Radio in the Community
Penistone FM's oft-repeated slogan is 'The Heart of the Community' and in this case 'Community' has a degree of validity. Not just because 'Community Radio' is an Ofcom licence category but also because of Penistone FM's central location on the High Street and its connections with local organisations and notable people.
But What is Community?
This is difficult to define. Even Mr Google does not have a clear answer but we all know intuitively what it is. It can be found in pubs, cafes, clubs, churches, sport, work, on the street and many other places. It comes to the fore where people are involved in the occasion, such as Penistone Parade, and even on local protests. It is the 'glue' which holds ordinary people together in a locality and gives them a common sense of identity. Others find it more convenient to deal with organised and 'official' groups who each have their own aims and goals. In the context of Penistone FM, its community is officially limited to a 5km radius with Penistone in the middle, although its reach goes much further and even outside the country.
In these difficult times, a series of community organisations has sprung up in our area, with such as Oxspring, Thurgoland, Thurlstone and Millhouse Green and probably a few other places. Penistone FM has helped them by advertising what they offer for free. In his first newsletter, the Station Director Darren Holmes has expanded on this:
" ..... For those of you who think that our involvement with the community begins and ends with attending public events I would like to let you in on a little secret - we are much more than that. Here are just a few examples of the other things we are doing:That is just a taste of what we get up to - all funded by grants. I just want to remind you that we are a voluntary organisation run by volunteers. We are funded through grants, advertising revenue and donations from our volunteers and from listeners..... "
- We are currently producing free advertisements for up to twenty community groups within the area. There is still chance to put groups forward so if you know anyone who might be interested then contact us by emailing darren.holmes@penistonefm.co.uk. This project is being funded by South Yorkshire Community Foundation.
- We are about to start work training over sixty socially-deprived people from within the area, in radio skills. This is an ambitious two-year project funded by East Peak Innovation Partnership which will involve a number of groups and organisations within the area.
- We publish news stories, events and much more on our sister site www.thisispenistone.co.uk, please take a look!
Penistone FM has established a Community Committee to interact with local organisations and it provides feedback to the Board of Directors, who can choose to take notice or otherwise of its recommendations. In a similar way, a quarterly Listeners' Panel accepts input from interested individuals.
I would suggest that they take some trouble to interact more with the listeners outside of broadcasting. An Open Day in 2010 was a good event and allowed interested people to see what goes into a radio station. See the Studio Two section on the Studio Page.
'This Was Penistone'
Penistone FM's sister newsblog website 'This is Penistone' came along in September 2010 and quickly proved to be a useful information source for news, job vacancies and other announcements.
PFM made a new commitment to its community role in January 2011 with a weekly news round-up programme at scheduled times, also named 'This is Penistone'. Those who were interested in these matters could now find them at predictable times rather than listening for long periods in the hope of catching a random nugget or two. Some of us have a day job.
'This is Penistone' was a good attempt at a news and sports magazine and was well assembled and delivered by Peter Johnson, Colin Geldard and a few others. It must have been a big job to organise but it gave good value. The pace was slightly too high for my personal taste but that was a minor thing that did not take anything away from the value of the output. It packed a lot of content into a short time and was something that people might schedule into busy lives.
The schedule lasted several months but proved to be unsustainable in the end. It was probably too much of a burden on too-few committed people. The load ought to have been spread more widely and the Board of Directors could have been more involved. Then the programme disappeared from the schedule after a few months.
I think that this area is key to their relevance in the community - and their blind spot. For what it is worth, I have felt thoroughly disillusioned about my efforts in encouraging Penistone FM to take their supposed 'community' role more seriously, as it had been stated in their licence application. Of course there have been interviews of very worthy people but it still does not quite tick the 'Community' box for me. That is not the same as saying that PFM reporters have done a poor job. On the contrary, Neil, Peter and others do an excellent job in spite of what must be disincentives to doing that sort of work. I suspect that the end result of my efforts has been simply to aggravate people at PFM and some comments I have heard over the air have reinforced this view.
Outside Broadcasts
Community broadcast material has been gathered from such as charity runs, village fetes, galas, parades and similar. PFM also has had Outside Broadcasts (OBs), such as a Mountain Rescue Day at Cannon Hall. A 2010 series of OBs came from village halls throughout the district.
