The transformation of community radio in the podcast era

Lucia Novanská Škripcová

doi:10.56418/txt.20.1.2026.4

Autores/as

Lucia Novanská Škripcová University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Faculty of Mass Media Communication

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56418/txt.20.1.2026.4

Palabras clave:

creación de comunidades, medios comunitarios, podcast comunitario, radio comunitaria

Resumen

El estudio examina el impacto del podcasting en el carácter comunitario de las radios locales en el contexto de la convergencia digital. Aunque las radios comunitarias utilizan cada vez más los podcasts, la naturaleza asincrónica de este formato dificulta el mantenimiento del sentido de comunidad. El objetivo de la investigación exploratoria es determinar si dos emisoras comunitarias europeas seleccionadas integran elementos de construcción de comunidad en sus podcasts y, en caso afirmativo, cómo lo hacen. El análisis cualitativo del contenido de los episodios seleccionados se centró en la presencia de interacciones parasociales, llamamientos a la participación y referencias explícitas a la comunidad. Los resultados muestran que los podcasts de las emisoras analizadas sirven principalmente para fines de archivo y distribución. Si bien la parasocialidad básica está presente, las invitaciones proactivas a la participación y las conexiones con la comunidad están prácticamente ausentes. Los resultados confirman empíricamente el riesgo de «descomunitarización» e indican que, sin una estrategia específica de construcción de relaciones, el potencial comunitario de los podcasts se pierde.

Descargas

Los datos de descargas todavía no están disponibles.

Citas

Alonso-Fernández, J. A., Rodríguez-Luque, C., & Legorburu-Hortelano, J. M. (2022). Radio does not die on the air: Podcasting and on-demand broadcast strategies among speech-based radio stations. Profesional de la información, 31(5), e310508. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2022.sep.08

Apple Podcasts. (2026, March 8). Top charts. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/charts

Atton, Ch. (2002). Alternative media. SAGE publications.

Brník, A., Bôtošová, Ľ., & Kapec, M. (2020). Rozhlasová tvorba a prax. Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda v Trnave.

Carpentier, N. (2017). The discursive-material knot: Cyprus in conflict and community media participation. Peter Lang.

Cordeiro, P. (2012). Radio becoming r@dio: Convergence, interactivity and broadcasting trends in perspective. Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 9(2), 492-510. https://www.participations.org/09-02-28-cordeiro.pdf

Coyer, K. (2011). Access to broadcasting: Radio. In K. Coyer, T. Dowmunt, & A. Fountain (Eds.), The alternative media handbook, 3. ed., (pp. 112-123). Taylor & Francis.

Doliwa, U., & Rankovic, L. (2014). Time for community media in Central and Eastern Europe. Central European Journal of Communication, 7(1), 18-33. https://cejc.ptks.pl/Volume-7-No-1-12-Spring-2014/Time-for-community-media-in-Central-and-Eastern-Europe

European Parliament, & Council of the European Union. (2022). Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market for Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act). Official Journal of the European Union, L 277, 1–102. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2065/oj/eng

European Parliament. (2007). The state of community media in the European Union (Study PE 408.943). Directorate-General Internal Policies, Policy Department Structural and Cohesion Policies. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/691/691771/691771en.pdf

Fick, R. (2024). Digital readiness in a digital revolution: How is community radio responding to digital transformation in the changing broadcast environment of South Africa? In H. Twinomurinzi, N. T. Msweli, S. Gumbo, T. Mawela, E. Mtsweni, P. Mkhize, & E. Mnkandla (Eds.), NEMISA DigitalSkills 2024 (EPiC Series in Education Science, vol. 6), pp. 149–163. https://easychair.org/publications/paper/Rdcd/open

Gray, C. (2025, November 25). Podcast statistics & industry trends 2026: Listens, gear, & more. Podcast Host. https://www.thepodcasthost.com/listening/podcast-industry-stats/

Howley, K. (2005). Community media: People, places, and communication technologies. Cambridge University Press.

James, K. (2025, April 1). Ernesto Lamas: Using podcasting to promote community voices. DW Akademie. https://akademie.dw.com/en/ernesto-lamas-using-podcasting-to-promote-community-voices/a-72106510

Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York University Press.

Lamas, E., & Montells, G. (2023). Poscat: El podcast después del podcast. Self-published.

Midões, M. (2022). Portuguese community radios on the internet: Broadcasting exclusively online and the high practice of podcasting. Journal of Digital Media & Interaction, 5(13), 44-52. https://doi.org/10.34624/jdmi.v5i13.30753

Milioni, D. L. (2009). Neither 'community' nor 'media'? The transformation of community media on the internet. In J. Gordon (Ed.), Notions of community: A collection of community media debates and dilemmas (pp. 271-294). Peter Lang.

