Local Radio, Going Global

Perhaps the most ubiquitous of all the mass media, radio is also one of the longest established, dating back to the beginning of the last century. Yet it is one of the least theorized. This book examines the development of local radio broadcasting and the trend in the UK and abroad for locally-owned, locally-originated and locally-accountable commercial radio stations to fall into the hands of national and even international media groups. They in turn disadvantage the communities from which they seek to profit, by removing from them a means of cultural expression and democratic participation. In essence, localness in local radio is an endangered species, despite being a relatively recent phenomenon.

By tracing the early development of local radio through ideologically-charged debates around public-service broadcasting and the fitness of the private sector to exploit scarce resources, to present-day digital environments in which traditional rationales for regulation on ownership and content have become increasingly challenged, the book provides a manifesto for informed speculation around future developments in local radio. Guy Starkey, a former radio producer and presenter, identifies and rationalizes current trends in local radio within wider globalizing influences in a range of international contexts. A principal focus on the United Kingdom is complemented by comparisons with different contexts in North America, the Commonwealth and the European Union.

"Local Radio, Going Global is well informed, academically robust, and clearly coming from someone with a great affection for radio. The book explores the development of local radio in detail but always within the wider social, political and economic context, and the author's clear, personable and approachable voice adds greatly to the value of this work. It is an important new resource for the radio scholar." - Jason Griffiths, University of Gloucestershire, UK

An examination ofthe development of local radio broadcasting and the trend for locally-owned, locally-originated and locally-accountable commercial radio stations to fall into the hands of national and international media groups. Starkey traces the early development of local radio through to present-day digital environments."

Guy Starkey is Professor of Radio Journalism and Head of the Department of Media at the University of Sunderland, UK. A former radio producer and presenter, he has written widely within his areas of research interest. His publications include Radio in Context (2004), Balance and Bias in Journalism: Representation, Regulation and Democracy (2007) and Radio Journalism (with Professor Andrew Crisell, 2009). His journal articles include 'Radio Audience Research - Challenging the Gold Standard' and 'Estimating Audiences: Sampling in Television and Radio Audience Research' in Cultural Trends.

Acknowledgements

Preface

1. The Sleeping Giant: Resistance and Repression in the Monopoly Years (1906-1972)

2. The Wake-Up Call: The New Dawn and Local Radio's Place in the New Duopoly (1973-1983)

3. Growing Pains: Localness: Regulation, Deregulation and What About Automation? (1984-2003)

4. Homogenisation, or Two Digits to the BBC - and to Everyone Else? (2003-)

5. Global Village or Total Eclipse?: From 'Hot' and 'Cool' Media to 'Active' and 'Passive' Media

References

Index