Even community radio stations aren’t immune from inflation and the cost of living crisis.
Werribee-based broadcaster WYN FM is currently holding its annual radiothon, the station’s major fundraising event that helps keep it on air.
WYN FM president Peter White said the current economic climate has made the radiothon more important than ever.
“As everyone knows, the cost of everything’s gone up,” he said.
“We’re the same, we have to pay much higher electrical power bills, rental bills, and a whole heap of insurances and other stuff, so we’re hoping that the listeners and businesses might support us with a donation.”
Donations can be made at WYN FM’s GoFundMe page which opened at the start of the month and runs through until the end of June.
The 2023 radiothon raised $3000, an amount Mr While attributed to the popularity of the station’s Croatian program.
He’s hopeful of exceeding that amount this year and said multicultural programming like the Croatian show was an example of why WYN FM was important.
“We do nine languages on our station and there’s very few stations that are actually centering on the community to broadcast the community’s views and information about the community,” Mr White said.
“It (WYN FM) is important because we supply alternative programs that you won’t hear on mainstream media. I mean our (WFNL) football broadcast is a classic example. There’s not enough of these stations around doing this sort of community or within a particular area.”
For WYN FM, that particular area is the whole of western suburbs.
Despite being based in Werribee, the station can be heard clearly on 88.9 FM right throughout the west and Mr White encouraged people from Melton to Maribyrnong to donate and help them keep going.
To donate: gofund.me/61f1a798
To become a WYN FM member or broadcaster: shorturl.at/nCQUY
Cade Lucas
