This section will consider how independent operators have drawn practices from alternative media, as well as the mainstream, to shape both their organisation and interaction with the community. As discussed in Chapter 1 (Literature review: applying a subcultural lens to hyperlocal) alternative media is a contested term, which can at its most simplified be utilised purely as a distinction between mainstream and
non-mainstream media (Forde, 2011:2) or at the opposite end of the scale represent media with a politically charged message attempting to affect change (Hess and Waller, 2016:
207). Chris Atton observes that alternative media have long existed on the margins of the mainstream: ‘Providing democratic communication to people who are normally excluded from media production’ (Atton, 2002: 4). He indicates that print has been the usual format for alternative media publications, with zine culture in the 1980’s fuelling the rise of independent and small-scale publishing in the 1990s (2002:3). If the term itself is problematic, the organisational structures by which such media are produced are easier to identify. Atton suggests that there are three clear organisational structures of
alternative media production (2003: 42-43):
1) The organisational hierarchy that replicates the mainstream press with an owner/editor overseeing a production staff;
2) A non-hierarchical organisation where individuals have equal control and all decisions are made collectively;
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3) The loosest type, where roles are not fixed and everyone is involved in all levels of production.
Independent operators who had adopted alternative media approaches were Adam Cantwell-Corn and Rachel Howells. At The Bristol Cable a non-hierarchical organisation existed, whereas at the Port Talbot Magnet the structure was closer to the loosest type.
The Cable had a unique approach to community engagement, compared with the other operations. This was motivated by its alternative media organisational approach and the fact that the ‘community’ in question was less geographical than social – giving voice to marginalised voices (Park, 1928; Williams, 1976/1983; Bauman, 2001). The Cable was different to the other operations featured which were focussed on small geographical communities, while it was focussed on excluded communities within a larger geographical community. Members owned a share in a media cooperative
‘community benefit society’ and were encouraged to contribute to the writing process, they also voted on which campaigns would be pursued by the paper. Adam explained that since they launched in 2014, The Cable had hosted regular workshops which were free or discounted for members: ‘on everything from media law, video journalism, writing workshops, Freedom of Information – all sorts of media and journalism related trainings’
(I:1 17/05/2016). This was an example of sustained reciprocity, similar to that identified by Harte et al (2016: 172) of hyperlocals running social media surgeries to help
community groups.
He and his co-founders had set up The Cable after graduating from the University of Sussex with the aim of democratising local media: ‘We’re trying to bring these two elements of journalism and community action together’ (Reid, 2014). The Cable’s organisational approach was motivated by the background of Adam (a graduate in law with political science) and his fellow partners. They did not bring with them the working practices of mainstream media, but clearly had expectations about the role that the media should be performing. They shared a background in community activism which
Adam Cantwell-Corn: We’re very much keen on making sure that we don’t just pay lip service to the kind of idea of diversity of voices or
perspectives or people that are involved and to do that, there has to be very much a proactive approach to making it
genuinely accessible which means organising training, having a collaborative editorial policy. One of the reasons why the Bristol Cable is quarterly is that we work with untrained journalists which means that things take longer. (I:1 17/05/2016)
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informed their alternative media ethos of providing an outlet for people normally excluded from media production (Atton, 2003: 42-43). As outlined in Chapter 4, Adam stated that they were trying to: ‘pioneer a different model for funding and producing media’ not run a volunteer-led organisation (I:1). At the first interview Adam reported that ‘one of the major decisions’ at their second AGM was to introduce:
They were motivated by the altruism and ‘conscience collective’ of mechanical solidarity, but also displayed organic division of labour through interdependence (Durkheim,
1893/1984; Jenks, 2005: 28) in the number of roles assigned:
The operation was therefore a ‘non-hierarchical organisation’ (Atton, 2003: 42-43) with decisions made collectively and specific roles assigned. This therefore indicated that The Cable fell between the organisational structure which borrowed closely from the mainstream and the most radical form without fixed roles and where all decisions were collective (Atton, 2003: 52-53). Atton warned that more radical forms of production: ‘are often unwieldy they can make decision-making very difficult and often lead to the collapse of alternative media projects’ (Ibid). The Cable though had a high level of organisation which augured well for the future of the organisation:
Those grassroots alternative media projects that flourish tend to be the ones with a small, committed collective that is responsible for the day-to-day running and Adam Cantwell-Corn: Regular payment for key organisers and also for
contributors. And the way in which that’ll be rolled out is that it’s going to be on a flat rate across the organisation. So per unit of work it’s the same amount for everybody, no matter their seniority or experience within the
organisation. (I:1)
Adam Cantwell-Corn: We have four media coordinators who are responsible for all of the content. Then there’s three operations coordinators who also make up the media coordinator team as well and they do the strategic development, all the finance stuff, all the admin, all the networking and the outreach - the project development and management type stuff. Then we have two events coordinators who organise the logistical elements of all the events that we run.
