An Ipswich case study: how does local broadcast media value, esteem and provide voice to a rapidly changing urban centre?

An Ipswich case study: how does local broadcast media value, esteem and provide voice to a rapidly changing urban centre?

Radio is part of our everyday life experience 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 Australia 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. Similarly, the place, Ipswich City changed dramatically and is confronted with significant population growth and the emergence of an old and new Ipswich that is potentially problematic for the local council to manage. The aim is to provide a sense of localism that was strongly present in the early decades of Ipswich as evidenced by the interactions with 4IP; the identity of the two is remarkable because of their parallel flux.

My thesis will provide 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, grounded theory and case study. The analysis features a triangulation model of place, people and conduit (radio) developed from the theoretical framework of Pierre Bourdieu where I overlay place and field, people and habitus and conduit (Radio) with practice.

The body of knowledge discovered and recovered in this research identifies a socio-cultural practice in Ipswich and reveals the 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.