[cma-l] Future thoughts for CMA
mark polden
markianpolden at hotmail.com
Sat Dec 25 14:31:39 GMT 2010
Please give us some further information, FM or MW details of the site etc
Ian Hickling or I can probably help.
Mark PoldenFlame CCR
Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2010 06:22:06 -0800
From: hulaksewa at yahoo.com
Subject: Re: [cma-l] Future thoughts for CMA
To: office at ccr-fm.co.uk; transplanfm at hotmail.com; markianpolden at hotmail.com; cma-l at commedia.org.uk
Hi all
We are all set to go but stuck with the antenna problem. Could anyone direct me to the right people to address this problem, what we are seeking basically is tech advice.
Thank you
Merry Christmas to all
Tikendra
British Gurkha Welfare Society (BGWS),
119 Wren Way,Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 8TA, UK
Phone: (44) 01252 510 794
http://www.bgws.org/
From: Office - ccr-fm <office at ccr-fm.co.uk>
To: Ian Hickling <transplanfm at hotmail.com>; mark polden <markianpolden at hotmail.com>; CMA-L <cma-l at commedia.org.uk>
Sent: Fri, 24 December, 2010 14:53:53
Subject: Re: [cma-l] Future thoughts for CMA
Merry Christmas All
Here we go again with the power / transmission / 5km / ofcom / original application - malarky ………
Not wanting to spoil anyones christmas so --------------- I’ll tread very carefully. Let’s analyse the Community Radio story.
1) Someone has this brilliant idea = Community Radio
2) Commercial Radio don’t like it !
3) A bit of whinging, wineing and dining takes place, a few politicians who are quite good at fiddling expenses get approached, but don’t have the balls to toss aside restrictions that basically beggar belief …………. It’s called wrong priorities and being a job for the wrong reason !
4) Anyway …………. Everyone agrees that we suck it and see ……………… so …………… we suck and see
5) We suddenly notice that the flavour after sucking it has a rather unusual taste --- things are tough, they continue to be tough, they’re still tough and getting tougher …………….. still the main bits on the restrictions remain
6) We all agree and people can see how wonderful community radio is …… we (CCR) have had about 25 youngsters in the station over the past 3 weeks all making radio …… kids with dissabilities, kids who were once hanging about on the street now making radio, cub groups doin’ activities for their badges ---- only possible because of community radio.
7) We get pats on the back from the Councils, the Police, the Fire service, Community Groups etc ……….. but we get no grants, no funding and the community fund is useless ………. Even it was ‘very good’ the way it’s doled out is a disgrace and goes against the fundamental way we operate community radio. EQUALITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES TO ALL
8) We (CCR) have to unfortunately change our tactics or DIE ! the restrictions really do now RESTRICT / PREVENT / THWART growth and threaten our very survival.
9) We (CCR) gain many listeners this year, our website grows and we try to generate money by ‘being a touch more commercial minded’ ………….. no problem really as the ethos of the station remains the same ………… Community led / Community first / Not-for-profit / reinvestment in the station / volunteering / brotherhood …………..
10) The rules prevent us from being ‘commercially minded’ we simply dare not and cannot compete so what we are now left with is that ALL our funding streams are blocked.
11) Sorry to Ian and others ………… but, I don’t know whether or not you have been away in Lapland with Father Christmas for the past 6 years but the 5km DOES exist. I ‘ll prove it ………. Because when we have approached ofcom regarding the ‘problems’ we get told the same thing and never get past the first hurdle. Areas of Poynton / Macclesfield / Wilmslow are outside our 5km ………… sometimes only ‘’yards’’ but the quote is …………. ‘’you are outside your zone’’ We obviously have to be careful
as we could interfere with other users. Bollington is surrounded by 3 miles of countryside ….. surely we can’t include shrubs, trees, sheep, canals etc into the figures ….. ?? but we do !
12) Other big users Key / Ram etc interfere with us ……………. BUT because of the 5km bull -------------------s -------------------------------h ------------------- it we can’t defend ourselves …………………. Something as simple as putting the power up by 20 watts WOULD make a difference. We don’t need height, we do not want to chuck our signal all over the North West , we simply want to defend our Castle.
