Local FM Members, Partners, and Listeners:
On August 26th, Local FM will officially enter a new chapter. To be frank, our operating budget has dwindled substantially for this next academic year, which has required our board to carefully consider how to ensure consistency and order within the organization moving forward. We’re confident we’ve restructured Local FM’s approach to staffing and operations in a manner that will allow us to continue to serve both the UNB Saint John campus and the City of Saint John with purpose and intent.
Moving forward, I’ll inhabit the roles of Station Manager and Program Director simultaneously. After I’ve settled into this hybrid role, we’ll hire a part-time staff person to step into the role of administrative assistant for approximately 15 hours/week.
Although this approach varies substantially from what you’re all accustomed to, I can assure you I’m wholly dedicated to ensuring you continue to feel adequately supported and championed as volunteer programmers and external partners.
Although I’ll need to scale back on certain special projects (including our collectives, live sessions, and zines) while captaining the ship into uncharted waters, I will work diligently to retain all existing campus-based partnerships. In that same vein, I hope to strengthen and deepen our established relationships with local arts & culture organizations during this time period.
Simply put, the organization will prioritize producing radio programs that reflect the needs, interests, and passions of our listeners. I’ll continue to act as a cheerleader for UNBSJ students and community members who yearn to speak of their passions and niche areas of interests on-air. I’ll promote local artists and bands, homegrown festivals, community events, and UNBSJ initiatives and athletics.
Please know this is not a time of crisis. It is an opportunity to prioritize our membership’s needs, to sustain the outside partnerships we’re immensely proud of, and to focus on making good radio that reflects the diversity of our shared city. We’ll continue to highlight music, literature, and theatre made by those who spend their days creating art in this foggy city’s brick-laden streets.
We’ll make space for underrepresented communities, speak proudly of what we believe in, celebrate what makes Saint John beautiful, and critically examine what others can’t (because we can, and therefore we must).
I view our station’s 250 watt range on the FM dial as an avenue for individuals to express the inner workings of their hearts & minds on-air. Local FM’s magic stems from its ability to be unencumbered by a need to satisfy the masses. Instead, we aim to foster a safe(r) space for those who exist in this world in ways that sometimes defy conventional norms. I’m tremendously grateful for this opportunity to continue to exist within this realm with all of you.
Thank you for your continued dedication to Local FM. I hope you’re just as excited as I am for what’s to come!
As of August 26th, please redirect all Local FM inquiries (unrelated to Board matters and the Music Department) to julia@cfmh.ca.
Kindly,
Julia Eleanor Rogers, Local FM Station Manager & Program Director (as of August 26th, 2019)
“All will be well and all will be well and all manner of things will be well.”