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<TITLE>Form mary -community v access</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">(forwarded from Mary Dowson)</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Hi everyone, </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">How's it going? I know you are all busy preparing submissions to Anthony Everitt and in this context I would like you to consider lobbying for the term<B> Community</B><B> Radio</B> rather than<I> Access Radio</I>. We are all accommodating this term 'Access' but this is our opportunity to try and persuade Anthony to put 'Community' into his report and reclaim the term Community Radio. I'm sure his recommendations will influence the DCMS and so far he is saying it should be called Access Radio. So speak up now if you want to! </FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Below are a few thoughts for you to consider:</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Best wishes to you all</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Mary Dowson</FONT>
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<P><U><B><FONT FACE="Arial">What's in a name...Community v Access:</FONT></B></U>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">- "community radio" is a strong brand, widely recognised and which implies </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">"social purpose", "community-based", "social enterprise", "community arts".</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">- "access radio" is a weak brand, poorly understood, requires explaining, </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">can mean different things to different people and is confusing. It implies </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">"limited concession", "not a right but a privilege", "access without purpose".</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">- "community radio" and "community media" are now widely understood by </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">public and private funding agencies and regeneration organisations. The use </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">of the term "community radio" in licensing will have a direct beneficial </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">economic effect on the success of the sector by ensuring that it is easy to </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">explain to funders and policy makers. The term "access radio" has already </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">had and will have detrimental effect.</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">- as the concepts of "community radio" and "community media" enter the </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">mainstream, other organisations are seeking to stake a claim that they are </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">involved in "community media/radio" where previously they had shown no </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">interest (eg BBC). This poses a direct economic threat to community radio </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">organisations through competition for funds, especially from public funding </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">sources.</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">- the term "access radio" was brought into use as a face-saving device to </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">enable acceptance of the case for community radio without acknowledging </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">having done so. It was described as being distinctly different from </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">community radio yet it has been (in all but name) precisely what </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">campaigners for community radio sought.</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">- the campaign for "community radio" in the UK dates back to the early </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">eighties when government first acknowledged there was demand for the </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">sector. It is perverse to finally meet that demand but to call it something </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">different and to give no historical acknowledgement to thousands of </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">community radio pioneers.</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">- Community Radio is a globally understood term in public discourse, in </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">policy and in academia. Many books have been written about it and it </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">appears in official policy documents of multilateral institutions such as </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">the World Bank and UNESCO</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">- an Internet search throws up 10 times as many entries for "community </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">radio" compared to "access radio" and most of the latter are accidental </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">combinations like "if you want access, radio will not always give you it".</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">- The only English language speaking country, that uses the term "access </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">radio" is New Zealand. "Community radio" is used in law and/or regulation </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">in Canada, USA, Ireland, South Africa and Australia and is widely used in </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">the english speaking countries of Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean.</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">- although there are some variances in the precise legal wording of </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">definitions of "community radio", the main characteristics (community led, </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">not-for-profit, social purpose, community access) are commonly held and </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">widely understood.</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Visit the Community Media Association!</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT><A HREF="http://www.commedia.org.uk"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://www.commedia.org.uk</FONT></U></A>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Tahoma">Telephone 0114 279 5219</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Tahoma">Email nicky@commedia.org.uk</FONT>
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