Access
Against an increasing public scepticism with the values of mainstream media, community radio offers the skills, resources and the opportunity to understand media by actively participating in its creation.
Community radio stations promote active volunteer participation in media production rather than passive consumption of media. As such, volunteers are the backbone of community broadcasting, working across all aspects of radio operations from production, on-air presentation and technical roles to administration, station management and governance.
The most recent sector survey shows that a total of 20,751 people worked voluntarily at fully licensed community radio stations across Australia.
It’s this principle of accessibility which has lead to the sector being a leading training ground for media professionals around the country. Andrew Denton, Richard Kingsmill, Hamish and Andy, Roy and HG, Liz Jackson and Julie McCrossin are just some of the thousands of people who are working in the media industry who gained their start in community radio.
Community stations provide both nationally accredited and informal training opportunities in broadcasting and management. The most recent sector survey shows that over a 12 month period, each station puts an average of 29 volunteers through a training program. That’s a total 7,071 people receiving some form of organised community radio based training across Australia (CBD 2007).
People get involved in community radio for many reasons, some to get a start towards a media career, others to provide an outlet to a specialist music interest and others to provide cultural programming in languages other than English. Volunteers come from all walks of life and all sections of the community.
Volunteers represent all age groups. A significant number of young people are involved with the sector. Ninety percent of stations have volunteers under the age of 26, with an average of 17 young people at each station (CBD 2007).
But it’s also about access to the community – local musicians, arts groups, health services, local Government, ethnic groups etc... Community stations are designed to be hubs of their communities. If there’s something happening in your community, you’ll find out about it on your community station.