Broadening Participation in Community Radio: Investigating Methods for Inclusion and Wellbeing

To use practice-based research to investigate whether open source software, digital audio and streaming technology can increase participation in community radio amongst currently under-represented groups, and to what extent this can provide a cultural and/or economic benefit to rural communities. Objectives: develop open source audio streaming software which can allow remote broadcasting from people's own communities rather than a centralised studio;Work in collaboration with members of under-represented groups to create live and pre-produced broadcast content using open source software; Measure the transformative impact that this can have on the participants and their communities. Community Radio in the UK started in earnest in 2004 (Community Radio Toolkit, 2017). By 2006, after the first round of license applications to Ofcom there were already 107 stations. Some 14 years later, there are now over 250 community radio stations on Ofcom's list of community radio stations (Ofcom, 2018). This rapid expansion in the number of stations indicates how quickly Community Radio has established itself as a vital part of the UK's various communities. It has been shown that participation in Community Radio improves health and wellbeing and plays a vital role in improving communities (AMARC, 2007). AMARC's report of 2007 also found: "The main social Impact of Community Radio is Voice for the poor and marginalized. For most Community Radio practitioners, the social impact of Community Radio is evidence on itself. The sole existence of Community Radio has a positive impact in the communities."

This project seeks to address the current demographic skew in CR in rural areas such as Cornwall. Although research is scarce in this area it has been shown that sections of the community are under-represented, which means these under-represented sections of society are not receiving the proven benefits of participation. Some existing research in this area includes UNESCO's report of 2015 (UNESCO, 2015) which shows 65% male involvement in both management and volunteers. AMARC (2007) states "women make up only 28% of leadership positions ... In technical positions, women make up only 28% as well." Van Vuuren's study of 3 Australian stations, (Van Vuuren, 2008), found a 57.5% majority of men, and a 69% of volunteers over 40-years-old. This project would seek to use open source tools to investigate through practice whether they can be used to increase inclusion in key groups: women, people with disabilities, rural communities and people over 60. My methodology would be to use my practice to collaborate with members of these under-represented groups to create broadcast content for Community Radio. This would involve the development of an open source streaming software using emerging technologies such as WebRTC, capable of allowing broadcast from people's own communities rather than studios which tend to be in a large town: accessibility is a key barrier to inclusion amongst people with disabilities, women (childcare issues) and rural communities (poor public transport). The ubiquity of smartphones and computers means most people now own a device capable of producing radio content. Ofcom's Communications Market Report of 2015 (Ofcom, 2015) found that 66% of UK adults now own a smartphone - an internet enabled device with audio recording capabilities. I would use open source software on these devices to investigate potential methods of collaborative practice to create radio content in people's own communities and homes. One of the weaknesses of CR in the past has been the lack of knowledge sharing: "knowledge sharing on best experiences across regions as well an increased use of new ICTs [Internet and Communication Technologies] can make a difference," although "...Community Radio Networks and knowledge sharing practices are rare" (AMARC, 2007).