Kate Doak remembers the lead-up to the fiercely contested 2010 federal election clearly, especially the day that little radio station TUNE!FM made national headlines.
She was one of the station volunteers who had retrieved from the archives contentious audio recorded during a visit Tony Abbott made to the Armidale campus in 1979. By this stage, he had risen to the ranks of Coalition leader and had ambitions of becoming prime minister.
"Mr Abbott made a lot of remarks on race, sexuality and gender that over the intervening 20 years had become a lot more controversial," Kate says. "Interviews like that are so important; they can give both journalists and the wider public a sense of how the views of politicians, and society more broadly, have changed. We shared Mr Abbott's audio with the Australian public and our server crashed because we had 30,000 or 40,000 people trying to download the interview at once. It became a story of national significance."
Although it ranks as one of the more memorable moments in TUNE's history, Kate believes it is typical of the wider impact community radio can have, and its important educational role. Now a freelance investigative journalist and researcher with 10News First, she credits the station with imparting many valuable lessons during her years as a volunteer and operations manager, from 2007-2011.
"I learnt something new each time I went into the station," Kate says. "It taught me to be proactive, which really helped me to troubleshoot, problem-solve and think creatively about approaching any situation. At a time when I couldn't see what was ahead of me, TUNE allowed me to focus and dedicate my passions towards something productive that was also a lot of fun.
"My time at TUNE really set me up well for my future career, technically and journalistically, but taught me many important life lessons, too. That resourcefulness has also helped me break other big stories, such as Channel 10's report on Peter Dutton's potential disqualification from Parliament due to business interests with the Commonwealth, during the change in prime ministers in August 2018."
Learning in public
Having developed her own radio production and presentation skills in university radio at RMIT, former station manager Andrea Ho well understood TUNE's educational function when she arrived in 1998.
"It was and still is a powerful opportunity for volunteers to test themselves, do something they never imagined doing, and to push their personal boundaries," Andrea says. Now the Head of Planning for ABC Regional and Local Radio, she credits the TUNE!FM position with exposing her to regional Australia and the vital part local radio plays in creating social cohesion and community.
"Each year I had a class of about 100 volunteers to train on presenting and producing radio programs, the majority of them complete starters," Andrea says. "It was professional development for people who thought they might like to go into the media, but also a campus enrichment activity for others who were into music or wanted to have a chat."
In addition to technical skills, volunteers developed expertise that could be applied in any future workplace, Andrea says.
They learnt planning and execution skills, how to deliver and meet deadlines, teamwork, commitment, and presentation skills relevant to any business - all in a live environment where others could observe their work.
"They could practice these different skills in what is effectively a safe space, without the risks of exposure and failure associated with a larger radio station. It was an opportunity to try things out and learn."
As the manager of a very lean operation, Andrea picked up two or three things herself. "Management of any kind is a learning experience, but it was at TUNE that I honed my can-do approach and ability to work creatively with different kinds of people," she says. "Few of the volunteers knew anything about radio when they started, but they all went on to produce successful radio shows. It was so exciting to watch them explore the possibilities of something new."
Radio experience measures up
Current station manager Tania Court, who has been in the job since 2013, says the learning tradition continues. "
Only a small percentage of our volunteers these days actually go on to media or communications roles," she says. "They come from various disciplines - from social work and agriculture to medicine - and see it as an important means of gaining meaningful job experience. I'm always giving professional references for graduates, and prospective employers see radio volunteer work as an important gauge of reliability, teamwork and communication abilities.
"If the candidate can communicate on air, then employers are satisfied they can communicate with clients."
Creating a digital time capsule
TUNE!FM is putting together a digital time capsule of the past 50 years of the radio station and student life at UNE.
Alumni are invited to get involved by sending in photos, written or recorded memories, and favourite songs from their time at the uni or the station - find out more here: https://www.tunefm.net/50-years/
