Belfield FM
| File:Belfield FM Logo.png | |
| Broadcast area | UCD, Belfield, Dublin |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English, Gaeilge, Chinese |
| Format | Student Radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Independent |
| The International Space Station | |
| Links | |
| Webcast | https://www.belfieldfm.com |
| Website | www.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 the Campus Television Network. 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. 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 station's sport show; 'Differential Strokes for Differential Fantasy Folks', alongside a great variety of other talk and music shows as well as a lengthy and eclectic archive of podcasts available on the station's Mixcloud account. 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 successful podcasts have 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" are but a few of the notable podcast series that can be found in the published podcasts.
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 despite many nominations in previous years, took home their first "Smedia" in 2018. Information on winners and nominees for Student Media Awards are hard to find prior to 2015, as Generation Y (the company which runs the awards) are a somewhat shady organisation that does a poor job of promoting the nominated and victorious media they claim to provide a platform for.[citation needed]
| 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 | Win | |
| 2019 | Jade Connell Carroll
and Jessica Viola |
Radio DJ | Groovy Chicks | TBC |
| Cian Lyons
and Matthew O'Leary and Patrick Power |
Radio Production News & Current Affairs | Repealed: The Voices Behind | TBC | |
| Patrick Power | Radio Journalist | Repealed: The Voices Behind | TBC | |
| Aisling Grennan | People's Choice Award | N/A | TBC |
Controversies
A number of minor controversies have cropped up during the run of Belfield FM.
In 2015 the Societies Council closed the station due to it being unsupervised for lengths of time, which showed lack of functionality as well as leaving expensive equipment out to be possibly stolen. In April of the same year the new station manager Johnny Byrne re-opened the station and it has run uninterrupted since then.[2]
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. The station manager at the time, William McCartney, won the People's choice award at the ceremony but it remained unclear if he was the candidate with the most votes.[citation needed]
The addition of "Men's Rights Radio" to the second semester of 2018 timetable sparked some concern that Belfield FM were allowing an anti-feminist and politically far-right radio show onto their broadcasting schedule. The hosts however have made it clear that the title was intended to be humorous and illicit a shocking reaction for their comedy broadcast. [citation needed]
In late 2018, popular agricultural talk show "Keepin' it Country" were criticised by the College Tribune for lewd and misogynistic comments regarding named UCD students live on air.[3] The popular show and podcast subsequently removed all episodes of the show from their soundcloud page, and in early 2019 when the station reopened for the next semester of broadcasting the controversial show was notably absent from the timetable.[4]
In the first broadcasting semester of 2019, the interview broadcast "Up Late with Dave" (sometimes broadcast as "Davebreak" or "MidDave") featured writer/director/actor John Connors to talk about issues and perceptions regarding the travelling community of Ireland. During the interview Connors expressed negative feelings and levied accusations of disconnection from the travelling community towards Traveller and Roma activist group Pavee Point. Pavee Point threatened the student radio station with legal action unless the podcast of the interview was taken down and they were given the right to reply. These demands were acceded to and the volunteer run radio station put up an apology on their website.[5]
List of Belfield FM Station Managers
Since disaffiliation with the Students' Union at the end of 2011/2012, the station has been organised and managed by an individual elected by members of Belfield FM.
- 2011-12, formerly affiliated with Students' Union
- 2012-13, Coiré McCrystall
- 2013-14, Adam Turner
- 2014-15, Samuel O'Connor
- 2015-16, Jonathan Byrne
- 2016-17, Thomas O'Mahoney (resigned) / William McCartney
- 2017-18, William McCartney
- 2018-19, Aisling Grennan
References
- ^ "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) - ^ "Belfield FM Plans To Reopen In The Coming Weeks". College Tribune. 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
- ^ "Criticising Keepin' It Country". College Tribune. 2018-11-20. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
- ^ Donnelly, Brían. "'Keepin' it Country' will not return to Belfield FM this semester". University Observer. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
- ^ Clarke, Rory. "Belfield FM apologise over comments concerning the Traveller community made on 'Up Late With Dave'". University Observer. Retrieved 2019-04-08.