RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

The dream of most people working toward democratic communicatlon is that they can somehow maintain the freedom of this small space of completely participatory communication . For this reason most successful systems of. participatory communication try to maintain and builđ upon an infrastructure of small-group communication. (White , 1984:18) However , as said , legal local radio and television stations in the Netherlands are no longer in this stage of development and perhaps never were in it. STAGE 2 : LINKING LOCAL GROUPS IN NETWORKS An important characteristic of this second phase is , according to White , that the local media no longer remain exclusively active within their own communication circuit, but search for links with other groups and organizations active in the same area . White (1984:18) speaks of "the transition from spontaneous communal expression to a medium" . At the same time , đemands are made on the technical quality of the programming , the professional level of the eguipment, the distribution and form of the programming . This transition occurs , according to White , with a number of structural restraints . An example is "the adaptation to the economic timitations and the marketing distribution conventioris associated with a particular medium” (White , 1984:19). If this is compared with the situation of local radio and television , it appears that these media are incorporating in greater đegree a journalistic approach at the ехрепзе of the original idealistic principles regarding access and participation . increasing competition with other media is somewhat the cause of this , but rather than emphasizing the unigueness of their activities , the stations tend to adapt the form and content of traditional media . This is especially evident in the stress placed on the technical quality of programming and desire to reach larger audiences . White (1984:22-23) makes a number of recommendations regarding activities m this stage of development which are worth examining here . • Administrative structure The reguirement of local stations to institute a culturally representative organ creates the illusion that a wide spectrum of the society is representeđ within the statiori organization. As indicated above , this organ has no more than formal status and represents little đirect contact with citizens .

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