Radio Blackout poster.In Italy, every day a small group of radio stations give voice to the voiceless: from social and environmental movements to immigrants and ethnic Roma who suffer discrimination. These are the “free radio”, a group of progressive and non-commercial broadcasters around Italy – from Turin, in the North, to Cosenza, in the deep South – who try to cover the kind of news that the mainstream media does not. Today, the free radios are trying to find a balance between their mission of broadcasting content that is outside the mainstream and the need for economic sustainability.
Unlike commercial radios, free radios aren't supported by large media companies – which gives them editorial independence but also means that they struggle financially. To further complicate their economic situation, they are extremely selective in the advertising they accept (many run ads only for ethical companies), if they accept advertisements at all.
What mostly distinguishes them, says Tiziano Bonini, a researcher at the University of Siena specialized in media studies, is that “free radios answer [ie: “feel obliged to be accountable”] only to their own listeners and they do not need to create profit for shareholders.” When a radio makes money, the profit is reinvested in the radio.
