Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Minutes of Evidence


Memorandum submitted by the Community Media Association

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A.  Proposals for the development and regulation of radio

  Since the Broadcasting Act 1990, over 2,000 community radio services have operated using Restricted Service Licences, usually limited to low power and a maximum period of 28 days. It is time to move beyond these unnecessary restrictions. The Government frequency audit has shown FM frequencies to be available while the Radio Authority has set out its own proposals for a new tier of "Access Radio" based on the underlying principles of Community Media.

    —  Government should establish a new licence category for a third tier of radio. Community Radio, which would be locally owned and accountable to its audience, operating on public service principles for community benefit and being de facto and de jure non-profit distributing;

    —  Remaining frequencies in the FM and AM bands should now be reserved primarily for the development of Community Radio services throughout the UK operating at sufficient power to cover editorially recognisable neighbourhoods and communities;

    —  Government should ensure through frequency allocation and a dear mandate to the regulator that in every locality there is the opportunity to establish at least one Community Radio service for every three local or regional commercial radio services;

    —  Government should ensure that Community Radio in the future has guaranteed and affordable access to a digital sound broadcasting platform on DAB or Digital AM (DRM); and

    —  The Radio Authority should use its Restricted Service licensing mandate to commence-pilot "Access Radio" scheme to test out the Community Radio model in advance of new legislation.

  A key issue for Community Radio as for other forms of Community Media is funding. The development of Community Radio should ensure that there are adequate sources of funding available to ensure their effective and sustainable operation. Funding should be drawn from a variety of public and private sources and not be dependent on any one funder.

    —  Government should ensure that Community Media do not face undue restriction in raising funds and are able to do so from a variety of sources including advertising and sponsorship;

    —  Government should remove the unnecessary restrictions on public funding contained in the Broadcasting Act 1990 while still ensuring that Local Authorities and other statutory bodies are not permitted to own or control Community Broadcasting services; and

    —  Government should establish a Community Media Fund whose purpose would include support for start-up and development costs, operating costs including social and creative programming, training and learner support costs, and research into audience and impact.

B.  Other relevant aspects of the White Paper

  Community Media have a substantial contribution to make to neighbourhood renewal, equality and social inclusion, local democracy and participation in local decision making, and in supporting lifelong learning and access to new information and communication technologies. The Community Media Association wishes to see a strategic approach from Government to the development and regulation of Community Media. Such an approach, which should be cross-media in nature, would ensure that recognition and support for Community Media in relevant areas of social policy is complemented by appropriate communications policy reform.

    —  Local television licensing should recognise structurally different categories of commercial and community type services, the latter being de facto and de jure non-profit distributing.

    —  Planning for digital television should provide for a digital local television multiplex in every area, obliged to carry at least one of each type of licensed service and itself operated by a publicly accountable and non-profit distributing body.

    —  Government should reserve sufficient spectrum for a range of non-commercial wireless Internet applications which are licence exempt or licensed for a nominal fee.

    —  Government should ensure that where Community Media services exist in any particular locality they are guaranteed affordable access to the principle media platforms by inclusion of "must carry" rules applicable to all licensed operators of local delivery systems.

    —  Government should ensure that future digital broadcasting systems lead to a substantial increase in the range and diversity of Community Media services and that existing Community Media services are guaranteed transition to the digital environment.

    —  Government should support a feasibility study into the costs, sources of investment and structure for a nationwide network of local DAB and DVB-T multiplexes operated by a non-profit-distributing publicly accountable body with a public service remit.

    —  Government should establish a Community Media Fund whose purpose would include support for start-up and development costs, operating costs including social and creative programming, training and learner support costs, and research into audience and impact.

    —  Government should ensure that OFCOM establishes a properly staffed Community Media Division to nurture the growth and development of a wide range of Community Media services, including radio, television and new media, throughout the UK.