We have two people who do membership and that’s membership administration and also membership
engagement and development. We have somebody who helps ad hoc with finances. We have a couple of people who do manage and develop and administrate the website and I think that’s it. (I:1)
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planning of the publication, leaving a larger pool of contributors free from this administrative burden. (Atton, 2003: 54)
The highly organised and interdependent structure at The Cable differs from the
informally organised worker co-operative of research participant Rachel Howells. Having worked for The Big Issue, Cymru, Rachel had alternative media experience, but her title of editor indicates that the structure there replicated the mainstream. At The Port Talbot Magnet there were no pre-assigned job roles and the hyperlocal was established by a group of journalists who brought with them mainstream media experience. Latterly Rachel had her reservations about the organisational style they chose.
She said there was a six-month run when they took it in turns to edit the hyperlocal for a week, but although it worked well for her not everybody was contributing equally: ‘Then before you know it, there’s only one of you doing it’ (I:2). By the time of the first interview most had found other employment either freelance or in PR. Rachel was left editing the paper and the synergy with her doctoral research provided a degree of impetus.
The hyperlocal had launched in 2009 just ahead of a live theatrical event in Port Talbot called The Passion which provided initial opportunity for ‘investment’ in the community:
Rachel Howells: I don’t think it ever really was a cooperative really. It was at the beginning because there were lots of willing hands and people who wanted it to work. […] We had members but they weren’t members who were expected to do very much. We had contributors who we didn’t insist on being members because we didn’t want to scare them off. So I don’t know that we ever really used the cooperative model to its full advantage and I don’t know that it ever operated in that way anyway really. (I:2 05/07/2017)
Rachel Howells: We launched the new website just ahead of The Passion and The Passion was the first big test for us. We had lots of volunteer journalists, there was about a dozen, 15 of us, who worked it and we covered… because it was a live theatrical event that went on for three whole days and there were things going on all around the town. So it was a great test for us and we did video, we did audio, we interviewed Hollywood stars right down to the kids that were involved as extras.
There were a thousand local people involved as extras. We filmed it, we photographed it, we wrote about it, we covered absolutely everything.
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With their extensive coverage of the event, Rachel and her colleagues initiated indirect reciprocity (Lewis et al, 2014: 234- 235: Harte et al, 2016; 10-13), creating a one to many community building element to their coverage, that Rachel felt contributed to a more upbeat feeling in the town and which she described as ‘a turning point’. This indicates that the hyperlocal was part of the ‘conscience collective’ at this point.
The ultimate relationship between reporter and community is sustained reciprocity which occurs when direct and indirect reciprocal engagement occurs over a sustained length of time; it results in situations like those described by Richard Gurner and Michael Casey where there was sufficient trust for contacts to repay earlier favours. Harte et al found that ‘hyperlocal publishers engage with people offline through embedding themselves in everyday places in their communities’ (2016: 13). While this was clearly true for the other hyperlocal operators mentioned in this chapter, at The Magnet Rachel found it difficult to establish a similar rapport: ‘We have to rely on our contacts and I’ve just found out today that David Cameron was at the steelworks yesterday. I had no idea, I was in Port Talbot yesterday and nobody told us’ (I:2). That no one had ‘tipped off’ the paper indicates a lack of reciprocal engagement with the community.