The new owner’s dismissal of all four announcers from Giant FM radio station shocks and angers me. I have known Dennis Walker for most of the 22 years I’ve lived in this area and have always been very impressed with his, and the station’s, strong sense of responsibility to the community and interest in airing local events and concerns.
I don’t know the other three people, but take it that they have similar interests. The following are a couple of personal experiences of this local interest. When the Penticton Farmers’ Market began 22 years ago, we were given free notices and interviews whenever we asked, and in the past two years of the Penticton Urban Agriculture Association, the station has been equally generous in giving exposure to the organization and our events.
I fail utterly to see why any changes in direction could not be accommodated while continuing to employ these people. As the Kelowna station did not lose any of their employees in the sale, why were all of the Penticton station’s staff let go? The only interpretation I can come up with is that, contrary to the new owner’s protestation of a continued interest in airing community events and issues, they are going to turn Giant FM into yet another station airing almost exclusively and non-stop, a very limited range of popular (country in this case) music. I am not much of a fan of popular music, but even if I were I’d still want a station to cover news, both local and at least provincial, and community events and people. Non-stop music of whatever type one fancies is just a click of a computer or IPod keyboard away, but the local touch isn’t. That is what was supplied with professionalism and broad knowledge of this community by the Giant FM staff.
I would strongly suggest that people who agree with me write to the new owners and make clear their objections to these dismissals. Dennis, Stu, Kevin and Scott are longtime members of our community and deserve better treatment.
Eva Durance
Penticton
