A scanned copy of a black and white poster advertising Radio U, the University of Canterbury student radio station. The advertisement is from 1985.
A scanned copy of a black and white photo of two Radio U Station Managers posing back-to-back. The photograph was taken in 1985.
This article discusses the use of radio after major earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2010 and 2011. It draws on archival sources to retrospectively research post-quake audiences in the terms people used during and soon after the earthquakes through personal narratives and Twitter. Retrospective narratives of earthquake experiences affirm the value of radio for communicating the scale of disaster and comforting listeners during dislocation from safe home spaces. In the narratives radio is often compared with television, which signifies electricity supply and associated comfort but also visually confirms the city’s destruction. Twitter provides insights into radio use from within the disaster period, but its more global reach facilitates reflection on online and international radio from outside the disaster-affected area. This research demonstrates the value of archival audience research, and finds that the combination of online radio and Twitter enables a new form of participatory disaster spectatorship from afar.
An infographic giving statistics on the demolition by controlled explosion of Radio Network House.
The Civil Defense understanding of the role of radio in disaster tends to focus on its value in providing essential information during and after the event. However this role is compromised when a station’s premises are destroyed, or rendered inaccessible by official cordons. The Radio Quake study examines how radio stations in Christchurch managed to resume broadcasting in the aftermath of the earthquake of February 22, 2011. In New Zealand’s heavily networked and commercialised radio environment there is a significant disparity between networked and independent stations’ broadcast commitments and resourcing. All Christchurch radio broadcasters were forced to improvise new locations, complex technical workarounds, and responsive styles of broadcasting after the February 22 earthquake, but the need to restore, or maintain, a full on air presence after the earthquake, rested entirely on often financially tenuous, locally owned and staffed independent radio: student, Iwi, community access, and local commercial stations. This paper will explore the resourcefulness and resilience of broadcasters riding out the aftershocks in hotels, motels, bedrooms, and a horse truck, using digital technologies in new ways to reimagine the practice of radio in Christchurch.
This article examines the representation of Christchurch, New Zealand, student radio station RDU in the exhibition Alternative Radio at the Canterbury Museum in 2016. With the intention of ‘making visible what is invisible’ about radio broadcasting, the exhibition articulated RDU as a point of interconnection between the technical elements of broadcasting, the social and musical culture of station staff and volunteers, and the broader local and national music scenes. This paper is grounded in observations of the exhibitions and associated public programmes, and interviews with the key participants in the exhibition including the museum's exhibition designer and staff from RDU, who acted as independent practitioners in collaboration with the museum. Alternative Radio also addressed the aftermath of the major earthquake of 22 February 2011, when RDU moved into a customised horse truck after losing its broadcast studio. The exhibition came about because of the cultural resonance of the post-quake story, but also emphasised the long history of the station before that event, and located this small student radio station in the broader heritage discourse of the Canterbury museum, activating the historical, cultural, and personal memories of the station's participants and audiences.
A page banner promoting an article about the proposed demolition by controlled explosion of Radio Network House.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Sean Crawford, fire service radio communication engineer, at the Woolston USAR base, following Canterbury's earthquake".
A page banner promoting articles about a repair report for Christ Church Cathedral, and the controlled demolition of Radio Network House.
A scanned copy of page 9 of an issue of Canta published in 1976. The page features an advertisement for Radio U.
A video of the demolition of the Radio Network House on Worcester Street. The building was demolished by Controlled Demolition Inc using a controlled implosion.
A video of a press conference about the implosion of Radio Network House on Worcester Street. The video includes statements by Peter LockHart, Bill Johnson, and Warwick Isaacs.
A PDF copy of pages 16-17 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'The RDUnit - Mobile Broadcasting Facility'. Photos: Rachel Morton
A video of a tour of the inside of the Radio Network House on Worcester Street. Maurice Gibbens, demolition supervisor from CERES, and Craig Stracey, operations manger, explain how the building has been prepared for demolition by implosion.
A study by Canterbury University shows businesses have withstood the 7-point-one-magnitude Canterbury earthquake well.
An international study looking at the Canterbury earthquakes is attracting loud criticism from New Zealand scientists.
A photograph of an exhibition sign next to the 'Quilt for Christchurch', in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum. The quilt was created by members of the public who sent squares to The Breeze radio station in Auckland.
A study of employees affected by the Canterbury earthquakes has found they're more likely to have jobs - and get better pay - than people in similar roles in other parts of the country.
A photograph of a quilt on display in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum. The quilt was created by members of the public who sent squares to The Breeze radio station in Auckland to be part of the 'Quilt for Christchurch'.
This paper explores the scope of small-scale radio to create an auditory geography of place. It focuses on the short term art radio project The Stadium Broadcast, which was staged in November 2014 in an earthquake-damaged sports stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand. Thousands of buildings and homes in Christchurch have been demolished since the Februrary 22, 2011 earthquake, and while Lancaster Park sports stadium is still standing, it has been unused since that date and its future remains uncertain. The Stadium Broadcast constructed a radio memorial to the Park’s 130 year history through archival recordings, the memories of local people, observation of its current state, and a performed site-specificity. The Stadium Broadcast reflected on the spatiality of radio sounds and transmissions, memory, post-disaster transitionality, and the im-permanence of place.
Local independent radio stations in Christchurch, New Zealand, had their operations severely disrupted by major earthquakes in September 2010 and February 2011. This article examines the experiences of three radio stations that were shut out of their central city premises by the cordon drawn around the city after the 22 February quake. One of the stations continued broadcasting automatically, while the others were unable to fully get back on air for several weeks afterwards. All of the stations had to manage access to workspaces, the emotional needs of staff and volunteers, the technical ability to broadcast, and the need to adapt content appropriately when back on air. For the locally based radio managers decisions had to be made about the future of the stations in a time of significant emotional, physical, and geological upheaval. The article explores how these radio stations were disrupted by the earthquake, and how they returned to air through new combinations and interconnections of people, workspace, technology, content and transmission.
A short video-documentary featuring four Christchurch locals who reflect on the destruction of the city's CBD, and how it has changed what they value in a city. Produced with funding from NZ on Air.
A video of an interview with Corporal Pani Bell about his work guarding cordons at the edge of the Christchurch central city red zone. Bell talks about the progress of the Christchurch rebuild, the shrinking of the red zone, the implosion of the Radio Network House on Worcester Street, and the temporary offices which have been built for the cordon guards.
A photograph of people painting wooden pallets, to be used for the Lyttelton Pentanque Club.
A PDF copy of pages 168-169 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Lyttelton Petanque Club'. Photos: Gap Filler
A photograph of bricks stacked to spell out the word 'Lyttelton'. Behind the letters, plant pots have been laid out to form a temporary garden.
A photograph of Coralie Winn standing next to a Lyttelton resident at the Lyttelton Petanque Club.
A photograph of a musician performing at the Lyttelton Petanque Club.
A photograph of people watching a musician perform at the Lyttelton Petanque Club.
The worst of the exodus from Christchurch after last year's earthquakes is over, according to a group which studies population trends.