In this edition of Frequency Modulation you’ll be treated to a new news newsletter segment and a new old news newsletter segment to kick off the New Year!

“Radio society deserves FM license” written by Erica Smishek for The Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Saturday, May 26, 1990. Text transcribed below.

You know you’re in trouble when you’re wishing the CRTC well.

But that’s what anyone concerned with the future of Saskatoon radio should be doing.

Any day now, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will receive an application by the Community Radio Society of Saskatoon for a low-powered FM License. With any luck, a “yes” vote will have the station on the air - at 91.7 on the radio dial - by the end of the year.

According to Regina lawyer Jeff Lee, past-president of the society and a driving force behind the five-year-long application bid, the station would offer an alternative to current private and CBC fare.

Specifically, it would broadcast all musical styles, including alternative rock, jazz, blues, classical, reggae and folk. News and public affairs programs would have a decidedly local angle, while as many as 16 multicultural groups would be featured in ethnic language programming.

“There is a need for the locally based spoken word and public affairs shows that do something CBC or a 30-second clip on mainstream radio don’t do,” Lee said.

"There isn't any radio that broadcasts for the community and draws from the community. We'd like to provide a venue for the listener to contribute and become involved."

The current application stems from the demise of a campus station at the University of Saskatchewan, which began in 1965 and ran for almost 20 years before funding woes forced its closure. For the past three years, community radio has broadcast on a closed-circuit system through Saskatoon Telecable.

The station's ability to broadcast about six hours a day with a used transmitter and control board is laudable. But Saskatonians deserve the diverse, extensive programming a full-fledged FM broadcast could offer.

Community radio has the potential to do for weary radio listeners what Twin Peaks did for weary TV viewers. It could provide something different, something unusual, something provocative.

And boy do we need it.

Listening to current radio fare is about as much fun as having your in-grown toenails dug out with rusty garden shears by a nasty, far-sighted great aunt. Banal dance tunes by women who sound like Barry White, '60s psychadelia retreads, classic rock, endless come-back attempts by the likes of Donny Osmond, moronic metal mania, hurtin'/ cheatin'/truck-drivin' country tunes and other assorted audiological disasters make even purgatory seem exciting.

News and current affairs programs don't rate much higher. Sound snippets do little to inform us of what's happening in our world, let alone our neighborhood, while documentary produced in Toronto or Montreal, however enlightened they may be, afford local citizens few opportunities to present and interpret their views.

Moreover, both the CBC and private radio consistently overlook the ethnic groups so deeply woven into our national fabric. Excluding this multicultural voice is unfair and dangerous.

Saskatoon needs a change from the homogenized, ultra-safe programming now available in this market. We can only hope the CRTC agrees. The Community Radio Society of Saskatoon and its application for an FM license should not be confused with SUN 102, the new station hitting Saskatoon airwaves June 16.

Supposedly targeted to the 25-45 age group, SUN 102 has an easy-listening format with a play list including Elton John, Kenny Rogers and Whitney Houston, as well as nightly offerings of jazz and classical music.

"We're not going to play Lawrence Welk or the old Guy Lombardo instrumentals," operations manager Don Scott recently told the Star-Phoenix "It's soft rock. But we will also play Barry Manilow, as uncool as that may seem.”

One wonders what 25- to 45-year-olds Scott hopes to attract. People in that age group, at least those with a semblance of intelligence and taste, would sooner eat dirt than listen to Barry Manilow.

The SUN elevator may not be operating yet but already I want to get off.

They run monthly casual bike rides (“slow rolls”), education sessions (“bike rodeos”), basic bike maintenance spots (“Tune up Tents”), a bike-only local delivery service (“Pedal Express”) and collaborate in other specific events like Nuit Blanche and Pride Parades where bicycles are welcomed. The most successful program is the Bike Valet, that provides safe, secure, and free (to riders) parking for bicycles at large festivals or other major community events. Thousands of bikes part at the Bike Valet every event season!

On their website you can: find how to register your bike with Saskatoon Police Services, read articles about cycling infrastructure, sign up for the “Traffic Smarts for Cyclists” online course, see the locations of all the bike shops in Saskatoon, and more!

You can financially support Saskatoon Cycles by donating, becoming a member, or purchasing merchandise.

Riding your bike and contributing to activity tracking apps like strava.com or BikeMaps.org are great (and easy) ways to build and document the cycling culture here.

City Council is always keen to hear from the people who elect them, and those who can volunteer to write a letter or make a phone call at the right time can be instrumental in making the city a safer place. Visit saskatooncycles.org/write-city-council to find your Councillor’s contact information.

Contact [email protected] if you are interested in volunteering at their bike valets.

Check out their upcoming “ICE CYCLE Event” and Slow Roll at the Gather Market pergola on Saturday, January 24 at 2pm. More information can be found here!

Thank you to all the members of the board, volunteers, members, donors, sponsors, and listeners for supporting CFCR through another year. Here’s to another great one!

CFCR acknowledges that we broadcast from Treaty 6 Territory, the homeland of the Cree and Métis Nations, and the traditional territories of the Dene, Saulteaux, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota. We pay our gratitude to the First Nations and Métis people who have called this ancestral land home for generations, and whose histories, languages, and cultures continue to influence our community. On a foundation of reconciliation, recognition, and respect, CFCR is committed to reaffirming relationships with one another, and to establishing new ones.