13) We gain listeners but lose as many as we gain …………… why ? coz’ they can’t hear us ?
14) This is where community radio is at !
15) Each station needs a community fund that at least pays our licence fees … and rent (basically things that relate to our mer;; existance) say = £12,000 each, guaranteed – every year – everyone
16) Listeners / Sponsors / Local businesses do not really understand what we do. Actually, that isn’t exactly true as local people see that we work with others in the community etc …………………. BUT ……………….. let’s get down to laymans terms ……………… with the best will in the world and the desire to give a bit of money to the community, certainly in a recession the bottom line is these guys want to know ‘’ What do we get in return and listeners just want good community radio’’
17) Advertising restrictions doesn’t give the sponsor what they want ! and a signal that hisses and spits the moment you go out of range by 3 yards doesn’t give a potential listener what they want.
18) I find it absolutely unbeleivable that all the smaller stations like us haven’t gone tits-up ?? however, looking at our position and reading between the lines, some are mighty close.
19) Commercial stations seem to be able to do what the hell they want ….. I can prove that as well with at least 4 around this area who have at the drop of a hat change their remits and commitments.
20) We’re fed up ……… pissed off (if we are going to swear) and angry ……………… not fed up of what we are doing ….. we LOVE IT ! but fed up of being treated like morons ……… in fact you wouldn’t treat a dog how we are being treated.
21) We have more than proved our worth, we have also proved that the sales / non sales etc of commercial radio has no bearing on what we do or v / v and if it does, it’s their fault for being either to expensive, too greedy, to arogant or basically garbage. And yet still …… they treat us as competition.
It’s Christmas, and the good lord won’t be smiling on me if I am angry. It is all about peace and goodwill and everyone getting along together. This can be done if there is a will within the Ivory Towers.
I can’t say anymore really except ………… Merry Christmas and let us hope for some goodwill, common sense and success in 2011.
God bless us all …………………. everyone
Regards
Tiny Tim …………….. er Nick
From: cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk [mailto:cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk] On Behalf Of Ian Hickling
Sent: 24 December 2010 10:54
To: Mark Polden; phil at somersetfilm.com; cma-l
Subject: [cma-l] Future thoughts for CMA
Mark
There is no "5km Rule"
There never has been!
The 5km is a suggestion for what the usual Community Radio station should aim for.
The criterion has always been - as I have said so many times - that it is up to you as the Applicant to identify your target audience and to tell Ofcom how you proposed to cover it.
Just a few have done that and have been allocated the coverage they want
If you can't or don't do that, then you really have no-one to blame but yourself.
And similarly, if you don't get someone who understands propagation to guide you and prepare your technical submission, you're asking for trouble because you most likely won't cover your desired audience and you therefore won't be able to command the kind of revenue you'll need to stay in business after your set-up funding has
gone.
The vast majority of the 190-odd CRs on air at the moment are in this situation and Ofcom currently has said "no chance" for anyone wanting clearance to upgrade transmission.
It has to be said also that the money to put in a sensible transmission system that will do the trick usually isn't made available at the start and that's the other reason why stations are suffering.
I know of one recently that spent £900 on three mic arms and then decided that it couldn't afford a processor.
Crazy!
If you mean asking for more power, then that's quite a different matter from your "5km Rule", but Ofcom will still give you exactly the same message for a long time to come.
From: markianpolden at hotmail.com
To: phil at somersetfilm.com; cma-l at commedia.org.uk
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2010 08:25:33 +0000
Subject: Re: [cma-l] Happy Christmas and future thoughts for CMA
Hi All
>From our point of view, it is great the swing that CMA has with ofcom.
We would like to propose a task for CMA, it is this.
