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Community-centered Radio

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Why "community-centered"? | What CCR is NOT | What CCR IS | Projects | More Information

Why "community-centered"?

We use the term community-centered radio (CCR) to cover the diversity of situations where the community genuinely participates in radio programming, despite the status of the radio station's ownership, management and governance. Our definition embraces community stations owned managed and governed by community members (or a community-based organisation) or a commercial radio station or a station owned by an organisation that has philanthropic or charitable purposes.

What CCR is NOT

  • One group told us they were "community radio" because they educated the community on health, legal issues and agriculture. Their program consisted of one or two people talking to listeners for the entire two-hour program. That's not CCR
  • Radio stations broadcast programs that feature or include audience input: greetings, requests, comment and opinion, response to competitions. Listeners provide the content via telephone, SMS, internet, snail-mail. That's not CCR
  • Radio stations claim they "involve the audience" or have "audience participation"because they gather interviews / VOXPOP from "real people" where they live and work. That's not CCR
  • It is not involving the audience through interviews or giving them opportunities to express their opinion through phone-in programs

What CCR IS

  • The CCR station morphs into a structure that promotes a communication partnership between community, service providers and radio station
  • The radio station trains service providers and the community to design, produce and present programming content
  • Listeners become programming contributors, participating in their own right as radio station partners
  • The community itself contributes programming that help the community to learn from the programs they produce to inform their community decision-making and consensus-building processes
  • CCR has five tasks of radio
  • Four facilitators of the community, radio station and service provider partnership:  (more)

We see these principles in action in community-centred radio that is bringing about social change and making a difference in people's lives in India, Nepal, Philippines, Australia Aghanistan, Mongolia and elsewhere.

Projects

The following projects all provide excellent examples of community-centred radio in various forms:

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