The world is experiencing a constantly changing cultural landscape. This change is driven by political factors such as governments, economic factors such as private enterprise, and the nexus between the two. At the same time, the fabric of society is being pulled and pushed in ways that challenge both, civil society, and its free expression in the public sphere. Community media has a central role to play in this tug of war.
Due to forces of globalization, CM has to deal with issues that are local and global at the same time, due to rapid technological changes has to deal with both old and new media forms (such as radio on one hand and social media on the other), due to changes in the level of education worldwide and decolonization of many countries CM has to deal with education and development issues, due to difference in approaches of participants, it has to deal with diverse forms which may on one hand be artistic and journalistic and on the other be very instrumental. Lastly, due to different types of organization, CM has to be able to deal with arrangements that can vary from the very formal to completely informal.
The promise of CM is what has allowed it to survive, but the challenges are many. The challenges are well understood but participation is the key.
At an international level, the role of UNESCO in Community media can be seen here.
Community media is not just for developing countries. Even in developed countries like the US they have an important place and an example of which can be seen here.