Advocacy

Edison Lanza: en Guatemala debería existir mecanismo diferenciado para que medios indígenas accedan a frecuencias de radio
El Relator Especial para la Libertad de Expresión de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH), Edison Lanza, aseguró que la subasta económica no puede ser el único criterio de acceso a las frecuencias de radiodifusión y que debería existir un mecanismo diferenciado para que los medios indígenas puedan expresar su derecho a expresarse. Como hemos publicado en OBSERVACOM, este año la… read more

Audio Statement Radio d’Ici on the 10 May 2020 Attack
AMARC has received the information that on Sunday 10th May 2020 a group of masked persons have violently forced their way into the premises of Radio d’Ici, the local community radio station and long-term AMARC member, in Saint-Julien-Molin-Molette, Department Loire, France. During the attack the studio was vandalised, and fascist and white supremacist symbols were painted on the walls and… read more

AMARC condemns the Fascist Attack on our Member in France
AMARC has received the information that on Sunday 10th May 2020 a group of masked persons have violently forced their way into the premises of Radio d\’Ici, the local community radio station and long-term AMARC member, in Saint-Julien-Molin-Molette, Department Loire, France. During the attack the studio was vandalised, and fascist and white supremacist symbols were painted on the walls and… read more

AMARC Europe signs Emergency Appeal for World Press Freedom Day 2020
On this World Press Freedom Day, the undersigned organisations honour those who work tirelessly to help keep the public informed and call for robust support for independent journalism. Millions of people around the world are looking for reliable, fact-based, and gender-sensitive journalism that can help them navigate the biggest shared challenge of our lifetime. The need for trustworthy information has… read more

Joint civil society organisation recommendations: From blueprint to footprint: Safeguarding media freedom and pluralism through the European Rule of Law Mechanism
The launch of the European Rule of Law Mechanism in July 2019 marks the renewed opportunity for the European Union (EU) to uphold democracy and overcome the limits of the Article 7 procedure. Among the proposed actions, the announcement by the European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová of a dedicated chapter to media freedom and pluralism… read more

AMARC Europe: Become a member now!
AMARC Europe is the membership organization serving the community radio movement across Europe. The political representation of this broadcasting sector is the driving principle of our initiatives and actions. A stronger network means more impact. With your AMARC membership fees you join over 300 community radio stations and federations in over 20 European countries and over 3.000 AMARC members worldwide… read more

One step closer to justice
In November 2019 Foundation for Civil Radio filed a lawsuit against a decision by the Media Council of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority that from December 21, 2019 Civil Radio had to stop its broadcasting on the air. We knew that this legal action would not necessarily lead to a return of the frequency we used for 25 years – since… read more

International Women’s Day 2020: I am Generation Equality – Realizing Women’s Rights
AMARC Europe is joining the International Women’s Day 2020 campaign This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted in 1995 at the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing/China. AMARC Europe supports the The Beijing Declaration’s resolutions fully in order to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls, fight women’s economic independence and the structural reasons… read more

JOINT STATEMENT: The EU and Member States must create safe environment for journalists reporting on the humanitarian situation in Greece
Physical attacks, online harassment and censorship: In recent days, media freedom organisations have shed light on threats against journalists reporting on the arrival of migrants into Greece. These attacks are taking place in a context of violence against migrants and those supporting them, such as NGOs and self- organised groups. They restrict the ability of journalists to work safely… read more

Member Survey AMARC Europe: Digitalisation and Community Media in English/French/Spanish/German
[ENGLISH] Member Survey AMARC Europe: Digitalisation and the European Community Media Sector Dear AMARC Europe members,Dear friends and colleagues from the community media sector in Europe and worldwide, The current technological shift to digital communication (infra)structures, the visible effects of big internet platforms and streaming services on the way we consume and produce media and information, the shift in the participation… read more

World Radio Day 2020: We are DIVERSITY
Dear AMARC Europe members, colleagues and friends,In a few days we will celebrate the World Radio Day 2020. This year’s World Radio Day topic is \”We are DIVERSITY. We are RADIO\”.The UNESCO argues in this year’s topic rational that “radio is a powerful medium for celebrating humanity in all its diversity and constitutes a platform for democratic discourse. At… read more

Budpaest based Community Radio Civil Radio takes Media Council’s decision to court
In our last newsletter we reported on the decision of the Hungarian Media Council to not re-issue the licence for the Community Radio Civil Radio in Budapest. Find here the full statement of Civil Radio on the decision of the Media Council.Civil Radio will challenge the decision! Read here the new statement on the next steps:\”We take our case to the… read more

CIVIL RADIO WON’T STAY SILENT!
Last week the Budapest based community radio CIVIL RÁDIÓ – FM 98 received the negative decision of the Hungarian Media Council on their re-application for their broadcasting licence. In a first statement Civil Radio reacts to the decision of the Media Council with the words . “Our voice is the same, and we do not want to be silenced. We will be expelled… read more

