Community Media - The Role of Policy

The Role of Policy

Historically, communications policy has had direct consequences for community media. The future of the various modes of community media are largely dependent on the path that legislation takes. The main theme of community media in whatever form it is created is access and participation. Policy can be written in ways that are conducive to the strengthening of these democratic principles while also, conversely, be enacted as barriers to the enhancement of civic society as it pertains to media.

Rennie (2006) points out that community radio and television have consistently been in a binary position to the "dominant cultural policy objectives (p. 5)." For example, Public-access television commonly referred to as Public, educational, and government access (PEG) channels in the United States has throughout its history been linked to policy. From its earliest form as community antenna television (CATV), the relationship between the FCC and the cable TV industry, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), and local municipalities and citizens can be likened to a roller coaster ride.

The FCC recognized the public interest implications of Public-access television and in 1969 ordered cable companies to transmit their own programming as well as begin experimenting with community access channels (Rennie, 2006, p. 52). A downside of public-access television developing with a focus on the local is the lack of a national vision in terms of policy which consequently left ambiguity around community media as a whole (Rennie, 2006, p. 52).

In 1972 the FCC issued a Report and Order that sought to guide the role of the cable industry towards the benefit of the public interest. In addition, the new cable rules gave the FCC regulatory powers, set up the franchise agreement negotiations to be worked out by local governments and cable companies, and also via national policy mandated the setting aside of up to three channels for PEG use (Rennie, 2006, p. 53). The Supreme Court reversed this legally in 1979 when suit was brought by the Midwest Video Corporation arguing that their editorial right was being infringed upon. At the congressional and municipal levels, however, access remained mandated (Rennie, 2006, p. 54). The Cable Television Protection and Competition Act of 1992 did indeed restore cable companies' editorial control as it pertains to indecent material. A clause in the act allows " cable television operators - who by law have no say in access programming decisions - to ban "indecent" or "obscene" material, or " material soliciting or promoting unlawful conduct." Many access providers fear that cable operators - who have often considered access a thorn in their side - could use this clause to meddle with and possibly even shut down access centers. There has been little publicized evidence of what First Amendment freedoms are presently at risk (http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-15627401.html).

From these examples it is clear that policy has a great influence on community media. The Telecommunications Act of 1996, the beaten back proposals of the Chairperson Powell version of the FCC in 2003, and the recent legislation in the House of Representatives that succumbed to a congressional mid-term power shift are other examples of the role policy can play in the community media reality. Currently, the legislative battles are particularly consequential to the community sphere. Some of the key issues that are on the table today that have potentially dire consequences for community media include video franchise reform, community internet, network neutrality, and the continued trend of media consolidation. The shape that policy takes as well as the level of activism and grassroots organizing will be vital to the future of community media in the United States and the rest of the world. The digital era has enormous possibilities for civil society and democracy building. The activist issues are all interconnected and must be safeguarded in terms of access and participation so that the tools of community media are not usurped by the dominant social forces and rendered irrelevant.