In the article, the third community broadcasting sector, alongside the public and commercial sectors – is described. The history of community radio journalism is also analysed. Attention is focused on the pioneers of Polish private radio broadcasting that created pirate local stations in the early 1990s, which were born as grassroots and community oriented initiatives. The lack of well-thought-out state policies to support such stations and the escalating globalization processes have led to a crisis of radio in this form and of civil radio journalism as a whole. The history of Radio Obywatelskie from Poznań, founded by the American Robert Gamble, is described in greater detail. The operating model of this station is compared with the operating model of the community radio outlined in the first part of the article. In the publication, available media-related studies as well as community media documents in Europe were used, in addition, information from a recorded conversation with Robert Gamble, minutes from the meeting of Radio Obywatelskie representatives with the National Broadcasting Council and publications publications from the popular press titles were also analysed.