Abstract:
Community radio has a complex relationship with community and to the wider mediascape in which it exists. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the development of a community radio station on Waiheke Island, New Zealand with particular attention paid to how the characteristics of this particular community impacted the development of the station. A review of the sociological, anthropological, and political interpretations of community was also undertaken as a means frame the relationship of media to community. The study presents a qualitative case study of the non-profit community radio station, Waiheke Radio. This research consisted of interviews with volunteer members of the station as well as the personal experiences and communications of the author who was also a volunteer member of the station itself. The thesis aims to engage in a form interpretive sociology in which the community of both Waiheke Island and the community of Waiheke Radio are examined through the lens of interviews with, and observations of, individuals who are members of both. The author found that volunteers of the station as well as local residents had varying perceptions of the stations 'success', and were often conditioned to appeal to traditional media metrics like listenership figures in order to determine value. The author suggests that this is not a valid metric in the case of community radio and offers alternative means to evaluate community media. The author also recommends that community radio re-consider the notion of audience in light of societal changes brought about by the internet, but also finds that the core values of community media mean that community radio is well placed to take advantage of such changes.
