Archives: Spring 2003
From demented spaghetti to minidisc: early days at 5EBI FM
Airtime for youth and new communities: how does ethnic community radio compare to SBS?
By the people, for the people
Meet NEMBC's National Youth Coordinator
President's Pen
Spring 2003: From
demented spaghetti to minidisc: early days at 5EBI FM
You knew it was 6.12 pm because the window rattled as the evening
Ansett flight from Melbourne approached Adelaide airport. The window
resonated before you heard the plane. It was a bit like the movie
Apocalypse Now, where you heard the Ride of the Valkyries before
the helicopters. Being under the flight path for the approach to
Adelaide airport is not the ideal place for the studios of the fledgling
5EBI. Yet, programs were recorded there, and then delivered to 5UV
for broadcast via access time. It was 1978.
As you can imagine, there was plenty of tape stopping/starting/editing
between 5pm and 9pm, which was the best time for people to record
after going home from work. This was also peak time for flight traffic.
We tried rolling small pieces of paper to squeeze between the window
and the frame, but to no avail. The two 5EBI studios and office
were in Cresco House, a large bungalow style house built in the
1920s – a renovators delight. We shared it with two other community
based organizations. It was rumoured that the house was haunted,
which explained the window rattling. The communal kitchen was in
a perpetual mess and the coffee disappeared faster than a politician’s
promise.
It was our fourth annual radiothon, but our first one there. The
22 ethnic groups provided a technicolour array of entertainment,
dances, speeches and food. My most vivid memory of that occasion
was the unveiling of a brand new mop, ceremoniously dipped into
a bucket of the best cooking claret and then scrubbed on a lamb
turning on the spit. Marinade à la mop! The studio décor was the
universal norm for a novice community radio station, designed by
a graduate from the Sir Les Patterson School of Refined Design.
Floor to ceiling brown hessian, pre-loved carpet and double doors
for acoustic absorption – at least in theory.
For a young person at that time, the technical side was a great
attraction. The placement of microphones, tape recording techniques
and the console opened up a whole new world of experimentation and
discovery. The main recording device was a Cuemaster 77 MK IVB using
¼ inch tape in mono. When you pressed STOP on the recorder, as the
tape was in mid flight going fast forward or reverse, several feet
of the tape would violently wrap itself around one spool like demented
spaghetti. A cause of this would be the take up spool being of a
different size. It did not matter whether you were using a 4, 7
or 10 inch reel of tape, there would never be a corresponding take
up spool of the same size in the studio, so you had to make do with
what was there. Nor would there be a ‘centre’ to fill in those singles
with the big holes. It is impossible to slip cue a record without
a middle. After unwrapping the damaged tape from around the spool,
we had to do creative editing using that white splicing tape or
record the program again. Sometimes you would spend hours in the
studio to do a 30 minute program, meticulously recording community
news, features, analysis, comment and music only to find that there
was nothing on the tape at the end of the recording session. Surely
that was enough proof that the place had a resident ghost.
Things have improved since then. 5EBI-FM occupies premises where
tape recorders have been replaced with Mini Disc, operators receive
formal training and there is no poltergeist. I still have problems
with the windows though – it is hard to clean the middle pane of
triple glazing.
Peter Perjema
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Spring 2003: Airtime
for youth and new communities: how does ethnic community radio compare
to SBS?
In March of this year the Minister for Communications, Senator
Alston, wrote to the NEMBC asking for details of our sector’s progress
in developing strategies to increase the participation of young
people and emerging communities.
The NEMBC has a long standing and deep commitment to promoting an
increase in participation by these groups. The letter from the Minister
led us to attempt to quantify our progress in this area.
As an initial indicator, we decided to benchmark the progress of
ethnic community radio against that of SBS Radio, for which Senator
Alston had a direct responsibility. In order to ensure that we are
comparing apples with apples, we measured the performance of “full
time” ethnic community stations in the major capital cities against
their SBS counterparts.
The results show that ethnic community stations on the five major
capital cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth)
provide almost twice as much time to youth and members of emerging
communities as their SBS counterparts. (see box)
After noting the performance of community stations compared to SBS
radio, and hinting that perhaps Senator Alston should pay attention
to his own backyard first, NEMBC President George Zangalis wrote
to the Minister:
'The most obvious strategy is to significantly increase the number
of frequencies available for ethnic community broadcasters.. With
a low population density, and a lack of near neighbours, Australia
is fortunate in this regard. Even with existing technologies it
is much easier to find additional frequencies in Australia than
comparable countries.
