Author: Marie Curie Association – MCA, branch Smolyan

“Community media services in any form – radio, theatre, Internet, telephone, or video need community participation for their creation as well as for their use and survival.”

Alfonso Gumucio-Dagron and Hezekiel Dlamini

Aims and Overarching objectives of the module

• To provide basic knowledge and guidance to youth, who would like to initiate start-ups in community media
• To utilise new technologies to develop innovative models of activity engaging with young people aged 16-29.
• To define all necessarily prerequisites and steps in order to be aware and prepared to start own community media

To understand better the process of start-up, business planning, financial aspects, impact gathering and monitoring and evaluation of the success.

Summary of the module content and table of content items

This unit aims to provide initial knowledge about the establishment of a community media, its (production and financial) management as well as stages for initiating start-ups by youth volunteers.

1. Definition and aspects of community media
2. Benefits to using Community Media and ICT to engage youth
3. Who owns the community media?
4. Community participation
5. Financial aspects
6. Volunteers in community media
7. Independence of the community media
8. Expenditures
9. Income
10. Donor or grant funding
11. Community media and open market
12. Customers of the community media
13. Your business plan
14. Community media start-up proposal

Impact assessment

Training workload

Training process facilitated by youth trainer/worker: 16 hours

Practical assignments: 32 hours

Learning outcomes

Knowledge

• Knowledge about the structure of the community media, how it is functioning and what is its mission
• Knowledge about business planning, financial management and how to enable successful start-up of a community media
• Knowledge about preparation of business plan structure and implementation of impact assessment

Skills

• Ability to prepare business plan for initial start-up of community media
• Ability to extend negotiation skills while recruiting donors and fund raising activities
• Ability to lead and successfully manage a community media
• Ability to conduct impact assessment and to gather feedback from the targeted audience

Competences

• Growth in self-esteem and self-confidence by young people involved in the project.
• Improvement of youth’ digital, civic and social key competences
• Increase establishment and use of new community media, which will inspire the motivation and enthusiasm amongst young people.

Once the project is completed, the young people who have been involved will be encouraged to become engaged in establishment of real community media activities.