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________________________________

OURMedia VI -

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE PROPOSAL

 

Sustainable Futures: 

The Role of Community Media in the 21st Century

 

Sydney, Australia - April 2007.

(Draft 01. April 2006)

________________________________

Why have the OURMedia conference in Australia

The Australian community broadcasting sector is over 30 years old, founded on the principles of access, diversity, localism and independence. The sector is now the largest sector of the Australian media: in 2005 there were 341 community radio stations, 54 additional stations holding or seeking temporary licenses, 76 remote Indigenous community television licensees and 6 generalist community television stations. Alongside this, innovative online networks and new media environments are developing enabling new kinds and increasing levels of participation. The community media sector is made up of groups from a diverse spectrum of Australian society, including: community associations and advocacy groups; culturally and linguistically diverse communities; Indigenous broadcasters; geographical communities; Gay and Lesbian groups; religious groups; music lovers; independent producers; educational institutions; seniors; and youth-run organizations . An OURMedia conference in Australia will have a special focus on community and participatory media in Australia and the Pacific with a highlight on community media in the Western Sydney region. 

 

Community Media in Western Sydney

With a population of over 1.8 million, Western Sydney is a region made up of people from over 160 different nationalities and is home to 60 percent of Australia's urban Indigenous population. It is the most culturally and linguistically diverse region in Australia. While Western Sydney is considered one of the key areas of economic, information and communication growth within Australia, in recent years it has also become a multicultural hub for community arts development, ethnic community broadcasting associations, community-based education and applied cultural research. 

The conference will be hosted by the School of Communication Arts, University of Western Sydney <http://www.uws.edu.au/about/acadorg/colleges/arts>  (UWS) in association with ETC (Educational Television Consortium) and CCR (the Centre for Cultural Research <http://www.uws.edu.au/ccr>  at UWS, a member of the Consortium of Humanities Centres and Institutes). The University of Western Sydney <http://www.uws.edu.au/about/locations>  is member of AUCEA <http://www.aucea.net.au> , an alliance of Australian universities committed to university-community engagement in order to promote the social, environmental and economic and cultural development of communities.  A central aim of the University of Western Sydney (UWS) is to link arms with community, public services, industry and business across Greater Western Sydney to exchange knowledge, harness community expertise, and to contribute to the region's development, prosperity and social capital. The School of Communication Arts also houses the studios of Channel 31 Television Sydney <http://www.tvs.org.au>  (TVS), a free-to-air community TV station. 

 

Conference Theme

Sustainable Futures: The role of community media in the 21st century

 

While the 1980s saw most communications academics entranced by the antics of the mass media, the new millennium began with a newfound interest in researching and theorizing alternative media studies, also known as citizens' media, radical media, médias libres, participatory media, community media, or grassroots media.

 

The scope of community media has now broadened with the advent of digital media technologies. Media participation is becoming an everyday occurrence for a growing number of the world's population, expanding community networks and growing new networks based on interest rather than geographic locality. These networks are using and producing new content forms that are specifically designed for community use (discussion lists, blogs, vlogs, open publishing forums, webzines etc). At the same time, the open source and creative commons copyright movements have reinvigorated community media debates, advocating and pursuing accessible, collaborative communication spaces. 

 

Changes are also occurring across broadcast, cable and satellite delivered media. Community radio and television policy, once confined to a small number of countries, is making headway into government agendas across the globe. At the same time, existing community broadcasters are being confronted by the challenges of digital transmission - they must restate their claim to broadcast spectrum and, if successful, grapple with the costs of digital transmission technology. 

 

This conference theme aims to explore the cultural and social significance of alternative and independent media in the decades that lie ahead. 

·         How is the future perceived by the scholars, activists, policymakers and community media producers who are building knowledge of and developing community media in the early 21st century?

·       How do we understand 'community' and community media in globalizing contexts? 

·       Do we need formal community media structures to harness and progress broader participation in the media? 

·       What community engagement models and strategies are working; which are not? 

·       Do new media technologies replace or enhance community broadcasting? 

·       What needs to be done - in terms of content and policy development - to make the most of digital broadcasting technology (including emerging wireless media)? how can community media practitioners ensure that policies work for and not against the sector

 

Community media is traditionally a highly resilient sector of the media, managing to exist in spite of regulatory and technological barriers. How do we ensure a sustainable future for community media? 

 

The conference will be structured around four types of sessions which demonstrate innovative cultural research & practices in community media. 

 

1.      Academic and Research Papers: 

Papers that enrich the intellectual and critical resources to understand community media studies and push forward theories and models that engage with social and political work at the community level. 

