Abstract
This chapter begins with an overview of the history of the emergence of Community Radio Stations in Latin America and their demand for Communication Rights as a prerequisite for the construction of solid democracies, under the slogan “without Community Media there is no democracy”. Although many of the demands of the Community Media actors have been reflected in the legislation on audiovisual communication services in countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Uruguay, the rapid reconfiguration of the media system is pushing radio stations to update how they frame Communication Rights in light of current changes. These include the major role of the Internet in the media system and resulting complexities around privacy violations and fake news. This chapter argues for updating narratives in defense of the right to communication developed by the Community Radio and Free Software Network. This proposal involves replacing the concept of technology neutrality with concepts in defense of the digital commons, which is collectively managed, developed, maintained, and governed and from which we benefit as a community.
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Notes
- 1.
For more information on the webpage, please visit the site: www.liberaturadio.org
- 2.
The commons are those goods that “belong to everyone, but nobody at the same time”, as described by Antonio Lafuente (2007). Nobel laureate Eleonor Ostrom explained in detail in her book The Government of the Commons (2000) how these collective heritage assets or common resources such as community forests, fishing banks or irrigation systems have historically been managed. Currently, there is a “rediscovery of the commons” that questions the management of public resources in urban environments, such as streets or hospitals, from the perspective of the commons (Bollier 2016). Latin America uses the term “ours” more to name these communal management goods governed under “an ethics and a practice of solidarity and reciprocity, of balance and cooperation” (Flórez 2008).
- 3.
Both the Court and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS) have advocated in various reports for a diverse and pluralistic media system, as well as emphasizing the importance of the media. Inter-American Court of Human Rights of the Organization of American States. Available at: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/opiniones/seriea_05_eng.pdf
- 4.
As José Ignacio López Vigil explains in his Urgent Manual for Passionate Radialists (2004), in 1994 the so-called Group of 8 was formed, one of the collectives that most promoted the movement for the democratization of the media. It was made up of AMARC-ALC, Centro Internacional de Estudios Superiores de Comunicación para América Latina (CIESPAL), Servicio Conjunto de Comunicación (UNDA-AL, OCIC-AL and UCLAP), Federación Internacional de Periodistas (FIP), Asociación Latinoamericana de Educación Radiofónica (ALER), Federación Latinoamericana de Facultades de Comunicación Social (FELAFACS), Radio Nederland Training Center (RNTC), and Asociación Latinoamericana de Medios Grupales (PROA). The International Audiovisual Coalition for Development and Democracy (VIDEAZIMUT) and the World Association of Christian Communicators (WACC) joined shortly thereafter.
- 5.
This law has been under revision since the election of Argentine President Mauricio Macri in 2015.
- 6.
33.9% of the 100 most capital-intensive companies on the planet are in the technology sector. See: http://www.expansion.com/empresas/2018/08/04/5b65d2ce268e3e405d8b4577.html See the complete list in: https://e00-expansion.uecdn.es/opinion/documentosWeb/2018/08/04/100%20empresas.pdf
- 7.
To learn more about the history of the Community Radio Network and Free Software at www.liberaturadio.org/quienes-somos/
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García Gago, S. (2020). Narratives for the Defense of the Digital Commons. In: Martens, C., Venegas, C., Sharupi Tapuy, E.F.S. (eds) Digital Activism, Community Media, and Sustainable Communication in Latin America. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45394-7_7
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