Co-designing convivial tools to support participation in community radio
Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, volume 18, issue 1 (2020), pp. 43-61
"In this article, we draw on experiences from the Grassroot Wavelengths project that introduces an innovative peer-to-peer platform to support the creation and management of community radio stations. We offer insight into the practices of participation in community media, where the users influence decisions concerning the technology, the content, the actors and the organization policy of the radio station, through a participatory design approach. These collaborations between researchers and users, together with a focus on the development of relational assets in local contexts, are fundamental in an attempt to design a platform that fosters conviviality and offers an alternative way to consider participation in community media." (Abstract)
"GW is a European Commission Horizon 2020 funded project focused on isolated geographical communities in Portugal, Romania and Ireland. It is a civic media innovation based on RootIO technologies. In order to make community radio stations less expensive to found and operate, a platform was designed as a free/open hardware and software system that allows a low-power FM radio station based on a smartphone, FM transmitter and an antenna, to operate without requiring a studio. The community may schedule the broadcasting of pre-uploaded audio content, streaming audio-media and podcasts through a web interface, but otherwise interact entirely through their FM radio and phone. Using only a basic phone, controlling interaction through interactive voice response (IVR), locals can conduct live shows with callers; locals can record ads or announcements; and citizen journalists can cover live meetings, sports events or discuss issues pertinent to them. The community members listen on FM radio and interact with the station through their (non-smart) phones. This technology grants many of the connectivity and functions of a bigger station for roughly 1/100th of the cost." (The project, page 48)
