[cma-l] FAO: Chairman/Station Manager URGENT

[Clive Glover]

Ian

Brilliant idea! Our letter to Andy Burham is already in the post!

Even better, this could set a precedent for all the other fines being  
levied (against ITV, BBC TV etc) coming our way!!

Clive Glover

Radio Verulam 92.6FM
St Albans


On 30 Jun 2008, at 11:58, Ian McGregor wrote:

> Please forward this message and attachment URGENTLY to your chairman  
> or
> station manager if that is not you!
>
> Would you like some more money for your community radio station?
>
> I have today launched a mini campaign to help get your station a share
> in the £1.1 million fine levied against GCap Media last week for
> misleading listeners in a paid for phone-in competition (see my letter
> to the Secretary of State below).
>
> If you think it's a good idea, I invite you to do the following:
>
> 1: Write your own letter to Andy Burnham suggesting the same thing
> (please write it in your own words though, perhaps tailoring it to  
> your
> own station's specific experiences but by all means refer to my letter
> to make the connection). Be polite, but persuasive in your arguments.
>
> 2: Tell your local papers you've done so to create some local media
> interest (there's an example press release below, feel free to
> personalise and localise it or write one of your own). You can use  
> your
> press release as an opportunity to remind people about the role your
> station plays in its community and the difficulties in raising funds
> (given the restraints of the legislation). You may well be asked what
> would your station do with the money if the Treasury decide to play
> Robin Hood and share it, so please think about that beforehand.
>
> EXAMPLE PRESS RELEASE:
>
> (YOUR TOWN) COMMUNITY RADIO STATION SHOUTS TO THE TOP!
> Local radio volunteers ask Secretary of State for share in  
> 'windfall' money
>
> (Your town)'s community radio station (xxx FM) is asking the  
> Chancellor
> of the Exchequer to play Robin Hood.
>
> Station bosses want Alistair Darling to redistribute a £1.1 million  
> fine
> windfall - levied against radio giant GCap Media for misleading
> listeners in a paid for phone-in competition  - to help struggling
> community radio stations across the country, including (your town).   
> The
> money is otherwise destined for Treasury coffers.
>
> "We think this money should be shared by community radio stations like
> (xxFM) which are run mostly by volunteers who broadcast day in and day
> out, serving their communities
> whilst struggling to get by on very little money," said (XXFM's
> chairman/station manager ..........).
>
> "If the £1.1 million was shared equally amongst the UK's 162 community
> stations, they would get £6,790 each - and best of all, it wouldn't  
> cost
> the taxpayers a single penny, because the money is an unexpected
> windfall as far as the government is concerned."
>
> (xxFM) has been broadcasting to ............. since ......... The
> station, based at ..... is on air for xx hours a day and it's  
> programmes
> includes ...(local stuff here)
>
> "We make it our business to be part of and at the heart of the local
> community including ...(examples here) ... .  But radio stations are
> expensive to run.  <<xxFM> is a mainly voluntary service, but we incur
> music royalties, broadcast fees, studio rent, utility costs and  
> business
> rates like any other, not to mention the cost of buying and repairing
> studio equipment and computers.
>
> "The money would be like a dream to us - with a sum like that we could
> .......................
>
> "This is potentially a one off golden opportunity for the government  
> to
> recognise the work of community radio stations up and down the country
> and provide a much needed financial boost for these very small  
> stations
> that are poor in pocket but rich in diversity and community spirit.   
> So
> I do urge the chancellor and the Department for Culture, Media and
> Sport, to  play Robin Hood and distributing the windfall fine to help
> community radio here in ........... and across the UK."
>
> EXAMPLE PRESS RELEASE ENDS
>
> Please act quickly - try to meet your local paper's deadline for the
> next edition (in most cases Tuesday) - whilst the story is still  
> topical.
>
> As well as there possibly being a golden pot of money at the end of  
> it,
> it will also potentially give you some valuable local newspaper
> publicity (local newspapers like local campaigns) to talk about the
> valuable work you are doing in your communities.
>
> By all means also copy your Andy Burnham letter to the Radio Magazine