To tackle the 5km rule for community radio and seek a seperate definition for "community of special interest" radio stations which does not involve the 5km rule
We believe that this needs to be done before round three applications are sought i.e. within the next three months
I have been seconded by our management to attend CMA meetings
Phil - Where is the Jan 29 meeting
Mark Polden
Flame CCR
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:18:31 +0000
From: phil at somersetfilm.com
To: cma-l at commedia.org.uk
Subject: [cma-l] Happy Christmas and future thoughts for CMAHi members and friends
Happy Christmas and a great New Year to all!
This has been a challenging year for most of us in different ways and the
signs are that it won't get much easier anytime soon. However the good
news is that thanks to the hard work of our great staff and the support of
members, CMA is holding its own and continuing to punch above its weight on
many fronts.
We are far from complacent however and right now Council is looking at the
best ways forward for the organisation into 2011-12 and beyond. We need
your input into this debate.
* Three of the main questions are: what are the key characteristics of our
sector? what does the sector need? - and - what can the CMA feasibly offer?
Some of the answers to these questions are obvious of course - like lots of
us (but by no means all) run radio stations, like we need more money and
higher profile for example! Others may not be so clear.
We've found it useful to go back to our Charter and to ask if it remains fit
for purpose. The answer in our view is primarily 'yes, the Charter
continues to eloquently express what we mean by community media and what the
important principles are that inform our practice'. I'm adding the
wording of the Charter in full to the foot of this posting for you to
review. We feel there are some details which could do with updating but
only minor revisions needed. What do you think?
Does everyone read and digest the charter when they sign up to the CMA? Do
we all adhere to these principles in our activities? We feel it's
important to go back to first principles in this way, to try and identify
our USP and our collective commitment to it. We are entering an ever more
complex multi platform environment in which it will be increasingly
difficult to discern the provenance and intention of content. CMA and the
community media sector has a stated common purpose and we need to be clear
we are all signed up to the same starting point. There may well be other
organisations who would also subscribe to the Charter - they are our
potential partners as we seek to sustain accessible platforms for the
UK 's
rich diversity of voices to be heard without fear or prejudice.
Once we all confirm that we have the starting point right (and I know this
was done years back but a review process is always healthy) then there are
important questions to ask about structure and strategy. Council is
looking at these issues too.
Our next meeting is on 29 January. I will post a weekly update on our
debate through January and look forward to hearing your views as we move
forward. We need your input so please give it some thought. First off,
thoughts about the Charter and whether we can reference it as a kite-mark
for content. A bit like Fair Trade for example. There are pros and cons
for this argument but let's hear your thoughts. Many thanks.
In the meantime, here's to a good festive season for all.
Best wishes
Phil
Phil Shepherd
Chair of Council
Community Media Association
philshep.wordpress.com
**********************
THE COMMUNITY MEDIA CHARTER
Recognising that Community Media fosters the freedom of expression and
information, the development of culture, the freedom to form and confront
opinions and active participation in local life; noting that different
cultures and communities lead to a diversity of forms of Community Media;
this Charter identifies objectives which Community Media share and should
strive to achieve:
1. To promote the right to communicate, to assist the free flow of
information and opinions, to encourage creative expression and to contribute
to the democratic process and a pluralist society;
2. To provide access to training, production and distribution facilities, to
encourage local creative talent, to foster local traditions, and to provide
services for the benefit, entertainment, education and development of their
audience;
3. To seek to have their ownership representative of local geographically
recognisable communities or of communities of common interest;
4. To be editorially independent of the government, commercial and religious
institutions and political parties in determining their programming policy;
5. To provide a right of access to minority and marginalised groups and to
promote and protect cultural and linguistic diversity;
6. To honestly inform their audience on the basis of information drawn from
a variety of sources and to provide a right of reply to any person or
organisation subject to serious misrepresentation;
7. To be established as organisations which are not run with a view to
profit and to ensure their independence by being financed from a variety of
sources;
8. To recognise and respect the contribution of volunteers, to recognise the
right of paid workers to join their trade unions and provide satisfactory
working conditions for both;
9. To operate management, programming and employment practices which oppose
discrimination and which are open and accountable to all supporters, staff
and volunteers;
10. To foster exchange between Community Media practitioners using
communications to develop greater understanding in support of peace,
tolerance, democracy and development.
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