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Community Radio in Dublin - Research![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Community Radio in Dublin - Research. Community Radio in Dublin - Research. Report presented to the Community Media Forum Overview All the existing stations that broadcast within the greater Dublin area with the exception of Anna Livia (see note) were visited in person for face to face interviews, as were the aspirant local radio groups. Over the last seven years Community Radio has been steadily expanding in Dublin City and it’s environs. There is now a National Community Radio Forum involving some fifteen community stations, representing both rural, campus and urban areas. Currently, those community stations based in Dublin are in the process of forming a Dublin Community Radio Forum to discuss matters of mutual interest and concern. The commitment of local volunteers is admirable and their personal resolve to see such locally based media thrive augers well for the future. It has to be said from the outset that this report takes a positive and futuristic overview of the Community Radio sector in Dublin. Delivering quality Community Radio is a difficult and very demanding process. There are many differing levels of operation, infrastructure and programming across the various stations. All stations encounter difficulties and sometimes quite significant challenges from time to time (just like any other organisation or business), in their internal operations, funding, external dealings with Local and State Agencies and with their respective local communities. Other issues arise such as sustaining and motivating the volunteer commitment that is required to persevere with the demanding workload of providing a community radio service. It is essential that the management structures and the core staff teams learn from these challenges and advance on their commitment to community radio. There is no doubt that there will be many challenges and changes ahead for community radio, but positively there is a confidence and a commitment in local communities to embrace such change. The common thread is that all stations strive to deliver a better and more inclusive service within their communities. - download the report: word file 928 Kb |
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Jump To Comment: 1I wonder if those who did the report were volunteers. The voluntary sector is not always what it seems to be.
Those paid in the 'voluntary sector' are facilitators and keep continuity, but as in many charities, the salaried depend on volunteers for a job, but other paid folk often get respect while the work of the volunteer can be thankless.
Community Radio can make all the programmes it wants, but its audience is so small as to be immeasurable, and this can be disheartening for a volunteer who puts a lot of work in.
A friend of mine used to work on a station in the iner city, and was frequently disappointed when give-aways on his show were met with no calls at all. You wouldn't have heard the Afghan Wigs anywhere else at the time though.
Dublin’s community stations produce some programmes that put boring mass-media in the shade: you just need to look, or listen out and experiment in consumption patterns.
Even better, get involved if there aren't too many hoops in your community station.
Communities are common interest, as much as spatial areas, as a recent post by Sean Crudden suggested.