Hey their true reader welcome to my second year blog of university life.
So for our first lecture with our new lecturer Alex Lewczuk we discussed the initial plan for this year and how it will expand on our work from last year. The essential points I took from this lecture started with a more specific definition on what exactly community media entails.
After a brainstorming session we concluded it could be called hyper-local, a term which means a media outlet with a specific focus on a small area like a local radio station (a community based one of course).
Though after a while we found one of the key characteristics of a community based media outlet was the inclusion of volunteers to help run the outlet. Though this subject lead onto the drawbacks of community media in the form of the question: How do you manage volunteers effectively? Theirs no doubt volunteers do an amazing job, though since many may have no necessary experience in the media world they may not be completely aware of their strengths and weaknesses.
Also another difficulty is commitment, the question is how do you keep a volunteer to keep volunteering? I suppose this is something I’m going to have explore as I assume everyone has different reasons.
Other issues faced by community media also include:
Finance- Since this tends to be a small operation that relies on volunteers you could except serious problems with money. This then leads to other problems like-
Advertising- With a lack of finance this could be tricky. Though most community outlets excel using word of mouth. An example of how this could be used is by a volunteer encouraging their friends and families to tune in when they’re on air. In theory this works really well, if somebody’s friend tells another friend etc..
Politics- Covering the general election has been described by many journalists as a nightmare. The laws covering political coverage are centred on equal coverage of political parties. Alex told us most radio stations tend to stay clear of election coverage due to it’s shear complex nature.
Right of reply- An essential part of journalism is balance. An good example of this would be when a gardener complains about this use of pesticides. To give the story balance you could go to a farmer to see why they use pesticides in the first place.
In the third act of the lecture we discussed the key point of this year, a placement at a community media outlet. Despite the lecture finishing over an hour and a half ago I’ve already got some ideas at local outlets:
Siren FM- Since it’s right on my doorstep and I’m taking radio for a subject this year I think this will help consolidate my learning.
The Lincolnite- I’d watch this space because I’m currently debating my options with this one. Because I still need to look into other community outlets around the city as well like Lincoln
