across Europe, signed by the UK
government.

I look forward to hearing from you and wish you well in your new post.

Yours sincerely

Jaqui Devereux
Director, Community Media Association

Community Media Association – www.commedia.org.uk

The multiple faces of Media Literacy

I attended the informative “Your Media, Your Tools” dissemination event at Leicester’s De Montfort University run by the Community Media Association (CMA) last Friday. It included a presentation by Ofcom talking about their media literacy agenda, as well as radio and video groups from across the UK showcasing the results of their involvement in CMA’s media literacy project.

It has always struck me just how slippery the term ‘media literacy’ is, with a different emphasis depending on the agenda of the person talking about it. I used to get frustrated by what I saw as a watering down of the notion, wanting the literacy aspect to acknowledged as the critical pedagogy that resides in community media activity, and that was me wearing my personal agenda on my sleeve. I now feel however it would be more useful to slow my judgement and analyse each different face of media literacy in its own right, as each interpretation of the term contains pragmatic, theoretical and/or ideological meaning for each different type of user, so that is worth looking at without undue dismissal.

In future articles I will be exploring the idea of media literacy in the nine predominant guises that I have seen it discussed within the community media sector, media education events, published research and academia. As with all identities of phenomena there is some overlap different contexts, though they will be analysed from the perspective of emphasis, and therefore argue that the identities described here are valid. Notions described in the future will be:

-  Media Literacy as media savvy
-  Media Literacy as semiotics
-  Media Literacy as creative activism
-  Media Literacy as cross-curricula engagement
-  Media Literacy as IT support
-  Media Literacy as media sector training
-  Media Literacy as process
-  Media Literacy as informed media consumption and media use

Interestingly, given this fractious identity, the actual definition of media literacy itself is, with slight variations, mostly settled in a broad consensus without too much debate. It is the interpretation of the accepted definition which is the cause of the majority of debate. Even though there is not one single definition, in loose terms it is widely acknowledged as being about;

- the right to have access to media platforms & tools;
- the need for people to be empowered to understand the media and its ever changing nuances;
- the ability to create media communications if so desired.

Some example of this are;

Ofcom’s definition is; “the ability to access, understand and create communications in a variety of contexts.” They acknowlegde they are mostly concerned with media literacy as applied to digital technology and that people should be able to use the equipment to get the most out of it. (Media Literacy as Media Savvy / Media Literacy as IT support).

According to The Media Literacy Task Force:
“If people are to participate fully at work or in their community, or communicate effectively with family, friends and colleagues globally, or consume media intelligently they need to be media savvy. They need to understand how media works and to feel comfortable questioning what they watch and read. They need a sense of who knows or owns what, and to what extent what you see is really what you get. And, very importantly, they need to become confident in using and exploiting the possibilities of new devices and media channels.”
(Media Literacy as Media Savvy / Media Literacy as informed media consumption and media use / Media Literacy as semiotics / Media Literacy as IT support)

The Center for Media Literacy‘s view is: the ability to communicate competently in all media forms as well as to access, understand, analyze, evaluate and participate with powerful images, words and sounds that make up our contemporary mass media culture. Indeed, we believe these skills of media literacy are essential for both children and adults as individuals and as citizens of a democratic society.
(Media Literacy as Media Savvy / Media Literacy as creative activism / Media Literacy as process)

At some point in the not-to-distant future I will expand on these ideas in a case by case basis in future blog articles, and also write this up as a full academic referenced paper.

Until then, thanks for popping by. Comments always welcome.

Shawn

Radio Salaam Shalom – Muslims and Jews talking together

Just giving a heads up to all at Bristol based internet radio station Salaam Shalom.

www.salaamshalom.org.uk

One of the dj and member of the steering group Adnan Ahmed was an original member of Channel Zero and I also taught him at the university. (He also sold me this broadband connection, but that’s another story!)

I interviewed Adnan for my PhD, and I’m more than proud to see what he’s doing now.

Big Up Big Ad!