These pictures show presenters at a favourite haunt; the Pot House Hamlet in Silkstone. Shown here are: Jody Fendick, Martin Sugden, a radio engineer (name unknown), Carol Bradbury, Charlie North and Peter Johnson. The two pictures below are from a Penistone Library OB in November 2011 with 'Cuddly' Colin Geldard in the hot seat, well-known for his 'Essential Singles' show. The young lady is Harriet Fielding, who is a new-ish PFM presenter with her own Sunday morning show. Later on at the library OB, Darren gave an excellent account of Penistone FM from its beginnings to the present day. My version is reasonably accurate.
Radio Interviews
In accordance with the licence application, spoken material has more air time in the daytime than the evenings. The range of radio interviews to 'enhance and enrich the community' has been quite wide, especially in the first year. In 2009 Martin Sugden held political interviews with Angela Smith (now Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge) and Grant Shapps, (Conservative MP for Welwyn Hatfield and current housing minister). Jody Fendick did the same with the full spectrum of candidates for local elections in 2010. Local Friends of the Earth have also been on. That showed some daring because, at the time, popular opinion was mostly against their indiscriminate attitude to large wind turbines at the expense of the countryside. They are very adept at publicity and weaseling into political circles. One day I'll figure out how they always do that.
Some interviews have been quite inspired and some have explored new ground. One was with Constance, a dear old lady who writes hymns and poems. Local thespian societies and others have also been interviewed. Charlie North has broadcast numerous interviews with interesting music insiders and often in a very appealing style. Local musicians such as Blackjak have been interviewed but there aren't the facilities to do live performances in the studio. Some have been over the phone interviews. Notable ones were international stars Rick Wakeman and Elkie Brooks. Les Young has a particular talent for interviewing notable blues people over the phone for his Wall-to-Wall Blues Show.
As time has moved on, interviews have steered more away from anything political or even slightly contentious and have concentrated on organised group activities, musical matters and local events. Charities have been a big favourite and they have been further encouraged with free advertising slots.
The PFm Gazebo
The next pictures on the top row are from various Penistone Galas. The first has chelpmasters Richard Ward, Martin Sugden and Colin Geldard in 2009. Former presenters Charlotte 'Charlie' Sissons (Rock Show) and Helen Turner (the taller one) are in the third picture. They were very popular at the time. The PFM hero and Station Director Darren Holmes is shown on the right, sagely seeking inspiration in the Gala programme.
The bottom row is 2009 Penistone Show. Martin Sugden is central to the first picture talking to Andrew Millner and someone in disguise. Jody Fendick studies her notes in the second picture and Richard Ward is on the mike in the third picture, with Jody and soulmaster Keith Barna watching. In the last picture, Jody is interviewing one of the stouter locals who is warming to her drinking gesture.
Phone-Ins or Public Forums
One glaring omission from Penistone FM's output is any sort of platform for people to discuss local issues or air their points of view. You would expect that kind of interaction to be absolutely central to the concept of Community Radio. So, in my inimitable, interfering way, here are some ideas for how it might be done.
An obvious way to facilitate discussion is having guests in the studio and accepting comments from listeners. That could be done with a phone-in (most likely with a time delay) or the usual channels of text and email. Done properly, with openness, balance and by giving people a way to express themselves, it would be a great asset to PFM and the community. Phone-ins on other stations appear to work well. Radio Sheffield does a good phone-in and Radio Leeds has an excellent phone-in gardening slot which is entertaining even to someone who is not very interested in gardening.
Alternatively, it would be possible to have proper public debates in a nearby hall, church or public house. I would suggest a once-per-month discussion event backed up by a website forum. An active website would be of great value. Of course it would need volunteers but they wouldn't cost anything and could be advertised for.
Go back to the 1980s and James Whale was an example of a controversial phone-in host. He played it close to the edge and was downright rude yet unmissable. That would be too dangerous for a small station like Penistone but a more laid-back style could work - and 10,000 people around here would interact with PFM and listen to others doing the same. That would be especially true if PFM would dare to allow air time for hot topics. A phone-in would considerably strengthen PFM's community credentials. More to the point, more people would be likely listen, if it was properly scheduled and not repeated ad-nauseum. They have able presenters who could handle the job but, as a voluntary station, it would be possible to recruit someone. Perhaps Penistone needs its very own Dimbleby.
Old Aspirations
Now we can look at some interesting ideas which Penistone FM had put in their application to secure the 'Community Radio' broadcast licence. They were very aspirational at the time but one might suppose that the day-to-day practicalities of running a radio station or the lack of suitable volunteers might have forced a few compromises.
These lines came from Penistone FM's licence Application Document (322kB pdf). It is a long document and the meaty stuff is after the halfway point. Their aims are also summarised in a 'Key Commitments' (22kB pdf) document, also from Ofcom.
Albert Einstein: 'A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.'