ACCESS TO THE MEDIA FOR PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES

1.  INTRODUCTION

  The Community Media Association is the UK association for Community Media. Its members include community-based radio, television and Internet projects. The CMA supports people to establish and develop local media enterprises for community-based creative and cultural expression, community development, information and entertainment. The CMA provides information, advice, training and consultancy. It produces publications and organises events, and it represents the interests of community media to Government, regulators, industry and the voluntary sector. The following analysis and recommendations are made in the context of the Communications White Paper 2000.

2.  THE CHALLENGE OF THE INFORMATION AGE

  We are in the midst of a revolution. The power of computer processing, communications at the speed of light, and the digitalisation of every possible form of information are taking us from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. Symbolic goods are rapidly replacing material goods in the world's stocks. Knowledge and information are fast becoming the new currency.

  Communication is the means by which people create their identity. It underlies our sense of community and our sense of difference. At the heart of the knowledge economy are changing patterns of communication which change our self-perception and the communities to which we belong. While economic development is the driver behind the new technologies, their impact is felt at both the economic level and throughout our everyday social and cultural life.

  On the one hand there are fears that people and even whole communities may be faced with being left out, of becoming isolated from the knowledge economy. Across the digital divide, information poverty threatens to reinforce real poverty. On the other hand, the vast proliferation of information available on the Internet and through a multiplicity of media channels, seems ready to turn almost all who connect with it into passive consumers of the world's global brand names.

  The challenge of the communications revolution is to harness the tools of the Information Age for the benefit of people and of communities. Community Media have an essential role to play in meeting that challenge. Community-based radio, television and Internet projects work by enabling people to become media producers, to send as well as to receive, and, by working together, to reinforce knowledge, dialogue and cultural expression at neighbourhood and community level.

Radio could be the most wonderful public communication system imaginable, a gigantic system of channels—could be, that is, if it were capable not only of transmitting but of receiving, of enabling the listener not just to hear but also to speak, not of isolating them but connecting them. (Bertolt Brecht, 1930)

  The future of Community Media requires a clear public policy agenda. Where barriers to access exist they should be removed, where positive measures are appropriate for the development and growth of the sector they should be introduced. With a Communications White Paper under debate and a General Election in the near future, the Commedia Manifesto sets out principles and proposals for adoption by political parties, Government departments and regulatory bodies.

3.  COMMUNICATION RIGHTS AND THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

  The freedom of expression is a fundamental human right enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Charter of Human Rights and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the latter incorporated into UK law under the Human Rights Act 2000.

Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. (Extract from Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 1950)

  The freedom of expression underpins all other human rights. It is the means by which other human rights are defended and extended. In the Information Age the freedom of expression takes on additional importance, as the ability to send and receive information, regardless of frontiers, comes increasingly to dominate our economic, social and cultural life. A new grassroots agenda is emerging to articulate the right to communicate—an agenda in which access to new media and communication technologies is seen as an essential part of public life and a democratic culture.

  Community Media provide a vision and a voice for this agenda. Grounded in the core principles of public service media—to educate, inform and entertain—Community Media add a fourth principle—to enable access and participation. With the right public policy framework, Community Media have an enormous contribution to make in promoting equality and social inclusion, in extending local democracy and participation in decision making, in supporting lifelong learning and access to new information and communication technologies and in promoting neighbourhood renewal.

Community Media foster the freedom of expression and information, the development of culture, the freedom to form and confront opinions and active participation in local life. (Community Media Charter, 1997)

  At the heart of the policy debate is the question of whether the media and communications sector is best operated in the public interest with clear public service objectives or operated in private interest subject only to competition law. The new digital environment promises an abundance of channels but by no means does it guarantee an abundance of access. Public policy measures will continue to be needed to ensure a range and diversity of public service media provision.

  Community Media has come of age, as a concept and as a widespread activity. It draws support from across the political spectrum. Its objectives find resonance in a wide range of public policy priorities—in education and employment, urban and rural development, open government, support for the voluntary sector, promotion of culture and the arts, equal opportunities and the rights of minorities. To reach its full potential now requires communications policy reform.

4.  COMMUNITY MEDIA CENTRES

  The future of Community Media will be cross-media and multi-platform. New Community Media Centres are being established which bring together facilities for sound, video and multi-media production with access to broadband communications, FM and digital radio broadcasting and digital television systems. They provide access supported by training, mentoring and guidance.

