Hot on the heels of Cobar station 2Hot losing its community broadcasting licence for not having enough community involvement (see last week’s story), the Australian Communications and Media Authority has found that 2EAR Moruya, on the NSW South Coast, breached a condition of its licence by failing to encourage members of the community to participate in the operations and programming of the service. ACMA has put the station on notice to improve, and requires a report on its compliance in 6 months.
Licencee Eurobodalla Access Radio Inc, operating as 2ERA FM, holds a community broadcasting licence to provide a radio service for the general community of Moruya.
ACMA found that 2EAR “did not have appropriate mechanisms in place to encourage members of its community to participate in the operations and programming of the service.” But, because the licensee has already taken appropriate measures designed to ensure its obligations under the Broadcasting Services Act are met, ACMA is not proposing to take action at this time.
2EAR will be required to provide a status report in six months time and the need for any additional reporting will be re-assessed at that time. The station has 49 members and 7 committee members.
Between March and May 2007, ACMA received five complaints that 2EAR was failing to encourage community participation. The complaints came from members and station participants, reflecting an internal dispute about programming.
Complainants alleged that a small committee of people were not willing to accept input and had cancelled memberships of people who dissented from committee views. The committee is accused of being dictatorial and disrespectful of members and removing presenters from their programs without right of appeal.
The station disagreed with the complainants’ views and denied any member had been removed or denied access for not agreeing with committee decisions.
ACMA did not accept the station’s submissions on community participation and has encouraged it to institute more diverse committees so that better participation can solve the problem.
Three of the complainants also alleged that the licensee was failing to represent its community interest, but ACMA found that the licensee was compliant with this requirement of the Broadcasting Services Act.
The station has been operating since 1987.
The full report is available at the link below.
At least 2EAR and ACMA have managed to settle the dispute within the station in a civilised manner, unlike at a community station in Texas, where a 24 year old man has been charged with arson for a January 5 fire which caused $300,000 damage to the studios of 91.7 KOOP FM. (See clipping)
Fremantle ethnic community station also in licence trouble
In Western Australia ACMA has decided not to renew the ethnic community radio broadcasting licence held by the Portuguese Cultural and Welfare Centre Inc (PCWC).
PCWC has operated since 2003 and is licensed to provide a service for the Portuguese speaking population of the Fremantle licence area of Western Australia. The licence expires at midnight tonight.
In assessing PCWC’s licence renewal application, ACMA found significant corporate governance problems. Because of the seriousness of these problems, ACMA decided that PCWC does not have the management capacity to provide the service.
ACMA continues to be supportive of community broadcasting in the Fremantle area and has made the 91.3 MHz available for temporary community broadcasting. PCWC may apply for a temporary community broadcasting licence so that it can continue to provide a service after its long-term licence expires. PCWC will need to share the frequency if there are other aspirant community broadcasters in the licence area who are also interested in providing a service. ACMA may in the future invite applications for a permanent community licence in the area.