SACBA COVID-19 Update

• • Shopping for what you need
  • Accessing medical care
  • Exercise – adhering to the 2 person social distancing measures
  • Work or education – only where it is not possible to work from home

In order to keep community radio stations on-air and operational, SACBA would like to add the following advice:

1. Operating Stations Remotely

You should be working now to put in place the ability to operate your station remotely and SACBA can assist with this. We are suggesting the use of ‘Anydesk’ software, but please talk to us as there are major security concerns to be aware of first. For more information, please join the CMTO/CBAA webinar presented by SACBA Treasurer, Tim Borgas

2. Automated Programming

If  the station can’t be operated remotely, ensure there is some sort of audio going to air, either your own playout software on loop, or the CBAA CRN signal.

3. Creating Content Remotely

Announcers should be advised to present their shows from home. This can be done either by pre-recording or editing their old programs to remove any date and time calls. Shows can be submitted via Dropbox (or similar) to a designated person responsible for uploading and scheduling to the station on-air computer. Again, SACBA can advise on the easiest methods and resources for setting this up. For more information, watch last week’s CMTO/CBAA webinar

4. Avoiding Multiple Station Contact

Some volunteers are involved with multiple community radio stations. As outlined above, station visits should be avoided. If a visit is crucial to keeping the station on-air, please choose only one station. This is vital to stop cross-infection and risk a domino effect of stations shutting down very quickly.

5. Additional Health Risks

Anyone with an underlying health condition or compromised immune system should not be attending the station under any circumstances. This includes those over the age of 70, First Nations People over the age of 50, anyone who is undergoing chemotherapy or had an organ transplant, or anyone with AIDS or Hepatitis. For First Nations People and those in regular contact with Indigenous communities, potential infection risks wiping out an entire generation of Indigenous Elders and immediate action needs to be taken to stay at home and self-isolate.

6. Governance

There will be more information later about the SACBA conference, AGM and Bilby Awards, but right now we are focusing on supporting stations as best we can to get through the next few weeks.

If you have questions, please email us or call us and we’ll do our best to help.