Sydney’s 2SER community radio to avoid closure under reduced model
Sydney community radio station 2SER will avoid being switched off in July under a reduced capacity model put to the station’s owners, the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).
The station was facing closure after Macquarie University announced it was withdrawing around half the station’s funding late last year.
Macquarie University provided $325,395 in core funding, while UTS provided $320,400, according to the latest available annual report at the end of 2024.
2SER, or Sydney Educational Radio, is owned by UTS, which will become the sole core funder.
2SER Board Member and Dean of the Faculty of Design and Society at UTS, Professor James Bennett, said the new model put a new path forward for the station.
“I’m pleased to say the station has definitely got a future,” Professor Bennett told 702 ABC Sydney.
“It’s taken a lot of work from the volunteer community staff here at UTS and the station manager, but also with a transition director we brought in, Tony Duke, to kind of find a model that allows us to move out of a period of uncertainty and onto more forward-facing ground.”
“We can start working with the community again on fundraising and also a future vision for the station together.”
Well that’s SOME good news in this story; I was expecting the whole thing to fade away and be forgotten, especially after another “reduced” plan was apparently submitted a few weeks ago and UTS said “nah”. It’s still not enough, though, and I frankly don’t trust UTS to keep SER going by itself for too long. But at least there’ll still be a 2SER for longer thah next month. Also, fuck Chris Dixon, still.
