Dr Ashley Jones undertook his PhD which he successfully completed and graduated in 2016. This important research has led him into work around localism and the role that media plays in building community.
The Thesis:
An Ipswich Case Study: How Does Local Broadcast Media Value, Esteem and Provide Voice to a Rapidly Growing Urban Centre
Radio is part of our everyday in various rooms around the home, in the car and as a portable device. Its impact and connection with the local community was immediate since its inception in 1923. Radio became directly part of the City of Ipswich in 1935 with the birth of 4IP (Ipswich). Local people were avid consumers of broadcast media and recognised that, in particular, 4IP was something that they could both participate in and consume. It gave people a voice; historically 4IP broadcast local choirs, soloists, produced youth programs and generally reflected the community in which it existed. The radio station moved out of Ipswich and established itself in Brisbane during 1970s. This move resulted in a loss of a voice in the local area through broadcast radio. Radio has changed over the years. Ipswich gained a new radio station during the 1990s, QFM which trades today as River 949fm. It also has Phoenix Radio, an online radio station developed and operated by the University of Southern Queensland. The place, Ipswich City has changed dramatically as well.
My thesis provides a unique insight into the relationship between a community, that community’s membership and local radio services. My research is carried out in an applied approach using aspects of critical ethnography, interpretivism and social constructivism. It is carried out using a triangulation model of place, people and conduit ( radio). Supported by the theorectical framework from Bourdieu where I overlay place and field, people and habitus and conduit (Radio) with practice.
The body of knowledge discovered and recovered identifies socio-cultural practice in Ipswich and reveals the more fundamental human interactions between broadcaster, people and place. This has far reaching implications to inform the radio industry, community development and cities undergoing major growth and transformation.
The thesis can be found here.