OTTAWA – A fund aimed at supporting not-for-profit, local radio that launched Thursday will dole out $1.4 million over seven years. Seed money for the fund, called the Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC), is coming from Astral Media Inc.
“Canadians may have more media choices than ever, but there has been a clear decline in the amount of programming that reflects local communities and their concerns, from both commercial and public media,” said Charles-Eugene Cyr, president of Alliance des radios communautaires (ARC) du Canada. “The Community Radio Fund will help community broadcasting reach its full potential as an independent, diverse, and accessible part of Canadian media.”
The fund will have two streams: The Astral Media Radio Artist Development Assistance Program and the Astral Media Youth Internship Program.
The first grants will be distributed this fall.
The fund is the culmination of more than three years worth of work by Canada’s three largest community-oriented radio associations –ARC du Canada, the Association des Radiodiffuseurs communautaires du Quebec and the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA/ANREC).
The fund was certified as an eligible recipient for Canadian content development contributions by the CRTC in April.
The three organizations also announced that they were working to secure funding from Canadian Heritage for the new fund.
They noted that as funding is secured, the CRFC will support a variety of programming initiatives, with a focus on local news, public affairs programming, community access, and the work of emerging artists. Stations will also be given funding to help build volunteer support and to assist in responding to community needs.