 

2.      Project Specific Panels:

Overview of specific global/local projects and initiatives discussing modes of practice, strategies and tactics of enhancing and fostering community media development.  

 

3.      Discussion forums:

Public forum and open debate sessions between community media practitioners, advocates, scholars, artists, cultural development officers, policy makers and the general public addressing the critical issues to re-think the role of community media in decades ahead. 

 

 

 

 

4.      Media workshops

An interactive media lab/workshop organized by UWS in conjunction with local community media partners. Includes demonstrations, technical lab, video screenings and student work

 

Conference Focus Areas

 

Community Media Research

·         The role for research in community building (applied, participatory & action research scholarship).

·         Conceptualising a 'community' in a globalized world.

·         Community media and cultural politics: theories, models, methodologies and strategies. 

·         Community media and the creative industries.

 

Participatory Communication for Social Change

·         Participatory Communication for Social Change: International research and initiatives

·         Participatory Design and sustainable community media initiatives

·         Community-based education and media literacies 

·         ICT, community and economic development

 

Media Diversity and Social Movements

·         Journalism, media diversity and community

·         Peace Journalism

·         Media Activism: Tactical & Autonomous Community Media

·         Indigenous media, Aboriginal Media

 

Community Media and New Technologies

·         The impact on community broadcasting: community TV, community radio 

·         Narrowcasting: podcasting. digital CTV. Interactive media

·         Using digital/interactive media for fostering participatory models of media production/practice. 

·         Global networks and community media

·         Free software; Creative & Digital Commons

 

Community Media & Policy

·         Media reform and community media

·         International conventions and national media policies: 

·         Communication rights 

·         NGOs and Community Media

·         Commercialisation and new community media models

·         Free trade agreements and their potential impact on local media ecologies


Youth Media

·         Community media and young people

·         Children and community media

·         Media literacy, training and community knowledge

·         Young people and the development of new media environments



Community Media in the Pacific

·         Community media & local media production 

 

Community Media in Western Sydney

·         Community media & local media production 

·         Ethnic media/ethnic press



 

The following supporting institutions and community organizations have expressed their support to hold OURMedia VI in Sydney.

 

·         AMARC ASIA PACIFIC

·         Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation (iCi) Queensland University of Technology 

·         Research Initiative on International Activism (University of Technology, Sydney)

·         Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA)

·         ETC  - Education Television Consortium

·         3RRR

·         Community Media Services

·         C31 Melbourne

·         MetroScreen

·         Community Spectrum Taskforce 

·         RMIT School of Applied Communication 




 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

 

The proposed structure combines a local OURMEDIA organizing committee, and an internal logistics group at the University of Western Sydney, which will work together with an international OURMEDIA steering committee in organizing and funding the conference. These committees will provide logistical support when applicable and will also select keynote speakers. 

 

Local OURMedia Organizing Committee

Juan F Salazar (University of Western Sydney) 

Ellie Rennie (Swinburne University)

Tanya Notley (Queensland University of Technology)

Tanja Dreher (University of Technology, Sydney)

 

With support from Jo Tacchi (Queensland University of Technology), Christina Spurgeon (Queensland University of Technology), Chris Joyner (ABC, Adelaide), Penny O'Donnell (University of Technology, Sydney)

 

UWS Logistics committee

Juan F Salazar

Kaye Shumack

Antonio Castillo

Sarah Waterson 

 

International OURMedia Committee

Alfonso Gumucio (Consortium for Social Change, Guatemala); Clemencia Rodriguez (University of Oklahoma); Jethro Pettit (Institute of Development Studies, Sussex University); Marilu Villachica (Southern Illinois University); Tripta Chandula (Queensland Univeristy of Technology); Elvira Truglia (World Social Justice, Montreal); Stefania Milan (IPS, London); Gaby Hadl, Ritsumeikan University (Japan); Sergio Rodriguez (Geomar, Montreal). 

 

Conference Dates: The 4-day conference is planned for 16-20 April- 2007.

Registration costs: US$ 250 (TBC); special rates will apply for developing countries, and local students. 

Expected Attendance: 50-70 international- 100-150 national/local. 

 

Publications: Refereed papers will be published in the conference proceedings. Selected papers may also be published in a special issue of 3CMedia: Journal of Community, Citizen's and Third Sector Media and Communication in 2007. All papers will be posted in the ourmedia website

 

 
Clemencia Rodriguez
Associate Professor
Department of Communication
University of Oklahoma
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405 325 1570