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GuyStarkey
guy.starkey@sunderland.ac.uk
CentreforResearchinMediaandCulturalStudies
UniversityofSunderland,UnitedKingdom
Radioandlocalness:ownership
andcontentintheconvergent/divergent
ageofmediaproliferation
Abstract
Thispaperconsidersthesignificanceoflocalownershipandcontentproductionin
themediumofradioinanageofincreasingdivergenceinmediaprovision.Confusingly,this
isanagewhichismorecommonlycharacterisedasoneofconvergence.Attheheartofthisappar-
entparadoxliestheconvergenceofdifferentplatforms,enablingaudiencestoaccesscontentfrom
particularproducersthroughdifferentmedia,whilethenumberandthenatureofmediaproduc-
ersbecomeevergreaterandmorediverse.CitingexamplesfromtheradioindustryintheUnited
Kingdom,butalsoreferringtoothercountriesinEuropeandelsewhere,thepaperaskswhether
therecentdiminutionoflocalnessinwhatislabelled‘local,radioisofanyrealconsequenceforso-
ciety.Whereaslocalradiowasonceoneofveryfeweasilyaccessiblesourcesoflocalinformation,
theinternetpromisesaccesstonewanddiversesourceswhichmayalsosupportculturaldiffer-
enceandpromotedemocraticparticipation.Comparisonsaredrawnwithdevelopmentsinother
media,whicharealsosubjecttotheparallelforcesofcompetition,globalisation,convergenceand
divergence.
ThepaperdrawsextensivelyonresearchcarriedoutbetweenJuly2009andJanuary2011for
thebookLocalRadio,GoingGlobal,publishedinDecember2011byPalgraveMacmillan.
Keywords:radio,local,content,ownership
introduction:thecoexistenceofconvergence
anddivergenceanessentialparadoxofthemodern
medialandscape
Itwouldseemtomanythatfortoday,smediaindustriestobeatthesame
timeconvergentanddivergentwouldbeparadoxical,ifnotimpossible.How-
ever,itisincreasinglythecasethatconvergenceanddivergencedocoexist,as
technologydrivesforwardchangeindistributionmethods,andsocietyresponds
inturntotheincreasinglydiversemedialandscapewhichsuchchangealmost