[cma-l] Onwards and Upwards or Titanic and General Custer

[Canalside's The Thread]

Update

Dear All

Whatever we do chaps, don't send an e-mail headed    'the future of Radio'
to Radio Teesdale.      (ie:- James weekly blog)

Very sad indeed that yet another one of our fraternity keels over and goes
belly-up AND STILL Uncle Nero at the DCMS fiddles away while the Community
Radio sector scrapes along on its backside.
We have our own fiddlers of course, people who can see what's going on, but
they are without fire in their bellies ..guilty as charged I reckon and
aiding and abetting. I don't necessarily mean our leaders or
Council/Committee, I mean '''us''' the bums on the seats in the audience.
Stand up and be counted for petes sake.

I think we need to lay down exactly where we are heading, where we would
like to be in 12 months time, 2 years time (unless of course we've all gone
belly-up in the meantime)    and this is why I suggested that Conference is
for Networking but also getting Mandates and deciding Policy. The pecking
away as got a result, and I'm glad about that.
We can do AGM's in the Pub next door the following Day.

The way forward is in a way quite simple providing there is will power from
all sides. If we appear weak, we will be treated in a third fiddle manner.

My thoughts have never wavered, they have never wobbled, they have never
been kept quiet or hushed hushed and my beliefs in it all are exactly as
they were 12 years ago. The only two things that have changed are
''when making points I've thrown complete caution to the wind''   ''coupled
with the fact that my head hurts from banging it against a brick wall for so
long''

For the record    let's try one more time :-

1)      A Radio Fund that is at least '''reasonable''' as opposed to a
complete joke. Payments being doled out equally each year to all licensed
Stations. It could easily be ramped up by a couple of million if we dumped
the white heffalump called community TV .....or at least split the funding.
Also, have we asked the question yet as to why funding that could be coming
into our Pot is going to fund journalists etc who work at money making
racket newspapers ???
2)      The removal of restrictions. If this isn't possible then the Fund
'MUST' be upped .surely this is common sense isn't it ??        and/or
the removal of restrictions with a clause restriction at the top end as
opposed to the bottom end. In otherwords we restrict or cap the top end (the
spend) but not the earn. This way Commercial Radio is not affected.
Personally I don't think this should even be a topic of conversation, but
sadly we are saddled with it so I suggest a manoeuvring around the situation
to solve the problems and REDUCE Bureaucracy and nonsense.
3)      A 'FIXED' bottom-line reasonable fee from the PRS/PPL
this inevitably would mean that the only necessary report each year would be
'how many songs an hour do we play'  ??    period !             there could
be an argument that if you are below 12 you receive a slightly lower rate,
if you are above 12 you pay a slightly higher rate   (ie:- the speech
Stations pay less)         Decisions on rates are not on the nonsense of Net
Broadcasting which actually is not Net at all. Our Net at this end as much
the same as every other Community Station is 'zero'      so we actually make
nothing, we are not-for-profit. It is written in policy, it is set in stone
by Government. The concept is actually quite simple, and you guys need to
understand that the reason authorities try to make it more complicated is
because they baffle you with science in order to screw more lolly.
4)      Slightly more power is permitted, providing it does not interfere
with other operators .especially if other Stations have come on-air since
the award of a licence and are on the same frequency. There simply has to be
a clause for a 're-visit' to solve problems and issues.
5)      The new Ministers to take a good look at the past 14 years, agree
that the Politics of it have been a complete Horlicks and then have the guts
to stand up and do something about the situation before more Stations fall
over. Commercial Radio to do what they like to do and Community Radio to do
what it is meant to do, without interference (pardon the pun)      they
effects on the BBC or Commercial Radio have no bearing on the matter at all,
just like we should have no bearing on what they do.
I will say it one final time. If the local listenership all tuned into the
local Community Station and ceased listening to the Commercial Station, it
doesn't matter how many restrictions we are saddled with, the end result is
bon voyage, so it is a red herring . and enormous Red Herring ...sadly the
Red Herring has been swimming around for 14 Years and is still in the water.

Finally, I also do not think we should be writing letters to previous
Ministers thanking them for their efforts and input especially when you look
and see that pound for pound they have all been about as much use as a
chocolate fire guard. If anyone has any doubts on this .. What have they
done off their own backs      nothing     it has all been instigated from
our lobbying. If people are doing thing correctly and fairly there should be
no need to lobby.

There is yet another Station that has fallen over, I expect this to be one
of the topics at Conference please,,,,,,,,, included in the '''funding
section'''
I would also appreciate speakers who stand up and enlighten us on how we are
going to tackle the ongoing issues and not wheel out folk who waffle for
half an hour telling me everything I already know and then before any
questions they have gone to catch a Train because they have be in Penzance
by 6pm.

Apologies for the abruptness again, but I feel things are very important and
must not be taken lightly. Dare I say that to prove the point, over the past
12 Years we have tootled along nicely, we haven't made mega bucks, but we've
survived. We ain't tootling anymore, we are scraping our backsides along the
bottom and the majority of the issues are a result in failure to sort out
the above mentioned problems.
Grants both locally and nationally are drying up, the businesses who
supported us originally are all slowly disappearing due to internet shopping
and out of Town outlets .. More competition from the internet   etc etc
in fact, someone made a good point a few weeks ago --- this is where
Commercial Radios woes come from .. The Internet, not us.

14 Years this nonsense has been going on, it is time it was stopped by the
powers that be. Failing that, perhaps we have to try and stop some of it
ourselves as a collective body that is over 250 strong.

Discuss by all means ---------- especially at Conference. Let us have some
'real' Policy by mid-September and guidance along the way from our experts.
At the end of the Day, half-wits like me should not be trying to lead the
charge from the back and across a message board. I am just trying to do my
best with the tools that I have at my disposal. Unfortunately I don't have a
lot to offer apart from Passion and Loyalty ... 

Thank you

Rt Honourable Sir H Dumpty / Chairman of the Macclesfield and District going
around in circles Society


Do we have an agenda yet for the AGM   ???