http:www'frf'at

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• http//www.frf.at

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Personal Background

• Cultural and media management, Theatre Studies
  and Philosophy
• Since 2000 working in the Community Radio and
  Cultural Sector as marketing and project manager,
  general manager Radio FRO /Linz.
• Cofounder of Free Radio Freistadt in 2002.
  Emphasis on regional development and cross border
  strategies.
• Projects and conferences on freedom of
  information and communication with a strong focus
  on technology and media development.
• FM_at_edia Forum Freistadt on the potential of
  cross-border media activities within regional
  development processes in the area of Upper
  Austria and South Bohemia.
• Board member of the Austrian Association of Free
  Radio Stations

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Personal Background

• Studied Cultural and media management, Theatre
  Studies and Philosophy
• Since 2000 working in the Community Radio and
  Cultural Sector as marketing and project manager,
  general manager Radio FRO /Linz.
• Cofounder of Free Radio Freistadt in 2002.
  Emphasis on regional development and cross border
  strategies.
• Projects and conferences on freedom of
  information and communication with a strong focus
  on technology and media development.
• FM_at_edia Forum Freistadt on the potential of
  cross-border media activities within regional
  development processes in the area of Upper
  Austria and South Bohemia.
• Board member of the Austrian Association of Free
  Radio Stations

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Media Situation

• Official Public and Private sector Community
  Radios not legally mentioned
• No national funding, projetcs depend on regional
  governements and local authorities.
• Most of the radios are facing financial problems
• Local media disappearing, lack of communication
  and information offers especially for
  marginalized groups

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Free Radio Freistadt

• Started as temporary cultural project in
  Freistadt in 2001 2 Weeks Community Radio
  program with local associations and cultural
  workers. Great response from the local public.
• Founding of a limited company Free Radio
  Freistadt to apply for a frequency license in
  2003 (transmission area of 150.000 people) in a
  competition with commercial radios.
• Frequency allocation confirmed in 2004. Unique
  (market) position
• Kick off on 2. March 2005 with a 24 h Open Access
  program with fixed schedules related to target
  groups and topics.
• Currently 20 different shows, 40 programmakers
  and a total of 400 broadcasts in 8 months,
  created by local activists and associations,
  schools, volunteers from different generations
  and backgrounds.

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Free Radio Freistadt

• Cultural, seniors and youth projects financed by
  regional government.
• Focus on regional development and cross border
  issues, multilingual programming with partners
  from Czech Republic
• Regularly trainings on journalistic,
  organizational, technical skills
• Financial issues Low funding from regional
  government, no funding from national government,
  no money from townships and local communities.
• Dependent on EU Funds (Interreg III A, EFRE)
• Low rate of unemployment but economically
  underdeveloped cross border region.
• Media literacy, ability to communicate,
  articulate ideas and opinions and media
  competences are of growing relevance for regional
  development.

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Free Radio Freistadt

• 50 Years of Iron Curtain Communication and
  exchange between neighborhood countries is a big
  issue for cultural, political and economic
  development.
• Lack of Regional Media and Cross Border Media.
  Need for participatory approaches along regional
  development processes.
• Reference project European Council - Congress of
  Regions and Local Authorities notes Free Radio
  Freistadt as case study for a cross border media
  landscape
• Missing link Regulations for cross border
  service areas. Czech side increasingly involved
  in program making. Though technically feasible
  cross border broadcasting is (legally) not
  possible.

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Global perspective - local environment

• Increasingly globalized and one-dimensional media
  landscape Access to cultural goods, production
  and distribution opportunities are great
  challenges of our times.
• Local information and communication tend to
  disappear The most expensive news are local
  news.
• Technical development, digitalization, broadband
  Bert Brechts vision of a two way media
  landscape seems realistic (interaction,
  feedback, creation and editing of content)
• Intermedial strategies are becoming essential
  link ICT with broadcast technologies
• Booming need to interact, participate and
  contribute (Blogs, Wikis)
• Citizen Journalism is becoming a global trend
  turning the traditional journalism model upside
  down

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Perspectives

• Commercial media discover consumers as content
  providers (Google, current.tv) shift from
  capturing attention to managing attention
• Mining and distributing user generated content -
  Long lasting practice of community is becoming a
  business model.
• Technological development does not lead to
  democratization of information an knowledge.
  Emancipatory potential of media and common
  independent public sphere are strong issues -
  Googles smart mission is to organize the worlds
  information and make it universally accessible
  and useful.
• Bringing culture and commerce into balanced
  ecology is one of the most important political
  tasks.

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Role of Community Media

• Role of a media organization is changing Media
  consumers, to varying degrees, will be
  increasingly involved in the creative process of
  creating, editing, and repurposing content.
• This Changing environment can lead to a better
  position and more relevance for Community Media
• Providing access and to information and
  knowledge Open forums and spaces information,
  knowledge can be produced, distributed, discussed
  and published.
• Creating expanded possibilities for communication
  particularly in socially and geographically
  marginal zones. Adapting and integration
  technology, new and challenging medial spaces
  have been opened up.
• Models for a diverse media landscape. Community
  Radio act as Voices of a Region absorbing,
  integrating, and distributing the social, ethnic,
  an cultural diversity of society.

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Role of Community Media

• Regional development processes Via community
  media people can become Agents in their own
  development.
• Changes have been in the instruments and not in
  the general objectives. The core issues and
  objective are still the same Making available
  opportunities for the expression of opinions and
  self representation.
• These media stand for a strong idea - This is
  what makes the difference to commercial projects.