Radio Chipiona (Cádiz) obtains one of the distinctions in the Local Communication Awards granted by the Board

CHIPIONA (CÁDIZ), Nov. 9 (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Ministry of the Presidency of the Junta de Andalucía has announced the entities that have been distinguished in the tenth Edition of the Andalusia Awards for Local Audiovisual Communication. The Award for local and proximity informative career went to Radio Chipiona Emisora ​​Municipal, which, directed by Cristóbal Ruiz, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.

To celebrate this 40th anniversary, Radio Chipiona has organized a series of special programs, an exhibition of the history of radio and will soon publish a book that will collect its 40 years of history.

The purpose of the call is to "distinguish the works broadcast on local radios and televisions in Andalusia", as well as "the local and proximity information offered on the Internet and the local and proximity information trajectory in Andalusia." In its previous eight editions, the main works in the field of Local Audiovisual Communication in Andalusia have been awarded, "currently becoming a distinction of recognized prestige in the sector", as they have explained.

Regarding its history, Radio Chipiona is a municipal station that broadcasts on 107.1 of the Modulated Frequency and has been, for decades, the reference media in a small town of almost 20,000 inhabitants.

Radio Chipiona was born in the fall of 1981, when a group of young people "with concerns about opening spaces for citizen participation in a time of great social effervescence" began to broadcast programming on weekends "that gradually expanded."

From those first moments, the media achieved "great support from local citizens, even with popular requests for the purchase of the necessary equipment, becoming a new tool for the transformation, dynamization and democratization of Chipionera society."

This radio station, which has been broadcasting for more than 40 years, is the only one that the population has counted on since the return of democracy. After suffering closure by the authorities, the fight for legal recognition led in 1984 to Radio Chipiona, already as a medium of the town council, to be one of the stations that founded EMA-RTV, the Association of Municipal Radio Stations of Andalusia. , an entity of which he has never ceased to belong and whose Board of Directors he has been a part of since the beginning, eventually serving as president.

On the other hand, the first concession to the Chipionero town council for the exploitation of the sound broadcasting station on metric waves with frequency modulation was granted by the Governing Council of the Junta de Andalucía on November 10, 1998 and was granted for a period of ten years. In 2019, the renewal of the license for another ten years was approved.

Radio Chipiona began to participate in a program exchange system between municipal stations in 1992 and since 1997 has actively participated in the network of more than 80 municipal and community radio stations that make up the Local Wave of Andalusia.

In these four decades this municipal media has maintained an "absolute commitment" to local information, something "of vital importance for a small population that generally has not received due attention from the provincial, regional and national media." On the other hand, it has acted as a "social facilitator", working hand in hand with "almost a hundred groups, mainly local, disseminating their activities and informing about their needs and concerns."

Thus, the participation of these civil society entities "has distinguished the line of action of Radio Chipiona, enabling spaces for their regular presence in programming in which, on the other hand, issues related to older people are a priority, women or the most disadvantaged social groups".

In the last decade, new technologies have allowed an increase in the channels through which the programming of Radio Chipiona Emisora ​​Municipal reaches citizens. In addition to broadcasting over the airwaves, online broadcasts are currently also made and the spaces, interviews and reports are made available to anyone on a website, through social networks and on a YouTube channel in which radio and television come together.

At this time, Radio Chipiona Municipal Station "has a staff of permanent professionals with more than 20 years of experience, a consolidated programming grid and an activity that extends to other aspects such as awareness-raising, training and the organization of public events. social, cultural or sporting nature".