Removing Barriers, Increasing Effectiveness - amarc

platforms and technologies? How can its contribution to the public good bedemonstrated?How can it provide a voice for critical and alternative perspectives and not be cooptedby government agendas or assimilated into the marketplace?There are barriers that distract community broadcasters from their social purposehindering their ability to empower communities to speak for themselves, to give avoice to the voiceless and to be a force for social and economic good. Ascommunity broadcasting gains mainstream recognition, its greatest challenge willbe to demonstrate its immediate social impact and significance - its contributionto culture, education, good governance and citizens’ participation - its influence infacilitating development processes when the latter can only be measured overlonger periods of time. In responding to this challenge, however, it must avoidbeing turned simply into an instrument of public service delivery. It mustvigorously defend its independence, its right to challenge those in authority andto hold leaders to account.There remains a need to raise awareness on the fact that communities have theright to own and operate their own community media. There is still much to bedone in many countries to establish policies, laws and regulations that enableand encourage community broadcasting. There needs to be formal recognition ofcommunity broadcasting as a distinct sector. This should result in a transparentand straightforward process for the allocation of radio spectrum and licensing forcommunity broadcasters without political interference.Finally, alongside the laws and regulations that can help build communitybroadcasting, there is a need to build capacity among community-basedorganizations to develop sustainable models of community media that contributeto the social and economic well being of communities. This should includecapacity building for journalists in issues related to development goals.Furthermore, the regulatory framework should consider sustainability andresourcing of community radio, including a nominal level for licence fees,encouraging support from their communities with proper assistance.AMARC Community Radio Social Impact Assessment 2007 Page 85 of 128