Programming, Practices, Production and Policy: Canadian Community Radio
Interview Schedule Guidelines for Questions
The individual:
Name:
Position/Role:
Primary responsibilities:
Start date of position:
Previously roles related (Dates, years, and responsibilities):
- Are you paid or a volunteer at this station?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of your station?
Community:
- What do you think are the most important considerations for community/campus/native radio in Canada?
- If you could do something to benefit your station and other community/campus/native radio stations in Canada, what would it be?
- How have you gathered support from your local community and raised awareness about the station?
- What is the overarching mission of your station?
- What do you think are the most effective practices at your station?
- How much do you think your station represents the community? How do you maintain that connection?
- What makes your station distinct?
Volunteers:
- What challenges have you faced recruiting volunteers?
- How do you attract volunteers?
- Are you able to retain volunteers?
- What are the primary roles of volunteers at your station?
Challenges:
- What are the challenges for community/campus/native radio in Canada?
- What types of challenges have you faced in regards to equipment?
- What types of challenges have you faced in regards to finances?
- How have CRTC regulations impacted the operation of your station? How has your team responded?
- Do you feel authority at your station is top down or roots up?
Programming:
- What type of programming does your station air?
- How do you programmers feel about the type of programming on air?
- How inclusive is the process of deciding what to air?
- What do you think are the best programs that you have been involved with?
- What programs do you think are the best at your station?
- If you would change some of the programming at your station, what would it be?
- What programs do you air that are the most popular within your community?
- Do you think the programming reflects the programmer’s personalities, or the community?
- Do you other collaborate with other stations for programming?
Practices:
- What are the best practices at your station?
- How would you expand your operation if you intended to?
- What do you think about labor and scheduling practices at the station?
- Do you find any commonalities between the operation of your station and other community/campus/native radio stations?
Policy:
- How aware are you of the regulations enforced upon Canadian community radio?
- How have regulations enforced upon Canadian community radio impacted your station?
- If you could influence current Canadian community radio policy, what would you alter?
- In addition to the above, what else would you like people to know about your station?
- Would you happen to know any other radio personnel interested in participating in our study?
CONSENT FORM TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH
Project Title: Programming, Practices, Production & Policy: Canadian Community Radio
Canadian radio's potential for representative and inclusive broadcasting has yet to be realized. This research will work to expand the possibilities of radio within the context of current programming, practice, production, and policy realities. For this project community radio is defined as locally specific, managed by and broadcasting to and for its constituent communities. Canadian community/campus radio is tasked with the representing "diverse cultural groups, including official linguistic minorities"(CRTC 2010-499). Community radio responds to the needs of community/-ies served in distinct and specific way depending on the local and social context, meaning practices on the ground vary considerably in their negotiations of local factors. We argue that Canada's community/campus radio stations face financial, practical and other challenges to work within the limitations of their resources and policy. This research will investigate the challenges and best practices of Canadian stations through interviews in order to share their innovations and initiatives to help to sustain and advance the goals of community/campus radio stations in Canada. The parallel CRTC reassessment of radio makes it significant.
This research takes new steps to build on recent strides in the research assessing the growing impact of digital and global media on radio as well as other media has provoked research on Canadian community radio. This work will employ interviews triangulated with participatory action research built on a foundation of archival and policy research to invigorate the current radio landscape. Examining radio program content and production practices in community radio across selected Canadian community radio stations to consider and compare characteristics and strategies of equitable representation in diverse cultural, linguistic and regional contexts. This work will serve "to encourage all Canadians to contribute to their communities in a way that will foster a greater sense of belonging, support meaningful reconciliation and leave a lasting legacy now and for future generations (Community Foundations of Canada)." This research will apply the cultural particularities of each site inform and shape grassroots relationships between community stations and their constituent communities. Finally, community broadcasting legislation should relate to actual production practices on the ground in meaningful ways. Consequently scrutiny of the policy directives and guidelines is essential to this work to map efficacy and guidelines
- PURPOSE
The major objective of this research project is go beyond chronicling the challenges of Canadian community/campus radio stations to work in stages to identify the successes or best practices and challenges to provide a conduit of information on initiatives and innovations to help sustain and advance the growth of community/campus radio stations. Since community/campus radio stations are not part of a national public or commercial network, they cannot draw on the network’s resources they often work independently and there is a siloization effect in place. The second objective will be to identify national commonalities of experience, practices, successes and challenges in order to analyze commonalties and differences to sustain and foster growth of Canadian community/campus radio by sharing information and practices that can assist the stations. The third objective will be to identify and analyze how station practices (labour and scheduling) and policy frameworks structure and inform production practices and programme content with reference to diversity representation, local concerns, linguistic matters and other factors that largely serve to separate what is largely a common experience. Finally the participatory action goals of the research mean the research will be conducted with the members of the community/campus radio stations to facilitate the examination of their challenges in order to formulate policy and practice actions.
- PROCEDURES
The participants will be interviewed over the phone for approximately 20-60 minutes (sometimes longer or shorter depending on the participant).
- CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION
- My participation in the study is completely voluntary and you may choose to stop participating at any time. Your decision not to volunteer will not influence the nature of your relationship with York University either now, or in the future.
- I understand that my participation in this study is non-confidential. The participants may be quoted in the text and cited as an interview in the bibliography. Should there be certain sections of the interview that the participant would want to held in confidence by the researcher, they
may be specified.
- I understand that the data from this study will be published, used in an audio documentary, may contribute to shared resources online for community radio stations, and I understand that the interviews will be recorded to help with researcher accuracy.
- I understand the purpose of this study and know that there is no hidden motive of which I have not been informed.
- I understand the data may be used for subsequent research, which will be subject to ethics review and approval.
I HAVE CAREFULLY STUDIED THE ABOVE AND UNDERSTAND THIS
AGREEMENT. I FREELY CONSENT AND VOLUNTARILY AGREE TO
PARTICIPATE IN THIS STUDY.
Please Print:
NAME: __________________________________________________________
SIGNATURE: __________________________________________________________
WITNESS SIGNATURE: __________________________________________________
DATE: _____________________________PLACE:_____________________________
Use of My Name:
- I consent to the use of a selection from my interview and my name in any published academic work, reports, audio documentary, and any other projects associated with this research.
Please print:
Name: __________________________________________________________________
Signature: ____________________________________________________________
Witness signature: _________________________________________________________
Date: ____________________________ Place:_________________________________