Mučalo, M. & Šulentić, A. (2023). Migration towards listening to radio on digital platforms. Medijske studije, 14(27), 23-43. https://doi.org/10.20901/ms.14.27.2

Near Media Co-Op. (n.d.a). Our mission. https://near.ie/?page_id=24

Near Media Co-Op. (n.d.b). Governance. https://near.ie/?page_id=51

NearCast. (n.d.). Our podcasts. https://nearcast.ie/?page_id=267

Peissl, H., Purkarthofer, J., Bellardi, N., & Scifo, S. (2022). Community media – contributions to citizens’ participation. Council of Europe. https://rm.coe.int/community-media-contributions-to-citizens-participation-en/1680a94cd5

Qurratul’aini, Y., & Mulawarman, K. (2025). Creative strategy of CRAST FM radio podcast program “Podcrast” in maintaining the existence of campus radio in the digital era. In Jogjakarta Communication Conference, 3(1), 104-115. https://jcc-indonesia.id/proceeding/index.php/jcc/article/view/444

Rennie, E. (2006). Community media: A global introduction. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Rodriguez, C. (2001). Fissures in the mediascape: An international study of citizens’ media. Hampton Press.

Rusnák, J. (2023). Vývoj alternatívnych médií. In J. Rusnák (Ed.), Alternatívne a komunitné médiá na Slovensku (pp. 23 – 50). Vydavateľstvo Prešovskej univerzity.

Satria, D. M., & Urrahmah, S. (2025). Challenges of community radio in the digital era. Electronic Journal of Education, Social Economics and Technology, 6(1), 537-543. https://ejeset.saintispub.com/ejeset/article/view/803/193

Sharon, T. (2023). Peeling the pod: Towards a research agenda for podcast studies, Annals of the International Communication Association, 47(3), 324-337. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2023.2201593

Sibanda, M. N., & Ndlovu, M. (2023). An alternative arena for “communities of resistance”? Podcasting, democratic spaces, and counterpublics in Zimbabwe. In Tsarwe, S., Chiumbu, S. (Eds.), Converged Radio, Youth and Urbanity in Africa (pp. 37-53). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19417-7_3

Škripcová, L. (2016). Aspects related to community media and its terminology. European Journal of Science and Theology, 12(5), 155-162. https://www.ejst.tuiasi.ro/Files/60/16_Skripcova.pdf

Škripcová, L., & Mistrík, M. (2021). Komunitné médiá. Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda v Trnave, Fakulta masmediálnej komunikácie.

Spotify (2026, March 8). The podcast charts. https://podcastcharts.byspotify.com/

Triggs, T. (2010). Fanzines. Thames & Hudson.

Tsarwe, S., & Sibanda, M. N. (2025). Community radio in the era of convergence: A case of Zimbabwe. Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 32(2), 314–332. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376529.2024.2303497

Wendland, J. (2024). Building a better participatory culture and enhancing sense of community in podcasts – Systematic literature review. Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376529.2024.2347609

World Radio Paris. (n.d.a). About us. https://worldradioparis.org/about-us/

World Radio Paris. (n.d.b). Getting started in France. https://worldradioparis.org/getting-started-in-france/#

Analysed material

Diouri-Adequin, T. (Host). (2026, February 27). Final transmission, an outlook on the future of tech [Audio podcast episode]. In High-Tech Intermission. World Radio Paris. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/high-tech-intermission-final-transmission-an-outlook/id1469688285?i=1000751935917

Killeen, P. (Host). (2026, February 27). Jack Hogan (No. 120) [Audio podcast episode]. In Turning Points. World Radio Paris. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/turning-points-jack-hogan/id1469688285?i=1000751885758

Liconnet, C. (Host). (2026, March 9). Flavia [Audio podcast episode]. In Living the Dream: French Riviera. World Radio Paris. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-the-dream-french-riviera-flavia/id1469688285?i=1000754070512

Murphy, A. (Host). (2025, December 16). Maureen Gannon [Audio podcast episode]. In Stories from Foster Care. Near FM. https://nearcast.ie/?p=1902

Oyediran, M. (Host). (2026, March 4). Candid conversations (No. 15) [Audio podcast episode]. In Candid Conversations. Near FM. https://nearcast.ie/?p=1941

Quinn, M. (Host). (2025, December 17). Teresa Heeney [Audio podcast episode]. In Perspectives on Prevention. Near FM. https://nearcast.ie/?p=1896