COMMUNITY RADIO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 21ST-CENTURY - COMMERCIALISM VS. COMMUNITY POWER

This article charts the historical development of community radio in t he United States, and makes comparisons with the development of statio ns in Europe. Parallels are noted and illustrated from both the author 's personal experience and academic analysis. Two typologies are propo sed for understanding this development in which key aspects of station s are used for comparing stations in the mid-1970s to those in the lat e 1990s. The article ends with formulation of a number of issues which should be placed high on the research agenda, and a plea for consider ation of the US model of listener-sponsorship as a viable ''third way' ' for community radio initiatives in the 21st century.