In Part I, I outlined some of the key theories useful for informing the understanding of prison radio. Here, these ideas are used to examine the information gathered through interviews with PRA participants on their experiences of the earliest stages of prison radio development. The findings are presented in a broadly chronological order, beginning with the events immediately prior to the formation of the PRA. Rather than a purely historical analysis, the following chapters are structured around prominent discursive themes identified through the accounts: namely, the partnerships and institutional arrangements involved; and the management of perceptions and assumptions about prison radio which have influenced the process. Two case studies are used to illustrate each theme, starting with the partnership arrangements which contributed to the early growth of prison radio and shaped the development of the PRA.

This chapter focuses on a partnership project in the West Midlands region which developed prison radio beyond Radio Feltham. In particular, I examine the role of the BBC in the process and the impact of the activity on establishing and formalising the PRA. Developed through the combined influence of national broadcaster and independent prison radio activity, I argue that the PRA is representative of new forms of Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) within changing media and institutional environments, achieved in partnership, and demonstrating the enduring importance of PSB values.

The role, function and legitimacy of PSB is under threat, shown through well-documented changes in BBC culture and operations (Born 2003, 2004) within an increasingly fragmented, commercialised and digitised media landscape. Examined against a backdrop of institutional changes throughout the 1990s and 2000s, BBC involvement with prison radio is linked to renewed corporate objectives of accountability, diversity and social responsibility in the face of an ongoing need to justify public funding. However, as an independent enterprise working in partnership with state agencies, the PRA represents the innovative and accountable community engagement to which the BBC aspired. Evolving as a small, independent social enterprise, the PRA epitomises the innovation, creativity and public service values which the BBC was arguably struggling to achieve (Born 2004).

The ways in which PRA founders tell their stories informs the understanding of prison radio growth.