[cma-l] Community radio letter in the Guardian today!

[Jaqui Devereux]

Dear all

The CMA position is that there needs to be a significantly larger 
Community MEDIA Fund, to support the whole of the sector, licensed and 
unlicensed, radio, TV and new media throughout the UK!

So, we welcome the efforts in Wales that have led the Assembly to put up 
some money for Welsh stations, would hope that the Scottish Parliament 
will do the same, also in Northern Ireland.  In the meantime, we need to 
keep on pushing those governing us at national, regional and local 
levels to recognise the value of the work you all do and to fund it 
appropriately (bearing in mind issues of "undue influence").

Best wishes

Jaqui

Acting Director
Community Media Association



CMA-L wrote:
> Fwd:
> 
> From: "Alan Coote" <alan.coote at thebayradio.com>
> 
> Andrew,
> 
> I fully support the intent of your letter, however I make the observation
> that the central government's community radio  fund is intended to support
> all community radio stations across the UK. And while I don't want to appear
> nationalistic, I think that it is therefore a great shame that there is no
> ring-fenced fund specifically for English based community stations.
> 
> I congratulate you on your the evident success.
> 
> Alan Coote
> The Bay (Poole)
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: 26 September 2007 20:35
> To: Jaqui Devereux; 'CMA-L'
> Subject: Re: [cma-l] Community radio letter in the Guardian today!
> Importance: High
> 
> Hi
> 
> In response to the letter in today's Guardian I have sent the following
> response!
> 
> Dear Editor
> 
> Re : Community Radio
> 
> I am writing in response to the letter that appeared in the Guardian (dated
> Wednesday September 26th 2007) to say that I wholeheartedly agree with the
> points being made by the authors
> 
> I was responsible for setting up one of the 15 pilot stations back in 2001
> which paved the way for the creation of the community radio sector that we
> now have in the UK.
> 
> The station that I established in the South Wales Valleys was born out of a
> community project I ran as manager for a local housing association in
> partnership with a tenants group on one of Wales's most deprived estates.
> The issues the letter refers to around housing, health, crime prevention,
> employment, education, regeneration and community development were indeed
> the cornerstone of our public broadcasting function from the very outset -
> matters that we confronted every day as housing managers and community
> development workers and therefore had a wealth of knowledge and expertise
> in.
> 
> Over the past 6 years as the operator of what was until recently Wales's
> only community radio station I had to single handedly  try to persuade
> government departments, local authorities, public agencies and local
> businesses to support our work not least of all because as the letter says
> funding for the valuable role we perform as a sector is in extremely limited
> supply
> 
> However the main reason for writing is that I feel that I must point out
> that in Wales at least signs for the future are very encouraging. Involving
> our local Assembly Members from the start in our work and lobbying all
> political parties in the Senedd in Cardiff Bay paid off and last year the
> Welsh Assembly Government announced the creation of a Community Radio Fund
> for Wales worth £0.5 million over 5 years. Whilst the overall amount may not
> seem large it needs to be taken in the context of an as yet underdeveloped
> community radio sector here in Wales and the fact that little more
> additional dedicated funding for community radio exists through other
> channels for the whole of the UK.
> 
> All this is even more impressive given that broadcasting is not even a
> devolved matter to the Welsh Assembly. So why may you ask has the funding
> pot been established? Well, as many Assembly Members have told me in
> discussions it is because they can see the value of community radio as a way
> of helping to regenerate deprived communities, getting important messages to
> the grass roots and supporting training of local people of all ages and
> equipping them with basic but valuable transferable skills
> 
> Wales gets little recognition in the UK media but lets hope the trail
> blazing example set by our Welsh Assembly will be noticed across the border
> and others will follow suit with support for community radio - financial and
> in other ways!
> 
> Yours Sincerely
> 
> Andrew Jones
> 
> Project Manager
> 
> Rhondda Cynon Taff Community Radio Project
> _______________________________________________
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> cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk
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-- 
Jaqui Devereux

Acting Director
Community Media Association

15 Paternoster Row
Sheffield
S1 2BX

+44 114 279 5219


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