As part of our work evaluating the Creu Cyffro programme in Merthyr Tydfil we are hosting a short capacity building course in the town to build community capacity in community media and in particular podcasting.
We’re producing the Creu Cyffro podcast – which can be found on Soundcloud – and one of the aims of the sessions is to identify people to take the podcast over as a legacy of the programme and which might act as a showcase of the creative and cultural sector In Merthyr.
The sessions are free and are open to participants on Creu Cyffro and cultural organisations in Merthyr Tydfil. No prior experience is needed and all equipment will be provided.
The sessions take place on 24th and 25th October at Canolfan Soar, Merthyr’s Welsh language hub. To book your FREE place simply email hello@growsocialcapital.org.uk
We’re looking forward to collaborating on the sessions with community media expert Rob Watson from Decentered Media based in Leicester who runs his own podcast as well as advises community journalists and community news teams all across the UK.
Why do we at Grow Social Capital see community media as an important ingredient in building social capital? The phrase ‘fake news’ has entered popular lexicon and with it has helped to erode trust in mainstream media sources. In contrast, community media remains stubbornly trustworthy. It isn’t however always visible.
As Rob says:
My experience tells me there is a whole other world of information and news agents, but because it is informal and tacit, then it doesn’t get recognised or validated.
If we can help promote a community news model, we’ll find that there are many other sources of information such as churches, youth groups, small businesses, and all the other people working on community projects that get ignored by the mainstream press and PR model.
So it’s potentially not just new podcasts or new community news outlets that we can help stimulate in Merthyr, but help re-build trust in local media.
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