Student and Campus Radio in Europe - CMFE


	View in browser

April 2021

Student and Campus Radio

in Europe

While the world continues with painful struggles against continually developing vira, continually shrinking spaces for freedom of expression, continued streams of stories about individuals and groups trapped by the effects of global warming - and a growing body of evidence of community media's unique contributing role in countering all of these, the world goes on.

April's CMFE newsletter has had a thematic guest editor, Nicolas Horber, the Coordinator of the French Campus Radio Network and a board member of CMFE, presenting that part of our movement as noting less than: a citizen laboratory of community media.

Let me give the word to Nicolas:

Student radios: part of European community media (CM)

For this special thematic issue, we invite you to do a short tour of student, campus and university radio in Europe. An obviously not-exhaustive tour.

Debate and criticism, popular education, solidarity and knowledge sharing are often similar values. But for sure, the way of managing a media is also a common question. Student radios – sometime called college radio – and University media show a remarkable energy and enthusiasm. Facing a high turn-over regarding the number of volunteers, the annual arrival of people but also departure of wonderful forces, represent an important challenge to all these.

Student radios are in the hand of students: all the way from the historic creation. Radio Študent in Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Radio Campus Lille (France) had their 50th birthday in 2019. Radio Campus Poland was created behind - what Western Europe called - the iron curtain in the early 50's. Interesting to notice that Student radios, and maybe others in Eastern Europe, were then promoted by the State. At this time, in the - supposed – more free and open-minded western Europe, no trace of student radio is to be found… only public service or media competing for commercial reasons. Otherwise they were considered as “pirate” (for sure some of the first pirate radio were also concerned about commercial issues).

Result: today, student radios are existing and they are really engaged alongside others in the field of 'Community Media'. Some of them are more university radio, meaning that they belong to a university (often the case in Spain or Germany). Therefore, their activities are mainly educationally oriented, which is not less important today, covid-oblige, when you cannot be physically present.

GAFAs (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon) can do the job, some of us will answer. Let's promote community media as one more possibility, one more actor in the diversity of ways to achieve such goals as educative transmission. One more alternative usually promoting the use of open source software and web ethics to achieve their mission.

Some of the CM are also managing their license and authorisation regarding the radio spectrum. In general, it is the result of long term negotiation if this has not been the result of a struggle. When it’s a 100% student managed media, they also gain skills in managing human resources and accountability, negotiate, think about local political configuration… 25 years old and media manager, journalist... Always an opportunity to practice learnings on the ground. A pedagogic opportunity to learn with a high-level tolerance on the results. But that does not mean no result: Welcome into the world of what could be called a citizen laboratory of the community media.

Nicolas Horber, guest editor

And as always, we also share stories of change in the areas of policy advocacy, visibility and Action for Change.

In solidarity,

Birgitte Jallov
CMFE President

CMFE Newsletters

Past newsletters

Strengthening an enabling environment

European Student Radios Collaborate for Change

Europhonica : how to demonstrate youth & citizen commitment in Europe

During the Parliament session in Strasbourg, December 2018, Two of ours, two of the Europhonica participants were swept away by a storm, the terrorist attack. Bartek and Antonio, 2 pillars of Europhonica died.

In 2012, several student and university media were invited to Italy by Radiophonica, Perugia’s radio, member of Raduni network in order to mainly discuss how to make science popular in radio… but not only. Raduni is the Italian network of student and university radios. When people from all over Europe meet, there’s almost always a spontaneous and strong willingness to increase collaboration. This improvised consortium of student media immediately decided to meet again in a common editorial project. At this time, no one knew that 2 years later more than 150 young students from 5 countries and from more than 40 radios were to join up in Strasbourg-F.

As Radio Campus France was the one that made the promises, it found the grant to make this possible during the first season 2015. Welcome to a European citizen editorial board. The harder it comes…

One year to finding cruising speed

Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Greece and occasionally stations from other countries sent young volunteers to the monthly plenary session of the Members of European Parliament (MEP). The organisation of this was a challenging task powered by the French, as they are the local partner.

The welcome at the Parliament was sometimes great – thanks to the audiovisual services – and sometimes strange, as many “professional” journalists from the inside didn’t really accept what we were doing, why we were occupying the space?

