Effective governance is a cornerstone of success for any community media project, whether it’s a community newspaper or a radio station. Governance encompasses more than just adherence to legal and financial obligations, or up-to-date administration; it involves fostering a culture of transparency, ethical practices, and community engagement. Good governance ensures that community media entities, which are typically participative and operated by non-professionals, operate in a manner that is accountable to their members, supporters, stakeholders and responsive to the needs of the communities they serve, thereby enhancing their credibility, sustainability, and impact.
Reasons for Governance of Community Media
Effective governance and administration of a community media project play a crucial role in fostering democratic participation, ensuring transparency and accountability, and facilitating robust information dissemination.[i] These practices are vital in promoting community development and outreach, managing finances responsibly, building capacity within the organisation, resolving conflicts effectively, and supporting local initiatives. Such governance not only strengthens the project’s foundation but also enhances its contribution to the community it serves. Good governance and administration are crucial for community radio for several reasons:
Democratic Participation: Community radio facilitates democratic processes by giving a voice to the marginalised and underrepresented groups within a community. It allows for the participation of community members in policy-making discussions with the government and civil society leaders, thereby enhancing local governance.[ii]
Transparency and Accountability: By broadcasting discussions, meetings, and conferences, community radio promotes transparency and holds local government and council members accountable to the public. This helps in ensuring that the state, market, and society work collaboratively for the people’s benefit.[iii]
Information Dissemination: Community radio serves as a platform to broadcast informative programs that can educate the community on various issues, including land rights, health, and local governance, thus empowering citizens with knowledge and promoting their rights.[iv]
Community Development and Outreach: Good administration ensures that the radio station functions as a community centre, training college, and social club, among other roles. This multifaceted approach contributes to the overall development of the community.[v]
Financial Management: Effective governance includes sound financial management, ensuring that the station’s operations are sustainable. This involves tasks such as completing project monitoring and evaluation forms for funders, generating and processing invoices, and keeping track of bills.[vi]
Capacity Building: Governance involves providing leadership and strategy for the organisation, which includes training and supporting volunteers, community development workers, and other staff to fulfil the station’s role effectively.[vii]
Conflict Management: Good governance principles include managing conflict and change within the station, which is essential for maintaining a harmonious and productive environment.[viii]
Promotion of Local Initiatives: Community radio can promote transparency and accountability of local government representatives, thus accelerating local development initiatives and ensuring that community needs are addressed.[ix]
Good governance and administration enable community radio to act as a catalyst for social change, a mediator in public-private partnerships, and an arbitrator in local affairs, ultimately contributing to the empowerment and development of the community it serves.[x]
Good Governance Practices
Good governance practices for community radio stations are essential to ensure that they operate effectively, transparently, and in the best interest of the communities they serve. Here are some examples of good governance practices:
Clear Goals and Objectives: Establishing three to four clear goals for what the station wants to achieve in the coming years, documenting these goals, and tracking progress regularly.
Legal Responsibility: Understanding and adhering to legal responsibilities under the relevant incorporated structure, as a not-for-profit and/or charity, and to the Community Broadcasting Radio Codes of Practice.
Risk Management: Developing a comprehensive risk management plan that considers all outcomes of the station’s activities and prepares for contingencies, such as not receiving a grant or failing to raise enough money during fundraising.
Accountability and Transparency: Ensuring that the station’s business is open to its members unless privacy concerns dictate confidentiality. This includes being transparent about the station’s operations and decisions.
Effective Leadership: Embracing good leadership principles such as honesty and integrity, and ensuring that the board or management committee leads by example in promoting good governance within the station.
Good Record Keeping: Maintaining accurate and up-to-date records of the station’s activities, financial transactions, and decisions to ensure accountability and facilitate smooth operations.
Compliance with Laws and Regulations: Keeping abreast of and complying with broadcasting laws, media laws, and other regulations that affect the station’s operations.
Complaints Handling: Implementing a clear and accessible process for handling complaints, which is essential for maintaining trust and credibility with the community.
Internal and External Communications: Ensuring effective communication channels within the station and with external stakeholders to promote engagement and collaboration.
Board Succession Planning: Preparing for the future by planning for board succession to maintain continuity and stability in governance.
These practices help community radio stations to fulfil their role as community hubs, fostering local engagement, and providing a platform for education, information dissemination, and local governance support.
Implementing Governance Practices
Community radio stations face several challenges in implementing good governance practices:
Financial Constraints: Many community radio stations struggle with financial issues, which can hinder their ability to maintain operations, invest in necessary equipment, and pay staff.
