"This article outlines the early history of the Australian community radio sector. It focuses on three of the country’s oldest stations – Radio Adelaide, 4ZZZ and 3CR – to document the establishment and growth of the sector over the past fifty years. Two theoretical lenses are identified from ... the literature on Australian community broadcasting, loosely categorized as citizens’ media and empowerment media, and these are evident in the narratives of the case study stations. A third framework – social movement theory – is proposed for further understanding the value of community broadcasting and its contributions to the wider media landscape." (Abstract) more

"This book explores how community radio contributes to social change. Community radio remains a unique communication platform under digital capitalism, arguably capable of expanding the project of media democratisation. Yet there is a lack of in-depth analysis of community radio experience, and a de ... arth of understanding of its functionality as an actively transformative tool for greater equity in society. This project combines the theoretical positions of the political economy of communication with a citizen's media perspective in order to interrogate community radio's democratic potential. By presenting case studies of two radio stations in Melbourne (Australia) and Lospalos (Timor Leste), and applying multiple research methods, the book reveals community radio's amplification of media participation, communication rights, counter-hegemony and media power - in effect, its distinct regenerative voice." (Introduction) more