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| Fort McPherson, NWT from torontoscreenshots.com |
The radio, in contrast to many other forms of media, is often seen as free, open air to express any views one wishes without censorship. Technically, all you need to operate a radio show is a soundboard and a signal, and these low-tech methods of “getting the word out” make radio a crucial way for communities in rural areas or with few other resources to communicate, and in the process shape their communities through the messages they send out. I will be looking at two examples to discuss how community manifests itself in a variety of ways: the Fort McPherson station CBQM, and the Australian station TEABBA.
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| A CBQM Broadcast from nfb.org |
CBQM is a community radio station in the town of Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories, a small town with a mostly Gwich'in population. A movie about CBQM by the National Film Board of Canada showed a unique radio station with colourful personnel, playing country music and light-heartedly taking calls and requests, as well as sending out messages that so-and-so was home if anyone wanted to come by for tea, as well as announcements for more official community events. Even though it was a movie about a radio station, it also showed a lot about the community and its strong local culture, from the Anglican hour broadcasts to the elder’s feasts. The community also uses the radio station as their base of communication for all sorts of local officials, most frequently the constable, who reports on local incidents like late-night vandals and wolf sightings. But what was most striking about the radio show was how fun and approachable it seemed. As the description on the website says: “CBQM’s far-flung listeners – solitary trappers in their cabins, Gwich’in ladies busy with their beadwork, truckers heading north on the Dempster Highway – take comfort in the presence of an old friend. For them CBQM is more than a simple radio station. It’s their radio station ...” (National Film Board of Canada 2009) Anyone could call in, and anyone could come on the show. The radio hosts were always having a lot of fun, goofing around on the air, playing fiddle songs or telling stories. The radio was for the use of the entire community in any way they needed it.
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| TEABBA Media Services from cultanth.org |
Another example of a radio program that connects community members, although in a different way, is the TEABBA station in Australia that caters to the local Aboriginal population. This station is different from CBQM because it serves a larger area, reaching 32 localities, but at the same time still serves some similar functions. The main way that the radio station interacts with the community is taking song requests, which are often dedicated by the requester to a loved one in prison at Berrimah. The dedication is a way for their family members to let them know they are thinking about them and keep community ties strong, and the radio station provides the service to keep these family members in touch across distances. In order for the radio stations to have these songs heard by the inmates, they link up with another local radio station in Darwin, Radio Larrakia, so that their broadcast reaches Berrimah prison. It allows family members to communicate with loved ones in prison, and in order to do this community radio stations have to work together in order to get the signal out. The meaning of the messages on TEABBA are different because they are more solemn, and are messages between family members that have been separated rather than the light-hearted community based communication of CBQM, which is more aimed at providing entertainment and a voice for the community.
Radio stations are used by communities in very particular ways that reflect their needs. CBQM is light-hearted and fun, and is used for just about any information that needs to be said in the small town of Fort McPherson. TEABBA serves a larger area, and while the information broadcasted are usually messages between close family members, both fulfill a similar function by providing an accessible way for indigenous groups to express themselves, and send messages throughout the community.
References
Allen, Dennis
2010 CBQM National Film Board of Canada
Fischer, Daniel
2009 Mediating Kinship: Country, Family, and Radio in Northern Australia. Cultural Anthropology 24(2): 280-312
National Film Board of Canada
2009 CBQM Description. http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=55510. Accessed March 13, 2011
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