Editing Community radio (section)

{{Short description|Community-owned and operated radio service}}{{About|the radio broadcasting form|the broader concept|Community media}}

[[File:TennisCourtDiscoKRBXRadioBoiseVolunteers.JPG|thumb|[[KRBX]] Radio [[Boise, Idaho|Boise]] [[Volunteering|volunteer]]s during the station's Spring Radiothon in 2013—direct community support is critical for such local media.]]
'''Community radio''' is a [[radio]] service offering a third model of radio [[broadcasting]] in addition to [[commercial broadcasting|commercial]] and [[public broadcasting]].

[[Community broadcasting|Community stations]] serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popular and relevant to a local, specific audience but is often overlooked by commercial (or) mass-media broadcasters. Community radio stations are operated, owned, and influenced by the communities they serve. They are generally [[Nonprofit organization|nonprofit]] and provide a mechanism for enabling individuals, groups, and communities to tell their own stories, to share experiences and, in a media-rich world, to become creators and contributors of media.

In many parts of the world, community radio acts as a vehicle for the community and [[voluntary sector]], [[civil society]], agencies, [[NGO]]s and citizens to work in partnership to further [[community development]] aims, in addition to broadcasting. There is legally defined community radio (as a distinct broadcasting sector) in many countries, such as [[France]], [[Argentina]], [[South Africa]], [[Australia]] and [[Ireland]]. Much of the legislation has included phrases such as "social benefit", "social objectives" and "social gain" as part of the definition. Community radio has developed differently in different countries, and the term has somewhat different meanings in the [[United Kingdom]], [[Ireland]], the [[United States]], [[Canada]] and [[Australia]], where [[freedom of speech]] laws and de facto realities differ.