Lack of Expertise: Community radio stations often rely on volunteers who may lack the necessary skills or expertise in areas such as finance, human resources, and legal compliance.
High Turnover Rate: The reliance on volunteers can lead to a high turnover rate, which can disrupt continuity and stability in the station’s operations.
Regulatory Constraints: Stations may face restrictions from regulatory bodies, such as limitations on airtime utilisation, which can impact their programming and operations.
Poor Management: Some stations suffer from poor management, which can lead to issues such as low-quality programming, poor administration and technical problems.
Political Interference: In some cases, public servants or politically affiliated individuals may misuse the platform for personal gain, contrary to legislative regulations.
Infrastructure Issues: Lack of adequate broadcast equipment, maintenance skills, and financial resources can significantly affect the overall operation and broadcast quality of the stations.
Competition: Overlapping of community radios in certain areas can result in stiff competition for limited advertising, affecting their financial sustainability.
Lack of Community Engagement: In some cases, the community may not feel a sense of ownership or engagement with the station, which can affect its relevance and sustainability.
Addressing these challenges requires a multifaceted approach, including capacity building, financial planning, regulatory compliance, and fostering community engagement.
Improving Governance Skills
Community radio stations can improve management skills among their staff by implementing the following training strategies:
Planning and Delivering Training Sessions: Develop well-structured training sessions that are tailored to the needs of the station and its staff. This includes setting clear objectives, using practical exercises, and ensuring that the training is relevant to the participants’ roles.
Guided Practice: Reinforce learning through hands-on exercises that allow staff to apply new information and build skills in a practical setting. This approach helps to solidify knowledge and improve competency.
Learning Styles: Recognise and accommodate different learning styles among staff members to ensure that training is effective for everyone. This may involve a mix of visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic teaching methods.
Reflection: Include reflection in the training process to help learners think about what they have learned and how they can apply it to their work.
Encouraging Creativity: Support and encourage staff to experiment with new approaches and ideas, fostering a culture of innovation within the station.
Employability Training: Utilise resources from projects like Employment FM, which focus on using community radio for employability training, to enhance communication and job-related skills among staff.
Leadership Training: Offer leadership development programs to enhance the skills of station managers and board members, focusing on good leadership principles such as honesty and integrity.
Good Record Keeping: Train staff in maintaining accurate and up-to-date records of the station’s activities, financial transactions, and decisions to ensure accountability and facilitate smooth operations.
Compliance Training: Keep staff informed about broadcasting laws, media laws, and other regulations that affect the station’s operations, ensuring that they understand and adhere to these legal responsibilities.
Volunteer Management: Implement a structured volunteer management system that includes training, role clarity, and appreciation to reduce turnover and improve station operations.
Customised On-Site Courses: Consider on-site courses tailored to the specific needs of the station’s management team, which can cover topics like community radio management, sustainability models, and community participation.
Professional Development Opportunities: Explore professional development training events and courses that are specifically designed for media management, such as those offered by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB).
By investing in these training strategies, community radio stations can build a more skilled, knowledgeable, and effective management team that is better equipped to meet the challenges of running a community-focused broadcast service.
These principles highlight that trust in community media, coupled with the empowerment of individuals to use and create their own media, is pivotal for fostering community engagement and capacity building. Trust enhances media credibility, making it a reliable source for information and a platform for diverse voices. Meanwhile, enabling people to contribute to media creation cultivates a sense of ownership and participation, which is instrumental in building a strong, interconnected community. This approach strengthens community ties and encourages active involvement in local governance and social issues.
[i] https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000134208
[ii] https://www.apc.org/fr/node/8919
[iii] https://www.communityradiotoolkit.net/station-management/managing-station/
[iv] https://www.cbaa.org.au/sites/default/files/media/CMTO%20Governance%20Pathways%20Learner%20Resource%20V2.0.pdf
[v] https://www.apc.org/en/blog/role-community-radio-establishing-good-governance-through-right-information-bangladesh
[vi] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/22041451.2023.2167511
[vii] https://decentred.co.uk/community-media-good-governance-principles/
[viii] https://www.media-diversity.org/additional-files/documents/A%20Guides/what%20is%20community%20radio%20A%20resource%20guide%20%5BEN%5D.pdf
[ix] https://www.resilience.org/stories/2023-05-22/community-radio-and-social-power/
[x] https://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/869
