How should community media be recognised and supported as a vital part of civil society? What barriers need to be addressed to ensure grassroots media groups can thrive and contribute to local and national renewal?
The government is seeking your views as part of its consultation on the Civil Society Covenant Framework. This is your opportunity to shape how community media is valued and integrated into public policy discussions. By making a submission, you can highlight the role of participatory media in fostering social cohesion, amplifying local voices, and strengthening democracy.
Don’t miss this chance to influence policies that could transform how community media operates and supports communities across the UK. Submit your thoughts today and help ensure community media’s unique contributions are recognised and supported.
Click here to access the consultation and share your views.
Download a sample letter response
Deadline: 3:15pm on 12 December 2024.
Consultation Principles
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has introduced the Civil Society Covenant Framework to redefine its partnership with civil society. This initiative aims to foster a collaborative environment between the government and civil society organisations, including charities, community groups, and social enterprises. The framework outlines four core principles intended to guide this renewed relationship:
- Recognition: Ensuring a strong and independent civil society.
- Partnership: Promoting effective service delivery, policy-making, and the sharing of best practices.
- Participation: Guaranteeing that people and communities can be heard and influence decisions.
- Transparency: Providing both civil society and government with the information necessary to best serve communities.
To develop the final Covenant, DCMS has initiated a consultation process, seeking input on several key areas:
- Validation of Principles: Are the proposed principles—recognition, partnership, participation, and transparency—appropriate for guiding the relationship between government and civil society?
- Enablers of Effective Partnership: What factors contribute to successful collaborations, and what examples of best practice exist?
- Barriers to Collaboration: What obstacles hinder meaningful partnerships and cooperation between government and civil society?
- Ensuring Effectiveness: How can the Covenant be structured to hold weight and be effective in practice?
- Fostering Innovation: How can the government support civil society’s capacity to innovate and develop new solutions to societal challenges?
- Implementation Amid Economic Challenges: How can this new relationship be actualised, especially considering the current economic context?
DCMS, in collaboration with organisations such as the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO), is leading this engagement through events, roundtables, and online platforms. The consultation period is open until 12 December 2024, and stakeholders are encouraged to contribute their perspectives to shape a Covenant that effectively addresses the needs and aspirations of both civil society and government.
Recognition of Community Media
The Civil Society Covenant Framework has significant potential relevance for community media groups and organisations. These groups, which are often rooted in participatory principles and serve specific localities or communities of identity, can play a crucial role in achieving the framework’s aims. Here’s how:
Recognition of Community Media’s Role: The framework’s principle of recognition aligns with the need to acknowledge community media groups as vital civil society actors. These organisations foster local storytelling, amplify underrepresented voices, and strengthen communal ties. The Covenant could encourage government bodies to value community media as an essential part of a democratic and diverse civil society.
Supporting Partnerships: Community media often bridges the gap between local authorities, service providers, and the public. The framework’s emphasis on partnership provides an opportunity for community media groups to formalise relationships with public institutions, enabling them to co-produce solutions to local challenges, disseminate public information, and offer platforms for participatory decision-making.
- Example: A local radio station could collaborate with councils to engage residents in discussions on urban planning or public health campaigns.
Enhancing Participation: Community media groups embody the principle of participation by enabling residents to share stories, express opinions, and engage in local discourse. The Covenant’s aim to ensure broader public engagement aligns with the participatory ethos of community media, reinforcing its role in empowering marginalised communities to have their voices heard.
Addressing Barriers: The consultation’s focus on identifying barriers to collaboration is particularly relevant for community media, which often struggles with funding, recognition, and access to resources. Highlighting these challenges could lead to tangible policy support, such as sustainable funding models, training opportunities, and inclusion in public service frameworks.
Promoting Transparency: Community media can act as a watchdog, holding authorities accountable and ensuring that public bodies operate transparently. By fostering trust and accountability, these groups contribute directly to the Covenant’s goals of enhancing transparency in government-community relations.
Driving Innovation: The framework’s commitment to innovation resonates with the creative and adaptable nature of community media. Local media organisations frequently experiment with new technologies, storytelling formats, and platforms to engage audiences. Through the Covenant, community media could gain support for adopting emerging technologies and scaling innovative projects.
Strengthening Social Cohesion: By fostering a sense of belonging and shared identity, community media contributes to the social cohesion sought by the Covenant. Whether it’s a station focused on an ethnic minority group or a local newspaper documenting community history, these organisations cultivate solidarity and understanding across diverse groups.
Tailored Support for Place-Based and Identity-Focused Media: Community media groups serving specific geographic areas or social identities could use the Covenant to advocate for tailored support. For instance:
- A community radio station in a rural area could overcome the need for better digital infrastructure to expand the reach of public services.
- A media group focusing on a religious or ethnic community might seek resources to produce culturally specific programming.
Advocacy Opportunities for Community Media
Community media organisations should engage in the consultation process to:
- Highlight their role in achieving the Covenant’s objectives.
- Push for inclusion in funding streams and partnerships as recognised civil society actors.
- Share success stories to illustrate their impact.
- Advocate for long-term investment in participatory media as a tool for civic engagement and community empowerment.
Strategic Actions
- Establish networks of community media groups to coordinate responses to the consultation.
- Identify and articulate the unique challenges faced by community media.
- Propose specific mechanisms, such as grants or collaborative projects, to support their work under the Covenant.
The Civil Society Covenant Framework presents a strategic opportunity for community media to secure recognition, resources, and partnerships that enhance their impact and sustainability. Engaging proactively with this initiative could cement their role as essential contributors to a thriving civil society.
Community Media: A Missing Link in Policy and Communications Planning
Community media is frequently overlooked in communications planning and policy development processes, where it is too often relegated to being a sub-set of the industrial media sector. This perspective neglects the distinctive role of community media as an integral part of the civil society sector, as recognised by UNESCO’s model of community media. By focusing on grassroots engagement, local storytelling, and participatory practices, community media aligns more closely with the ethos of civil society than with the profit-driven priorities of the mainstream media industry.
For the UK government to explicitly recognise community media as a civil society actor would be transformative. Such recognition would open doors for community media organisations to contribute meaningfully to discussions on social renewal and the implementation of purpose-driven policies. Including community media in these processes could profoundly benefit local, regional, and national governance by:
- Strengthening public trust through transparent, locally grounded communication.
- Enhancing civic participation by providing marginalised communities with platforms to express their needs and aspirations.
- Supporting public services in tailoring their outreach and service delivery to reflect the diversity of the UK’s population.
Integrating community media into the policy landscape, particularly within the Civil Society Covenant Framework, would acknowledge its unique capacity to foster belonging, empower local voices, and drive innovation in public engagement. This shift in perspective would revitalise the community media sector and bolster the effectiveness of public policies aimed at achieving equity, cohesion, and shared purpose across the nation.
Contact DCMS and let them know your views:
Email: civilsocietycovenant@dcms.gov.uk
Written responses can be sent to:
Civil Society Covenant team
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BQ