Citizens throughout the Commonwealth share a love of media of all sorts. The absence of licensing controls brings forth a rich crop of new products almost daily, most of which run for a short period as the people running them find something else to do with their leisure time.

Over the past decade a significant movement has grown in favour of the establishment of more regular media channels and the communes have accepted that activity in any one of these can be considered as meeting work requirements. The impact of this has been twofold. Firstly, the newspaper The People’s Blast, the radio station S&V Islands Radio FM and the television station S&V Satellite TeeVee are seen as the base media for the Commonwealth. Secondly, the establishment of these products means others can justifiably describe themselves as pirate products, a branding which offers a great deal of attraction to readers, listeners and viewers.
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A phantasmagoria of music, debate, phone-ins, plays, quizzes and quick quips, S&V Islands FM Radio is the delight of most citizens.

Many a street café debate has been sparked by conflicting views about whether the station is a parody or a genuine debacle of taste, common sense and decency. Many a late-night brawl has ended with the issue still unsettled.

Perhaps its greatest star is presenter Roo McGruder. Her claim to broadcasting fame is based not only on 27 years of being on air but also that she once completed a mighty 72 hours of non-stop live radio. Many listeners who witnessed the event contend she was more comprehensible after three nights without sleep than she has been throughout the rest of her career.

Another favourite slot is Philosophy Hour featuring Big Red and Nuke War Dave. The conspiracy theory debate concerning Karl Marx as the love child of Pocahontas and Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, still defies all chronological and genetic fact to top the bill of the greatest number of listeners in the station’s history.

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The People’s Blast began publishing in the very first days of revolution and is still a much-loved newspaper, as can be seen by the constant protests and outcries over its content, its style, its production and distribution, its staff and, most of all, its editor.

In the early days of regular publication, after the revolution, the editorship was rotated among the staff on a monthly basis. However, many found they could not face the mountains of mail, telephone calls from irate readers and arguments whenever they were out in public.

The rotation system was replaced by the election of a permanent editor. Bluff, opinionated and outspoken, Johnny Kubrick was elected, the staff believing his iron nerve and thick skin would serve him well in the position. Kubrick’s other place of work was a pig farm and it was commonly said that he had acquired characteristics similar to his charges, particularly when debating issues. But in less than a year, he had quit the post and moved to a remote mountain community to keep bees and to study their community spirit.

For many months The People’s Blast ran without an editor, which caused an even greater furore as readers felt there was not a proper point of contact for them to air their views. In the end, a committee of readers and staff was able to persuade Xi Chunder to become editor. Chunder had been, and still is, first mate of the trawler Daisymast, a boat renowned for its long service at sea, calling in to harbour only to drop its catch before returning to the deep blue.

Fifteen years later Chunder is still editor. Regular readers and the staff are united in their condemnation of rumours that Chunder was lost overboard in particularly bad weather 13 years ago.

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Bizarrely, S&VSTV began life as a unit within the Buenaventura Durruti Academy of Streetfighting, alongside the shadowy Angry Brigade and Project Mayhem.

It was the brainchild of media expert Nando Santa, who believed satire would become the post-modern instrument of revolution.

As the channel came together, it grew rapidly beyond its original concept and became an independent service months before it was on air.

The first show, broadcast throughout the continent, won plaudits from many peoples despite initial technical problems which brought the channel to a halt for a number of hours.

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