JOY 94.9 wins two CBAA Community Radio Awards
Image: The JOY team at the CBAA Community Radio Awards. Photo: supplied.
Australia’s LGBTI radio station JOY 94.9 was shortlisted for seven categories in this year’s Radio Awards for the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, winning two.
Hundreds of community broadcasters from across Australia gathered in for the annual CBAA Community Radio Awards to recognise excellence in community broadcasting.
Along with Sydney’s2SER, JOY had the largest number of finalists of any station.
JOY were awarded ‘Best Special Event Broadcast’ for their coverage of the 2019 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade. Airing a week after the parade on the community broadcast airwaves, the broadcast included four hours of interviews, fun, floats, dancing and more.
Twelve JOY volunteers were in Sydney as part of the broadcast, working tirelessly before the parade began, interviewing participants from the 200 parade entrants.
You can relive their Mardi Gras Parade coverage over three podcasts via the JOY website.
The ‘Excellence in Innovative Programming and Content ‘ was awarded to Checkpoint, JOYs weekly program for video game news, reviews, interviews and more.
“When I joined JOY almost 6 years ago I noticed there wasn’t any focus on one of the biggest industries in the entire world, the video game industry,” Creator of Checkpoint Luke Mitchell told the Star Observer.
“I set out to make a show that dove deep into everything gaming. Not just talking about it, but actually shining a light on issues within that space; lack of diversity, the need for stronger female protagonists, along with LGBT+ issues being periphery—at best.
“We set out to make a show that is entertaining and engaging but also important and topical.
“After five years since we started, we now run a two-hour show, a website with over 15 volunteer contributors from varied backgrounds, additional podcasts and we’ve also represented JOY on industry panels at major gaming events like PAX Australia,” Michell told us.
“I’m incredibly proud of the team I have and it feels wonderful to be recognised by the CBAA – we can’t wait to see where the future takes us!”
You can catch Checkpoint on the JOY 94.9 airwaves at 2pm every Saturday.
Congratulations to all involved in the winning broadcasts, and to everyone who was nominated.
