This podcast is form a forum run by the Australian Centre for Democracy and Justice in 2007 with Peter Lane form Chanel 31 as our guest speaker. It looks at the current state of community media in Australia, the challenges it faces and the place it needs to have in the mediascape. This especially relevant given the recent changes to media ownership laws as well as the coming of the digital spectrum.

Community Media is the space where a huge diversity of voices can be heard. The arena where community represents itself and has a genuine impact. For a just and democratic society, communities must control their own destiny. Community media can play an active role in this empowering of communities through engagement, interaction, exposure to new ideas and by providing a space for discussion and debates about local issues. Community media provides a space for the grassroots to speak and contribute in the increasingly economically rationalised media.