CHIP director pens letter in Le Devoir marking World Radio Day

CHIP director pens letter in Le Devoir marking World Radio Day

To mark UNESCO’s World Radio Day on February 13, CHIP 101.9’s Director General François Carrier, who also serves as the President of the l’Association des radiodiffuseurs communautaires du Québec (ARCQ), penned a letter in the newspaper Le Devoir highlighting the contributions of community radio in Quebec.

“Today, 250 employees work within the 37 member stations of the Association des radiodiffuseurs communautaire du Québec (ARCQ), with more than 600 volunteers involved, serving more than 450 municipalities, generating revenues of more than $20 million annually. On average, community radio stations are nearly 80% self-financed through advertising sales, member contributions and bingo production,” he wrote (translated). “This distinct model in Quebec — and taken up elsewhere in the country with its own characteristics — has made it possible to promote artists in the cultural field and allows hosts, journalists and members of other trades to acquire experience and sometimes launch their careers.”

Carrier discussed comments made recently by the head of CBC/Radio-Canada Catherine Tait who stated that the public broadcaster would be shifting their operations online and eventually phasing out their traditional television and radio broadcasting services. She followed those statements up by stating that the move to digital would take place over several decades and would depend on the availability of high-speed internet across the country. He wrote that community radio stations are also working to improve their online presence and disseminate information on the internet as a complement to their on-air content.

Carrier also highlighted the importance of the work done by community stations across the province, particularly in the area of public safety during natural disasters and extreme weather events.

“Stations like CKAJ in Saguenay, like CFIM in Îles-de-la-Madelaine, and several community stations from northern Quebec to Estrie, the Outaouais to Gaspésie, have taken on an important role in local information,” he wrote (translated). “It should be noted, among other things, that the role of community media in public security is more than essential. During floods, power outages at -40, storms that hit our regions and any emergency that may arise, community radio stations have on several occasions, often been the only media present on the scene live and [radio] waves are still today the most effective means of informing the population.”