Bavarian Community Radio Association founded – Community Media are organising
End of August the bavarian Community Radios formed the Verband Community Media Bayern (VCMB ) to better represent the concept of Community Media in public. For this representatives of Radio Z from Nuremberg, LORA from Munich and Radio Free FM of Ulm and Neu Ulm, all organized in the Bundesverband Freier Radios (BFR), met at LORA in Munich. These… read more

AMARC at the ECREA Radio Research Conference 2019
AMARC joined the 6th Conference of the Radio Research Section of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), which was held in the lovely setting of the University of Siena (Italy), on September 19-21. Several interesting keynote speeches and pieces of research have been presented, highlighting the variety and vivacity of the radio sector across and beyond Europe. The first keynote… read more

Community Media and Disaster Risk Reduction: Amarc at the UN Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction
The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction is a biennial multi-stakeholder forum established by the UN General Assembly to review progress, share knowledge and discuss the latest developments and trends in reducing disaster risk. The sixth session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP2019) took place in Geneva, Switzerland from 13 to 17 May, 2019, convened and organized… read more

AMARC Europe statement on Increase of the Private Broadcasting Fund in Austria
AMARC Europe reacted to the amendment of the Austrian private broadcasting fund with a statement. Read the full statement in English below or download the statement in English or German To Austrian Federal Ministry European Union, Art, Culture and Media Ballhausplatz 2 1010 Vienna Austria Brussels, 23rd May 2019 Increase of the Private Broadcasting Fund and Amendment of the KommAustria Act of 6 May 2019 Dear Mr Blümel, Dear Federal Government… read more

More money for Austrian private broadcasters. However, why only for commercial broadcasters?
In May 2019 the Austrian government increased the funding for the private media sector by € 5 million. However, this substantial increase will solely benefit the commercial private media sector – the funding for the community media sector remains the same. AMARC Europe invited Josef Seethaler to discuss the impact of these changes on the Austrian Community… read more

Community media input into Andalusian Audiovisual Legislation
The Spanish Community Media Association – REMC- has been making representations in the consultation carried out by the Andalusian autonomous government discussions of the Andalusian Audiovisual Media Law in the regional Parliament in 2018.
You can find more information on the REMC website and they have also subtitled the videos in English, .

AMARC Europe supports CUAC FM in it’s struggle to keep right to communicate
AMARC Europe fully supports CUAC FM in their conflict with the regulatory authority and calls for all parties to support human and free media rights.
CALL FOR ACTION: PLEASE SIGN THE MANIFEST HERE!
BRIEFING
With this declaration we aim to defend the exercise of the freedom of speech through any means, specially the community media.
Community radios are non-profit, plural and independent spaces… read more

The legal situation of Spanish Community Media Sector
The Community Media Sector has been developed in Spain since the 80s. However, Community Media legal recognition occurred 20 years later, when the State approved the new Audiovisual Communication General Law 7/2010, of March 31, 2010 . Over six years have passed and no one community radio has been awarded with a broadcasting license. Despite the requests made by the… read more

Spanish government internal memo suggest to end the recognition of community media
In response to the information published by eldiario.es an internal report from the Ministry of Industry on the call for licenses for Digital TV Platform in which it is proposed the elimination of community media from the legislation, AMARC Europe requires the Spanish government to clarify this situation.
As information published in the media suggest that the Ministry of Industry… read more

Support our colleagues in Asturias
As Radio Kras, in Asturies, Spain, was preparing to celebrate 30 year on-air, they were notified of disciplinary proceedings by the regional government. Below you can find Radio Kras statement and the support letter.
Support Letter
Manifesto supporting the Asturian free radios
Associations, organizations or groups who want to join the Manifesto can do so by copying and pasting… read more

Spanish government attacks Human Rights and Press and Information Freedom
31 December 2014. Just one day after International Human Rights Day, 10 December, the #LeyMordaza (Gag Law) has been approved in Spain which essentially legalises human rights abuses and penalises media coverage that might uncover abusive police behaviour. Under the new law, the production and distribution of images such as the one below can get you a 30.000€… read more

The Spanish Government threatens Radio Nava with a disproportionate fine
Radio Nava (Asturias, Spain) has started a campaign on the webpage Change.org to avoid the 30.000 Euros fine imposed by the Spanish Ministry of Industry. The radio station has been charged for using an unauthorized frequency (only 3 community and free radios in Spain have legal licenses to broadcast). Besides the legal actions that this community radio is preparing, the… read more

ReMC will challenge in court Spanish government plans to exclude community TV from Digital platforms
A Coruña, 14 November 2014. The Community Media Network (ReMC) has decided to file an administrative appeal against the royal decree of the Government in the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT). The Government has excluded community television despite being bound by the General Law on Audiovisual Communication 2010, which plans for television frequencies to be reserved and provided to nonprofit… read more

ReMC asks the Andalusian Government to include community media in the development of the Audiovisual Law
Seville, November 11, 2014. The Community Media Network (ReMC) calls on the Andalusian regional government to incorporate the 95 citizen proposals developed under the Andalusian Education Forum Communication and Citizenship in the drafting of the Law on Audiovisual Communication for Andalusia . During its Extraordinary Annual Meeting, the ReMC expressed its supports for these proposals, and they were included in the Declaration of… read more