Awarding Of Digital License To Channel 31 Reaffirms Value Of Diversity In Broadcasting

Mr Sam Afra, Chairperson of the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) praised the granting of a digital license to community television station Channel 31 as “essential to fulfilling this powerful medium’s potential as a wellspring of diverse ideas and opinions.”

“Australians who have migrated to this country from authoritarian regimes overseas know all too well the danger of having too much media control concentrated in the hands of two few,” Mr Afra said.

“By ensuring Channel 31’s place in the media landscape, we are upholding some of the fundamental principles of Australian democracy – freedom of speech and an equal voice for all,” Mr Afra said.

Mr Afra said that ethnic communities were involved in the production of 95 local shows broadcast on Channel 31 each week.

“So the granting of this [digital] license is terrific news for Victoria’s multicultural population and those other groups in society who tend to be under-represented in the broader commercial and public media,” Mr Afra said.

“It is important that community-based media, in all its forms, keeps pace with changes in technology and avenues for reaching and growing their audience.”

Mr Afra said that 16 years after it first went to air, there had been grave fears for Channel 31’s future after previous applications for a place on the digital spectrum were rejected.

“There was a sense that when the earlier applications were denied, the decision-makers didn’t fully appreciate how important community broadcasters like Channel 31 are to so many people in our society,” Mr Afra said.

Mr Afra said a concerted lobbying effort by Channel 31’s member and affiliate groups and a cross-section of stakeholders and supporters had helped convince the Rudd Government to reconsider their position.

Under the plan, Channel 31 will be one of five capital city community broadcasters to transmit both analog and digital signals until the proposed switch-off of analog in late 2013.  The broadcaster will also have access to $2.6 million in funding to help cover the cost of upgrading systems to enable digital broadcast.

Mr Afra added that as a community broadcaster, Channel 31 still relies on the generosity of everyday Victorians – financially and talent-wise – to serve its charter and encouraged ethnic communities in particular to keep finding new ways to support its endeavours.

“It is telling that even in this era of Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, there is still a desire among people of all ages and backgrounds to ensure the ongoing production and transmission of programming by local communities for local communities,” Mr Afra said.

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