Europhonica interviews the then European Parliament President Martin Schulz

From the MEP side, we discovered that our 'beginner status' in journalism put us in a position to ask different questions and get very different answers to those that the MEPs had routinely shared with the old garde made up by national public and private media.

Suddenly, the need to reformulate the answer as simple as possible brought a new speech, less double speech so long time built by the habits. The young engaged journalists turned the institutions and the political debate more open and popular. Every month we had 3 days to prepare 5 hours of live programmes in the 5 languages of the project: broadcast live all over Europe.

Every month 20 to 25 young Europeans came to the Parliament spending their day-time to understand Europe in order to bring this knowledge back to their local community, and the night-time to make something more like a European social body.

Then… reality.

When Europhonica had found its feet and was really functioning well, the European Parliament changed their grant regulation: suddenly, high audience figures were required, to be admitted.

That was the start of hard lobbying to the EP in order to make them more sensible to what citizen and community media are all about. There was a lack of comprehension on both sides. MEPs seemed to see value of media as reflected mainly through the size of the audience. We, on our side, thought that Europe was a citizen issue and concern.

Despite hard work, we couldn’t find the small amount of money to pay for low cost travel and hosting. We were used to make a DIY approach.

As we tried - a last time - to lobby in favour of a possibility for also European volunteer student broadcasters to have access to the institution, something terrible happened. During the Parliament session in Strasbourg, December 2018, two of ours, two of the Europhonica participants were swept away by a storm, the terrorist attack. Bartek and Antonio, 2 pillars of Europhonica died. Today, one of the audiovisual studios in the Parliament has been renamed.

What next? When will this project that turned real the meeting between people and institutions become real again? This “echo chamber of citizenship” as a French participant always said?

Read more!

Visibility of

Community Media

A history of student radio: the Polish case

Student radio in Olsztyn/Poland

By Urszula Doliwa

The history of student radio in Olsztyn (Poland) dates back to the early 1950s. A closed circuit cable radio station - Radio Kortowo, operating at the University of Agriculture and Technology, was one of the first student radio centres created in Poland. In 1969, the second cable radio station, Radio Emitor, was established at the Higher Pedagogical School in Olsztyn. The tradition of student radio in Olsztyn is continued by Radio UWM FM, which in 2000 received a radio broadcasting license. The University’s radio station is run by students. It broadcasts on FM frequency 95,9 MHz within about a 50-kilometre radius from Olsztyn. It is also accessible online. It transmits round the clock, and plays mainly rock, alternative, hip hop, reggae, and many other kinds of music. You can also find there news about the University, cultural events in Olsztyn, and musical events in general.

As for now, in Poland there are only 10 student radio stations active on air. They do not have a special status of “social broadcasters” - they have commercial licences. However they are not oriented for profit and they provide real alternative to what is offered by mainstream media.

Urszula Doliwa, Ph.D. is Head of the Institute of Journalism and Social Communication, University of Warmia and Mazury (UWM), Poland. Her research interests center on community media and she is involved in the promotion of community media. She was also a guest editor (together with Judith Purkarthofer) of the special issue on community radio of The Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast and Audio Media [15: 2, 2017]. Urszula Doliwa is a member of Community Media Forum Europe and on the Editorial Board of the Polish journal Media – Kultura – Komunikacja Społeczna (Media – Culture – Social Communication)’. In the Radio UWM FM she runs a radio show about media ‘Mediofon’. In 2015, she published a Phd on “The history of student radio in Poland” where she brings the reader through almost 70 years of community radio in Poland.

Listen to the radio

Read Article

Testimonial: Karolina runs a show on UWM student radio in Poland

(Photo: Private Archive of Karolina Rogóz-Namiotko)

Can you please introduce yourself and describe the Polish community media situation?

My name is Karolina Rogóz-Namiotko. I am a journalist, reporter, presenter, and the author of the broadcast entitled "Lejdi Gada - women at the microphone" on student radio UWM FM in Olsztyn (Poland) about women who are self-fulfilled in life through their passion and work.

I have been cooperating with the radio since 2018. I got there as a result of recruitment, which is regularly held twice a year. From my perspective, I can say that work in the radio brought me a lot of benefits. I came with my own idea of what I want to do, and I have been hosting my own programme since September 2018.

Usually, around 25 people take part in the recruitment. However, only three or four of them stay in the radio for a longer period than a month. Work that is not paid requires commitment from us as radio associates, which can often discourage potential journalists. On the other hand, you can learn a lot here. And so, over time, our colleagues find employment in commercial radio stations, television or the press.

