tranquileye free media papers

Introduction by Susan Forde, Michael Meadows, and Kerrie Foxwell to issue 10 (February 2005) of the journal Transformations called Media Communities: Local Voices, focusing on community and independent media.

From the introduction: It is being recognised internationally that in the face of globalisation, what needs protecting is ‘cultural diversity' rather than ‘cultural exception' and it is community broadcasting that has a particularly important role to play in this process (Dabbous-Sensenig 42). The community media sector worldwide is diverse and expanding, yet manages to maintain special links with its varied communities—described by some as a ‘participatory relationship' (Girard Passion 13). The empowering possibilities of local media have been canvassed and acknowledged globally in the past 10 years but virtually all this work has focussed on production rather than reception (Atton; Downing; Molnar and Meadows; Rodriguez).