Community Radio—The Personal Approach

When Mark Gould answered the telephone on his weekly program on 2NBC, Narwee's community radio station, he didn't realise what a poignant memory it was to become. The caller was Bob, a regular listener. "He was one of the nicest men you could ever hope to meet," Mark said. A music buff, he and Mark had met at a number of record fairs. Bob asked for Buddy Holly's That'll Be The Day That I Die to be played the following week. That was the night he committed suicide by walking into a threshing machine.

Community radio is a medium which brings presenters and listeners very close together and if Bob's death was an extreme case it is not unusual for people to share moments of stress or decision when they call. Indeed, it may be this intimacy that creates so many devotees to what is essentially an amateur medium.

Wilma Puntingam of Kings Park didn't know community radio existed until told by a friend. "It took me some time to get used to the informal style, but after a while I began to feel as though I had a friend at the other end of the radio," she said. She often rings to make a request, or just to chat with the announcer. She said she would never do that with a commercial station.

Mark Gould agrees with her. He joined 2NBC, Australia's first community-access radio station, in 1983, its first year of operation. His Saturday Night Party has run continuously since then and is Australia's longest-running all-request program. "Our function is to involve the community more in local affairs, and even in the radio station itself—like having their names mentioned on air, ringing for requests, having a chat, and having their views aired. It's far more personal than commercial radio," he said.

Mark was invited to join 2NBC when the Daily Mirror published a full-page feature about his record collection. With around 17,000 records, Mark has one of Sydney's largest private collections and is an authority on the music of the 50s and 60s.

Yvonne Cunningham of Blaxland, on the other hand, was a reluctant recruit who was practically conscripted to fill a gap at Werrington's AIR-FM.

She presents My World of Music, a light-and-easy format, every Friday afternoon. In eighteen months she has built up a coterie of regular listeners. her friendly, personal style has forged a link with her community, which Yvonne describes as an area where people live and are linked by a common bond. "It may not be the same bond for all people but there is a link, and I like to think AIR-FM is in the middle of all that," she said.

Gordon Garland of Doonside is one of Yvonne's regulars. He likes community radio even though it sometimes sounds amateurish. He likes the personal approach but loves the community announcements. "It's great to hear a radio station that promotes local causes and functions," he said. Gordon and his wife Kim bought a new stereo so they would be better able to tune in to AIR-FM.

Because community radio stations are permitted to use only low-powered transmitters their effective range is limited, and because they play music not provided by major radio stations they attract minority audiences.

One presenter might play Australian country music, the next swing, the next jazz, the next memories, the next pop, and so on. Each genre will have its own fans but, because it is not one type of music all day, listeners often switch off when a program doesn't appeal.

Wilma Puntigam said she can't get the music she likes on commercial radio but knows when her favourite music—and that ranges from John Denver to Beethoven—is being played on her nearest community stations. Wilma, like Gordon Garland, said she doesn't listen if she doesn't like the program but switches to another community station.

Ian B. McLeod hosts Rockabilly Party every Monday night on AIR-FM. A top entertainer from the early days of Rock 'n' Roll he performed first as Adam, a name suggested by Johnny O'Keefe. He still tours regularly, is a regular guest at the Winter Sun Festival on the Gold Coast, and has been invited to perform in a number of benefits. He is also a regular on the club circuit and has twelve CDs to his credit.

Ian, like Mark Gould, represents the upper level of presentation on community radio. "I love entertaining when I'm on stage. This is another form of entertaining people, by playing the music I love and hopefully the music they love too," he said.

"When Rockabilly Party first went to air people would ring and say, in effect, 'Thank God. We thought rockabilly music had died.' They love country, they love rock music, but this is a specific type of music and they said it was great to have it on air at last."

Ian believes that community radio has filled an enormous gap, and one which the big stars as well as the small ones are using to advantage. "How long since an Australian artist got an interview on a major radio station in the city? It doesn't happen," he said. "Here (on community radio) you can go on for an hour and yack on about your tours, and your background, and your mum and dad, and where you're going, and your ambitions—and this is what grass roots Australians want to know about. I think they're very interested in the lives of entertainers."

Asked about the bad points of community radio Ian opted for self-indulgence. "Because community radio is available to everybody it occasionally draws the wrong people who speak their minds to the detriment of others. It may be somebody who hasn't achieved very much, has a few radical thoughts, and wants to put them to air," he said.

Mark Gould agreed. "With everything we say we're getting a message across. Whether it's right or wrong everybody out there is hearing our view without the opportunity to answer back. To a certain extent it's power-driven ego. We've got a bit of power, haven't we, when we're talking into that microphone. The secret is not to use it."

How many people listen to community radio? Nobody knows and the community stations lack the resources to conduct an effective survey. Mark Gould has taken up to 200 phone calls a night but said that most of those were responses to competitions. Most presenters get only a small percentage of that number but those calls, in their turn, represent only a tiny fraction of the listening audience.

One thing is certain – community radio fans are a dedicated lot. Yvonne Cunningham spoke for presenters and listeners alike when she said with mock pugnacity, "We love it. If anybody tries to take it away from us, they're history."

I wrote the above in 2000 while I was with AIR-FM and it was accepted by Panthers' Magazine. Unfortunately they delayed publishing it for several months. By that time AIR-FM lost its battle for the community licence to St. Mary's-based WOW-FM and an article which identified it as Nepean Community Radio was no longer possible.

Mark Gould's Saturday Night Party can still be heard. It is still the longest-running community radio program in Australia, and is broadcast every Saturday on WOW-FM 100.7.