Tracey Newman
Former Station Manager, 4ZzZ FM
Written by Shahiza Ghazi on 2008-10-21
What do you see happening in the next five years in the Radio Broadcasting industry?
4ZzZ will be moving forward with the rest of the radio industry in July next year, changing from an FM band to a digital station. We will continue with the FM band as long as the Federal Government stipulates. Now that there are new technologies, we have to make sure that we have the equipment to be able to broadcast for digital radio. We have already had to alter the way we do some things, and there will be even more changes ahead. Digital radio provides a whole range of new opportunities for stations – they can choose to offer something completely different on their digital radio bandwidth if they want. But those decisions will be made depending on that station’s capacity. There are also some changes that affect our listeners. If they were to get digital radio, they have to buy a new transmitter. They cost at the moment from $80 to $250. For the next five years, the biggest hurdle will be finding out whether or not the Australian public are going to embrace digital radio.
What are the biggest challenges you and your organisation face as a member of the Brisbane media community?
There are a few suggestions that stations should produce different shows for digital radio, but this creates extra pressure, particularly for community radio stations that run mainly on volunteer contributions. For commercial radio stations, they may have the capacity to provide this diversity, but they are also funded by lots of advertisings. With community radio, we are servicing a community and in that, we run on very small budget compared to commercial radio. 4ZzZ also faces challenges looking for volunteers with specialty skills like graphic arts and online development for websites. With all of these digital formats, there is a need for technicians who know how to fix things; technical people who work in the broadcast industry. After program production, this would probably be the next biggest challenge. People need to be trained properly in order to develop specialised skills and knowledge for the new media. In order for the station to function to the best capacity from a business side, we also need to have people with skills in finance and public relations. We also need enough people from the community interested in being part of 4ZzZ to be able to service that same community. The challenge here is ensuring we have a variety of people with a variety of skills involved in the station.
What are the most important/valuable skills that graduates can bring to your industry?
Ultimately, the most valuable people at 4ZzZ do not even have to be graduates. There are less than five people that are paid at the station. It is really important that students and other members of the community realise that they do not need to graduate before they are seen as important around here. There are a number of students studying marketing, public relations or journalism, who are involved in projects here. Their hard work here means that even before they have graduated they have had some in depth experience in their field. Once they graduate, it is always the hope that they will stay with the station, using their skills and mentoring other people in the process.
How has new media such as the Internet and mobile communications revolutionised your workplace?
To keep up with everything, we really have to ensure that we are doing podcasting. Some of our shows do have podcasts currently and hopefully in the future more will. The biggest one currently is ‘At the Local,’ which is a show focusing on local community groups and their participation in the Brisbane community. The development of Myspace and Facebook has also made a big difference. If 4ZzZ did not use these online communication platforms for creating awareness, we would really be far behind in a lot of things. Web streaming is currently in the works, so you will be able to listen to what is going on the station from your computer. We are starting to archive our press releases online too. We want to look at other ways to communicate our message, instead of just through radio broadcast. We are turning more into an interactive community media centre.
I understand that you studied in Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE Music Business Course yourself. What lead you to working in a community radio station?
I have worked and trained in a few different areas that I have been able to relate to working in community radio. I have done a Business Management Course, and a Music Industry Business Course as well as a few other training courses. I also worked as a scientist in the medical laboratory industry for a few years and some of those skills have been really beneficial here. Data collection and evaluation are important when you are looking after an organisation like 4ZzZ and these are skills that were part of my scientific life for long time. Time management and report writing are also very important. I have come from a background that has focused a lot on management and these days, community radio stations are really looking at improving management and governance. I have been able to take some skills from my old work environment, and transfer and translate them here. My past experiences have led me to where I am now and I can use pieces from my past to help me where I am now.
I know that you have a nickname of “Skatracey”, you have 20-years worth of ska collection and that you use it as a resource library for your radio shows. Considering that the ska music genre is a niche market, do you think that by playing these niche genres will help your community radio station go forward?
Holistically, yes, because it is not just about that music for me. I have realised that each small niche market needs to have a voice and some of them are not getting a voice anywhere else. There are people who listen to electronic music, or metal music, or drum and bass; we provide an outlet for all those genres. I understand that there needs to be places for that music to get out to audiences. There are a lot of volunteers here who originally tuned into one particular show and because they love the music on that show, they started listening to the rest of what the station offers. This has made them embrace a whole range of genres or music as well as their original ‘soft spot.’ They are able to keep developing as a person because they are listening to different forms of music and also listening to shows about the environment, politics, alternative news, community, queer issues and prisoners. I think embracing the niche markets and then listening to what each market has to offer makes you a better person.
Do you have anything else to say to the community and to the public?
A lot of youth think that music is for free and they do not like buying CDs or paying to listen to the radio. I would really like to promote subscriptions to our community radio station to ensure we stay on air. Subscription is a major part of what brings our income into this station so each individual contribution, when added together makes our largest income into the station. By subscribing to the station people become part of the station and are able to ensure that there is always an independent voice in the media. We are particularly trying to get young people enthusiastic about paying their subscriptions and supporting community radio. People do not always realise that without subscribers, there would be no radio station there for them. I have to say “YEEHAA” for volunteers. We have a variety of sponsors as well. I could not run this place by myself; the station needs volunteers and sponsors because they are bringing income to function. We have got some long time supporters like Rave and Scene magazines. A lot of our sponsors are those who support Radiothon. Without the help of the subscribers, the volunteers and the sponsors, there would be no alternate voice in Brisbane; so it is these people that we have to thank for 4ZzZ!