Warning Sign at KZYX. Photo by Jennifer Waits
At the radio station where I DJ there are a number of different types of shows, but for the most part singular DJs are in charge of designated time slots on the schedule.
A few programs are run in a collective style, with different staffers taking over DJ duties from week to week. And for many years there was a weekly news program that relied on submissions from a range of DJs in order to fill up its allotted 60 minutes of airtime. I know that this show in particular was a challenge for those running it, as there was the constant need to hustle for stories from volunteer DJs and consistent contributors were few and far between.
CKDU (a campus/community station in Halifax) runs a similar show called The News Collective on weekday mornings, featuring news, documentaries, and investigative pieces.
No doubt inspired by this program, CKDU’s Program Director Tarek Al-Zand will be leading a conference session in Canada about “Collective Radio Making” next week. He’s on a quest to learn about other examples of radio shows featuring input by multiple DJs, so if you’ve been involved in some sort of collaborative or collective radio project or know of examples of programs that fit that bill, please share your comments below or get in touch with Tarek.
I’d also be curious to hear about the successes and challenges inherent to these collective radio endeavors.