  The DfEE characterise Online Centres as providing friendly access to information and communication technologies, conveniently located where people live and work, offering a safe and supportive environment, and providing flexible opening hours to match community needs.

  The Community Media Centres concept builds on these elements by adding facilities for creative and cultural production, offering media training and practical experience, providing access to broadcast and distribution systems, and supported by experienced media trainers and mentors.

Recommendation 1

  Government should ensure that creative and media-based activities are at the heart of measures to support education and access to information and communication technologies.

Recommendation 2

  Government should provide resources for Community Media Centres as part of a programme of support for neighbourhood access to information and communications technologies.

Recommendation 3

  Government should support the development of Community Media Centres by ensuring affordable access to distribution platforms for radio, television and data services.

Recommendation 4

  Government should support the development of a network of Community Media Centres linked to the UK Online initiative, National Grid for Learning and University for Industry.

5.  COMMUNITY RADIO

  Radio remains the most affordable and accessible platform for Community Media. Radio skills are straightforward to learn, radio production and distribution equipment is inexpensive and radio receivers are commonplace in almost every household. Radio, as a medium, has held its own against the rise of television and the Internet, indeed the Internet has brought new ways of making radio and streaming audio has become the test-bed for a future world of webcasting.

Radio Regen

Radio Regen, in Manchester, is using the power of community radio in urban regeneration. Unemployed Mancunians are trained in radio skills enabling them to establish and operate their own radio services. Short-term broadcasts have operated in some of Manchester's most deprived communities including Wythenshawe, Moston, Openshaw and Longsight. Director, Phil Korbel, said, "We've got a sure-fire combination of experience and raw talent that reaches into all levels of the community. All we need are permanent licences to make community radio the platform for all the good work that is going on in regeneration."

  Radio production has become increasingly digital with the computer providing the platform for editing, mixing, news research and programme scheduling. Community Radio producers quickly learn information and communications technology skills through computer-based production of digital sound. In doing so they develop a flexible, creative and problem-solving attitude to the use of computers, an attitude vital to the new jobs of the knowledge economy.

  Since the Broadcasting Act 1990, over 2,000 community radio services have operated using Restricted Service Licences, usually limited to low power and a maximum period of 28 days. It is time to move beyond these unnecessary restrictions. The Government frequency audit has shown FM frequencies to be available while the Radio Authority has set out its own proposals for a new tier of "access radio" based on the underlying principles of Community Media.

Recommendation 5

  Government should establish a new licence category for a third tier of radio, Community Radio, which would be locally owned and accountable to its audience, operating on public service principles for community benefit and being both de facto and de jure non-profit distributing.

Recommendation 6

  Remaining frequencies in the FM and AM bands should now be reserved primarily for the development of Community Radio services throughout the UK operating at sufficient power to cover editorially recognisable neighbourhoods and communities.

Recommendation 7

  Government should ensure through frequency allocation and a clear mandate to the regulator that in every locality there is the opportunity to establish at least one Community Radio service for every three local or regional commercial radio services.

Recommendation 8

  Government should ensure that Community Radio in the future has guaranteed and affordable access to a digital sound broadcasting platform on DAB or Digital AM (DRM).

Recommendation 9

  The Radio Authority should use its Restricted Service licensing mandate to commence a pilot "access radio" scheme to test out the Community Radio model in advance of new legislation.

6.  LOCAL AND COMMUNITY TELEVISION

  Community-based video production is very widespread but efforts in the past to broadcast local and community television have been largely confined to cable and have been limited by the high costs of production, insufficient audience penetration by the early cable networks, and the absence of must carry rules.

Midlands Asian Television

Midlands Asian Television is a local free-to-air television service mainly targeting the Leicester Asian community. MATV's 22 production staff all started as volunteers with little or no experience in the broadcast industry. The service is on air for 24 hours a day and now carries close to 30 per cent of locally produced output. The remainder of MATV's output is a pot pourri of Bollywood films, talk shows, holiday programmes, interviews, soaps and a host of other features from the Indian subcontinent. Vinod Popat, Director of MATV said "We're providing a service that is needed, that the mainstream can't and won't provide and we've become part of life for the community in Leicester."

