MAKING IT WORK

UPDATE: Community Media South West have published a new report:

MAKING IT WORK:
An Enquiry into how companies in the Community Media Sector recruit and
retain skilled freelancersPublished by – CMSW / Blueboard – Jan 2007

Research by Ella Bissett Johnson

Edited by Shawn Sobers, and Steve Gear

Synopsis

This report is a timely and original development in the analysis of social interest creative practice. It takes the debate much further than merely exploring the merits of such projects, and directly provides an analysis of the economic and skills base for this area of work – the area of community media activity within the creative industries.

According to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the creative industries are now one of the fastest growing sectors in the British economy, and socially aware creative practice is now gaining a stronger profile and being taken seriously by a wide range of cultural agencies. We feel this report provides an important step in recognising not only the economic realities of these community minded organisations via case studies of the companies themselves and the freelancers they employ, but also charts the average skills contained in this community media/arts field of work, and highlights its future sustainability.

This report has been designed to be not only illuminating, but also be useful. It will be of interest to stakeholders of community based media & arts activity, including project facilitators, managers, funders and policy makers, and also for areas such as careers advice and academic fields such as media studies and social policy. Hopefully this report will provide a platform from which to make informed decisions with confidence, from which the sub-sector of community based media education activity can strategically grow and flourish.

To order from Amazon click here.To download full report as a pdf file click here.

Research funded by ABI Associates, University of the West of England and South West Screen

Supported by Calling the Shots and Firstborn Creatives

The first 2 years of my Research

Essays and Articles written for my research – May 2004 – November 2005 (PhD began in October 2004)

The following essays and articles (pdf downloads) explores some of the thoughts and issues I’ve been negotiating during the process of my research into the Community Media Sector so far. The main focus of the research is to analyse the cultural sustainability of educational activity within the community media sector, and attempting to find models of best practice which can be used as a tool kit for facilitators, companies, funders, and by communities groups themselves.

I am still in the early days of this research, and as it progresses I shall post up new writings as it develops.

The most recent ones are nearer the top.

Media Literacy in Community Contexts (November 2005)
Article written for the Westminster Media Forum Publication, in response to the Media Literacy Seminar (27.10.05) (pdf) click here
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Research Progress Update (May 2005)
Research Question- Aims & Objectives- Background to this Research- Methodology- Theoretical Framework- Taxonomy of Terms- The Houdini approach to research- Reformation of the Media- Identity, Power and Representation- My crossroads(pdf) click here
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Project Evaluation Diagram (April 2005)
This map-diagram attempts to show how many projects are evaluated, whilst highlighting areas of impact which are potentially missed by the majority of evaluation studies.(pdf) click here
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Beyond Project: Community Media and Impact, Effectivity and Sustainability(April 2005)
Paper which explores the definitions of impact, effect and sustainabiliy, and attempts to challenge the “short term” mentality behind the concept of the word ‘project’.(pdf) click here
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Defining Community Media and Achieving Educational Sustainability (January 2005)
Abstract for Euricom Colloquium, Piran, Slovenia, 2005 (pdf), click here
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Negotiating Methods and Theories – Part 1 (January 2005)
Article, (pdf), click here
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Key Questions to ask about the Community Media Sector (March 2004)
Initial themes, ideas and questions to ask Notes, (pdf), click here
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Hierarchies within Moving Image Industries (April 2004)
Image, (gif), click here
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Argument: The Community Media Sector is not the amateur cousin to Broadcast (April 2004)
Paper, (pdf), click here
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Exploration of Community Media Research Questions (November 2004)
Article, (pdf), click here
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Definition of Community Media (December 2004)
Paper, (pdf), click here
see also;

Community Media Structure Map (May 2004)
Image, (pdf), click here

Copyright Shawn Naphtali-Sobers