Brief summary of activity
The following activity will make the group aware of the ethos and specificity of the community radio offering the training, and of networks, training and licensing for community radio.
Aim of the activity
To identify the ethos of community radio and understand the differences of community radio when compared with other media.
Expected Outcomes
After this activity the learner should be able to identify:
- The role of Community Radio in the wider media landscape
- Introduction to the National/Regional Network.
- Introduction to AMARC and CMFE
- Importance of networking
- Understanding of the ethos, mission and operations of your organisation.
Experience and skills required
Broad knowledge of all kinds of media and particularly community media (history, legal status, networks), facilitation skills, as this activity is mostly an open discussion.
Infrastructure, setting, resources
Training room with chairs.
Length
90 minutes
Material
Projector and laptop and internet access.
Flipchart and markers.
Leaflets from the community media networks and/or handouts on AMARC and CMFE.
The national/regional network of community radios, and basic historical introduction to community media in the region.
Recorder (optional).
How the activity should take place
Tutor Led Round table Discussion on Media.
The discussion should explore Media in the country:
- What forms the media (public service, local and national commercial, newspapers, TV, Radio, New media, who owns the media, what does the media provide, what is the role of Community Media in all this
- What do they know of Community Radio. The Purpose is to get learners thinking about Media in general and the reason for Community Radios existence. Ask questions to provoke responses depending on the learner profile. What do you watch on TV, where do you get your news from, etc After the discussion takes place, the Trainer could give a short presentation on the history of your community radio station. Note: It might be useful to bring in a long-term volunteer who was around in the early days to do this.
Trainer Info: This should include how and when the station began, the original vision, and motivation for it some notable early experiences and logistics e.g. venue, equipment, volunteers, finances etc. It might be worth to touch on legislation and regulation (how licensing works and requirements attached to license and funding).
Some information on Copyright is recommended in this section.
Finally, the training could offer some information on the national/regional network and international networks representing community radio, such as AMARC or CMFE and/or distribute a handout with summary information on both organisations. Alternative: use videos available such as AMARC Conference in Dublin or AMARC International Assembly in La Plata, Argentina
Recommended max. number of participants and trainees to trainers ratio
10 (for visually impaired and learning difficulties, 4 per trainer)
Risk and possible adaptation
Discussion can be recorded, edited and podcast and offered as a resource to vision impaired participants. Leaflets and hand-outs can be e-mailed to the group.
Tips for Trainers
Keep the discussion interactive. Ask questions to trainees as to keep then engaged.
Requirements for participants
No specific requirements.
Analysis and evaluation
Can participant name three key elements of the ethos of your organisation?
Can they name the name of the national/regional network and the international networks?
Scheduling
Training Introduction. Ethos is important to understand editorial decisions, research sources, and values for community radio content production. Handouts about regional, national and international networks can be prepared by trainer visiting the networks’ websites
For information about AMARC Europe visit amarceurope.eu. For information about CMFE visit cmfe.org