RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue, 01. 01. 1988., стр. 118

The dream of most people working toward democratic communicatlon is that they can somehow maintain the freedom of this small space of completely participatory communication . For this reason most successful systems of. participatory communication try to maintain and builđ upon an infrastructure of small-group communication. (White , 1984:18) However , as said , legal local radio and television stations in the Netherlands are no longer in this stage of development and perhaps never were in it. STAGE 2 : LINKING LOCAL GROUPS IN NETWORKS An important characteristic of this second phase is , according to White , that the local media no longer remain exclusively active within their own communication circuit, but search for links with other groups and organizations active in the same area . White (1984:18) speaks of "the transition from spontaneous communal expression to a medium" . At the same time , đemands are made on the technical quality of the programming , the professional level of the eguipment, the distribution and form of the programming . This transition occurs , according to White , with a number of structural restraints . An example is "the adaptation to the economic timitations and the marketing distribution conventioris associated with a particular medium” (White , 1984:19). If this is compared with the situation of local radio and television , it appears that these media are incorporating in greater đegree a journalistic approach at the ехрепзе of the original idealistic principles regarding access and participation . increasing competition with other media is somewhat the cause of this , but rather than emphasizing the unigueness of their activities , the stations tend to adapt the form and content of traditional media . This is especially evident in the stress placed on the technical quality of programming and desire to reach larger audiences . White (1984:22-23) makes a number of recommendations regarding activities m this stage of development which are worth examining here . • Administrative structure The reguirement of local stations to institute a culturally representative organ creates the illusion that a wide spectrum of the society is representeđ within the statiori organization. As indicated above , this organ has no more than formal status and represents little đirect contact with citizens .

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