From Bristol 24-7 www.bristol247.com
The Bristol women who set up the UK’s first all-female radio station – Fem FM – are to get a permanent record of their achievement with the opening tomorrow of a digital archive dedicated to their project.
Launched to mark International Women’s Day, the official opening of the Bristol Record Office digital archive will include a reunion of the original broadcasters who blazed a trail for women in radio when the station was launched in 1992.
The original programme tapes have been digitised by the Bristol Record Office and available alongside these recordings are original photographs, publicity materials and background documents saved by some of the 200 women who put Fem FM on air.
The reunion will take place at M Shed and feature a discussion on the status of women in broadcasting today, led by senior industry figures whose careers were advanced by their Fem FM experiences.
The panel will be chaired by media academic Caroline Mitchell, who – with Trish Caverly – came up with the idea of the station and then co-led the funding, training and broadcasting teams who made it happen.
Listen…
Listen to a 30-minute documentary on the story of Fem FM…
“Back then, we were driven by a belief that women were not getting a fair share of radio air-time and that this should, and could, change if only more women were given the right technical know-how and experience,” said Ms Mitchell.
“One obvious outcome of the project is that several Fem FM graduates have gone on to make their mark as media or music professionals. But what is perhaps less well known is the impact this relatively short-lived Bristol-based initiative had on the wider world, inspiring many other community radio projects in Britain and internationally.”
Among the guests at the celebration will be Fem FM volunteers Sue Clarke, a Sony Gold Award winning radio producer, Ali Grant, the current chair of the BCfm community radio station, Diane Kenwood, now the editor of national magazine for women; BBC arts and documentaries producer Erin Riley; DJ Ritu, heard regularly on stations such as BBC London, BBC World Service and Kiss 100, and Jacqui Wilson, manager of the internet radio station, Passion Radio Bristol.
Ms Caverly, now an audio producer, said the Fem FM story is a relevant today as it was 20 years ago.
“Although several of us have stayed in media related work, it is still a fact that women are heard less on radio and television – as presenters, DJs, panellists or as topical speakers” she said.
“So we hope that our celebration and the archive will not only remind people of what Fem FM meant two decades ago but also send a message that more still needs to be done to enable women’s voices and views to be shared.”
To increase radio opportunities for local women, Fem FM plans to launch a new project with Bristol-based community radio station Ujima, allowing a group of young women to get a grounding in radio programme production.
Ms Mitchell added: “The Fem FM story is definitely one worth exploring. Even a re-read of the meeting notes sheds light on what women’s lives and broadcasting were like in the 90s and who was following the project then. For instance, we got messages of congratulations from Boy George, Linda Snell of The Archers and Peter Gabriel, among other celebrities.
“It will also be an invaluable resource for media historians, a way to find out what it took to set up the UK’s first all-female station and the example Fem FM set for other community broadcasters.”
From March 8, personal callers will be able to view the Fem FM archive at Bristol Record Office, in the B Bond Warehouse, Smeaton Road, Bristol, BS1 6XN, during its usual opening hours (9.30am to 4.30am, every Tuesday to Friday, plus extra hours on the first two Thursdays and Saturdays of each month).
The reunion and discussion takes place at M Shed between 3pm and 5pm tomorrow. Free admission.
Fem FM in brief
Fem FM made broadcasting history from March 8-15, 1992 when it became the first all-female radio station ever to go on air in the UK.
A year of planning, preparations and fund-raising by about 200 volunteers preceded the transmission dates, with women taking on all the key roles throughout, including design, training, jingle-making, programme production and scheduling, promotion and, in those pre-digital days, scouring Bristol to find a high, clear, site for the transmitter so that its signal would reach across the city and adjoining areas.
Broadcasting from 7am to 2am daily, Fem FM’s programme mix took in many different types of music, news reports, topical discussions, interviews, a daily arts magazine, comedy, a Men’s Hour, an Asian language show and Girls’ Express, a show for and by young women hours. Most of the broadcasters and back-up teams were from Bristol but there were celebrity participants, too, including Rankin Miss P, Patti Coldwell and Jenni Mills.
The example set by Fem FM became the inspiration for various other women’s stations, including Brazen Radio in London, Radio Venus in Bradford and Elle FM in Liverpool. It has also influenced the community radio movement in Bristol, other parts of Britain and internationally.
Pictured: Caroline Mitchell, left, and Trish Caverly – the driving force behind Fem FM
