Denmark has, in earlier years, played an important role by inspiring other European countries to approve media laws that supported community media. ‘Must carry’ was an essential part of the Danish media law for community media. Losing ‘must carry’ sets Denmark back as an inspiration for other European countries and denies an important part of Danish citizens full access to a diverse, pluralistic and democratic media environment.

In support of the request of our Danish member “SAML” for the reestablishment of ‘must carry’ rules for non-commercial media, CMFE (Community Media Forum Europe) wrote a letter to the Danish Ministry of Culture.

> download the letter here: CMFE_Letter_to_The_Danish_Minister_of_Culture.pdf

The CMFE Board member Gabriella Velics reports about the situation of community radios in Hungary:

1. Permits:

In Hungary community radio was legitimised and functioning from 1996 and by the end of 2010 there were sixty-eight small community radio stations across the country. From the beginning of 2011 the new law has made it much more difficult for them to operate, and the number of community radios suddenly fell to forty-four. (database of the Media Authority - mid. february)

Background: All permissions that would have been valid for years had replaced with new authority contracts by 30 June 2011. The Media Authority registered 157 applications before the deadline, but who are familiar with the situation know that only about 70 came from real community broadcasters. By the end of December 2011 the majority of those stations which had applied and received new linear community media service provider status were professional, local or regional commercial-style or religious radio stations; they have paid employees and editors and lack volunteers or a genuine community of radio listeners participating in radio work. In local and regional level 19 new permits were given to mostly those who have strong links to the church or the governing party. Local TV owners and wealthy businessmen got permits even in the so called small community radio level too.

The Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE) has released a letter of support to join the campaign of its Spanish members with regards to the actions take by the Jefatura Provincial de Telecomunicaciones of Asturias , the regional media authority, towards community radio stations in the region.

CMFE understands that the Jefatura has sent letters to the residents of the flats that are located in proximity of the FM radio broadcast transmission equipment of community radio stations in the Asturias, where it has requested to those residents to state if they have knowledge of the location and ownership of such transmission systems and where failure to do is sanctioned with fines up to € 500.000.

The Forum is concerned about the enactment of such measures which ignores the fact that the Authority has not been considering the opening of the legitimate licensing system to community radio stations, that have been broadcasting in the region since the 1980s, and that have since then shown demand for a third, not for profit and independent radio sector in the Asturias.

Dear CMFE members, friends and colleagues,
Ourplanet-TV, is one of Japan's best known alternative media, an all-citizens based independent public access center, with distribution on the internet, and on Tokyo area cable (in a weekly program window). This non-profit non-governmental media organization in Tokyo, is collecting donations for a 2-hour TV program highlighting the voices of Japanese children, who have been affected by the Fukushima nuclear accident.

These children are exposed to much higher-than-normal radioactivity everyday. Parents are struggling to protect their children from radiation. The case of the right to evacuate has been taken to court, but still more than a half year later nothing has changed. Children living close to the epicenter of the nuclear plant still cannot play in the school yards and outside their houses without being exposed to radiation.