Community radio, democratic participation and the public sphere
Gaynor, NiamhORCID: 0000-0001-5645-7032 and O'Brien, AnneORCID: 0000-0003-1185-1460
(2017)
Community radio, democratic participation and the public sphere.
Irish Journal of Sociology, 25
(1).
pp. 29-47.
ISSN 0791-6035
Community radio is unique when compared to its commercial and public service
counterparts in that, as a non-profit activity, it is owned, managed and controlled by
local communities, In theory therefore, community radio offers the potential for
more broad-based participation in deliberation and debate within the public sphere
engaging multiple voices and perspectives and contributing towards progressive
social change. Drawing on a study of four community radio stations in Ireland within
a framework drawn from the evolving work of Habermas and associated deliberative,
social and media theorists, in this article we examine the extent to which this is the
case in practice. We find that democratic participation is still not optimised within the
four stations studied. We argue that the reasons for this lie in four main areas: a
somewhat limited policy framework; a focus within training programmes on technical
competencies over content; the weakness of linkages between stations and their local
community groups; and the failure of the latter to understand the unique remit of
community radio. The article draws lessons of specific interest to researchers and
activists in these domains, as well as offering a framework to those interested in
examining community media’s contribution to the re-animation of the public sphere
more broadly.
Metadata
Item Type:
Article (Published)
Refereed:
Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:
community radio; Habermas; public sphere; democracy