Hello Members

We are writing to encourage you to advocate on behalf of your station and for the community radio broadcasting sector as a whole. We thank you for your potential interest in sending a message to the federal government about your station and your sector.

For a number of reasons, we believe we are in one of those unique moments where our requests may find some traction because there will be an election in the next few years and the majority of the ridings will determine the outcome of the election will be rural ones served by community broadcasters. One of the top 3 issues for the current government is the fight against disinformation. Combine that with a political strategy that will involve investing in broadcasters serving underserved communities and we feel like we are in a particularly good position to seek and receive this support.

The federal government is currently working on the budget for April 1, 2023 to March 30, 2024. The Community Radio Fund of Canada alongside the three main community radio associations (The Association des radiodiffuseurs communautaires du Québec (“ARCQ”), l’Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada (“ARCC”), and the National Campus and Community Radio Association/Association nationale des radios étudiantes et communautaires (“NCRA/ANREC”)) are currently doing a lot of work, demonstrating the impacts of the community radio sector and how regular financial support of the sector will have enormous impacts. We have put together a specific pitch and have shared it with key players in the federal government. We are at a critical time in the outreach efforts where your station’s participation is incredibly important.

At this time, we are focusing on two areas of importance that will bring direct funding to your radio stations:

1) The extension and expansion of the Local Journalism Initiative (we currently have 41 stations with paid journalists on the ground), as the 5-year program is about to enter its final year without a plan after 2024 to renew the program. We are looking for that program to expand to $20 million a year and make it permanent.

2) Establish a 25 million dollar annual Community Broadcasting Fund to be distributed among all stations. This fund would support all licensed broadcasters, with core and stable funding of around $90,000.

Our goal is to now have as many community radio stations as possible contact their local Member of Parliament (MP) so that they are aware of the sector and this pitch for support so that we have a better chance of having this included in the next federal budget.

Below are three templated letters which we ask that your station copy, customizes and sends to Minister Rodríguez, Minister Freeland, Minister Leblanc, Minister Fortier, the Prime Minister, and the Executive Director of the CRFC alongside your association (Barry, Pierre or Martin)

To: Find the contact info for your MP here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/search#

CC: hon.pablo.rodriguez@pch.gc.ca, chrystia.freeland@fin.gc.ca, minister-ministre@infc.gc.ca, president-presidente@tbs-sct.gc.ca, pm@pm.gc.ca, alex@crfc-fcrc.ca, barry@ncra.ca or p.sicard@radiorfa.com or direction@arcq.qc.ca

In addition to the station sending this request in, we as that you also ask your station staff, board members, volunteers and listeners to also write in. Simply forward them this email and ask them to write a letter (template below or here), make a post on your websites (template below or here) & Social Media (template below or here) and put into rotation a PSA (template below or here) on air until December 15th. All docs are here

Questions? Guidance? Support? Feel free to contact the CRFC’s Executive Director Alex Freedman (alex@crfc-fcrc.ca / 613-321-3513)

Local Journalism Initiative – Brief

This program provides funding for journalists in parts of Canada deemed to be “news deserts”

or where there is a lack of local civic journalism. It has been an unmitigated success.

Together with six other administrative organizations, we represent French and English community newspapers, online publications, television, and radio. Last year alone, the collective impact was significant.

The program was established in 2019 for 5 years with an annual budget of $10 million. The final year for the 5-year program will be 2024-25.

The LJI can continue to make a difference in the fight against disinformation in rural communities and we are asking you to support our request to the government for an annual commitment of $20 million to the LJI in budget 2023-24. In addition, this funding should be made a permanent program.

Community Broadcasting Fund – Brief

The future of community broadcasting will rely on stable and consistent funding which can be used to support the daily core operations. Because community radio stations are all not-for-profit entities, every dollar of this support will be reinvested in the communities they serve.

FACTOR and Musicaction collectively rely on nearly $30 million in stable funding to support Canadian artists and they all rely on community radio to break, play and feature the artists they discover. These groups also benefit from CCD funding to a much greater degree than community stations. Last year, FACTOR and Musicaction received $16.3 million from CCD while community radio stations received $2.8 million. Some level of financial support to sustain community stations is reasonable in this context.

