In Ireland a Case Study of Galway Bay FM BY
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Dublin City University School of Communications Local Radio and 'Localism' in Ireland A Case Study of Galway Bay FM BY Sharon Burke. July 1993 Dublin City University School of Communications Supervisor: Dr. Paschal Preston. LOCAL RADIO AND ‘LOCALISM’ IN IRELAND A CASE STUDY OF GALWAY BAY FM By Sharon Burke. Study submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of a Masters of Arts in Communications and Cultural Studies. July 1993 I hereby declare that none of the material contained in this thesis has been used in any other submission for any other award. Further, that the contents of this thesis are the sole work of the author except where an acknowledgement has been made for any assistance received. DECLARATION I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of a Masters Degree in Communication Studies is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Signed:_____________Date: Sharon Burke Signed: Dedicated to Mai and Paddy Burke. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables and Maps Abstract Acknowledgements CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2 NATIONALISM AND CULTURAL POLITICS IN IRELAND 2.1 INTRODUCTION 2.2 CULTURAL POLITICS IN PRE-INDEPENDENT IRELAND 2.3 THE NATION-STATE AND CULTURAL IDENTITY 2.4 THE INTRODUCTION OF PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING 2.5 MEDIA AND NATIONAL IDENTITY 2.6 NATIONAL MEDIA AND LOCALISM 2.7 CONCLUSION CHAPTER 3 GLOBALISM, LOCALISM AND THE MEDIA 3.1 INTRODUCTION 3.2 THE EMERGENCE OF GLOBAL MEDIA SERVICES 3.3 EUROPEAN LEVEL BROADCASTING REGULATION 3.4 THE PROSPECT OF A GLOBAL CULTURE 3.5 LOCALISM AND BROADCASTING IN IRELAND 3.6 CONCLUSION CHAPTER 4 IRELAND IN THE NEW WORLD ORDER: Local and regional development. 4.1 INTRODUCTION 4.2 FROM PROTECTIONISM TO INTERNATIONALISM 4.3 CENTRALISATION IN IRELAND 4.4 EUROPEAN REGIONAL POLICY 4.5 EUROPEAN REGIONAL POLICY IN IRELAND 4.6 CONCLUSION CHAPTER 5 GALWAY - CITY AND COUNTY LIFE IN THE WEST 5.1 INTRODUCTION 50 5.2 POPULATION OF GALWAY - CITY AND COUNTY 53 5.2.1 EDUCATION 55 5.2.2 IRISH LANGUAGE SPEAKERS 56 5.3 EMPLOYMENT 57 5.4 INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE WEST 61 5.5 ARTS, CULTURE AND ENTERTAINMENT IN GALWAY 62 5.6 CONCLUSION 64 CHAPTER 6 THE CHANGING SOUND OF RADIO IN IRELAND 6.1 INTRODUCTION 66 6.2 PIRATE RADIO 68 6.3 LEGISLATION AT LAST 70 6.4 THE SURVIVORS 74 6.5 LISTENERSHIP RESEARCH 76 6.6 ADVERTISING ON LOCAL RADIO 79 6.7 NEWS SERVICES 82 6.8 A PROGRAMME FOR SUCCESS 83 6.9 CONCLUSION 86 CHAPTER 7 MEDIA IN GALWAY 7.1 INTRODUCTION 88 7.2 THE PROVINCIAL PRESS IN GALWAY 89 7.3 RADIO NA GAELTACHTA 90 7.4 LOCAL RADIO IN GALWAY 91 7.5 TELEVISION, CABLE AND MMDS 94 7.6 MMDS AND CABLE IN GALWAY 95 7.7 CONCLUSION 100 iv CHAPTER 8 GALWAY BAY FM BROADCASTING ’TO’ GALWAY 8.1 INTRODUCTION 101 8.2 BEHIND THE SCENES 102 8.3 THE CURRENT FORMAT 103 8.3.1 Format development 104 8.4 THE DAILY SCHEDULE 106 8.5 SCHEDULE ANALYSIS 109 8.5.1 The Breakfast Show 110 8.5.2 Mid-Morning on Galway Bay FM 111 8.5.3 Afternoon - from 12 to 4 P.M. 113 8.5.4 Drivetime - 4 to 8 P.M. 114 8.5.5 Eight to Midnight 115 8.5.6 Specialised programming 116 8.5.7 Miscellaneous Content 117 8.5.8 Schedule Synopsis 117 8.6 ADVERTISING AND SPONSORSHIP 118 8.7 CONCLUSION 121 CHAPTER 9: GALWAY BAY FM AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH GALWAY: 9.1 INTRODUCTION 122 9.2 LOCALISM ON LOCAL RADIO 123 9.3 LOCAL NEWS AND LOCALISM 125 9.3.1 News and current affairs on Galway Bay FM 127 9.3.2 Irish language and culture on Galway Bay FM 130 9.3.3 The essence of local radio in Galway 131 9.4 THE CLASSIC HITS FORMAT AND THE IRISH MUSIC INDUSTRY 134 9.4.1 Royalty Payments 136 9.4.2 The Irish Music Industry Loses Out! 139 9.4.3 Legislation to counteract ’the hits format’! 140 9.5 CONCLUSION 142 CHAPTER 10 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 146 APPENDIX 1 - Statistical Files on Galway Related to Chapter 5. APPENDIX 2 - Local Radio and Radio Listenership in Ireland; Tables taken from JNLR/MRBI 1992 Listenership Survey. APPENDIX 3 - Radio Listenership in Galway; Tables taken from JNLR/MRBI 1992 Listenership Survey. APPENDIX 4 - Data Relevant to Chapter 8 - Galway Bay FM. BIBLIOGRAPHY TABLES AND MAPS (i) TABLES Table 5.1 - Number and Percentage of Irish speakers, 3 years of age and over, in 1981 and 1986, in the portion of each County designated as a Gaeltacht area. (Page 55) Table 5.2 - Comparative Growth in Tourism Numbers and Revenue %Change, 1989. (Page 59) Table 8.1 - Daily Programme Content on Galway Bay FM. (Page 106) Table 8.2 - Average Content per Hour for 