Topics in this digest:
1. Seniors: Late life on air: WEACT (Women Elders in Action), Older Wom
From: George Lessard
2. Community Radio Fund launches first call - Le Fonds canadien de la r
From: George Lessard
Messages
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1. Seniors: Late life on air: WEACT (Women Elders in Action), Older Wom
Posted by: "George Lessard" media@web.net themediamentor
Date: Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:23 pm ((PST))
Seniors: Late life on air
A group of older women are reclaiming their community's voice, one
broadcast at a time
http://www.mcgilldaily.com/article/17821-seniors-late-life-on-air
Jennifer Markowitz
Once a month, on a Wednesday night, two different groups of women on two
opposite sides of the country press around microphones and chat. Though
hosted by community radio stations based out of McGill and Simon Fraser
Universities, these women aren't students; they're old ladies, many in
their sixties and seventies, some in their eighties, and they're using the
microphone as a tool of empowerment.
For many, the 60-plus set exists as a group separate from the rest of
society. They're seen as fragile; they walk slower, their clothes are
different, and they don't keep up with hip things that younger generations
know. This attitude can be attributed to the priorities of capitalist
societies that evaluate their members according to their productivity,
says Rose Marie Whalley, a founding member of CKUT's Older Women Live
(OWL), a collective that broadcasts monthly across Montreal. "In other
societies [outside of North America], old people guide the young and pass
down the culture, but in capitalist, or post-capitalist societies like
ours, the status of old people is very low because we're not productive.
We are pushed to the margins of society. The culture of youth is the one
that dominates."
Whalley wants to challenge the ideals of an exclusionary culture that
neglects old people, and let society – especially youth – know that the
elderly still have a voice. With OWL, she and six other women from
Montreal introduce society to someone she thinks it does not know: the
active older woman. "I want to reclaim the word old," she says. "I am not
a senior."
Most topics discussed on the show do not exclusively appeal to or describe
an older demographic. The owls, as the women call themselves, avoid
featuring stereotypical "old lady" topics like knitting, grandchildren,
bridge, and the old days. Instead, they focus on stories with more
expansive political or social appeal.
WEACT (Women Elders in Action), a similar radio program broadcast from
Vancouver, also seeks to give a voice to older women. With an approach
similar to OWL's, WEACT works to integrate the social and economic issues
facing older women into common discourse. Like OWL, WEACT focuses on
topics that are political and topical – housing issues, security, local
politics. "Our show is far more a political and a propos to the times than
most students' shows are," says Jan Westlund, coordinator of WEACT. "Maybe
it's because we're more connected to the community, or maybe it's our
breadth of experience."
"Many older women, and [the women producing WE*ACT] are busy; they
volunteer, they're active, and it's hard to keep them at home. Just
because midlife and senior women appear to be somewhat invisible does not
mean they're not active. It just means society is not set up to
acknowledge them and credit them," Westlund says. Through showing that
older women play a part in issues that affect everyone's lives, both radio
programs strive to break the stereotype of older women as useless,
sexless, or burdensome to society.
In familiarizing their communities with older women, the members of OWL
and WE*ACT also familiarize themselves with a part of contemporary culture
that they grew up without – technology. For much of society, technological
competency is an assumed luxury, but for older generations it's often a
mystery, and their illiteracy and lack of tech intuition is leaving them
behind. "It's a way of thinking, a mental process. It's not just a matter
of pressing buttons," Whalley says.
For Westlund's volunteers, mastery of the technical side of the radio
programming has been slow. "I would say only a few of the women have
really taken up the technical side of it seriously, and it's really
important when they do. It's huge for seniors who do because they
stimulate the brain." Still, she says that half of the women involved,
many of whom are in their eighties, have email and computers in their
homes. OWL's members communicate via email – all but one is hooked up.
WE*ACT has taken their initiative beyond radio broadcast. With a program
called Lessons Learned, older women solicit and record stories of
marginalized women in their communities. One of the project's mandates is
to stimulate and engage women who were facing the threat of isolation.
Mastery of technology is not important only in the tangible sense, but can
communicate, according to Whalley, a tremendous symbolic significance. "As
a generation, we have internalized the fact that we're useless. Technology
now has brought that home big time. The inability with technology is
infused with a sort of stupidity and ignorance. What do we have to
contribute? It adds to a general lack of self esteem in old people and
does not help how we are seen in society – as unproductive," Whalley says.
"We need a voice of technology and we're not getting that as a group."
