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Community and local media are a necessary condition for the existence of plural, diverse and democratic societies, especially in such unequal regions as Latin America. Currently, the sustainability of these independent, community-led media is at risk. The construction of strategies that promote their survival and strengthening is one of the main challenges to guarantee the exercise of freedom of expression and the empowerment of citizens in our region.

That is why OBSERVACOM has begun a major regional study on "Public policies and regulatory environments suitable for the sustainability of community and local media in Latin America", with support from UNESCO's International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC). It will culminate in mid-2022 with a comparative report, which will include recommendations addressed to regulatory and sector authorities that will inform possible reviews and reforms of public policies for the sector.

The research – still ongoing – surveys the regulatory frameworks and public broadcasting policies in 10 Latin American countries to analyze their impact on the sustainability of community and indigenous media, while identifying good international practices.

In addition to OBSERVACOM, this project has national counterparts who will provide information, tools and proposals that allow the community media movement and freedom of expression organizations to develop their advocacy capacities on these issues. At the same time, an open and up-to-date database will be created to serve as a reference to usefully inform the managers of regulatory bodies and authorities responsible for formulating public policies in the region.

Through this joint project, the initiative seeks to facilitate dialogue among multiple actors to promote public discussion on these issues, part of the region’s agenda regarding freedom of expression, especially among regional and multilateral organizations such as UNESCO, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression.

According to UNESCO, community and local media are those "independent media, directed by and for the community", which view communication from a participatory, autonomous angle, while constituting a necessary condition for a plural, diverse media system to exist, and a particularly important part of building healthy democratic societies. Through community media, "communities appropriate their own development and can therefore express opinions or debate on various topics, as well as promote the culture, history and language of their own community."

Historically, however, community media have been excluded from public policy-making processes and communication legislation. Although the first community media in Latin America date back to the late 1940s, their recognition in the legislation of Latin American countries has emerged only in recent decades. During democratization processes in Latin America, the community media sector grew in size and significance. Since then, it has begun to demand to be included in national laws and recognized without discrimination, as well as for affirmative measures to be taken for its development.

This project is one of the 18 initiatives that were presented from Latin America in June 2021 by UNESCO’s IPDC, the only intergovernmental Initiative of the United Nations devoted to promoting independent media, mainly in developing countries. On that occasion, 55 projects were approved to strengthen the work of journalists worldwide.

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