"It's official -- there could be radio silence soon unless the people who run the University of Waterloo's campus-community radio station find a way to replace 90 per cent of their budget. This week, the university's board of governors rubber-stamped the cancellation of funding to CKMS-FM. The real decision was made in February, when only 12.8 per cent of eligible student voters cast a ballot in a student referendum. Of those, more than two-thirds voted to stop paying a $5.50-a-term refundable fee to support the station. The board of governors normally affirms student decisions, said vice-chair Ian McPhee. The non-profit radio station has enough money to continue its operations until September, said station manager Heather Majaury. The station will do everything it can to keep running."
See my related posts:
Update on Canadian Station CKMS's Budget Woes (3-14-2008)
Students Vote To End Fees in Support of College Radio Station CKMS (2-20-2008)
Posts
7 comments:
Jennifer,
The CKMS establishment has let down its own listeners and volunteers by adopting a no-compromise, take-no-prisoners, confrontational approach to its relations with the student body. This contributed to its defeat. The CKMS establishment has violated its own CKMS bylaws at a past AGM because it suited it to do so, blocked access to information from students that its own attorney admitted was their right, and broke referendum rules multiple times.
Many people who voted for defunding were not against campus radio or independent media in general. Here are some perspectives that explain the sentiments of those for defunding.
A blog post by a self-described lover of alternative media:
atuw.ca/opinion-ckms-endgame-analysis
(The comment from a self-professed "proponent of diverse and open media outlets, and as a former DJ and huge supporter of, and believer in the utility of, radio broadcasting" may also be of interest)
A Macleans On Campus editorial by a fan of NPR and indie music:
oncampus.macleans.ca/...
Correction: the link to information about how CKMS blocked access to information from students that its own attorney admitted was the right of those students should point here:
http://community.livejournal.com/uwaterloo/515664.html?...
Jennifer,
CKMS has let down its own listeners and volunteers by creating the set of circumstances it now faces. The CKMS establishment violated CKMS's own bylaws at a past AGM because it suited it to do so (you'll see that even their own lawyer admitted that the vote that the CKMS establishment obstructed was perfectly legal), was condemned by the student government for conducting its meeting under a "poisoned environment," obstructed access to information from the students who pay its bills that even CKMS's own attorney admitted was their right, and broke referendum rules repeatedly.
I hope you will consider the CKMS establishment's past behaviour and conclude that it casts a bad light on alternative media outlets that actually operate with integrity.
Not everyone who supported the defunding of CKMS was against alternative media:
A blog post by a self-described lover of alternative media:
atuw.ca/opinion-ckms-endgame-analysis
(The comment from a self-professed "proponent of diverse and open media outlets, and as a former DJ and huge supporter of, and believer in the utility of, radio broadcasting" may also be of interest)
A Macleans On Campus editorial by a fan of NPR and indie music:
oncampus.macleans.ca/...
Hello. I'm the current Vice-President of Sound-FM (formerly CKMS)'s Board of Directors. If you're interested, the station continued after losing its funding in May of 2008.
After a year and a half, during which time we supported ourselves on our savings and what we could raise in the community, we were allowed a second referendum. The results were in this afternoon.
We lost. The station does not have a sustainable source of funding, and its future looks grim.
For more information, please review our website at http://www.soundfm.ca on Monday.
Thanks for alerting me to the situation at CKMS. This is pretty sad news. I hope you guys are able to figure out a way to continue operating.
hi Jennifer, i was doing some research for an upcoming conference and i wanted to leave you what i hope you will find to be an encouraging note, CKMS is still around :), and we have a fresh 7 year licence. thank you for all the reporting you did on the referendums back in 2008+2009, lots has happened in the past 6 years and we have moved our studio a number of times, but 24/7 on the fm dial and the internet.
Thanks for the update, Dan. This is great to hear!
Jennifer
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