Unique pilot

District youth, ideally between 18 and 30, will not only man the station, they will be the sole decision makers and managers.

The concept has been developed by South West Arts, and executive director Kerry-Anne Jones said she hopes the station will be the first of many across the SWA region.

She said the aim of the project was to fill a gap in the creative arts sector, which could lead to careers or further study in broadcast media and associated fields.

‘‘This will definitely be the first of its kind in the region, and we believe the youth-led model is the first in the country,’’ Ms Jones said.

‘‘This community station will be a learning opportunity for young people who might want to enter communications and creative arts careers.

‘‘Often in these types of jobs you need to have experience first, and with this station they can get that hands on experience.

‘‘There will be a number of mentors guiding the young people through, but the decisions will be entirely for the youth to make.

‘‘When we did our strategic planning in 2017 and 2018, we realised there were a lot of young people interested in media but there were so few local opportunities.

‘‘We have six available TAFE courses in this region, and none of them are focused on arts or the creative arts.

‘‘The whole premise is to provide them with training, although not accredited, that will encourage them to look at career pathways and further education pathways that interest them.’’

Ms Jones said young people will undertake and learn about the whole gamut of associated professions in the broadcast sector.

‘‘They will learn business management, journalism, production, programming and how to use the equipment, marketing and sales and event planning, for example.

‘‘There are opportunities for pathways in engineering and electronics, app design, programming and graphic design..

‘‘Importantly, the content will be about what interests young people. Young people feel so disengaged with the radio, and this is about making it theirs.

‘‘We found in our strategic planning process that young people felt they did not have a voice in this community.

‘‘This gives them that voice and the content is there to develop, and if we can give them this experience and education locally our young people might be more likely to stay.’’

Ms Jones said SWA is in discussions with NSW TAFE and Charles Sturt University in Bathurst to develop linking education pathways for those who become involved.

She said the opportunities will be mostly online study, but may require the students to travel for ‘blocks’ at CSU Bathurst or another TAFE campus.

Provisions for a radio station are being made in the renovations that are ongoing at the SWA offices in End St, Deniliquin.

Having started in community radio in Sydney, 2QN and Edge FM general manager Angela Frino said the project was a great idea.

She said while she anticipates the community radio will be seeking financial support for its programs, it is not expected to directly compete with existing media outlets.

‘‘Community radio is a great opportunity for our youth to learn new skills and that hands on experience would be good if they are seeking a career in radio.

‘‘Strict rules apply for both commercial and community radio, and my understanding is that community radio can seek sponsorship but is limited in how much it can accept. Commercial radio on the other hand is a business.

‘‘I don’t see the establishment of this radio station as having an impact, because there will be no direct competition.’’

The community radio project has already been allocated $20,000 in funding — half from the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund and the other $10,000 from Australia Post’s 2019 Community Grants Program.

A business plan is being created now, with June 2020 ear marked for the first broadcast.

Anyone interested in being involved is asked to call Ms Jones on 5881 7749 or 0428 886 438.