For Immediate release

Gabriola Radio awarded $30,000

Gabriola Island’s community radio station will be understaking software development, thanks to a $30,000 grant from the Community Radio Fund of Canada.

“For starters, we are going to seek an administrative support staff person, plus a project manager,” says Ken Zakreski, president of CKGI. “Those positions will be posted shortly. We desire to hire from Gabriola, but we are searching widely. The remaining positions (analyst, programming, manual design, layout) will follow shortly after.”

CKGI already reaches more than 2,000 people through the Community Bulletin Board it administers on Facebook. It also operates the Emergency/Public Service and the Social Events bulletin boards, and provides local programming through podcasts. The grant will allow the station to begin live- streaming over the internet from virtually any location on the island, once the necessary software is in place.

This will move CKGI into a league occupied by only three Canadian outlets. Though in wide use in the US, the software has only recently begun to be adapted to the specialized needs of community and campus radio in Canada. It will enable CKGI to track local programming, a requirement of the CRTC, and to broadcast from live concerts or people’s kitchen, or almost anywhere in between, all without the need for a centralized studio.

“Moving the interview studio to the kitchen table in homes of our service area is an evolutionary step in community radio,” says Ken. “This innovation was brought about by the reality of ubiquitous high- speed internet, affordable broadcast equipment, and support of the Community Radio Fund of Cana- da (CRFC).”

The award comes at a good time for Gabriola.

“The issues being discussed are too important not to be talked about thoroughly,” says Ken.

That’s a thought echoed by the CRFC, which provided the money through its Radiometres program, the second major award it has made to CKGI.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, community radio plays a key role in the Canadian radio broadcasting system,” says CRFC president Jean-Francois Cote. “Highlighting local experiences, citizens’ involvement and the diversity of voices is at the heart of the latest media issues.”

You can listen to Gabriola Radio right now on the internet at CKGI.ca . The new positions at CKGI will be posted in the Sourcefabric developers forum.