Keeping it Fresh

While a career in radio appears out of reach for all but the most dulcettoned, community radio is accessible to everyone. Britt Coker hits play.

If commercial radio wants to lure in new listeners, perhaps it could take up piracy again. In 1966, Radio Hauraki began illegally bobbing around in the Hauraki Gulf, well away from marauding government officials and their anti-commercial radio sentiment. After four years the pirates got what they wanted – the right to play music as ordinary landlubbers – and other commercial stations quickly followed.

It was a long and illustrious mix of music and chirpiness, until automation in the 1990s saw commercial radio begin to walk the plank while the real-time use of the ON AIR studio light became increasingly intermittent.

The economics of automation allowed for more and more stations to be established to cater for every musical taste, but the overwhelming choice did not get us any closer to precious local content as that plank walk has eventually found us staring at a sea state of out-of-town breakfast jocks, creative departments and recording studios.

Ironically, it is the [partly] government-funded, community access radio that is the enigmatic unconventional one now. Its strength lies in its focus on local people and by virtue of that fact, its eclecticism. Local station Fresh FM operates out of three studios with 70 programmes on its schedule and a listenership that extends across the Top of the South. To the world too, once all shows go online. Run by a charitable trust, Fresh is the 20th century merger of two community stations – Harvest Radio and Boulder Radio.

What our society is better at now is acknowledging the individualism of everyone and making sure that they are catered for, offered a voice, and welcomed. That’s not an awakening of consciousness for community radio though, more like a longterm modus operandi. Pania Walton, content and engagement director at Fresh FM, recognises what a valuable asset it is for people who aren’t catered for in mainstream, like new migrants, or people who just want to listen to specialist shows that cover subjects like personal wellbeing, wine, sustainability, art, food and death (rarely at the same time).

Pania says, “It means that people who don't normally hear their voice represented in mainstream media can have a voice on the radio, and also that the people in those communities can hear the people on the radio talking about things of interest to them.”

Together, Finn Smith and Warwick Jones present a show on mental health every Thursday at noon. Finn also works at Health Action Trust, which provides health promotion and mental health services. The duo talk to a mix of guests on the radio show from retired clinicians to people who are willing to talk about their own journeys. “The idea was to draw more normalisation of people who need help with their mental health.”

Finn says he wound up on the show partly due to his background in media studies, though that hasn’t prevented him from experiencing some anxiety as part of presenting the show. He acknowledges it gets easier the more he does it and the beauty of the shows being pre-recorded is the unlimited do-overs this option provides, should it be required. Overall, he enjoys the challenge and sees the bigger picture of helping other people as being worth the pre-show angst. “I find it really rewarding and it's great involving other associate organisations so that we can be more connected in the community.”

Over the 13 years they’ve been on the air, the trio that present Viva LatinoAmerica! have amassed plenty of non-Spanish listeners to their Spanish-speaking show. Originally from Chile, Jessica and Julio Díaz Rodríguez, alongside Luz Zúñiga Vega, present an hour of Latin American culture and interviews touching on current affairs in New Zealand and South America. But even if you don’t speak Spanish, there is always the music.

“South America is such a rich continent with all kinds of music and clubs, and people are so good at expressing that through the music so sometimes we get listeners just for that,” says Jessica.

Luz and Julio are both journalists and Jessica is a social worker. This combination of compassion, truth and integrity is expressed through the show format, Luz explains.

“When we started in 2010, we started on the 12th of October which was supposedly the day that Colombus got to America for the first time. So, from the start, our focus is linked to decolonisation. We reflect a lot about matters relating to indigenous people with their rights of the land and nature.”

Jessica adds, “We are analysing issues that are going on in South America regarding, for example, indigenous cultures, we are so far behind in (recognition of indigenous rights and autonomy) South America, it is a way of sharing the knowledge here as well.”

The three want their show to be ethical and have gone so far as to create their own ‘No Harm’ policy which means they have committed to saying nothing on Viva LatinoAmerica that would be hurtful to anyone. Says Luz, “That’s a principle that keeps us busy because there is a lot to filter, but we do have that commitment, too.”

Why did you make this decision?

“Because we have reflected a lot on what happened here in New Zealand in 2019 with the mosque attacks. We reflected on being from another country but also being involved in producing programmes for the public using media. We thought it should be our responsibility to be conscious of our messages in terms of not hurting anyone in any way. So, we are very careful using our language, and when we talk about a subject that could be controversial we are really careful to be analysing it without using words that could attract the attention of people to the conflict, instead of the solution.”

Each fortnightly show takes about 10-15 hours of preparation, but Jessica thinks it’s worth it. “We have learned a lot, and that will continue. We have made friends through the programme, we know all the people and the people know us. It has been very rich, to be honest. Very, very rich.”

It’s hard to imagine that for today’s youth, radio is old school. A contributing factor to this will be the unrelatability of the announcers on commercial radio, as well as the modern phenomenon we call streaming services where podcast shows and YouTube channels are made by young people, for young people.  So Hazel Molloy is bucking the trend with her local radio show, The Jam, something she began when she was just 12 years old. She’s a seasoned professional now, with four years under her belt, offering music and interviews on Fresh FM every second Wednesday.

The Jam has been invaluable for increasing her confidence but it’s the connections that she’s made, and the people she gets to talk to, that Hazel loves most about her show.

“The biggest challenge is probably finding content. After Covid things got quite difficult and there weren’t as many events on, stuff like that, and also you get to the point – ‘are people listening, are they enjoying what I'm saying, are they engaging?’” These are questions we should all ask ourselves when we’re talking to people, but they are particularly understandable if you operate a pre-recorded radio show as it is a lot like talking to yourself in a well-padded room (acoustically speaking).

“I feel like a lot of my radio show is quite light-hearted. I feel like on a lot of shows – and the news – it’s quite intense and people are quite serious about things. I obviously take it seriously but there are elements of laughter I have on the show as well. My biggest goals are to spread positivity and make an impact on someone's life in a positive way… Not everyone wants to sit there and listen to someone talking serious about something for the whole hour.”

Yeah, life’s a bit heavy for all of us at the moment but it must be a real bummer for young people. The climate, the economy, war, floating plastic islands, the pipe dreams of home ownership, social media pressures - a constant mumble of impending doom that started well after most of us were teenagers. An urge to dance in our living rooms is not the only reason we all turn the music up occasionally.

Hazel’s show is unapologetically youth-focussed, but if you’re keen to understand and relate to teenagers, The Jam may also be enlightening.

“Recently I've been talking about my experiences with something, for example stress in school, and I know that it won’t appeal to everyone, but I’ve had my parents say that they learn a lot of things from what I say. The events I talk about, and the interviews, it can be for everyone.”

Hazel sees herself continuing with her show for the next couple of years until she leaves for university. Hopefully there will be other teens who will fill the youth void she will create by her absence. Not that it’s ever too late to start a radio show.

“I feel like everyone has something to say in this world and I feel like everything is valued, so I feel like radio is a really great way to voice your own opinions and values and things like that. I honestly think that it could be for anyone.”

This is a view shared by Pania who would love to see more local people making the most of access radio.

“I think that the best person to go on the radio is someone who's passionate about something that they want to share. That passion and enthusiasm translates into beautiful radio that people want to listen to and it's a really great environment…It could be 15 minutes a week, it could be an hour, or it could be less or more often. There are lots of possibilities. It's a great way of getting the word out and it's fun. Coming in, learning new technology, talking to people, hanging out in the studio. It’s a really lovely community vibe with lots of support and super accessible. It’s unlike anything else.”

If you would like to support the valuable work FreshFM does in our community with a donation or sponsorship email [email protected]