What is the special significance of community media to civil society?

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"Community media provide a vital alternative to the profit-oriented agenda of corporate media. They are driven by social objectives rather than the private, profit motive. They empower people rather than treat them as passive consumers, and they nurture local knowledge rather than replace it with standard solutions. Ownership and control of community media is rooted in, and responsible to, the communities they serve. And they are committed to human rights, social justice, the environment and sustainable approaches to development....

"Much is promised by the information society - access to vital knowledge for health and education, better information from governments and corporations, electronic democracy, global trade and exchange, up to the minute news. But because they lack the resources to make their voices heard in this shifting social landscape, the world's poorest communities face the twin dangers of being left out of this new economy and becoming a cultural dumping ground for mass market products made by and for the richest economies.

Community media help balance these inequities. They provide the means for cultural expression, community discussion, and debate. They supply news and information and facilitate political engagement. Radio is the most widespread electronic communications device in the world and community radio is a practical and cost-effective means of reaching and connecting the world's poorest communities. Independent and community publications provide news and views that are often framed out of the corporate media. And in the field of Community Informatics (see below), web-based media are increasingly seen as means for helping communities achieve social, economic, cultural and political goals....

"Community media are integrated with practices of community life. They offer concrete means for public participation and for defending cultural diversity. Their content includes political and economic news that facilitates community dialogue and involvement, community and personal messages (marriages, union-meetings, lost donkeys), musical greetings, educational programs for development (health, environment, gender), information programs, and culturally relevant entertainment. Through access to the production and consumption of relevant communications, these media form a collective platform for community empowerment.

A growing trend is the formation of regional, national, and transnational networks that support local communications initiatives and facilitate political and social participation at all levels of community...."

Editor's note: This document is no longer available online.