We are asking for an annual Community Broadcast Support Fund of $24.2 million dollars which will provide critical support to all 235 community, campus, and Indigenous radio stations

Operational Support:

There is no operational (core) funding for these stations and this represents the single largest barrier to continued success and growth for ALL of the stations within our network. This Community Broadcast Support Fund would allocate an average of $90,000 per station to as many as 235 stations. This includes the 180 licensed community and campus stations and the 55 Indigenous “Type B” stations across the country.

Eligibility for this fund would dictate that stations meet targets in line with the objectives as established in the definition of community radio broadcasting as set out in CRTC Campus and Community Radio Policy 2010-499 and the Native Broadcasting Policy 1990- 89 / CRTC 2001-70. As well as the objectives as established in Bill-C-11. Under the COVID-19 distribution program, the CRFC scaled the amounts granted based on a number of factors including size and scope of operations.

This program would be similarly structured so the $90,000 represents an average number and while this would not fully fund operations for any station, it would go a very long way towards creating stability and providing meaningful support for operations. This would amount to $21,150,000 annually.

Special Project Funding:

The second element would be support to replace the declining CCD funding. We are asking for a total of $1.5 million to ensure we are still able to provide project-specific annual grants for initiatives which go above and beyond daily operations. This is what our Radiometres program does currently and it has enabled the creation of 463 significant initiatives. We recommend that this allocation either replace all CCD contributions as soon as the Community Broadcast Support Fund is approved or the funding grows proportionally to supplement the forecasted decline in CCD contributions over time.

Data Collection:

Our sector is notoriously light on quantitative data which puts all our stations at a disadvantage. Due to the prohibitive cost of audience measurement tools and a lack of a central data repository, much of what we know about the performance metrics for community stations is gathered through a limited number of stations that can afford audience measurement.

This funding would allow the CRFC to produce an annual report on the state of community broadcasting. It would provide sectoral data to interested parties such as our stations, Heritage Canada, and the CRTC. It would also help stations harmonize the data they are reporting to the CRTC so your data would be as accurate as possible.

This project would involve funding for an annual survey focussing on content, development, and diversity. It would involve the development of a database to record and track the evolution of these answers, and it would provide access to audience measurement through StatsRadio which measures digital and broadcast listeners at the same time.

We have an estimate of $525,000 dollars to provide audience measurements for all 235 stations. Including administrative and operational costs, the project would cost approximately $625,000 annually.

Template letter 1 – Short and Quick

(Station Letter Head)

MP Information

Date

Dear MP [Inset Name]

We are the [Campus/Community/Indigenous] Radio station [Name and Call letters] located [City & or Exact Location]. We are a not-for-profit organization that provides critical local news, information and entertainment through volunteers to your riding. We are writing to ask that you support two critical programs that are essential to our ability to continue to serve this community and fight against disinformation.

1) Increase the Local Journalism Initiative to $20 million a year and make it permanent.

2) Establish a 25 million dollar annual Community Broadcasting Fund to be distributed among all community radio stations.

We thank you for your interest in supporting local media, we welcome questions or comments and encourage you to visit this website for more information.

Sincerely;

[Your Name, Your Station, Your Contact Information, Your location]

To: MP here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/search#]

Template letter 2 – Slightly more customized

(Station Letter Head)

MP Information

Date

Dear MP [Inset Name]

[Name and Callletters] is a [Campus/Community/Indigenous] Radio station located in your riding at [Exact Location]. We are a volunteer-driven not-for-profit organization that provides critical local news, information and entertainment to your riding. We have been on the air since [date] and provide important shows/programming like [Show name and example].

In order to continue operations and provide these and many more services, we are asking that you support two critical programs that are essential to our ability to continue to serve this community and fight against disinformation.

1) Increase the Local Journalism Initiative to $20 million a year and make it permanent.

