Launching a campaign to save $1.4 million dollars in funding being cut from community radio, the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia are asking voters to help #KeepCommunityRadio by signing a petition to put pressure on legislators not to move ahead with the cuts.
“Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten, as a supporter of community radio I’m asking you to reinstate funding to keep community radio on digital if you win government,” the petition reads.
“Community radio serves so many Australians; from radio reading for people with a print disability to programming in the different languages spoken across out country, to Indigenous broadcasters, faith based stations, regional stations and youth stations.”
Aiming to rally community support during the election campaign, Keep Community In Your Radio – the campaign’s full title – seeks to maintain community radio’s standing alongside public and commercial broadcasters and currently has almost 16,000 signatures.
Not alone in getting a haircut in this budget, community radio, along with the ABC, had budgets slashed, although the results will be far more dire for local radio than the national television broadcaster.
Escaping cuts under Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey, it seems that under the all seeing red eye of Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison, community radio will not be so lucky.
You can sign the petition here as well as follow the campaign on Facebook and the CBAA on Twitter.
