A Podcast Conversation With .. Peter Stamp on the Birth of CIUT FM
“The Spanish radio academy in 2010 recommended UNESCO's Executive Board regarding World Radio Day observation.
By Bill King
“The Spanish radio academy in 2010 recommended UNESCO's Executive Board regarding World Radio Day observation. After numerous discussions and consultations, UN Agencies, NGOs, and UNESCO Permanent delegations at the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference dedicated a day for the celebration as World Radio Day on February 13th.
The day is dedicated to honouring the oldest and the most widely used means of communication and diverse platforms for democratic discourse. UNESCO asks the entire world to celebrate this day with the most robust, high-reaching medium of communication.” India Today.
What better way to commemorate World Radio Day than a nod to campus radio and particularly the University of Toronto and CIUT 89.5 FM, celebrating 35 years of broadcasting throughout the Niagara basin.
I get nostalgic when reviewing my love relationship with radio. Like most of our FYI Music News subscribers, that attachment cuts deep. Nearly all of us were kids pinned to the radio. Spinning right to left anticipating a return to a song just played that caught the ears. That family radio I lifted from a second upstairs bedroom and plugged near a stack of textbooks was my connection to a universe foreign to my brain. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Who, Beach Boys, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, my listening pleasure.
I trolled the night waves from Chicago to New Orleans. Braved the insipid jock speak and tracked my heroes wherever the sounds led. Wolfman Jack kept me up at night. As did WKLO and Sunday night jazz. Rhythm & Blues was new to my ears and yet with repeated plays captivated my attention. There was plenty gospel – some of it that ‘’old rugged cross stuff, the others – ‘jump with Christ for joy.’ That black experience. When and wherever it was always the same. Radio was king!
2022 and radio is still stranded at a crossroads as it has always been. Streaming cuts deep yet that attachment and the service radio plays within our communities remains strong.
On a personal note, I truly miss the ten years, those glorious Saturdays alongside Ted Woloshyn at Newstalk 1010. Radio as it was meant to be. Conversation, participation, informative and entertaining. That was the longest post I had ever served on radio followed closely by the eight years come March at CIUT 89.5FM and The Bill King Show and three years at Jazz.FM91 with Soul Nation, April 2022. These aren’t Roger Ashby, Ted Woloshyn or Wally Crouter numbers, but they are years I’ll never forget or regret.
I thought the emphasis on Toronto’s long-surviving campus radio station with broad reach, CIUT 89.5 FM, would be the focus today. 35 years playing diverse sounds and delivering services absent mainstream radio, mostly manned by volunteers – a good many professionals in their respective fields – is something to celebrate. All of this on a short budget and modest fundraising campaigns.
“CIUT-FM is celebrating its 35th anniversary as a unique and exceptional campus and community radio service in Toronto. Broadcasting on the radio frequency at 89.5, CIUT-FM has been blessed with 15,000 watts allowing it to potentially reach audiences all across the city of Toronto coupled with listeners from Barrie to Buffalo and Kitchener to Cobourg. Hundreds upon hundreds of people have and continue to volunteer their time to bring their passion and expertise to provide powerful, thought-provoking, compelling, interesting and intelligent music and spoken word programming to our listeners. Many more volunteers have contributed behind the scenes as well.
Along with volunteers, our listeners, supporters and donors past and present have been instrumental in ensuring we remain strong and relevant in the ever-evolving world of radio. We are proud and excited about the future of the medium and to continue bringing "The Sound of Your City" each and every day to our listeners in Toronto and around the world.” -- Ken Stowar Station Manager/PD.
In this podcast, we have media consultant Peter Stamp, a board member and an original member of that group of young students who petitioned and brought campus radio to the students at the University of Toronto.
World Radio Day 2022: Date
Every year February 13th is celebrated as World Radio Day.
World Radio Day 2022: Theme
The theme for World Radio Day 2022 is ‘Radio and Trust’ as it continues to be one of the most trustworthy news resources. The day is also divided into three sub-themes mentioned below:
Trust in radio journalism
Trust and Accessibility
Trust and viability of radio stations
World Radio Day 2022: History
The day was marked as an international day by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012.
The aim of recommending this day is to reach out to diverse communities regarding the concerns and the viewpoint of those to be discussed on a platform they can reach.