  In recent years cable has become more widespread, production costs have reduced substantially as a result of digital technologies and a new generation of free-to-air local television has commenced through powers given to the Independent Television Commission under the Broadcasting Act 1996. Eight local television stations were operating under Restricted Service Licences at the end of 2000. A further 30 are expected to join them during the course of 2001.

  It is now time to give fresh impetus to this sector and to map out a future for local and community television into the digital broadcasting environment. Digital systems promise a huge proliferation of television channels delivered via cable, satellite and terrestrial broadcasting but without public policy support it is doubtful whether delivery system operators will offer carriage to local services.

Recommendation 10

  The categories of Restricted Service (terrestrial broadcasting) and Licensable Programme Service (cable delivery) should each be divided into Type A and Type B for commercial and community services respectively, the latter being de facto and de jure non-profit distributing.

Recommendation 11

  All local and community television services, other than experimental or event based services should be licensed for a duration equitable with the period offered to Channel 3 services.

Recommendation 12

  Local and Community Television services should be expected to adhere to broad public service requirements in terms of local content, ownership, accountability and access to facilities.

Recommendation 13

  Local cable delivery services should be obliged to carry all those Type A and Type B services which are located in and available through other platforms to audiences in their locality.

Recommendation 14

  Planning for digital television should provide for a digital local television multiplex in every area operated by a publicly accountable and non-profit distributing body with guaranteed carriage for all existing analogue Restricted Services and at least one existing or new Type B service.

Recommendation 15

  Transitional arrangements should ensure that all existing analogue Restricted Services have a must carry provision for community programme services and that existing analogue Restricted Services are each offered carriage on a digital multiplex in advance of analogue switch-off.

7.  TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND THE INTERNET

  Community-based applications of the Internet have taken off with the emergence of easy to install and use e-mail and web-browsing software coupled with growing awareness and reducing costs of Internet access. Communities Online, the UK community Internet network listed 127 community Internet projects on its web directory at www.communities.org.uk as at the end of the year 2000.

Bungay Net, Suffolk

Bungay Net is a media and communications service run by local people for local people in a small market town in rural Suffolk. It has created the community web site—www.bungaynet.com—which is added to and kept up to date by a team of volunteer editors, correspondents, contributors and technical volunteers. Local sports, arts and environmental groups, health visitors, local food producers and other businesses, local history groups and many others have come together to create or contribute to a web site which already totals more than 9,000 pages.

  Unlike traditional media, which broadcast from one source to many listeners, the Internet is by its nature a two-way interactive medium. It presents exciting new opportunities for Community Media whether as a stand alone medium or linked to other media such as radio and television. Early community-based Internet projects have provided a platform for local organisations, a gateway to local information, news and listings, and a networking service for groups and individuals.

  As new media technologies develop, the TCP/IP protocol, which underpins the Internet, is becoming a robust but flexible standard. It is capable not only of carrying sounds and moving images but of opening up new interactive possibilities for information sharing, learning and education, and entertainment. Increasingly the Internet allows the user to programme and influence their own experience as well as interacting with others on a one-to-one or group basis.

Recommendation 16

  Government should ensure universal access to the Internet at affordable fixed tariffs and including higher bandwidth services capable of carrying broadcast quality sound and vision.

Recommendation 17

  Government should investigate current bandwidth pricing by Internet Service Providers and telecommunications companies with a view to promoting increased competition and lower costs of access to the Internet backbone.

Recommendation 18

  Government should reserve sufficient spectrum for a range of non-commercial broadband wireless applications to evolve based on TCP/IP protocol with access on a licence exempt basis or at an affordable, non-market price for non-commercial private and public usage.

Recommendation 19

  Spectrum already available at 5GHz and allocated for the new HyperLAN standard should be reserved exclusively for non-commercial private and public use on a licence exempt basis.

