
Issue No 44		03 March 2000

Media

Public Hearings

By Paul Mason

As the big media players look increasingly tarnished, the broadcasting minnows like FBi are seeking their share of the airwaves.

Media issues have certainly been receiving a lot of coverage over the past few months. From Digital TV through to Cash For Comment the interests and activities of powerful commercial organisations have made media issues big news.

At the same time however, another important media story has passed with little comment. After many years of deliberation and investigation the ABA has recently decided that Sydney will get three new metropolitan FM community radio services by the start of next year, and has called for applications for these licences to be lodged by March 17.

Why is this announcement important? Metropolitan radio licences are major pieces of media property. Commercial licences are auctioned off for figures up to $40million. Despite a recent obsession with digital technology policy, radios are still everywhere and broadcasters have a significant social impact (hence the cash for comment brouhahha). Like any resource, broadcasting frequencies are not infinite and after the final round of allocations there will be room for no more.

What this decision means is that the ABA has chosen a policy that hands these vital broadcasting resources back to the community. While they're technically the same frequency that a commercial broadcaster uses, the licences to broadcast on these frequencies are now earmarked for not for profit community organisations with open membership and democratically elected leadership. Hardly News Corp!

Radio FBi is one such group who have been campaigning for a licence since 1995. In that time FBi have run eleven "test broadcasts" of between one and two months, each of which has provided a taste of things to come and consolidated it's considerable community support.

Dedicated to broadcasting the latest in Sydney music, arts and youth culture, and with a 50% Australian playlist (half of which comes from Sydney artists), FBi radio was formed out of a frustration with existing local radio services, a frustration that has only grown in the intervening five years.

Commercial radio remains obsessed with reactionary talkback and golden oldies music formats. This was perhaps best illustrated by the press excitement surrounding 2SM's re-orientation to a baby boomer audience (SMH Guide Dec 20, 1999) with imports like Howard Sattler and a Best of the 60's 70's and 80's music policy ! When it does play locally produced music, it's unlikely to be anything new or fresh, as evidenced in the PPCA'S (Phonographic Performance Company of Australia) recently published list of most broadcast songs (Farnsey, Tina Arena et al). And while the ABC's national networks perform a vital function they are national in focus, and therefore overlook much of the vibrant culture that gives Sydney it's character.

What Sydney lacks is a station that reflects a local culture, driven by community rather than commercial interests. Ironically it's a radio service that every other capital city already has.

FBi will be to Sydney what 3RRR is to Melbourne, what 4ZZZ is to Brisbane, what RTR and 3D are to Perth and Adelaide : A contemporary radio voice with a distinctly local accent.

From two groups in 1995 - FBi and Koori broadcaster Gadigal - the field of interested parties has since expanded to 15, representing all manner of interests. Obviously with three licences available there will inevitably be winners and losers from the process. Although FBi was recently identified as a "frontrunner" for a licence by the Financial Review (5.2.00), the ABA must still be convinced of the necessity of a station such as FBi, and the level of community support for such a station.

It is expected that the application process will include a period of public hearings and the opportunity for public submissions, with a final announcement due in December. To catch a taste of what FBi is about tune to our final test broadcast on 96.9FM during May. Better still if you support what we're doing, you can make a submission to the ABA during the period of public comment.

Want to get involved? contact Paul Mason at mailto:[email protected]

More information about the public hearings can be found on the ABA web site http://www.aba.gov.au

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  Issue 44 contents

Interview: The Big Fella
Opposition Leader Kim Beazley speaks about Labor�s evolving relationship with the trade union movement in the post-Accord era.

Unions: An Interactive Resource
The priority for unions in the 21st century is organising and growth. Greg Combet�s unions @work report identified the direction unions should be moving.

Media: Public Hearings
As the big media players look increasingly tarnished, the broadcasting minnows like FBi are seeking their share of the airwaves.

History: Labour History Under Siege
In good labour tradition, the history section of Workers Online begins the year with a call to arms.

Olympics: Games Greed Boosts Homeless Numbers
'Homeless in Sydney' is shaping up to be the theme of the Olympics with many property owners evicting tenants and pushing up rents.

Women: No Time To Be Casual
International Women�s Day is a day to take action. As a shop steward or union delegate why not use IWD as an opportunity to encourage the women in your workplace to join the union?

International: Serbian And Kosovo Unions Meet
The Italian metalworkers has hosted meetings on how to build a different future for the workers in the Balkans.

Labour Review: What's New
Read the latest issue of Labour Review our resource for students, activists and officials.

Review: Rock and a Hard Place
A hippie festival? Alternative? No way...the music festival know as the Big Day Out (BDO) is fast becoming a mainstream youth cultural event, a snapshot of the broader society that unions are struggling to engage.

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