The radio gave me opportunities to develop. The opportunity to produce an original program, the subject of which concerns self-creation, personal and professional development. It affects my life as well, giving me so much more than just being financially rewarded. Professionally I deal with extracurricular artistic education. I have my own ceramics studio where I organize workshops and courses for children and adults. Radio is my hobby and I wouldn't trade it for a commercial radio station. Here I can pursue myself and develop as I want without anyone imposing a different vision on me. Of course, I consult with my editor-in-chief as regards programme I present on the air, but it is mine from the beginning to the end.

A student radio in Poland: what are its main goals? who manage it? Any specific engagment/commitment in terms of social or cultural issues?

The idea of a student radio is mainly to involve the students’ community in delivering content and programmes to other students and to the local community of Olsztyn. However, not only students work in our radio. I finished my studies in 2005, but not until 2018 did I discover the opportunity and need to start hosting my own radio show. This place gives me this opportunity. This all inspires me and encourages me to go on working. Each radio associate has a specific function and gives as much time to the radio as he or she can. A lot of us have our own ideas of making original programmes. These broadcasts involve presenting music, culture initiatives and social issues. We all are engaged in these activities 100% since we can develop there, do what we like, and this probably brings the best results.

What about Europe : what could Europe bring to a Polish Community medium?

We are all Europeans. I think that cooperation with other countries is and will always be very developmental. The way the media operate in individual countries is very interesting to me. We differ a bit in mentality, way of working, we have different expectations and habits. I think we can learn from each other and develop both as a community and as individuals. What Europe has given Poland is also the idea of free media. I think that we are again in a place where this freedom can be threatened and only contact with journalists from other countries will give us a guarantee that the truth will prevail and will be the value of Polish journalism.

Listen to the show

Listen to the radio

Testimonial : being involved in Raduni, the vital Italian student media network

(Photo courtesy of Raduni)

Diana, student in Verona, is involved in the university radio. She discovers Raduni, the Italian network of student and university radios in Italy. Volunteering, she’s interested in foreign partnerships for the network. She wrote to CMFE :

Being part of the board of the Italian university radio network is altogether a pleasure, an honour, and a huge commitment.

RadUni was born in 2006 as the Italian university radio operators' association, but many things have changed since then. A considerable number of radios were born after that year, technology developed and improved, and radio evolved with it, and so did we. Today we are the Italian university media and operator association and it is in our mandate to include as many different media as possible in our association.

I became aware of this amazing reality right after I joined the university web radio in Verona, on the occasion of the annual university radio festival (FRU). It is a wonderful travelling event that reunites all the members of our community for three days of workshops and panels about radio (but also tons of fun and memorable nights!).

It has been more than three years since that moment, and my passion for the core values and the idea of the association grew exponentially, so I have decided to take part actively and ran for the board. Despite all the good projects, the pandemic put us in a very unstable and bad condition and slowed us down. Due to, national first, and local later, lockdowns, the universities never fully reopened their doors again, causing, therefore, not little problems to their (and our) radios. Most of our members kept doing what they love by working from home, using more and more the social media and the video conferencing platforms, proving that radio is the most versatile medium in history (as if we needed more proof of that!). But many others had to stop because their stations closed temporarily or permanently.

I must say, for us, and I mean for RadUni, this radical change was not a shock. Being a national association means that there are a lot of us living across the entire country. We had been doing remote work for more than five years now, and this is the only solution you have when you need to put in touch people from 20 different regions. Apart from our radio members, we have four editorial staff, teams of many people, with their own structure and their own identity.

The older one is Europhonica, an international project involving several countries, that has been awarded in 2019 with the Charlemagne Youth Prize and many other national awards. The project started in 2015.
Then we have Cineuni, for the lovers of cinema in all its forms,
RadUni Musica which has collaborations with many different music realities in the country and
RadUni Sport that explores the underground of the Italian sports).

In conclusion, yes, it is a huge commitment to be part of the board, but it is mostly a pleasure to be part of such an amazing reality that gives so many opportunities for passionate young people.

Raduni Network

Testimonial: Fred Cools from 48FM in Belgium, a community medium mixed between students and university

Fred Cools is employed by a Belgium community radio based in the city of Liege. He is in charge of general coordination. That means he manages organisation between the student world, the higher education institutions and all other projects.

