[cma-l] Messages from CMA Council

[Phil Shep]

Hi all

Greetings from CMA Council of which I am Chair.

It's two weeks to go to the Community Media Conference, this year being held
in Leicester at De Montfort University - the first big chance for the sector
to come together in almost two years.  In that time the number of community
radio licences issued has grown from around 35 to almost 200 which is a real
cause for celebration.  The conference date is 4 April and is also the
occasion of our AGM.   Please come if you can, please take advantage of this
opportunity to make your voices heard, to network, to share stories and
ideas, to update on developments across the sector and generally beat the
recession blues with a celebration of all that's great about community
media!    Here's the web address - www.commedia.org.uk - so get on and
register if you haven't already done so!

The great advantage of being on CMA Council is that you get to hear a lot
about what's happening in the sector across the UK.   I (we) want to try and
share more of this with the wider membership on a regular basis, so this
posting is the first of what will be a monthly update on items bubbling at
the top of our agenda.   Some of the views expressed herein are council
members' own views and should not be regarded as expressions of CMA policy.
Here are some current developments to kick off with:

*    Your Media, Your Tools - the Ofcom sponsored programme intended to
raise critical awareness of the media and exploring the impact of community
media on media literacy managed by CMA - has been very successful to date
with 16 member organisations taking part and with the Dissemination event
scheduled for the day preceding the Conference and AGM - Friday 3 April -
and at the same venue, De Montfort University in Leicester.   Your Media,
Your Tools - in the form of Nicky Edmonds from Community Media Solutions -
came to the Engine Room in Somerset, the base for Somerset Film where I
work.  It was a pleasure to get together with other colleagues and
contributors in a well facilitated session to share ideas about media
literacy and what meaning that has to our work.  I guess it probably applies
to many of us that we are usually so busy with the business of delivery that
we don't get much opportunity to reflect on what we are doing.  This project
gave us the opportunity to do that and we along with the other participating
organisations are making several short PSAs and a longer piece to show as
part of the event on 3 April.

*   Make Media is the planned community media centre which will form part of
Media City in Salford.   The project plan and applications are being put
together now with a potential start date for October this year.   This will
form the first regional /national / international centre dedicated to our
sector.  It represents a fantastic opportunity to articulate the ethos and
methodology behind what we all do, to demonstrate the importance and power
of community media.  My personal hope is that that the voices emanating from
the new centre are truly comprehensive and representative of the wider
communities across the UK.  CMA is a partner in the project to make sure we
are all fully represented at each stage, but it doesn't stop there, we need
you to make an input too, to check out the plans and get involved as much as
possible.

*   What little time I have been able to free up from  the day job recently
I have devoted to keeping up with and occasionally contributing to the
vigorous campaign lead by the coalition United for Local Television (ULTV).
CMA  and our Director Jaqui in particular are prime movers in ULTV which
altogether comprises seventeen member organisations.  With the near collapse
of regional ITV,  there is a growing realisation in government and elsewhere
that there is a pressing democratic need for a plurality of voices to be
heard through the medium of widely accessible (ie terrestrial) local TV.
This cannot be achieved solely through the BBC and online.  ULTV believes
that:

 ·    In a free and fair society at least one terrestrial TV channel should
be a local channel representing the views and opinions of local people.
 
·    Local TV, more than any other resource, has the potential to educate
and inform people about the issues that directly affect their lives.
 
·    The evidence of demand for both local TV and enhanced SD plurality on
Freeview is overwhelming.
 
·    Ofcom and Government must now work together on a local TV order,
introducing a Œsixth¹ public service network focused on local news and local
programming.

ULTV has had a series of significant meetings with government and regulator
and is currently compiling answers to questions tabled at the most recent
meeting with Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture.  Essentially Andy
and his team have asked ULTV to show how local TV could work in practice.
We are due to report back soon.  ULTV has also very recently responded to
the Digital Britain report led by Stephen Carter.  Get in touch for sight of
this response, also for sight of  The Case for Channel 6 - ULTV policy
statement.

*   Fellow council member Cathy Aitchison ( http://www.aitchisonmedia.net
http://www.londonlinkradio.net) flags up the Ning networks  - they have
great potential for getting people involved.  Here are some links to check
out:

Women in Radio:  http://womeninradio.ning.com

Radio 1812 UK - http://radio1812uk.ning.com
This one proved very useful for audio sharing in preparation for the
broadcast.  Cathy hopes to build on it for Refugee Week Radio.

Refugee Week Radio - http://rwradio.ning.com
also see http://rwradio.ning.com/events

Felistowe - http://felixstowe.ning.com  (27 members)
Set up by Trevor Lockwood,  lots of activities - forum topics, groups and
events.  

New Venture Theatre in Brighton - http://newventuretheatre.ning.com  (65
members)
Very active network with lots of photos and events (linked to their theatre
productions).  

Supporting networks like these is what CMA Council would like to be doing
more of, as they offer powerful routes to participation.  Let's hear your
experiences of Ning-ing (if that's a word!) and watch this space for
developments.

*   CMA is quoting for a European project offering training courses in
development due to be piloted from the autumn of this year.  We are also
quoting for European web TV - downloads and streaming, a GetMedia for video.

*   Sadly our various attempts to win the Digital Mentor bid from DCLG have
not been successful.  Instead the contract has been awarded to the Media
Trust, operators of the Community Channel.  This is an important
responsibility at a time when media literacy and digital inclusion could
scarcely be more important.  I wish the project success but am concerned
that the full range of grass roots voices may not in fact have the
opportunity to gain benefit.   I hope my fears are unfounded and that this
turns out to be the powerful and truly inclusive enabling exercise that it
needs to be.

*   Great news from the Arts Council and CMA.   Hard on the heels of the
excellent recently published Arts Council/CMA 'Arts in Community Radio'
report  ACE has agreed to fund a one year CMA post in arts and community
media (multi platform) to develop regional advocacy and networking,  to
strategically support local initiatives and networks.   This will be a
brilliant opportunity for the post-holder and the CMA to make a real impact
on the ground, watch out for more details soon.

*   CMA is through to the second stage of an application to the DCLG
Empowerment Fund and awaits the final result.

That's all for now, look forward to meeting up in Leicester.

Best wishes

Phil

Phil Shepherd
Chair of Council
Community Media Association
c/o Engine Room
52 High Street
Bridgwater
Somerset TA6 3BL