Special
Interest (Aboriginal) public radio station
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Public radio: planning guidelines
Preamble
Public radio was introduced in Australia with these
objectives:
- to
make broadcasting accessible to individuals and sections
of the community seeking access, particularly those
who do not obtain access to other media;
- to
enable community organisations to own, operate and
control their own independent broadcasting services,
thereby diversifying control of the media;
- to
expand meaningful and programming choice to satisfy
a wide diversity of needs and interests of listeners,
whether numerous or not. (Department of Communications,
1985: 1)
Explanatory
notes (definitions)
The Community service is defined as a broad-based service,
designed to serve a geographic area as its "community
of interest", and providing for the participation
in programming and management by a variety of community
groups and interests in that area.
The
service should allow for such participation even if
the initial impetus for the service arose through a
special interest or need.
The
Special Interest Service is defined as a service clearly
focused on a particular interest or need, or group of
common interests or needs (e.g. educational, musical,
sporting, ethnic religious) within an area.
While
not obliged to provide the broad-based service expected
of the Community service, it should nevertheless involve,
draw on, and be accessible to, a range of different
groups and interests under the umbrella of its special
interest(s). For example, a sporting service should
embrace as many sporting interests as possible, and
not concentrate on one or two to the exclusion of others;
a religious service should broadly reflect in its programming
and management of the religious interests represented
in its service area, and so on.
Special
Interest (Educational)
A service primarily designed to broadcast educational
programs (e.g. school-based, community, adult or distance
education) and including where appropriate, material
designed to enrich the cultural life of the audience.
Special
Interest (Ethnic)
A service designed to broadcast multilingual programs
by and for ethnic communities, and including, where
appropriate, multicultural programming
designed to enrich the cultural life of a wider audience.
Special
Interest (Aboriginal)
A service designed to broadcast programs by and for
Aboriginal communities, and including where appropriate,
multicultural programming designed to enrich the cultural
life of a wider audience.
Special
Interest (Radio for the Print Handicapped
(RPH))
A service designed to meet the information needs of
people who, by reason of physical or other disability,
do not have access to printed material. (Department
of Communications, 1985: 5)
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Multicultural
programming
Ethnic community broadcasters provide 70% of all
ethnic broadcasting in Australia. There are now
87 stations producing in excess of 1600 hours
of local programming each week in 92 languages.
This broadcasting takes place at 48 regional and
39 metropolitan stations across Australia, including
six full-time stations.
Ethnic
TV
Television and Radio Broadcasting Services Australia
(TARBS) is a multicultural pay TV station. In
1999 they were issued with seven broadcasting
licences to deliver their services using satellite
and microwave frequencies. Unlike apparatus licences
or other service delivery permits, these licences
do not have geographical limitations. Therefore,
a service licence is valid throughout Australia
as long as the programming on that service is
the same in all areas of reception. Where the
service differs in a location, a separate service
licence is required.
TARBS
broadcast 24 hours a day in some languages on
both radio and television. TARBS currently broadcasts
Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, Italian, Filipino,
Greek, Macedonian, Korean, German and Spanish
as well as several English language channels.
Radio
for the Print Handicapped
2RPH
was established in 1983. Approximately 80% of
print handicapped people in Sydney listen to the
station. A print handicapped person includes stroke
sufferers who cannot hold a book, people who have
difficulty reading English, people with dyslexia.
Volunteer readers read publications live on air.
Publications include: local newspapers, New Idea,
The Sydney Morning Herald or Rolling Stone magazine.
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