2020 Version
Community Radio and Community TV are non-commercial broadcasters. They are independent, nonprofit and not-for-profit media companies who provide open access to media production and its terrestrial and digital distribution to the general public. The goal is to enable the participation of a broader population, particularly in the context of terrestrial broadcasting, and thus foster a diversity of opinions within broadcasting. As third party broadcasters, Community Radio and TV stations complement public and commercial broadcasters to expand the diversity of opinions.
Open Access / Public Access
Community broadcasters offer all persons and groups the opportunity to express their opinions and disseminate information, within the legal framework, without censorship. Priority is given to social, cultural and ethnic minorities as well as to those persons and groups who have little or no voice in the media due to social marginalisation or gender or race-based discrimination.
Participation
Community broadcasters provide training, production and distribution facilities. They create platforms for local and regional media production as well as musical, artistic and cultural production. They welcome socio-political initiatives and perspectives from communities who are marginalised either socially or in the media. They encourage dialogue, and invite the local population to actively participate and reflect the social, cultural and linguistic diversity of their coverage areas.
Nonprofit status / non-commercial status / fair working conditions
Community broadcasters are not privately owned companies, but rather nonprofit organisations supported by their users. Their activities are not geared for profit and their programs are ad-free on principle. To strengthen their independence, they are financed through various income streams including public subsidies, membership fees, cooperation, donations and sponsoring. They promote healthy working conditions by paying fair wages and salaries.
Transparency / Organization
In community broadcasting, the organisation and selection criteria for programmes must be both transparent and verifiable, as well as publicly available. Employees must be proactive in issues of fairness and discrimination.
Local focus / regional development
Community broadcasters operate as local and regional media that influence positive and sustainable regional development on a social, ecological and economic level. According to the principle ‘think global, act local’, community broadcasters act as the mouthpiece for the local population, taking regional topics and productions to international networks and partnerships. Community broadcasters actively collaborate through ventures such as cooperative media libraries, program exchange or producing collaborative media, cultural, artistic or sociopolitical projects.
Independence / Journalistic Quality
Community broadcasters are unaffiliated with governmental, commercial, and/or religious institutions, nor political parties in terms of their ownership, organisational structure, or editorial content and programming. They advocate rigorous, independent reporting of uncomfortable truths and voluntarily commit themselves to the code of ethics of the Austrian press.
Anti-discriminatory & political stance
Community broadcasters are committed to a self-determined, emancipatory and solidarity-based society. They strive for freedom of expression, diversity of opinion, equality, human dignity and democracy. They actively work against discrimination based on gender, sexuality, social or ethnic origin, religion, race, physical or mental abilities, language or age. They advocate for a strong and united Europe and support the goals and values of the European Union.
