RSVP London

The Community Media Charter
the ten point charter of the Community Media Association of the UK.

Recognising that community media foster the freedom of expression and information, the development of culture, the freedom to form and confront opinions and active participation in local life; noting that different cultures and communities lead to a diversity of forms of community media; this Charter identifies objectives which community media share and should strive to achieve:

• To promote the right to communicate, to assist the free flow of information and opinions, to encourage creative expression and to contribute to the democratic process and a pluralist society;

• To provide access to training, production and distribution facilities, to encourage local creative talent, to foster local traditions, and to provide services for the benefit, entertainment, education and development of their audience;

• To seek to have their ownership representative of local geographically recognisable communities or of communities of common interest;

• To be editorially independent of the government, commercial and religious institutions and political parties in determining their programming policy;

• To provide a right of access to minority and marginalised groups and to promote and protect cultural and linguistic diversity;

• To honestly inform their audience on the basis of information drawn from a variety of sources and to provide a right of reply to any person or organisation subject to serious misrepresentation;

• To be established as organisations which are not run with a view to profit and to ensure their independence by being financed from a variety of sources;

• To recognise and respect the contribution of volunteers, to recognise the right of paid workers to join their trade unions and provide satisfactory working conditions for both;

• To operate management, programming and employment practices which oppose discrimination and which are open and accountable to all supporters, staff and volunteers;

• To foster exchange between community media practitioners using communications to develop greater understanding in support of peace, tolerance, democracy and development.



The CMA is the UK membership body for the development of community-based Radio, TV and Internet broadcasters & multimedia publishers. It is a member of the world association of community radio broadcasters - AMARC, which is a signatory of the People's Communication Charter.