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Community radio in Canada is a legally defined broadcasting category governed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).[1] It is distinct from the other two (often better known) categories, commercial broadcasting, and public broadcasting. Community radio can be considered a subcategory of alternative media. Community radio exists worldwide and is often broadly similar around the world, however, it can have variations in the government regulations that they are required to follow, the national or regional contexts in which its developed and the specific culture, goals or methods they adhere to.
Community stations broadcast content that is popular and relevant to a local, specific audience but is often overlooked by commercial or mass-media broadcasters. Community radio stations are operated, owned, and influenced by the communities they serve. They are generally nonprofit and provide a mechanism for enabling individuals, groups, and communities to tell their own stories, to share experiences and, in a media-rich world, to become creators and contributors of media.