This paper explores routes towards guiding principles for community-centred content creation and sheds light on relevant practices. It puts so-called “community interest media” (CIM) in critical dialogue with the established term “public interest media” and introduces first-hand experiences with participatory media making.
The empirical starting point for this research is the observed impact of digital networks (especially, but not only, the internet) on community-centred media initiatives that already existed in analogical times as free and community radios, fanzines, cinema clubs, etc. New configurations are constantly emerging, also in interaction with native digital formats, such as streaming, podcasting and online news platforms.
Of special interest to us is the collaboration between community networks (CNs) and community content creation and dissemination across territories of the Global Majority. Those practices share a notion of autonomy and local agency to self-organise and self-determine the infrastructure and collective processes that shape meaningful connectivity and also provide a basis to co-create digital content and services within and beyond a local setting. We see those emerging practices as valuable contributions to provide understanding of new models of digital inclusion, participatory communication and community-led media development. The main objectives of this paper are to share these insights and trigger collaborations and replications.
With the aim of meeting the announced goals of framing community interest media and introducing relevant practices from the ground, our study is divided into two parts.
The first part reconstructs a discussion of the research group on participatory media making, community connectivity and sustainability, while also referencing previous relevant work by academics and practitioners. It suggests an approach that puts less emphasis on a conceptual definition and instead focuses on a relational and principle-based understanding of CIM. It further coins specific stages of a cyclical communication process that contributes to an analytic dimensioning of community interest media in the making.
The second part frames eight small case studies conducted by our research collective in Brazil, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria and the Philippines, as well as two cross-regional practices. The contributions delve into the diverse sociopolitical contexts of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe, discussing challenges and visions to guide communities and their community-centred connectivity initiatives (CCCIs) in designing and dimensioning their own media.
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