Local Focus: Power 88.3FM gives youth a voice

The future of radio is in good hands, thanks to initiatives like Rotorua's Power 88.3fm - a radio station run by the youth, for the youth.

"Young people are struggling a lot with a whole lot of things," Youth development manager Steve Holmes said. "For them to be able to put messages and content together about things that are important and valuable to them - I think that's really important,"

"Also, because we can!

"I mean, there's not many 'for youth, by youth' radio stations around New Zealand. We can do it, we can give young people an amazing opportunity to reach out to their community and have the experience of a lifetime. So why not?"

Rotorua's Community Youth Centre has run three weeks of a radio course, giving young people experience both behind the mic and behind the scenes. The programme is run by industry veteran Gus Te Moni.

I've been in the radio industry for a long time," said Te Moni. "I had family members that worked in the radio industry so it was inevitable for me to move into the industry.

"I wanted to grow my repertoire of skills and learn how to build a radio station from scratch. It was an eye -opening experience, but it taught me a lot of great things that helped me build the radio station here at the youth centre."

"You actually see them go 'woah, that was pretty cool!'" says industry veteran, Gus Te Moni. Photo / Nathan Morton

The programme gives young people the courage to push past their fears and for Gus, a chance to relive his past.

"They're really nervous and I'm laughing because I remember my first time going in to do my first voice break and I was feeling the exact same way. You know?"

"You can literally see the fear in their eyes, before they turn the mic on, because there's a lot to do," said Te Moni. "A lot of buttons to push, a lot of memory skills to put into action.

"But once they turn the mic off, you actually see them go 'woah, that was pretty cool!'

"Because we can!" says Youth Development Manager at Power FM, Steve Holmes. Photo / Nathan Morton

In the future, Steve Holmes is looking to develop more opportunities to get local young people involved in extracurricular activities.

"We've been really focused on creative arts as a tool to be used to develop young people. We have a dance studio, recording studio, we've got all this potential to be able to develop more creative content with a whole lot of skills," Holmes said.

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