On the 29th of February Plains FM celebrated a significant milestone - twenty years of broadcasting locally-made and produced content.
At a time when many media outlets are run from Auckland or Sydney it remains independent, not-for-profit and focused on what local communities decide to make programmes about.
About Plains FM Te reo irirangi o te maania
Plains FM is a community access radio station - giving the public the ability to make and broadcast programmes of their own. With core funding from NZ on Air, the station broadcasts a wide range of material in 17 languages as well as New Zealand, world, blues and jazz music not heard on mainstream media.
To learn more about the station you can read more about Plains FM, listen to a brief history of the station (3 min 9 sec 2.17Mb .mp3) put together by New Zealand Broadcasting School student Brook Sabin, or read a timeline of the station's history.
A multi-lingual ‘safe haven’
Station manager Nicki Reece describes Plains FM as a safe haven - a place migrants can use to help their communities settle in, keep-up-to-date and retain their ties with their culture and language. This unique, not-for-profit local media outlet broadcasts in 17 languages.
Tim Bergh won a New Zealand Radio Award last year, aged just 15. He started his broadcasting career by hanging out around different studios, but made his first show on Plains FM. Tim is one of many broadcasters who have won awards over the years.
Teens can win cellphones on pulse
Young people aged 13 to 18 can also win some fantastic prizes in the pulse digital photo competition. There’s two vodafone cellphones with $500 credit and three Telecom cellphones with $50 credit up for grabs – plus airtime vouchers as consolation prizes.
Just send us a photo of your favourite place – where you went on holiday, a park, a beach – and go in the draw to win. It’s that easy!
Visit the pulse flickr to get ideas.
Whatever Easter means to you, next week's edition will bring you the lowdown on our second-favourite annual holiday. From church to chocolate, get ready to spend time with family and friends with our special Easter edition.