Belgium counts 4 french-speaking student & university radios (for sure a lot more including Flanders). 48FM is more than 20 years old. They started on the web before being authorized by the Belgian CSA. 2 people are employed and more than 100 volunteers are involved in 48FM. The University is very close to the radio project as an important financial support and also for more educational reasons. The non-profit organisation remains mainly independent. The University does not have a seat in the board, only sometimes when a teacher is elected. The project is also largely open, outside the student and university ground.

Formal educational programmes include: Journalism students can practice on air what they learn at school. There are also lots of programs on how to popularize science.

Informal educational actions:

professors and volunteers share their knowledge within the organisation and also facilitate workshops between various radio stations in Belgium – thanks to Craxx community media federation for French-speaking media.

Examples of commitment actions and programs:

Redémart is a program produced by people in difficulties regarding access to the work or learning the local langage. They get in touch with 48FM in order to take part to several workshop to acquire skills and knowledge.

48FM is also involved in a project in the field of international solidarity. They collaborate with people creating a radio project in Senegal called Cote FM. The goal is to set up a community radio on Petite Côte, Senegal: all the way from conception to make things real, 48FM is a partner.

FM 100.1 MHz à Liège

The network

Cote FM collaboration

Redémarts

Action for Cooperation and Change

Independent music sharing between community radios across Europe

INDEPENDANT RADIO EXCHANGE – RADIOMUSE

Started in 2019 the project INDEPENDANT RADIO EXCHANGE – RADIOMUSE, is bringing together some of Europe’s important music oriented independent radio stations with a tradition of bringing new talents and local music to its listeners.

The project is based on the music exchange among the partners in the form of weekly Featured songs & RadioMuse broadcasts, presenting local music, artists, producers and labels from the countries of participating radio stations.

Radio Študent in Ljubljana (Slovenia) is the lead partner of the IndieRE project and the project partners are Radio Corax from Halle (Germany), Radio Popolare based in Milan (Italy), Radio Orange from Vienna (Austria), Radio Student from Zagreb (Croatia) and Campus France, a network of 30 student radios across France.

The role of community radio stations alongside education and diversity is to host new music talents, informing their listeners on music news, from local to international. For 40 years, non-profit local radios have built a solid ability to promote new music and new genres supporting artists in gaining new audiences. Growing their local communities, the other aim of Independant Radio Exchange (call it IndieRE) is to endorse the importance of collective human selection standing behind the music presented at the radio, as opposed to computer generated music suggestions on digital platforms.

New European Music Crossing Borders

In order to facilitate audience access to relevant information about the diversity and creativity of several local music scenes, which mostly remain within the national borders due to language barriers or the limitations of reach of the specific communication channels they use, we have formed an international network of independent radio stations who will use their knowledge on local music scenes to create radio productions which will circulate around the network, crossing the limitations of borders.

With the reconducting support of Creative Europe – Music Moves Europe, 2020 was supposed to become a new era for the project IndieRE. In addition to the music and programme exchange called RadioMuse, we extended new branches of our tree based on proper public and professional meetings.

First journalist residencies. Several journalists touring and discovering different local music scenes in foreign countries hosted by the radio members. In addition five major public events such as round tables and music festivals based in Milan (Italy), Ljubjana (Slovenia), Halle (Germany), and Orléans (France). Because of the health crisis we had to postpone probably to the end of 2021 or 2022.

A European Music and Radio Network

We see RadioMuse project as the beginning of a radio network for the exchange of local (urban/alternative/new) music with a great potential for growth by including radio stations from other European countries with a common goal of promoting creative and diverse European music. We are open and inviting new members to join us !

If you are interested in joining our network please contact us.

Radio Campus

Listen!

Radio Študent continues the battle

As reported earlier in this newsletter, one of Europe's oldest both community and student/campus radios, Radio Student (RS) in Ljubljana, Slovenia, was unilaterally removed from the 2021 budget by their founder and funder, the University's Student Organisation. The worst is over - but RS is far from where it used to - and expected to - be funding wise.

Their recent update on the situation ends with an appeal:

"We have successfully halted the destruction of Radio Študent and will continue to save it from degradation by any means necessary. With this in mind we are still counting on the 15.000 individual and 500 institutional signatories who joined the Coalition to save Radio Študent back in January. We believe that it was because of your amazing support that we have been able to avoid the worst case scenario and for this we thank you. Not only in the name of all the people working at the station but also in the name of all those people whose interests and needs are being addressed with our work."

