[cma-l] Community Media Sustainability Guide: The Business of Changing Lives

[Jaqui Devereux]

Source:
http://www.internews.org/prs/2009/20090225_mediaguide.shtm

The Business of Changing Lives
Internews Launches Guide to Making Community Media Sustainable

(February 26, 2009) Internews has launched a wide-ranging new guide
addressing the challenge of how to make community media financially
sustainable in countries around the world. The Community Media
Sustainability Guide: The Business of Changing Lives (direct link:
http://www.internews.org/pubs/pdfs/InternewsCommunityMediaGuide2009.pdf
), is a 81-page publication covering topics such as incorporating new
online platforms and using alternative energy to power radio stations,
all with an eye to keeping the doors open in a sector not known for its
profitability.

?Years ago, the notion of a business model for community media would
have brought responses ranging from dismay to ridicule,? lead author and
editor Jean Fairbairn writes in the introduction to the guide.
?Community media?s origins in political struggle, its community
ownership structure, and its mission ? to give voice to the voiceless,
to provide an alternative to mainstream media, to place control of media
in the hands of ordinary people ? seem to contradict the notions of both
?business? and ?model.? Today, however, community media is a valued and
recognized part of the media landscape.?

In the guide, case studies of community media outlets and networks
include creative solutions to the perpetual problem of finding enough
funding to stay in business. For instance, Radio Madanpokhara in Nepal
effectively gains community support by asking listeners to donate the
equivalent of a handful of rice, while the Coffee Lifeline project in
Rwanda relies on partnerships with international groups to supply
agricultural news to coffee farmers. Meanwhile, Desi Radio, serving
London?s Punjabi community, thrives on a mixed business model that
includes selling advertising, conducting media trainings and hiring out
volunteers to dance at weddings.

?Community media are becoming increasingly recognized for their value in
connecting with hard-to-reach and marginalized populations,? Fairbairn
said in a recent interview. ?Because they are local and participatory,
they reach people in a way that is sensitive to local cultures, and in
local languages and dialects.?

Seventy years since the first community radio stations began
broadcasting to tin miners in Bolivia, community media has come of age.
The Internews guide is being published just as governments around the
world are introducing legislation that enables and protects community
media, and as media outlets are learning to take advantage of the new
online media platforms to extend their reach and services.

The Community Media Sustainability Guide is designed for community media
practitioners and activists, trainers, and the donors and development
agencies that support them. The guide provides different perspectives on
sustainability, practical approaches to achieving it, and a
comprehensive list of resources for practitioners and activists.

The publication was funded by a grant to Internews Network from the US
Agency for International Development via a subgrant from Pact. The
advisory committee, many of whom wrote sections of the guide, includes
community media experts Kate Coyer, Bruce Girard, Franklin Huizies,
Birgitte Jallov, Bill Siemering, and Ivan Sigal.

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Table of Contents

Section 1
Community Media: Core Principles and Definitions
It?s Not Just About the Money: Approaches to Sustainability
Sustainable Energy for Sustainable Stations
Models of Sustainable Funding
Business Models, Business Plans, and Community Media
Making Donors Work For You
How to Write a Successful Funding Proposal and Achieve Your Goals
Getting Your Support to Media Right
The Role of National Networks in Sustaining Community Media
The Need for an Enabling Environment
Community Research for Community Media Sustainability

Section 2
The Business of Changing Lives
Work with What You Have
You Cannot Put a Price on Community Involvement
Keeping the Money Neutral
Soweto?s ?Number One? Station
Diverse Sources of Funding Keep the Five Rivers Flowing Strongly
It?s Your Baby?It Needs Food
Sustainability Through Partnerships: A Lasting Cup of Coffee
The Road from Community Service to Social Enterprise
Listener-Supported Public Radio in the United States
Balancing Continued Aid with a Public Service Mission in a Competitive
Market
Sustaining the Intercontinental Radio Communication System
Peru?s CNR: A Decentralized Network
Small Towns Find a Voice Online


-- 
Jaqui Devereux

Director
Community Media Association

15 Paternoster Row
Sheffield
S1 2BX

+44 114 279 5219


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