At a time when the lifestyles of celebrities and the threat of global terrorism seem to dominate our media, there has perhaps never been a greater need in the UK for regional, community-centred forums – forums where local issues and events can be voiced and discussed. So it was a happy day for many when the Media Secretary, Tessa Jowell, announced last year what the Government have called The Communications Act 2003: a grant of half a million pounds that is being made available later this year to fund community radio. ‘Community radio gives local people a real voice,’ she said. ‘It will make a great contribution to British communities in years to come, because its strength lies in its being run by local people, for local people, about local issues.’
Before we go any further, it may be useful to clarify exactly we mean by community radio; although it already exists in several other countries, it will be a new idea to most of us in Britain, where there are essentially two tiers of radio at the moment: the BBC and the commercial radio sector. Community radio will provide a new, third tier – one that will differ from the local independent radio stations that are already up and running in that it will be a non-profit endeavour. Where commercial radio exists to make money, the aim of community radio is not only to serve but to improve its local society.
This may seem an ambitious aim, but Ofcom, the communications industry regulator who will be administering this grant, has set down a number of ways in which this can be achieved. Community radio can:
–Provide opportunities for training and work experience.
–Contribute to local education.
–Support those services that are dedicated to tackling social exclusion (due to barriers like poverty).
–Provide a voice to people (such as minority groups) who have only limited access to the media.
Of course, it will also serve to provide more humble services to the local community that independent local radio stations – often because of financial pressures – may fail to provide. Community radio will broadcast items concerned with local news and issues (with commentary, interviews, discussions, and so on) and events (anything from local arts festivals to charity events or village markets) – and so it will hopefully also play a part in encouraging communication within the community and boosting the local economy.
A version of the scheme was first started on a smaller scale in 2001, when Ofcom and the Radio Authority administered a pilot of sixteen community radio stations (then known as access radio stations) across the UK. An independent evaluation was later undertaken by Professor Anthony Everitt on behalf of the Radio Authority, who found that the pilot stations had generally performed well and concluded that community radio promised ‘to be the most important new cultural development in the United Kingdon for many years’.
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport and Ofcom are currently consulting on a final draft of the Community Radio Order. They are extremely keen to have as much input as possible from the public before they finalise the document, so if you have any questions or comments to make to them you can read the draft proposals on the Ofcom website ( www.ofcom.org.uk) and then contact Susan Williams at Ofcom (susan.williams@ofcom.org.uk). The deadline for your views is the 20th April 2004, so there’s no time to waste if you are interested in becoming involved or applying for a grant!
In summary, as the document stands, The Department of Culture, Media and Sport and Ofcom are proposing the following:
Frequencies:
Community radio will normally broadcast on the FM radio band. Services will cover an area with a radius of up to five kilometers, although in rural areas they will aim to consider a wider radius of coverage. They believe that most cities and towns, and most areas in between, will have access to frequencies on the FM waveband for at least one or two community radio services.
Applying for a licence:
People from anywhere in the UK will be able to apply for a licence. They propose a period of twelve weeks each year when applicants will be invited to apply. Applications will be made through a filled-in application form; and, as the document stands, the applicants will not be interviewed.
Assessing and awarding licences:
They hope to invite applications for community radio licences for the first time in June 2004. Applicants will then have twelve weeks to send in their applications, and licences will be awarded from October 2004 onwards. This may change because they are not allowed to advertise licenses until the Community Radio Order becomes law. Their criteria for assessment will be published on the Ofcom website before the closing date for applications, but the stations will clearly need to be of benefit to local people and will have to fulfil the criteria of “localness”. The audience should get a feel for the particular area being covered by a station, and matters of importance and interest to local people should be covered by the programme as a whole. The station should also offer a distinctive alternative to national and other local commercial services.
Regulating the services:
The individual stations will also need to show that they have fulfilled the list of commitments they made in their initial applications. A short annual report will be required by the regulators, detailing their achievements and the progress on the targets they have set themselves. When the services have been up and running for two or three years, Ofcom will also carry out audience research. They will want to find out what the local communities think about their station and the extent to which they think they have benefited from it.
This promises to be an exciting and challenging scheme, and one that could impact very positively on the lives of thousands of Britons. We can only hope that the impressive list of aspirations set out by Ofcom are carried through, and that the sense of community that is so often mourned in Britain can, at least to some degree, be regained.