While significant progress has been made in getting more youth and
members of emerging communities to air, and while there is still
some capacity for movement within the existing structures, there
is a limit.
We recognise, and indeed we have championed, the legitimate needs
of youth and members of new communities. But we are not comfortable
evicting the existing tenants. These broadcasters value their language
and their culture. They fought hard to establish ethnic community
broadcasting, and they worked hard to learn new skills. They will
not go quietly. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not a solution.'
He also referred to the government’s decision not to continue funding
for the NEMBC’s highly regarded training of ethnic broadcasters
through the Australian Ethnic Radio Training Project (AERTP). Noting
that newcomers to ethnic community radio, principally youth and
members of new and emerging communities, were the principal beneficiaries
of the AERTP, he continued:
'Another hurdle that (young people and members of new communities)
have to jump before they can go to air is acquiring the appropriate
broadcasting skills. We acknowledge your expressions of high regard
for the Australian Ethnic Radio Training Project. The funding for
this project has now expired. A sensible strategy for getting new
groups to air would be to continue support for training new ethnic
broadcasters.'
In short, ethnic community broadcasters have welcomed young people
and members of new and emerging ethnic communities. We have done
much better in this regard than the SBS.
There is a great and legitimate demand for airtime from ethnic communities.
The best way to meet this need is to make more frequencies available
to ethnic community broadcasters, and to provide funding support
for the training of new ethnic broadcasters.
Update
Senator Alston replied to us in July. He expressed some reservations
about the validity of our comparison of full time ethnic community
radio stations with SBS stations in the same city. We maintain our
view that ethnic community stations in the capital cities have a
much better record with regard to youth and emerging communities
than their SBS counterparts.
In his letter the Minister advised:
'I have requested the Department to include in the 2004-2005 deed
of grant for the CBF a requirement that at least 20% of the targeted
funds for ethnic community broadcasting be provided to support ethnic
youth programs, new language groups and new and emerging communities
(including any training initiatives for these groups).'
In response to our suggestion that the provision of additional frequencies
would help accommodate the needs of young people and emerging communities,
Senator Alston mentioned a number of difficulties. We continue with
our view that if much larger and more densely populated cities in
Europe can have so many stations available, Australia should be
able to match them.
Darce Cassidy
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Spring 2003: By the
people, for the people
Abandoning the principle of community control of community broadcasting
is not an option, writes George Zangalis.
Community broadcasting stations should be controlled by the community
they represent. This principle may be threatened when grant money
is involved. Many community stations would find it difficult to
survive if they did not receive sponsorship money, or government
grants.
In return for that funding, there can be times when the providers
of those funds, both commercial sponsors and governments, seek to
influence – or even dictate – the policy of community broadcasters.
This, of course, is inconsistent with the concept of community control
of community broadcasting. The CBAA’s Code of Practice recognises
some of the problems that can arise. It requires that community
broadcasting stations adopt a sponsorship policy which ensures that
“the content and style of individual programs is not influenced
by the sponsors of programs” and that “overall programming of community
broadcasting stations is not influenced by sponsors.”
There is however no provision relating to similar conditions attached
to government grants. In recent years this has become more and more
of an issue.
Most of us would accept that public money received by community
stations should be properly accounted for. It should be used only
for the purposes for which it was intended, and should be fully
documented. Increasingly however governments have been developing
“tied” or “targeted” grants.
For many years the government had been subsidising ethnic broadcasting.
This subsidy had been provided at an hourly rate by the Community
Broadcasting Foundation from funds supplied by the government. With
the number of ethnic broadcasters steadily increasing, and with
the funding having been static through the early part of the 1990s,
the hourly rate had slipped to $28 per hour. We were therefore very
pleased when the Coalition government, which won office in 1996,
increased the funding to the point where the Community Broadcasting
Foundation could raise the hourly rate to $43.50.
In announcing the funding increase Senator Alston said nothing about
tied or targeted funds. As time progressed however the additional
funds, the money that had allowed the rate to increase from $28
to $43.5 per hour, began to be treated differently. To start with
it was simply described differently, as targeted funding. We weren’t
required to treat it differently, or use it for different purposes.
Then in March of this year the NEMBC and the CBF both received letters
from Senator Alston.
In his letter the Minister suggests that the additional $3 million
provided in 1996 has special conditions attached to it. He indicated
that the government wanted greater influence over how this money
was spent. In particular, he seemed to be suggesting that ethnic
community broadcasters had not done enough to provide access for
young people, and for members of new and emerging communities.
