The decision meant an end to the digital broadcasting ambitions of community stations in Australia’s five major cities, with only their AM and FM platforms remaining.

It’s a big loss to what is an already lowly-funded industry, but what does this loss mean at a grassroots level; for the people who work in community radio and for their listeners? What gap in the media market does community radio fill anyway?

Bess Maria Zewdie investigates in this audio report.  

► This story features a clip titled ‘Radio Static’, from Gowler Music, that has been re-worked and modified under a creative commons Attribution Licence.

► A poster from the campaign to support community radio. IMAGE: Supplied