Programs like OWL and WE*ACT bring older women's voices to places and
audiences they could not travel to alone, giving them a voice they don't
feel they have, and a purpose they feel they're not entitled to. "Not only
do [older women] have a low status, but there is no way for us to say,
'Hey, we're here.' Our voices are silent. We have internalized this, and
if we continue to sit at home removed from the world progressing around
us, we're just going to become more and more invisible," Whalley says.
Whalley believes radio may prove to be the only means to keep older people
accessible to younger generations.
"We get into living rooms through radio," Whalley says. The
non-discriminatory nature of radio allows OWL to reach all audiences and
welcomes anyone to participate. "Someone can be lying in bed and still
hold a mic," Whalley says. That's what happened on OWL's January show. The
topic was access to healthcare under a Conservative government, and
featured an interview with one of OWL's collective members, an 85-year-old
woman recovering from a knee replacement. She was in her bed at Lindsay
Rehab centre in Côte-des-Neiges when Whalley conducted the interview.
OWL and WE*ACT stand up against the assumption that old people, and old
women especially, do not work or perform physical activity. The idea of
total retirement, not only professionally but in every aspect of one's
life, is unrealistic. At a time when an increasing number of people is
staying healthier longer, older women are finding ways to not only be part
of society, but to be an active part. "[Our members] are seniors who are
not ready to dive into old age and still want to remain active in their
communities," Westlund says.
She notes that in old age, many find themselves with more free time and a
renewed desire to contribute to and remain part of society. Having lived
through the radical sixties and seventies, members of both programs are
former activists – part of labour unions, social justice, and feminist
movements. "Our generation was an activist generation. We certainly did
women's rights stuff, and civil rights stuff. We were very active in
social experiments," Whalley says, citing the Day Care Movement, when
mothers in the seventies lobbied for cheap daycare services, and the
Back-to-the-Land movement. "Doing all of this, it established a way of
being, a way of life."
Radio has become the new medium through which the activist generation can
continue to demonstrate. "The women have been activists their whole lives
and they have interest in lots of social justice issues. You do that for
30 or 50 years and you're not stopping because your body is slowing down
or because you're tired. If anything, you have more time to devote to
issues," Westlund says.
Growing older doesn't change the essence of a person and does not mean
that they should sacrifice themselves. "You have no idea how active women
in their sixties are," Westlund says – and how relevant they are in our
society.
Messages in this topic (1)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Community Radio Fund launches first call - Le Fonds canadien de la r
Posted by: "George Lessard" media@web.net themediamentor
Date: Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:28 pm ((PST))
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: [ncra] CRFC launches first call - FCRC lance son premier appel
From: "Melissa Kaestner" <melissa.kaestner@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, February 10, 2009 18:17
To: ncra@ncra.ca
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello all. I may have sent this message to this list already (I know I
sent it to the ncramembers' list). I don't see a copy of it in my sent
folder. Ah, well, if I did send it already, please accept my apologies
for the multiple post.
Take care
Melissa
--
The Journey is the Destination.
http://melissahk.worpress.com
La version française suit le texte anglais.
English: www.communityradiofund.org
Français : www.fondsradiocommunautaire.org
-----
For Immediate Release
February 10, 2009
Community Radio Fund of Canada launches first call for proposals
Funding now available to campus and community radio sector in Canada
Ottawa - The Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) is pleased to
launch its first call for proposals for Canadian community-oriented
broadcasters and associations.
"The establishment of the fund, and this first call for proposals, is
a historic event in the development of community radio in Canada,"
says Victoria Fenner, CRFC President. "Our first two programs will
provide training and production resources that are aimed at
strengthening programming while contributing to the capacity of the
sector. It's a great first step for us, and we are excited to see the
impact these programs will have in the coming years."
Contributions are available to the sector under two programs: the
Radio Talent Development Program and the Youth Internship Program. The
goal of both programs is to develop innovative local interest
programming while providing mentorship, education, and or training for
broadcasters.
The deadline for each program is March 27, 2009. The proposals will be
assessed in April through a peer review process, with no jury member
being affiliated with any potential recipient. The final results will
be announced in May. Application guidelines and forms are available on
the CRFC's website.
Both of these programs are made possible by a financial partnership
with Astral Media Radio through a CRTC contribution mechanism
totalling $1.4 million over seven years. "We thank Astral Media for
becoming our first private sector partner, and look forward to working
with all who share our goal of bringing the wonderful diversity of
voices in our communities to the Canadian airwaves," says Fenner.
