Caribbean Camera Article: New Caribbean Radio Station Not On Air Due To Racism Of Mainstream White Toronto Radio Stations!!!
Caribbean radio station hits another hurdle — big media protests
By Keisha Fanfair
On Monday, news reports surfaced of a joint intervention sent to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) by Astral, Rogers and CTV to stop the Caribbean and African Radio Network (CARN) from going to air on the frequency 98.7 FM.
The Toronto Star reported earlier this week that the media companies claim they “strongly object to Industry Canada’s decision to approve the use of the 98.7 FM frequency and are very concerned with the lack of transparency and the factors used to arrive at this decision.”
CARN successfully tested on the frequency last year and was aiming for a summer 2011 launch, but this move might likely delay the station even further.
This isn’t the first time CARN has been under the fire since the station acquired its license in 2006, as back then, the CBC protested that the station would interfere with their frequency at 99.1 FM. However, CARN conducted a 3 week test in 2010 in accordance with Industry Canada and no disturbance with CBC’s frequency was noted. CARN President Fitzroy Gordon communicated this by letter to the CRTC.
The testing was not unusual, as in most cases, any new station must get permission from the adjacent frequency before starting to broadcast.
The Star reported, however, that the three mega-media corporations now objecting to CARN are arguing that allowing the station to go on air “runs counter to long standing radio spectrum policy and practices” and have called the move “shoehorning practices”.
Gordon has a lot of community support, with 800 letters sent to the commission from people in the community who feel there is a lack of diversity and culture on local airwaves in the Greater Toronto Area.
When contacted, Gordon said he was unable to comment on the latest objections against CARN as the process was still ongoing.
It is expected to wrap up next week and a decision as to whether CARN will or will not be allowed on the air will be known by then.
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