Radio Journal:International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media - Volume 3, Issue 3, 2005

May community radio be a therapy for patients who suffer from mental diseases? Can radio be a useful tool both for recovering the selves of the patients and for the normal people outside the hospitals, helping to communicate less stereotyped images of the mental illness? This article will try to answer these questions, analysing two different case histories, the ones of Radio la Colifata of Buenos Aires the first radio station to be totally conducted by patients and of Radio Rete 180 of Mantova, Italy, the last born of this genre. The article is the result of ethnographic research conducted in Buenos Aires and in Mantova through the methods of participant observation of the live radio sessions and in-depth interviews with the patients. The experience I had studying these crazy radio stations led me to the belief that community radio practice further enhances the feeling of being at home with ourselves and with others and can effectively work as a tool of social connection and participation, not only in the case of mentally ill patients as it will be shown here, but also in other cases of Otherness (i.e. asylum seekers, migrants, prison inmates, etc.).

Due to the presence of over 12 million people from almost 60 different ethnic groups, Mexico is a multicultural/ethnic country. Indigenous radio has developed under the auspices of a governmental organization charged with policy-making directed toward these populations. Thus a hybrid model for radio has emerged combining public, state, and local community media characteristics. Based upon qualitative research conducted in the geographical area covered by the oldest of these stations, this article focuses on the sociocultural repercussions of indigenous radio and shows how, although linked to the governmental apparatus, it has subtly contributed to the transformation of the dominant symbolic order and has strengthened the sociocultural cohesion among the three ethnic groups who inhabit the region. The research reveals the relevance of the intercommunication which radio facilitates and shows how beyond direct exposure to the medium, radio produces a trans-territorial and trans-generational impact in the social imagination of indigenous populations.

The first comprehensive study of the Australian community radio sector at the turn of the millennium revealed insights into the contemporary operations of the sector, particularly in terms of its connections to communities, production of local content, and creation of a citizens media. It offered an analysis of the people working in community radio their training levels, skills, personal profile, career goals and so on. This article looks specifically at the processes of the formation of a community public sphere in Australia through the activities of around 25,000 volunteers and 4 million listeners each week in the sector across the country. It is particularly relevant in light of the recent trials and transmission of access radio in the United Kingdom, and the growth of community radio across Europe. As Australia was one of the few countries to legislate for community radio in the early 1970s, the experience and development of community radio here is relevant to the sector's global development. The discussion considers some early findings from the first qualitative audience study of the sector by the authors.

A renaissance occurred from the late 1960s in the art of documentary and feature production in radio, especially from within the major public broadcasters of Europe. Surprisingly, the pioneering work of this little commented-upon group of accomplished artisans finds its most immediate parallels not in radio but film culture, particularly in the auteur, nouvelle vague and cinma-vrit movements of the time. The new acoustic documentary-feature project suggests a radio new wave: a new art of wild sound recording freed from script and studio, and made possible by the advent of portable recorders, microphones and a strong infusion of 1968 zeitgeist.

NPR: The Trials and Triumphs of National Public Radio, Michael P. McCauley (2005) Columbia: Columbia University Press, 170 pp., ISBN 0231121601 (pbk), 20

Listener Supported: The Culture and History of Public Radio, Jack W. Mitchell (2005) Westport: Praeger Publishers, 323 pp., ISBN 0275983528 (hbk), 22.99

I Thought my Father was God: And Other True Tales from NPR's National Story Project, Paul Auster (2002) New York, Picador, 416 pp., ISBN 0312421001 (pbk), 15.00 (USA imprint only)

Uncertain Vision: Birt, Dyke and the Reinvention of the BBC, Georgina Born (2005) London: Vintage, 564 pp. ISBN 0-099-42893-8 (pbk), 12.99