Recommendation 20

  Government should ensure that where Community Media services exist in any particular locality they are guaranteed affordable access to the principle media platforms by inclusion of "must carry" rules applicable to all licensed operators of local delivery systems.

8.  A PEOPLE'S MEDIA NETWORK

  Community Media development has been vitally dependent on the availability of appropriate technological systems and standards. The proliferation of Community Radio across the world is linked closely with the development of the FM (Frequency Modulation) radio standard, the emergence of low cost transistor technology and commonly available microchip circuits, and the international allocation of VHF Band II (87.5-108 MHz) for FM radio broadcasting.

  Future communications technologies will not necessarily be as well suited to Community Media as the FM radio standard. The new Digital Audio Broadcasting system (DAB) is rather inflexible and is spectrum inefficient for local radio compared to national and wide area services. Present DAB spectrum allocation is barely enough for existing local services. Additional frequencies for DAB, in the L-band (1452-1492 MHz), are not expected to become available until 2005. The DAB standard itself is threatened by new audio encoding technologies such as MP3, and by new digital platforms including the Digital AM system (DRM) and third generation mobile telephony.

  Terrestrial Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB-T) is emerging as a more robust platform capable of carrying television, radio and data services and rapidly gaining acceptance as a world standard. UK frequency planning for DVB-T assumes it will be used mainly for fixed reception through existing rooftop television aerials although, in principle, it could also serve mobile receivers. Current frequency allocation for terrestrial television (UHF Bands IV and V) would allow for a significant increase in services but not until existing analogue transmitters are switched off.

  Both DAB and DVB-T would be capable of providing digital terrestrial broadcasting platforms for Community Media but this will require sufficient spectrum allocation on a national basis and an approach to licensing that will guarantee affordable access by Community Media services. One approach would be to establish a nationwide network of local DVB-T and DAB multiplexes with a requirement that 50 per cent of channels would be allocated for Community Media services. Such a network could be operated on a non-profit-distributing basis by a publicly accountable body and financed through a public-private partnership between that body and an infrastructure provider.

Recommendation 21

  Government should ensure that future digital terrestrial broadcasting systems lead to a substantial increase in the range and diversity of Community Media services and that existing Community Media services are guaranteed transition to the digital environment.

Recommendation 22

  In planing for future digital radio and television systems Government should ensure that Community Media services are provide guaranteed and affordable access to digital systems.

Recommendation 23

  Government should support a feasibility study into the costs, sources of investment and structure for a nationwide network of local DAB and DVB-T multiplexes operated by a non-profit-distributing publicly accountable body with a public service remit to ensure carriage of Community Media services alongside local and regional commercial services.

9.  A COMMUNITY MEDIA FUND

  Community Media have frequently shown great ingenuity and real local backing by setting up new media initiatives on very low financial budgets. By involving large numbers of volunteers and drawing on the considerable goodwill and in kind support of local organisations, public bodies and local businesses they have achieved what to some might seem the impossible. The future development of Community Media will nevertheless depend also on the nature of its financing.

  Community Media draw financial support from a wide range of sources including public funds, private grants and donations, business sponsorship and advertising, membership subscriptions, fund-raising events and provision of services. Public funding is provided to Community Media for delivery of training and learning opportunities, for work placement schemes, for public information services, for cultural and artistic expression, and, increasingly, simply to enable access to media, information and communication technologies at community and neighbourhood level.

  The Radio Authority has suggested a "Radio Fund" be established to support "Access Radio". The Government has invited views on this proposal. A special fund set up for this purpose could make an important contribution to Community Radio however the idea should be extended to encompass other forms of Community Media. Such a fund would reinforce both the purpose and the viability of Community Media and it would assist by levering money from other sources. To ensure the fund brings added value it should draw from new money not currently available to the Community Media sector such as payments to Government for radio spectrum or broadcast licences, a percentage of commercial advertising revenue or a part of the BBC licence fee.

Recommendation 24

  Government should ensure that Community Media do not face undue restriction in raising funds and are able to do so from a variety of sources including advertising and sponsorship.

