Conference report: Community media at ECREA’s ECC08

On 25–28 November 2008 the second European Communication Conference took place in Barcelona, bringing together media and communication researchers from across the continent. Hosted by the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the event is co-organised by the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA). Among the thematic sections of the Association, Radio Research, and Communication and Democracy’s panels discussed a wide range of recent research in the area of community media. The findings emerging from the presentations did highlight the contributions of community radio stations operating in Europe and Africa to the plurality of voices available at the local level and their empowering potential for social groups often underserved by mainstream media. Moreover, the discussed case studies in the areas of alternative and radical media did help to map out emerging practices of both progressive and conservative social movements, including television and internet-based platforms across Europe.