9 Hours (7 A.M. - 4 P.M) on Galway Bay FM. (Page 108) Table 8.3 - The Breakfast Show on Galway Bay FM. (Page 110) Table 8.4 - The Mid-Morning Show on Galway Bay FM. (Page 112) Table 8.5 - The Afternoon Show on Galway Bay FM. (Page 113) Table 8.6 - Drivetime on Galway Bay FM. (Page 114) Table 8.7 - Nightime on Galway Bay FM. (Page 115) Table 8.8 - The Main Sponsored Announcements on Galway Bay FM. (Page 119) Table 9.1 - Classic Hits Radio and Irish Music. (Page 134) Table 9.2 - Music on Galway Bay FM. (Page 135) (ii) MAPS Galway County and County Borough, Chapter 5. (Page 51) ABSTRACT LOCAL RADIO AND ’LOCALISM’ IN IRELAND - A CASE STUDY OF GALWAY BAY FM: This is a study of the development and implications of a local commercial radio service in the west of Ireland (Galway Bay FM). It examines the relationship between local radio and local identity and the success of the new local radio services in meeting the diverse interests of the local audience. Other forms of communication are becoming increasingly global and are constantly expanding into the international market. Communication and information are crucial elements in the new world order but there is a tendency to concentrate on international media structures to the detriment of regional and local media. The role of local radio as a counteracting force capable of being used to promote localism is the focus of this project. The research is informed by the view that local radio stations, like Galway Bay FM , are in an ideal position to promote, redefine and protect local cultures and local identity in face of the challenge from global networks. ’Localism’ and ’local identity’ are more desirable and more necessary right now because globalism, and the global media, have failed to recognise their importance. One’s ’locality’ provides the greatest possibility of shared experience and identification with others, as opposed to the ’other’ which is what globalism presents to us. The case study of Galway Bay FM incorporates an indepth analysis of programming in two categories - news and current affairs and music - and content is assessed in terms of its relationship to Galway. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Dr. Paschal Preston, my supervisor, for his guidance, advice and inspiration. Thanks Paschal. CO M TEC for providing the studentship which made this research possible. Dr. Bill Dorris, my second supervisor. Mairead, Deirdre, Willie and Inaki, who came to my rescue more than once! My proof readers, Patricia, Leona, Siobhan and Gor. My parents and my brothers. All the staff at Galway Bay FM. All my interviewees and anyone else who contributed to my research in any way. Jean, Des, Cathy, Suzanne, Susan, Mary, Aisling, Maria and Ronan. CHAPTER 1 Introduction CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION THE FOCUS OF THE RESEARCH The primary focus of this thesis is the role of the media in the regeneration and renewal of interest in local Irish cultural tradition. It examines the role and effectiveness of local commercial radio within the community as a means of promoting and preserving ’local’ identity and ’local’ culture, specifically in the context of County Galway. The aim of this thesis is to establish the importance of local identity and of local media in a communications environment which encourages us to think in ’global’ terms. I will demonstrate that a vibrant local culture exists and that national, and international, media are incapable of representing local interests. In common with most other post-colonial societies the ’local’ has been of secondary importance to the national in twentieth century Ireland. Centralised government and national broadcasting services were established in Ireland but no adequate local structures were formed to represent regional/local communities. Increasingly since the 1970s ’global’ media and cultural forms have taken precedence. This project asks whether the ’new’ international media have created a global culture or not, and considers the status of local culture in this increasingly ’global context’ . Participation in the global context may be financially beneficial and cross-cultural experience is educational and therefore to be encouraged. There is, at present, much time and energy devoted to international expansion and the formation of global relationships both in economic and political terms. The European Community is the prime example. We are being encouraged to travel, to integrate with other cultures, to become active members of the new Europe. 1 It is likely that the internationalisation of economic and political structures has heightened our need for identity within a smaller community.