> (news at theradiomagazine.co.uk) and Broadcast (chris.curtis at emap.com is
> the editor) if you wish to support the initiative, and copy in the
> Community Media Association and your local MP as well.
>
> For your information, there is a list of the 'dirty thirty' stations
> that broadcast the 'fixed' competition here:
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jun/26/gcapmedia.radio?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
>
> I hope this all works and that you, and the other community stations,
> get the dosh!
>
> If not, well, there was nothing lost in trying - and the local  
> publicity
> may well bring you some new listeners and perhaps even some local  
> offers
> of funding.
>
> Good luck!
>
> Ian McGregor
> Just Talking BROADCAST PR
> Check out our plain English radio audience guide here: []
>
> PS: This email has been sent to all of the UK community stations I  
> could
> find email addresses for.  But please share it with your friends and
> colleagues at other community stations in case they've been missed,
> let's keep that £1.1 million in sight before it gets lost in the big  
> pot!
>
> If you have any questions about this email, please send a BRIEF  
> enquiry
> and I'll endeavour to send a BRIEF reply.  Please do not phone (sorry,
> we're a small but busy agency, and we're running this campaign  
> informally.
>
>
> ---------- Attached message ----------
>
> URGENT The Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP
>
> Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
>
> Room 118
> 70 Whitehall
> LONDON
> SW1A 2AS
>
>
> 30 June 2008
>
>
> Dear Sir
>
> The news that Ofcom has fined GCap Media £1.1 million for misleading
> listeners in a paid for phone-in competition, comes in the same week  
> as
> the sad news of the closure, through lack of funds, of one of London’s
> first community radio stations, TGR Sound in Bexley.
>
> Many of the UK’s commercial radio stations, some of them very big and
> profitable companies, are actively reducing local programmes with more
> and more broadcasts being fed in from other areas - this very week in
> fact, GCap's 'One' network is cutting yet more local hours and  
> extending
> 'group' content.   Worse still, some local commercial stations are
> actually moving out of the towns they are licensed to serve, reducing
> costs and boosting profits at the expense of their local listeners.
>
> In contrast, the UK's 162 not-for-profit community radio stations
> struggle to pay the bills whilst unpaid volunteers serve their  
> listeners
> in a way commercial local stations once did but many have long since
> abandoned.
>
> So I wondered if the Gcap fine could potentially be turned into some
> good news for the community volunteers?   If the £1.1 million was  
> shared
> equally amongst the community stations, it would give them a  
> windfall of
> £6,790 each – a drop in the ocean in commercial radio land, but  
> almost a
> lottery win in the not-for-profit sector.  And better still, it  
> wouldn't
> cost taxpayers a single penny, because the money – which I understand
> will otherwise disappear into general Treasury coffers – is an
> unexpected windfall as far as the government is concerned.
>
> This year's Community Radio Fund of £500,000, kindly allocated by your
> department, has so far helped eighteen not-for profit stations – but
> that's fewer than one in ten, and that small number of awards has  
> taken
> up most of the money.  That means more than nine in ten of the  
> stations
> will get no government help at all.
>
> I'm writing to you because I understand from the Treasury team that  
> your
> department is the first point of contact for the GCap fine story, so
> could I ask please that you give this suggestion due consideration,  
> and,
> if you think it a valid proposition, make the necessary approach to  
> your
> colleague, Alistair Darling?
>
> This is potentially a one off golden opportunity to recognise the work
> of the – mainly volunteer - community radio sector and provide a much
> needed financial boost for these tiny stations that are poor in pocket
> but rich in diversity and community spirit.
>
> I am copying this letter to Ofcom and the Community Media Association
> for information, also, to the people in charge at each of the  
> community
> radio stations, as well as to the media press.
>
> I appreciate your time and look forward to your comments in due  
> course.
>
> Yours faithfully
>
> Ian McGregor
> Managing Director
> Just Talking BROADCAST PR
>
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