The LJI Program has been incredibly important to our station. We have been able to have a journalist report on [examples here], Without an extension, our community will lose this information

Although 41 stations across the country have journalists, the program is not large enough for a reporter in our underserviced community. We could provide so much more local news and information if we had access to a trained, supported local journalist for the station.

2) Establish a 25 million dollar annual Community Broadcasting Fund to be distributed among all community radio stations.

Our station operates on about [Insert amount here], which means we have X number of staff that support about X volunteers who do much of the programming as hosts or strategic planning as board members. Having additional core and stable funding would allow us to spend more time on generating local programming as opposed to trying to keep the lights on [or Insert example of what you would do with it]

Campus and community radio stations are a pillar of broadcasting in Canada with unique access to underserved communities both urban and rural. Throughout the pandemic, our members delivered accurate public health information to Canadians in at least 65 different languages. The sector is made up of thousands of people committed to ensuring broadcasts meet rigorous standards. As many as nine and a half million Canadians in over 150 communities listen regularly at least once per month to community radio and for many, it is their only source of live, local information.

We thank you for your interest in supporting local media, we welcome questions or comments and encourage you to visit this website for more information.

Sincerely;

[Your Name, Your Station, Your Contact Information, Your location]

Ps. We would be happy to have you come into the station for a visit sometime to show you the magic in person.

To: MP here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/search#]

Template letter 3 – Create your own

(Station Letter Head)

MP Information

Date

Dear MP [Inset Name]

Here is what we propose your letter should include:

Open up with a statement about how your station is a key source of local news and information and is therefore an important part of the fight against disinformation.

Speak about the important role you play in connecting your community.

Speak about how a little support will go a very long way.

Present the two key asks:

1) Increase the Local Journalism Initiative to $20 million a year and make it permanent.

2) Establish a 25 million dollar annual Community Broadcasting Fund to be distributed among all community radio stations.

Thank them for their ongoing support (if you’ve generally had a good relationship with your MP).

Feel free to include any local details you wish.

If you want to invite them for a station tour, now is the time.

To: MP here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/search#]

Template Post for Website

Listeners! We need your help! We would like you to send a message to the federal government about the importance of this station

The federal government is currently working on the budget for April 1, 2023, to March 30, 2024. We have put together a specific ask and have shared it with [INSERT MP NAME], and the others listed below. We believe that you can help us with two critical programs that will allow us to not only survive but thrive in our community.

If you could help us by taking the template below, adding to it and it to [MP HERE]

To: MP here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/search#]

Template letter 4 – For Listeners

MP Information

Date

Dear MP [Inset Name]

I am an active and dedicated listener to [Name and Call letters] Radio, located in your riding. This station provides critical local news, information and entertainment to me which I cannot access through any other medium. I am writing to ask that you support this very important station that serves this community and fights against disinformation. You can do so by

1) Increasing the Local Journalism Initiative to $20 million a year and making it permanent.

2) Establishing a 25 million dollar annual Community Broadcasting Fund to be distributed among all community radio stations, including this one.

Without access to my local community radio station, I would not be able to stay connected to the community that I live in and love.

Thank you;

[Your Name, Your Contact Information, Your location]

To: MP here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/search#]

Template Post for Social Media

If you would like to edit ours, please do so here via Canva (we ask that you COPY as opposed to directly edit overtop) (Zip with Designs)

PSA for Stations

We are asking for some help to build a few PSAs for stations to run. If you are able to make your own, please let us know and share it with us!

We have built a generic announcement below

English Version 1

English Version 2

English Version 3

Zip with PSA’s

Note that if you would like us to customize it for your stations, simply let us know.

Draft Script:

Hey you, yes you, Thanks for listening to this station.

We are a non-profit organization dedicated to our community, and you the listener. We are able to operate because of the funds raised by our communities but this is often not enough.

We are asking for your help – which you can do by contacting our federal member of parliament. Call or write and ask them to support the development of a Community Broadcasting Fund and extend the Local Journalism Initiative

Learn more at ncra.ca/help – that’s ncra.ca/help

Thank you once again for your support