Federal policies should bring community TV and radio into the innovation age

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is calling on the CRTC to adopt a new policy framework for community radio and television, one that reflects the realities of the technological age. In its May 4 submission to the commission in response to PN 2001-19, PIAC notes that increasingly, citizens are relying on community-based online networks to get their messages out. As PIAC’s executive director Michael Janigan points out, it’s time for Canada’s policy and regulatory frameworks to "catch up to the people". An excerpt from his intervention appears below: The days of communities relying solely on the technical, organizational and management expertise of commercial broadcasters in the provision of local programming, whether radio, television or cable-based are rapidly coming to an end. With increased demand, there is also is a growing sophistication of expertise in the use of traditional and new technologies which means that a rethinking is required of the roles of different parties in the provision of such services…. In some communities, local radio, television (cable channel/off air) and the Internet are presently being used in different combinations to realize new forms of community expression, citizen participation in civic affairs, and individual and community economic and social development. In many ways, Canadians are already employing a variety of local communications technologies or services in some integrated way, with many more expected to do so in the coming years. The challenge, and this is why PIAC welcomes this CRTC proceeding, is to have the policy and regulatory frameworks ‘catch up’ to the people – to allow innovation and flexibility so that a number of progressive approaches can be pursued in communities across Canada to meet their specific and unique needs. LPTV (low-power television), LPR (low-power radio), the community channel, and local Internet services offer new opportunities, both on their own and through convergence. They have the potential to facilitate not only community expression as understood here-to-fore under the Broadcasting Act (radio, television, and community channel policies), but also the new burgeoning needs, content and innovative uses of these technologies in the context of an ‘information society’…. To accommodate this changing environment, the CRTC should adopt more flexible and progressive policy and regulatory frameworks for the Community Channel, LPTV and LPR… (The) new policy framework should allow for the continuation of existing models where appropriate, but that it should also permit the evolution of practices at the community and regional levels. In this way public not-for-profit community organizations, representative of communities, can hold licences for these services, or if licences are held by a commercial provider, have preferred management, control and determination of how such communications services are used... PIAC proposes that greater flexibility in the models should include at least the following three options: Community Owned Model: Public not-for-profit organization is licensed to provide local community channel. The organization also owns all capital equipment and related infrastructure for production/broadcast. Community Dependent Model: Community public not-for-profit organization is licensed to provide a local community channel. The local commercial BDU is required to provide capital equipment and related infrastructure. Commercial Model: Variations of the status quo. Commercial cable owned and operated service with participation by community organizations. In a variation of this model, community co-ops effectively manage/operate the system. While aspects of all three models currently exist, the commission should take steps to foster the growth of models 1 and 2 to achieve the objectives of greater diversity of content and community representation to meet local needs as our information society continues to evolve.

Federal policies should bring community TV and radio into the innovation age

Broadcast | May 10, 2001

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