As corporate media giants continue to dominate the air waves and algorithms, amplifying division and misinformation, the call for community-driven, decentralised alternatives has never been louder. At Decentered Media, we champion media ecosystems that prioritise social cohesion, cultural democracy, and democratic engagement—think local storytelling hubs like Leicester Stories, where everyday voices reclaim narratives from the margins. Through our podcasts, blogs, and tools like the Community-Focused Communications Evaluation Toolkit, we advocate for sustainable, inclusive systems that leverage emerging technologies. From blockchain for transparent journalism to Substack for independent creators, all while critiquing the accountability gaps in mainstream media.
Read my Literature Revue from 2019: Media for Social Gain and Innovation
It’s in this spirit that I’ve read the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) recent Invitation to Tender (ITT) for PSB Social Value Research (Ref. No. 104456). Issued on 17th June 2025, this tender seeks to quantify the non-market benefits of Public Service Broadcasters (PSBs), using the BBC as a primary case study. At its core, it’s an attempt to build a “theory of change” framework, evaluation methods, and case studies that capture PSBs’ contributions to societal welfare—think civic trust, education, representation, and wellbeing—in a landscape increasingly overshadowed by profit-driven platforms like Netflix and YouTube.
This research couldn’t come at a more pivotal time. As PSBs face scrutiny over funding models like the BBC licence fee amid declining payments and enforcement concerns, the tender aims to articulate why publicly funded media remains essential. It promises a modular theory of change linking PSB inputs (e.g., content creation) to outcomes (e.g., community cohesion), alongside practical tools for monetising value through methods like willingness-to-pay surveys and wellbeing-adjusted life years (WELLBYs). Case studies on BBC services—such as regional commissioning, educational content like Bitesize, and coverage of national events—will test these frameworks, highlighting PSBs’ distinct role compared to commercial alternatives.
Yet, this initiative draws on a rich, often overlooked heritage: community radio’s longstanding “social gain” regulations under Ofcom. Since the Community Radio Order of 2004, stations have been mandated to deliver non-commercial benefits—facilitating discussion, providing education, strengthening community links, and serving underserved groups. This history offers a treasure trove of evidence for the tender’s outputs. Studies like Wavehill’s 2025 report for Ofcom (commissioned post-2024 regulatory shifts) show community radio combats isolation, boosts health awareness, and fosters belonging, especially for marginalised communities. In Leicester alone, projects like our Leicester Stories exemplify how such media amplifies marginalised voices, countering polarisation through participatory storytelling.
Drawing lessons from the 2019 Internews report, “When the Goal Is Not to Scale,” we see community media not as a scalable commodity but as a resilient, decentralised force for social innovation. The report critiques corporate dominance and urges integration with the social economy—diversifying revenue through co-operatives, memberships, and community shares—to build ecosystems that prioritise local accountability over profit. It highlights Transmit-Transform’s pilots, where stations like Glastonbury FM and Bradford Community Broadcasting enhanced social gain through training and business models, yielding outcomes like volunteer empowerment and civic engagement. These align with DCMS’s focus, but reveal gaps: fragmented funding and limited capacity-building hinder stations’ ability to measure and scale impacts.
However, recent Ofcom changes—streamlining Key Commitments in November 2024 and the Community Radio Order 2025 (effective April 2025)—have pivoted from quantitative metrics to qualitative impact, allowing indefinite licence extensions while emphasising flexibility. While this reduces bureaucratic burdens, it hasn’t been matched with investment in capacity building. Stations, often volunteer-led and resource-strapped, lack support to deeply explore and document their social value—tools for theories of change or monetisation remain underdeveloped. This gap risks undermining the sector’s ability to prove its worth, especially as the Community Radio Fund (£1 million in 2024-25) focuses on core costs over innovation. As “When the Goal Is Not to Scale” warns, without resilient models like diversified revenues and cross-sector partnerships, community media struggles against tech giants, perpetuating voice poverty.
As advocates for decentralised media, we at Decentered Media see this tender as a chance to bridge PSBs and community radio, integrating blockchain-inspired transparency or Substack-like independence to create hybrid models that sustain cultural democracy. But transparency is key—DCMS must publish the detailed brief guiding the successful. Open it to public scrutiny and input, inviting diverse partners from community radio, civic tech innovators, and social enterprises. This collaborative approach—echoing our toolkit’s DIY ethos and the report’s call for social economy reforms—ensures the research amplifies grassroots insights, fostering ecosystems that truly empower communities against corporate control.
I will be calling on DCMS to release the brief and widen participation in this and future media regulation processes. Share your thoughts in the comments or reach out via our podcast series. Together, we can build media that heals divides, celebrates diversity, and drives real social change.