Thousands of community radio listeners, volunteers and supporters have petitioned against the Coalition Government’s decision to cut $1.4 million per annum to the sector’s digital service. The hashtag has been endorsed by many high profile figures, including professional disc-spinners like Hamish & Andy and triple j’s Zan Rowe, who have paid tribute to their former days volunteering on-air before they moved up to the big leagues.
Community radio has also received support from the Labor Party and the Australian Greens, as local MPs visited grungy studios around the country, looking like a school principals addressing a bunch of art students. Both parties have committed to restoring the funding if elected in July this year.
Almost 40 community radio digital services will go off-air if the Federal Budget is carried through, marking the beginning of the end of a historic and fundamental sector.
(Image: Twitter) Source: Twitter
As a former general manager and long-time volunteer of a large community radio station in Canberra, I understand the impact government funding has on these sizable organisations that have huge expenditures, very little income and a pressing responsibility to perform a crucial role in the community.
Despite what critics of community broadcasting might think, this kind of financial support isn’t simply giving people who have Che Guevara posters in their sharehouses an alternative to triple j. Community radio is very distinct from other media - even those who also receive government support.
This sector is not only central to those who can’t stand Kyle and Jackie O, but those whose needs are not met by mainstream media. Multicultural and non-English speaking groups, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people of diverse sexualities lack representation in most national media, and rely heavily on community radio to get information and have their stories heard. By cutting community radio funding, important stories such as those direct from the National Tent Embassy, children’s Indigenous language shows, or programs about mental health and wellbeing will all be sliced with it.
What happens behind the mic is equally as important. Community radio enables activity and participation and provides recreational opportunities for people in the area. Stations have a long history of training up Australia’s next generation of media makers, and working with a range of diverse people beyond audio engineering students and aspiring comedians. Many community broadcasters regularly partner with other NGOs, support services and local schools to give minorities and vulnerable people opportunities in events, community development, arts and entertainment, and administration and general management.
I remember sitting in my office which was adorned with vintage station paraphernalia and equally old carpet stains, juggling the needs of three volunteers: an electronic DJ with chronic schizophrenia, a middle-aged conspiracy theorist whose weekly volunteering was by default of an employment pathways referral, and a teenage boy with severe autism who was completing his year 12 certificate through a custom-made work experience program. The meeting felt like both winning a gold medal and moving a piano up a flight of stairs, and demonstrated how the industry brings together people from different backgrounds, with the added benefit of fostering a community shrine.
Sadly, the livelihood of community radio is already being threatened pre-federal budget. Community radio stations lag behind their competitors, their 1970s broadcast equipment struggling to keep up in an age of slick packages and multimedia content. As these new technologies evolve, the gap between the production values of larger broadcasters who can afford expensive equipment and community radio increases. And if digital services are slashed, community radio is doomed to fade into oblivion as the industry transitions to digital broadcast.
The Federal Budget’s plan of action is a death sentence for the sector: they'll be cassingles in a world of Spotify.
If the public wants more stories from direct from the streets, more presenters with a radio experience as opposed to a reality TV background and more recreational opportunities for a wide range of diverse people in our community, we need to keep community radio so that it can move into its new phase, reaching a new generation of staff, volunteers and listeners.
