An examination of the history of radio revels that each time radio began to reach or be made by a broader class or a marginalised subculture, a corresponding reaction can be expected from those currently in power.
Radio receiver ownership is ever-present, transmission equipment can be inexpensive, and low literacy levels are no barrier to media production or consumption. Radio may be the epitome of alternative media.
Radio should be converted from a distribution system to a communication system. Radio could be the most wonderful public communication system imaginable, a gigantic system of channels – could be, that is, if it were capable not only of transmitting but of receiving, of making the listener not only hear but also speak, not isolating him but connecting him.
There were high powered pirate stations operating on ships just outside UK waters. These stations were hugely popular, commercial operations, offering rock and roll and youth culture at a time when the mainstream airwaves did not.
The commercial radio stations and radio 1 owe their existence to the activities of the North Sea pirates of the 1960’s. Renowned broadcasters like John Peel and Tony Blackburn started their careers out on pirate stations.
Mass civil disobedience by pirate radio stations throughout the early 80’s, forced the Home Office to find vacant frequencies for community radio. This was despite previous claims that such a concession was impossible. Radio piracy produces an ambivalent response in the establishment.
Our Radio: a pirate station which attempted to bring community spirit on the airwaves illegally during the early 80’s. The station allowed disparate groups, an opportunity to have their voices heard. Programmes were made by Polish exiles, feminists, gays, squatters and radical dj’s.
Community radio directly challenges the division between broadcasters and audiences in our society. A community radio station seeks to adopt an organisational form which allows a wide variety of people to broadcast.
Through their emphasis on widening access to the processes of media production, alternative media practices highlight the limits of mainstream media practices.
In urban areas, small pirate stations can become incredibly popular. In London the house, garage, drum and bass and grime music scenes have their roots deep in pirate radio. Pirate operators are credited with airing underground music that after a few years appears on commercial stations.
The pirate station Delight 103, is closely associated with the So Solid Crew collective, which eventually hit the mainstream charts with the single ‘They Don’t Know’. The station grew out of a club night and was started in 1999 by local djs and rap mcs, with assistance from a south London record shop. It takes advertisements, plays music, and has a regular group of dj’s who have become local superstars.
No organisation can be free of value relations in bourgeois society. A community radio station will have to carry out that essence of capitalism, balancing the books. To survive, it will have to sell advertising, raise subscriptions from its listeners and rely on government grants.
There have been some notable examples of former pirate/ community stations who have managed to cross over into the mainstream. An example being KISS 100.
Alternative media encourage self management. A wide range of ordinary non- professional people will be in charge of organisation and production as managers, editors, designers.
Through these practices, alternative media are able to give voice to the voiceless, to give media access to those who find themselves under-represented in the mainstream media.