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Revision as of 14:53, 16 April 2019

Broadcast areaUCD, Belfield, Dublin
Programming
Language(s)English, Gaeilge, Chinese
FormatStudent Radio
Ownership
OwnerIndependent
The International Space Station
Links
Webcasthttps://www.belfieldfm.com
Websitewww.belfieldfm.com

Belfield FM is University College Dublin's student radio station. The station began broadcasting in 1990. It was initially run as a part of the UCD Students' Union , under the remit of the entertainments office, before becoming an independent entity within the Students' Union. As a result of cost cutting measures, Belfield FM disaffiliated with the SU at the end of the 2011/2012 college year[1] and is now run independently within the UCD Societies Council framework. The station forms part of UCD's student media network, along with The University Observer, The College Tribune, and UCD TV. The station is run by up to nine volunteer staff and over 100 contributors who work on the production, research, and hosting of the station's radio shows.

The station broadcasts live from the 'New Students Centre' in the Belfield FM studio located in the yellow radio station across from the societies corridor. This recording suite is affectionately known to students as 'The Pod'. Belfield FM has had some presence on campus for the past twenty years; however it now operates on a full-time basis.

Programming

The station broadcasts programming from 11:00 until 22:00, Monday to Thursday, and from 11:00 to 19:00 on a Friday. The late start is to accommodate students who may be in classes or lectures, the majority of which take place before lunch time. A number of flagship shows air on a daily basis, including longstanding film talk show "From Script to Screen", advice show "Ais and Han Don't Have a Plan", Chinese travel show, 'Buzz Around China with Gergin' and the station's sport show; 'Differential Strokes for Differential Fantasy Folks', alongside a variety of other talk and music shows.. Due to the fact that the station is run and produced by volunteers throughout and beyond the UCD campus the broadcasting programme is subject to radical changes from semester to semester.

Podcasts

With the massive increase of podcasting globally over the last decade, Belfield FM's output and listenership has focused more and more on podcasting. While members are sent their audio and edit it themselves, they are free to publish their podcasts wherever and whenever they please, although most opt to use Belfield FM's Mixcloud account. The podcasting output is wide and varied, the most popular recurring series being the agricultural talk show "Keepin' it Country". Other podcasts included the surrealist and memetic comedy show "808s and 404s", the irreverent political podcast "The Fifth International", indie music show "Abridged Rumbles, A Council of Weird Religions, and Radio Communique", and American folk music show "Cowboy Dan's Fantastic Orchestra."

The National Student Media Awards

The "Smedias" are an Irish award show directed towards judging and awarding student media which is submitted to their offices via oxygen.ie. Belfield FM have participated extensively in the competition and have found great success in recent years.

Aisling Grennan's 2019 People's Choice Award
William (Willem) McCartney's 2018 People's Choice Award
Patrick Power's 2019 Radio Journalist Award alongside documentary collaborators Cian Lyons and Matthew O'Leary
Year Nominee Category Show/Podcast Win/Nomination
2015 Stephen Robb Radio DJ and

Radio Production Arts & Features

Keepin' it Country Nomination
2016 Daniel McGettrick Radio DJ The Vinyl Groove Nomination
2017 Jonathan Byrne Radio Production News & Current Affairs Good Morning Belfield Nomination
Christian Tierney

and Nell Hensey

Radio Production Arts & Features Visionary Nomination
Sean Butler Radio DJ Sounds from a Green Room Nomination
Oliver Reid Radio DJ Tuneisia Nomination
Daniel McGettrick Radio DJ The Vinyl Groove Nomination
2018 Alex Lockhart

and Nell Hensey

Radio Production Arts & Features YouCD Nomination
Leanne Bergin Radio DJ Something Old, Something New Nomination
Sean Butler Radio DJ Sounds from a Green Room Nomination
Oliver Reid Radio Production News & Current Affairs Nomination
William McCartney People's Choice Award Abridged Rumbles, A Council of Weird

Religions, and Radio Communique

Win
2019 Jade Connell Carroll

and Jessica Viola

Radio DJ Groovy Chicks Nomination
Cian Lyons

and Matthew O'Leary

and Patrick Power

Radio Production News & Current Affairs Repealed: The Voices Behind Nomination
Patrick Power Radio Journalist Repealed: The Voices Behind Win
Aisling Grennan People's Choice Award N/A Win

Controversies

In 2015 the Societies Council closed the station due to it being unsupervised for lengths of time, showing a lack of commitment and leaving expensive equipment at risk of being stolen. In April of the same year the station was permitted to re-open following the election of a new management committee and has remained in operation since.

During the 2018 National Student Media Awards' People's Choice Award, the online polls were reported to have been tampered by those nominated due to the incredible amount of votes some candidates received in short periods of time. Days before the Award ceremony the votes for each candidate were locked and the number of votes each candidate received were equalised. William McCartney, the station manager at the time, ultimately won but it remained unclear if he had been the candidate with the most votes.[2]

In late 2018, "Keepin' it Country" were criticised by the College Tribune for inappropriate comments regarding named students live on air.[3] The popular show and podcast subsequently removed all episodes of the show from their SoundCloud page. Upon the semester of broadcasting, the controversial show was notably absent from the schedule of programming.[4]

In 2019, the show "Up Late with Dave" featured an interview John Connors to discuss issues and perceptions regarding the travelling community of Ireland. During the interview Connors supposedly expressed negative feelings and raised concerns of disconnect between the travelling community and Pavee Point. The station quickly responded with an apology on their website.[5]

List of Belfield FM Station Managers

Since disaffiliation with the Students' Union, the station has been organised and managed by an individual elected by its members.

2011-12, formerly affiliated with Students' Union
Name Term
Coiré McCrystall 2012-13
Adam Turner 2013-14
Samuel O'Connor 2014-15
Jonathan Byrne 2015-16
Thomas O'Mahoney (resigned) / William McCartney 2016-17
William McCartney 2017-18
Aisling Grennan 2018-19

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2012-10-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Six student media awards for UCD journalists". UCD. 2018-04-20. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  3. ^ "Criticising Keepin' It Country". College Tribune. 2018-11-20. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  4. ^ Donnelly, Brían. "'Keepin' it Country' will not return to Belfield FM this semester". University Observer. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  5. ^ Clarke, Rory. "Belfield FM apologise over comments concerning the Traveller community made on 'Up Late With Dave'". University Observer. Retrieved 2019-04-08.