Making radio in a pandemic: 3CR’s response to Covid-19

In 2026 3CR Community Radio Station is celebrating 50 years of Radical Radio. 3CR is widely recognised as the first community owned and community run grassroots radio station in the country. Broadcasters come from 3CR’s diverse local community and the station provides a platform for the many issues and people misrepresented and underrepresented in the mass media.

But at the end of January 2020, the emergence of Covid-19 in Victoria changed everything and by March the station had to go into deep lockdown. What would this mean for a small community radio station like 3CR? I put that question to three people who, with the help of their community, guided the station through this difficult time: Pilar Aguilera, Chair of the Board of 3CR during the Covid crisis, Rachel Kirby, Station Manager during the Covid crisis, and Gab Reade, Coordinator of Current Affairs. Together they recall the challenges they had to overcome, the support they received from their community and what kept them going.