Ethnic community broadcasters can be proud of their record in this
regard. As another article illustrates [insert title and page number],
the major ethnic stations in the capital cities broadcast nearly
twice the hours in these categories as do their SBS equivalents.
We have an excellent record in supporting young people and members
of new communities, and will continue to pursue those policies.
We will be happy to adhere to strict standards of financial probity
for the use of all public money, but we will not be happy to abandon
the principle of community control of community broadcasting.
George Zangalis
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Spring 2003: Meet
NEMBC's National Youth Coordinator
I was standing at the front of a long queue at the Victorian Arts
Center waiting to make an inquiry. There were other people in the
queue behind me, all around the same age, which was surprising for
the Arts Center. I was about to step forward to the counter when
a woman, around the age of fifty wearing a red suit, pushed right
in front of me.
“Excuse me,” I said, “I think you have mistaken the front of the
line for the back of the line”.
“So what?” she said as she stepped forward to the woman waiting
at the counter.
I was taken back by the rudeness of her response and her audacity
but I wasn't surprised. For those who have forgotten what it’s like
to be a young person, let me refresh your memories. In Australia,
being young denies you a whole range of privileges and activities
that older people take for granted. Not only are young people overlooked
in decision making processes and denied jobs in management, they
are also almost entirely ignored and under-represented by Australia
media, including radio.
I see my new position as Youth Coordinator at the NEMBC as a positive
step towards balancing out the age inequalities that exist in most
institutions in Australia. Around one third of all Australians are
under the age of 26 and I think it is a realistic aim to have this
figure reflected in ethnic broadcasting across Australia. Ethnic
community radio stations need to accurately reflect the communities
they purport to represent.
My general aim is to get more young people involved in ethnic broadcasting.
That’s the bottom line. In order for this to happen stations need
to take a highly structured and positive approach to youth participation
on every level. I don't expect stations to flood their time-slots
with young people or to kick out long-time broadcasters. There needs
to be an adequate process of planning and implementation to allow
space for young people to make their way onto the air. If a program
is retiring at the end of the year then why not work towards putting
together a multicultural youth program?
I will be contacting ethnic broadcasters all over the country in
coming weeks offering them ideas and support to help them get more
young people on the air. If you have any ideas or require any assistance,
send me an email on youth@nembc.org.au or call the NEMBC office
on (03) 9486 9549. In conclusion to the story, I didn't let the
woman get away with pushing in. I stepped right up beside her and
explained to the woman behind the counter what had happened.
“No, no I was here first, this boy is trying to push ahead of me,”
she said emphatically.
“I don't think so -” replied the woman behind the counter, “you’re
going to have to take a walk to the back of the line and wait your
turn.”
Andrew Apostola
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Spring 2003: President's Pen
Once again we are about to meet - this time in Canberra (Dec 5
- 7) for our Annual Conference and AGM. How quickly the year comes
around.
No sooner is the Conference over than work begins for the next one,
stretching to the end our limited resources. But with the help of
the ACT Government this time, and our Members in Canberra, we are
able to say that this Conference will be at least as good as the
best in the past - and certainly more “youthful.”
The isuses are many and difficult - but working together we have
a better chance to be successful in finding the answers that lead
us forward.
As you will notice, the theme for the Conference has been determined
by the actual circumstances: that is, PLACING THE FUNDAMENTAL VALUES
AND PRINCIPLES OF MULTICULTURALISM AND ETHNIC BROADCASTING ON THE
NATIONAL AGENDA.
The NEMBC is extremely happy to have the nation’s leading thinker
and practitioner on multiculturalism, Professor Mary Kalantzis,
as being the keynote speaker at the Conference - among many other
distinguished contributors.
As you know, as a result of the ministerial reshuffle, Senator Richard
Alston has retired as Minister for Communications. His position
passes to Mr Darryl Williams. The NEMBC acknowledges with appreciation
the interest and often the support that Senator Alston has given
to community broadcasting and the ethnic sector. We wish Senator
Alston the very best in his pending retirement from politics.
The NEMBC has written to Mr Williams congratulating him on his appointment,
and requesting an early meeting to discuss with him the work and
the role of the NEMBC, and establish a working relationship.
I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome and acknowledge
the good work done by Güler Shaw as AERTP Coordinator.
Looking forward to seeing you in Canberra - and I hope you will
make every effort to represent your station or program to this all-important
National Conference.
George Zangalis
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