Recommendation 25

  Government should remove the unnecessary restrictions on public funding contained in the Broadcasting Act 1990 while still ensuring that Local Authorities and other statutory bodies are not permitted to own or control Community Broadcasting services.

Recommendation 26

  Government should ensure that criteria for relevant public funding measures such as the UK Online Learning Centres initiative and the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund include Community Media as being among the type of projects which may be encouraged and supported.

Recommendation 27

  Government should establish a Community Media Fund whose purpose would include support for start-up and development costs, operating costs including social and creative programming, training and learner support costs, and research into audience and impact.

10.  THE ROLE OF REGULATION

  The present regulatory system offers a patchwork of opportunities for Community Media. Most Community Radio services operate on a short-term basis using Restricted Service Radio licences usually limited to four weeks duration. A few Community Radio projects have been awarded full Local Radio licences for year round broadcast but these have been mainly in remote rural areas of limited commercial interest. Where spectrum availability permits, local and community television have begun to operate free-to-air with Restricted Service Television licences but they face an uncertain future in the transition to digital. Community Radio and Community Television programme services are carried by some cable networks, at the discretion of the cable operator. The Internet offers a largely unregulated environment for Community Media to develop but the costs of bandwidth for streaming media can be prohibitive to achieve audiences of any size.

  The future development of Community Media requires a clear approach to regulation in which barriers to access are removed and must carry rules are introduced where appropriate. Where licensing is necessary, such as free-to-air radio and television services, Community Media services should have a separate licence category, which recognises their public service nature and their distinct contribution to the diversity and pluralism of the media environment. Where self-regulation for Community Media is appropriate, this should be encouraged and supported.

  The case for a single communications regulator is overwhelming. Convergence of broadcast media with telecommunications networks and the ability to serve different media forms on the same distribution platforms render the present sector-based regulation increasingly out of date.

Recommendation 28

  The new communications regulator, OFCOM, should be required to adopt a strategic and supportive cross-sector approach to the regulation of Community Media including broad public service requirements where licensing is required and self regulation where appropriate.

Recommendation 29

  Government should ensure that OFCOM establishes a properly staffed Community Media Division to nurture the growth and development of a wide range of Community Media services, including radio, television and new media, throughout the UK.

Recommendation 30

  Government should ensure that OFCOM maintains local offices in the nations and regions of the UK and that regulatory functions are devolved to such offices as far as possible.

11.  THE COMMUNITY MEDIA CHARTER

  Recognising that community media fosters the freedom of expression and information, the development of culture, the freedom to form and confront opinions and active participation in local life; noting that different cultures and communities lead to a diversity of forms of community media; this Charter identifies objectives which community media share and should strive to achieve:

  1.  To promote the right to communicate, to assist the free flow of the information and opinions, to encourage creative expression and to contribute to the democratic process and a pluralist society;

  2.  To provide access to training, production and distribution facilities, to encourage local creative talent, to foster local traditions, and to provide services for the benefit, entertainment, education and development of their audience;

  3.  To seek to have their ownership representative of local geographically recognisable communities or of communities of common interest;

  4.  To be editorially independent of the Government, commercial and religious institutions and political parties in determining their programming policy;

  5.  To provide a right of access to minority and marginalised groups and to promote and protect cultural and linguistic diversity;

  6.  To honestly inform their audience on the basis of information drawn from a variety of sources and to provide a right of reply to any person or organisation subject to serious misrepresentation;

  7.  To be established as organisations which are not run with a view to profit and to ensure their independence by being financed from a variety of sources;

  8.  To recognise and respect the contribution of volunteers, to recognise the right of paid workers to join their trade unions and provide satisfactory working conditions for both;

  9.  To operate management, programming and employment practices which oppose discrimination and which are open and accountable to all supporters, staff and volunteers; and

  10.  To foster exchange between community media practitioners using communications to develop greater understanding in support of peace, tolerance, democracy and development.

Recommendation 31

  The Community Media Charter was adopted in 1997 and is based on extensive consultation within the community media sector at the national and international level. In addition to providing a touchstone for the sector, the Community Media Charter provides a broad working definition from which the future regulatory framework should be drawn.

February 2001


 
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