Radio Caley

Student Media of the Year

Glasgow Caledonian University Students’ Association

“Radio Caley has been Glasgow Caledonian University’s radio station for the last five years, with this academic year proving to be the most successful, productive and popular one yet with our 5th Birthday, first ever Radio Caley trip to the Highlands and interviewing Lily Cole proving memorable highlights.

We have generated a momentum unheard of at the station in previous years with now volunteers consisting of 147 Members, which has led to not only us filling out our timetable for the first time ever but having to extend hours 9am to 12am every weekday. This feat has been achieved yet again during the second trimester.

Our Facebook page has ascended to 1,323 likes, with totals reaching over 7,678 views per week. We effectively utilize our social media activity to create links with the public, industry professionals and fellow students. Our Twitter has also grown from having 558 followers to currently having 1,004 followers.

New presenter training has been redesigned and is now being taken by committee members with a new shadowing service brought into play to support new volunteers more. We created and distributed “Radio Caley Cheat Sheets For Life” which is a written toolkit handed out that has contributed to the high quality new shows Radio Caley has delivered this year. In addition, problem responsive time has tremendously improved over the last 6 months.

In order to retain our target audience and listeners we have purchased new audio equipment that has been greatly improved the quality of our broadcasts and subsequently our listenership. This has given presenters a more comfortable platform to be both creative and engaging during their one or two hour slots and proven to keep on listeners for each show, instead of listeners only tuning in because they are friends or family of that presenter or guest.

Aside from our three political and student issue focused shows, we host weekly news shows bringing World, Scottish and university news and commentary for students to learn and engage in, frequently these show are flooded with non radio-caley and indeed non-media students alike whilst some more established names such as Alistair Carmichael and Willie Rennie have been interviewed.

We also engaged in our GCUSA elections with live debates including the candidates for both Student President and Vice President of Activities. This gathered a high number of hits as students were interested in hearing what each candidate hoped to achieve if elected. This also gave students the opportunity to challenge manifestos of the candidates as we had a live stream of questions coming in from listeners and we feel these debates influenced students on who to vote for.

Additionally we intend on hosting weekly independence programs throughout the summer to help provide students a clear, unbiased understanding of what could potentially happen as a result of the upcoming September referendum. We feel it is important to encourage students to register to vote and be aware of the significance of voting.

We have been proactive in trying to increase the communications of student facing issues and with our expertise we have used podcasts, radio and live broadcasting to engage students with this. For the first time Radio Caley went to the NUS conference in Liverpool to supply coverage, an understanding and an insight for GCU students into what NUS does for the student movement and how members debate on student issues. Our two volunteers took it upon themselves to attend the conference in their own spare time which shows their commitment and dedication to Radio Caley. They went round interviewing candidates in the NUS elections and were especially delighted when they got an interview with NUS Chief Executive. They also got an exclusive first interview with newly elected candidate for VP Society and Citizenship after an unexpected victory. We were one of the only student media groups to cover this conference and feedback from delegates was extremely positive with the presenter’s professional approach and enthusiasm.

For non-media students to get involved and for that to be achieved, the station has become a central hub for communication for all students of GCU, forming bonds between different student groups, putting out the name of the station and subsequently gaining new non-media volunteers. This was achieved by the presence at society, GCUSA and university events throughout the year showing how Radio Caley is always willing to interact with non-media students. The station also directly interacts with students listing in the GCUSA Student Bistro during events with non-media students involved finding themselves presenting their own show two weeks later.

We have also created innovative attention grabbing competitions in order to engage with all students such as our “selfie competition,” whilst having our first visual Radio Caley banners throughout the university and on each computer which has brought a new exciting visual side to the station, another way we have successfully attracted non-media students.

Radio Caley also broadcasted live the Glasgow Taxi Cup Intervarsity sports day for the third consecutive year. From this we interviewed athletes from three Glasgow Universities demonstrating our engagement with rival institutions. We received encouraging and positive feedback with one email coming from Canada telling us how much they appreciated the coverage of their daughter’s games. We have also hosted a Radio Caley club night in our partnered nightclub with a strong Radio Caley presence as well as promotion and coverage at significant GCU end of year awards ceremonies.

We feel Radio Caley has brought our students closer together. It has become a growing community on campus welcoming students from all backgrounds and interests. Our station provides students with new opportunities and areas to enhance their employability. We hope to maintain the positive reputation that has grown strength to strength this year.”

Nominated by Monika Macdonald

What the judges said…

“Student media succeeds when it gets people involved, which is what is demonstrated here. To have 147 volunteers in a relatively small University is an impressive achievement for Radio Caley.” Gus Baker, Intern Aware