Geoff Lister/The Ubyssey

With the relevance of different types of media increasing, it’s important to take a moment to remember why college radio still matters.

This past Monday, the National Campus and Community Radio Association celebrated their 25th anniversary with Reclaim Your Radio, a special day-long broadcast with the aim of reserving more frequencies for student and community broadcasters.

“We believe that the FM airwaves are a public good; everyone should have access and there should be community-oriented programming in every community,” said Brenda Grunau, station manager of CiTR, UBC’s campus radio station.

CiTR participated in the event by “[putting] together a pile of interviews with programmers who’ve been around for a while to talk about what CiTR means to them and what campus and community radio is all about [and] why it’s important.”

Stations from across Canada participated in the single live feed from 9am-5pm and Grunau said CiTR was proud to be involved in this successful event.

“Any one tuning in to their local campus/community station, from Halifax to Vancouver Island, heard stories about why we are important,” said CiTR president Grace McRae-Okine.

Campus radio is as relevant as ever. Not only does CiTR air 80 radio programs hosted by volunteers, but the reach of its airwaves extends as far as Langley and Squamish. “Our programming reaches listeners via cable across Canada. People listen online and download podcasts to learn about what is good in the West Coast independent scene,” said Mcrae-Okine.

CiTR serves every aspect of the campus and community listenership and provides people with information, entertainment and an experience that is unavailable through any other form of media.

“Campus radio will always be a place where we can listen and learn about what is happening in our neighbourhood, what issues are important to us locally, and also where can we make radio with other people that are in our community,” said Grunau.

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