RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

include the concern for use of the communlcation s/stem by audience members , and the provision for feedback and reaction to messages . Much less evldent in Matta's mođel are aspects of Enzensberger's work related to mobilizing auđience members , contributing to politica! consciousness .đecentralization of the communication process and providing mechanisms for self organization anđ control of the process . There is aiso a difference in vision as to the purpose of alternative communication. Enzensberger stresses emancipatory objectives from a socialist vision of society; Matta speaks in terms of a 'right to communication' and sees this within a perspective for Third World development. More recent theoretical contributions by White (1984) are built on the earlier work of Hatta . White concurs with Matta in that democratization of communication should be seen as a component of a broader redistribution of political power and productive resources (White, 1984:8), On the basis of available studies , particularly those of popularly-based movements , he attempts to sketch the parameters of a model. Calling it a 'natural history’ of popular movements , White identifies four stages of development: ( 1 ) a period of spontaneous expression , mainly interpersonal in nature and concentrated at the local level; (£) a periođ where efforts are undertaken to incorporate this expression within media which a!low participation in the message production process; (3) a phase in whlch the form of expression becomes more popular and thereby of interest to commercially-oriented media; and (4) finally a phase in which "the expression is cut off from its local cultural base and is merged into a synthetic product capable of being marketed for mass tastes" White, 1984:17). We intend to examine whether these four stages - the natural history of efforts to bring about a democratization of communication - can be found in the cases of local radio and television whlch we investigated in the Netherlanđs . THE PROCESS OF INTRODUCING LOCAL RADIO The Institute of Mass Communication at the Umversity of Nijmegen , at the reguest of the Organization for Technology Assessment in the Netherlands (NOTA), conđucted an investigation as to how new cable services were introduced in communities . This research was exploratory m character and consisted m examining documentation and conductmg interviews with кеу figures in the commumties . 3 ) Two cable services were examined in the work ; cable newspapers and local radio and television stations . An effort was made to select communities in order that smatl, middle-size anđ large populations were

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