Funferal

Community radio roundup: Australian station shut

Melbourne Indymedia reports that an Australian community station lost its license – because it wasn’t demonstrating a commitment to community access and involvement:

One of the key issues was the stations failure to encourage or allow involvement from people in the local area.
ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman says there was no indication that the situation would improve or change, so ACMA decided to cancel the licence.
…
He went on to say that it is disappointing that a licensee was “unable to respond positively to ACMA’s intervention and was unable to provide a true community broadcasting service.”

Another feature on an Indian community radio station:

An illiterate fisherwomen, Amina relates to the programme that’s specially aired for her community in a dialect it can identify with. Like Amina, fisherfolk across Kutch are getting hooked to the programme ‘Dariagher’ aired by Ujjas radio through All India Radio (AIR), Bhuj station.
The community radio, which began with the serialised Kunjal Pnaje Kutchji (Kutch’s Saras crane) to raise issues pertinent to women in arid lands seven years ago, has now come a long way.

Want to have your podcast syndicated in Antarctica? You can if you hurry.
A Ugandan community station, Mega FM, had got caught up in corruption allegations against a minister.
Finally, Follow the Media notes that FM radio continues to expand in Europe – including extra stations in Ireland and elsewhere – notwithstanding the current excitement around digital radio.