Programming, practices, production, and policy: Canadian community radio

Programming, practices, production, and policy: Canadian community radio

Canadian radio's potential for representative and inclusive broadcasting has yet to be realized. This research will work to expand the possibilities of radio within the context of current programming, practice, production, and policy realities. For this project community radio is defined as locally specific `managed by and broadcasting to and for its constituent communities. Canadian community/campus radio is tasked with the representing "diverse cultural groups, including official linguistic minorities" (CRTC
2010-499). Community radio responds to the needs of community/-ies served in distinct and specific ways depending on the local and social context, meaning practices on the ground vary considerably in their negotiations of local factors. We argue that Canada's community/campus radio stations face financial, practical and other challenges to work within the limitations of their resources and policy. This
research will investigate the challenges and best practices of Canadian stations through interviews in order to share their innovations and initiatives to help to sustain and advance the goals of community/campus radio stations in Canada. The parallel CRTC reassessment of radio makes it significant.

This research takes new steps to build on recent strides in the research assessing the growing impact of digital and global media on radio as well as other media has provoked research on Canadian community radio. This work will employ interviews triangulated with participatory action research built on a foundation of archival and policy research to invigorate the current radio landscape. All employees and volunteers as stations classified for licensing as community, campus, Native A and Native B. Examining radio program content and production practices in community radio across selected Canadian community radio stations to consider and compare characteristics and strategies of equitable representation in diverse cultural, linguistic and regional contexts. Fundamentally defined as radio managed by and serving the community (UNESCO 2001), community radio can however take
diverse structural forms shaped by factors such as licensing parameters and station ownership.

In keeping with the spirit of the community development committee of Canada 150 this work will serve "to encourage all Canadians to contribute to their communities in a way that will foster a greater sense of belonging, support meaningful reconciliation and leave a lasting legacy now and for future generations(Community Foundations of Canada)." This research will apply the cultural particularities of each site inform and shape grassroots relationships between community stations and their constituent
communities. Finally, community broadcasting legislation should relate to actual production practices on the ground in meaningful ways. Consequently scrutiny of the policy directives and guidelines is essential to this work to map efficacy and guidelines.