As the CRFC is certified as an eligible recipient of Canadian content
development (CCD) contributions, it is open to work with all private
broadcasters through similar funding partnerships.
For details on eligibility, the programs, and how to apply, as well as
information about the CRFC, please visit our new website:
www.communityradiofund.org
- 30 -
Contact:
Melissa Kaestner, CRFC Executive Director, (613) 321-3513,
m.kaestner@communityradiofund.org
The Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) is an not-for-profit funding
organization that solicits and distributes funds geared toward the
development and sustainability of local community radio broadcasting
in urban and rural Canada. Its goal is to provide the sector with the
resources needed to continue providing local programming and community
access, as well as for the development and enrichment of this vital
component of the Canadian broadcasting system.
-----
Pour diffusion immediate
Le 10 février 2009
Le Fonds canadien de la radio communautaire lance son premier appel de
propositions
Le secteur de la radio étudiante et communautaire a maintenant accès à
un appui financier
Ottawa - Le Fonds canadien de la radio communautaire (FCRC) est
heureux de lancer son premier appel de propositions desiné aux
stations et associations de radio étudiante et communautaire
canadiennes.
« La création du Fonds et le lancement de ce premier appel de
propositions sont des événements historiques pour le développement de
la radio communautaire au Canada. Grâce à nos deux premiers
programmes, des radiodiffuseurs d'un bout à l'autre du pays auront
accès à des ressources pour la formation et la production
radiophonique, dans le but de renforcer leur programmation et la
capacité du secteur tout entier. Il s'agit d'un grand pas en avant
pour nous et nous avons bien hâte de mesurer l'impact qu'auront ces
programmes à l'avenir. »
Des fonds seront mis à la disposition du secteur en vertu de deux
programmes: le Programme pour le développement des talents
radiophoniques et le Programme de stage radiophonique pour les jeunes.
L'objectif de ces deux programmes est de favoriser la création d'une
programmation d'intérêt local originale, ainsi que la formation,
l'apprentissage et le mentorat au sein des radios communautaires et
étudiantes.
La date limite pour présenter une proposition est le 27 mars 2009. Les
propositions seront évaluées en avril par un comité de pairs dont les
membres devront n'avoir aucun lien avec un bénéficiaire potentiel. Les
résultats de la sélection seront annoncés en mai. Les formulaires de
demande et les directives qui s'y rattachent sont disponibles dans le
site internet du FCRC.
Les deux programmes, totalisant 1,4M $ sur sept ans, ont été mis en
oeuvre grâce à un partenariat négocié avec Astral Média Radio par
l'entremise d'un mécanisme subventionnaire du CRTC. « Nous remercions
Astral Média d'être devenu notre premier partenaire du secteur privé
et nous avons hâte de collaborer avec tous ceux qui, comme nous,
souhaitent donner à cette merveilleuse diversité de voix qu'on trouve
au sein de nos communautés un accès aux ondes », conclut Mme Fenner.
Le FCRC étant admissible aux subventions destinées au développement de
contenus canadiens (DCC), il est disposé à travailler en collaboration
avec tous les radiodiffuseurs privés canadiens, dans le cadre de
partenariats similaires.
Pour plus de détails concernant les programmes, l'admissibiilté et le
dépôt de demandes, ou encore pour en savoir plus sur le FCRC, veuillez
visiter notre site, au: www.fondsradiocommunautaire.org
- 30 -
Contact :
Melissa Kaestner, Directrice générale, (613) 321-3513,
m.kaestner@communityradiofund.org
Le Fonds canadien de la radio communautaire (FCRC) est un organisme
sans but lucratif qui sollicitera et distribuera des fonds pour le
développement et le maintien de la programmation locale dans les
radios étudiantes et communautaires tant en zone urbaine qu'en milieu
rural. Le but du FCRC est de fournir au secteur de la radio
communautaire sans but lucratif les ressources nécessaires pour
continuer à offrir une programmation locale de qualité, l'accès
communautaire ainsi que le développement et l'enrichissement de ce
secteur crucial du réseau canadien de radiodiffusion.
--
Melissa Kaestner
Executive Director / Directrice générale
Community Radio Fund of Canada
Le Fonds canadien de la radio communautaire
(613) 321-3513, m.kaestner@communityradiofund.org
http://www.communityradiofund.org
Messages in this topic (1)
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