Please read the full statement hereunder, very relevant in view of this issue's thematic focus: campus and student radios:

"Radio Študent continues to battle attrition"

"Last week members of the Student assembly of the Student organisation at the Faculty of Ljubljana (ŠOU) voted heavily in favour of the budget proposal that allocates Radio Študent 84.000€ i. e. around 70% of the funds needed (120.000€) for continued work of the radio in 2021.

Thus ŠOU has once again withheld the essential funds needed for one of their most active institutes which has been acting in public and student interest for the past 52 years. We perceive this as our leading principle yet ŠOU has once again chosen to award those who have - to various extent - ceased their operations due to the epidemic.

It will be up to the general public to judge whether ŠOU is actually dedicated to act in the interest of students as the organisation’s leading figures have announced that all its institutes will be able to present their work in the upcoming sessions of the Student council. This includes the biggest benefactor of this year’s budget, Študentski Kampus (Student Campus), which was allocated 325.000€ of students’ money.

The fact of the matter is that all of ŠOU’s institutes, with the exception of Radio Študent, got more funds than they would have had the prior system of minimum shares not been scrapped on 30 December 2020. Radio Študent’s share in this year’s budget represents only 3,1% of concession tax income (the previous regime stipulated that RŠ should receive at least 4%).

The approved budget will have serious consequences for Radio Študent as it will chip away at journalistic work and apprenticeship programmes as well as various projects, especially in the current climate where seeking financing on such short notice is bound to be an issue. The radio’s plans for further development will have to be cast aside and will once again, thanks to our founding organisation ŠOU, have to be replaced with innovative methods of survival.

2021 is looking like it will be another year of fighting for survival whilst simultaneously building a more stable foundation to maintain editorial autonomy and financial stability for Radio Študent whose recent plight sent shockwaves through the entire domestic and even international public spheres.

In this current existential battle, donations deposited via the siri.radiostudent.si platform mean the world to us. To all our concerned supporters: we are grateful for your help and support in these trying months despite the fact that these alone cannot represent a long term solution for Radio Študent.

The dramatic changes in ŠOU’s budget proposals since the new year, in regards to Radio Študent’s share, confirm that the problem of financing RŠ is in fact not in ŠOU’s financial struggles, like its president Klemen Petek would have you believe, but rather it’s a case of planned destruction and an attempt to discipline a media outlet who refuses to bow down to the student elite. This sentiment is apparent in many public statements given by ŠOU representatives.

The privatisation of Radio Študent is apparently no longer on ŠOU leadership’s mind according to the director Andrej Klasinc who repeated his prior commitment that “we will discuss the transfer of foundership only if RŠ asks for it”. We at Radio Študent wish to say that we have no such intentions. Furthermore we will fight for sufficient financing by ŠOU and for the re-introduction of minimum shares for all of ŠOU’s institutes which will take in account contributions made by all members of the ŠOU family with regard to asserting student and general public interest.

We have successfully halted the destruction of Radio Študent and will continue to save it from degradation by any means necessary. With this in mind we are still counting on the 15.000 individual and 500 institutional signatories who joined the Coalition to save Radio Študent back in January.

We believe that it was because of your amazing support that we have been able to avoid the worst case scenario and for this we thank you. Not only in the name of all the people working at the station but also in the name of all those people whose interests and needs are being addressed with our work

The thematic part of the newsletter ends here, but we continue:

More Action for

Cooperation and Change

CMFE participates in European News Media Forum on Safety of Journalists

The European Commission launched a dialogue on the protection of journalists in the EU with a wide range of stakeholders, including journalists and their associations, news media companies, representatives of media councils, European Parliament, Member States and regulatory authorities as well as international partners. The dialogue ran until 25 March within the framework of the European News Media Forum. It is a central step in preparation of the Commission’s Recommendation to Member States on ensuring the protection of journalists (online and offline) and tackling gender and minority-based attacks in the EU. The Recommendation will be adopted later this year. The urgency of tackling issues related to safety of journalists is once again tragically evident, after Giorgos Karaivaz, a veteran Greek television journalist who specialised in reporting on crime was shot dead on April 9 near his home in Athens.