ABSTRACT
‘Alternative media’ is a difficult term to define. On one side, there are considerations of content. Should the field be confined to only media that challenge dominant ideas and social interests? Should it only consider media that allow citizen participation in production or media that are managed collectively? Should only non-profit media be considered? Should it only include progressive media, or should conservative media be encompassed as well? On another side there are considerations of form. Should only traditional media such as newspapers, television, radio, and online media be included? What about non-traditional media such as zines, street theatre, postering and culture jamming? The definition of ‘community media’ offers similar problems. What exactly is meant by the term ‘community’? What kinds of characteristics or interests comprise a community? Might such media be based upon geographic, political, ethnic, linguistic lines? Or perhaps gender, or sexual preference? And finally, are community media a type of alternative media?
