Girls To The Mic!
A digital radio pop up broadcast for International Women’s Day - March 8th 2014
In an Australian first, the CBAA’s Digital Radio Project and Community Radio Network (CRN) presented a day of radio made by women, to be enjoyed by everyone.
On March 8th, 2014, International Women’s Day was soundtracked with a digital pop-up radio station in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, and online. The 24-hour broadcast covered ideas, discussion, storytelling and music celebrating women within our communities, across Australia and around the world.
Girls to the Mic! covered unique perspectives on women in politics with Backchat from Sydney’s
FBi Radio, in our communities with 3CR’s Women on the Line, seminal women’s music programming from RTR’s Drastic on Plastic from Perth, and a countdown of the top. We heard from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island women in Alice Springs with Women’s Business, while 3CR’s Accent of Women take us on an exploration of grassroots organising by women around the world.
Girls to the Mic! reflected on what a phenomenal year for women and women’s rights it was, and looked forward to the achievements to come, with brekkie programming from Kulja Coulston at Melbourne’s RRR and lunchtime programming from Bridget Backhaus and Ellie Freeman at Brisbane’s 4EB, and an extra special episode of Girls Gone Mild at FBI Radio celebrated the creative, inspiring and world-changing women who ought to dominate the airwaves daily.
Taking its name from the Riot Grrl movement’s decree of “girls to the front” – Girls to the Mic! was literally that: a day of radio where we showcased the work and achievements of women on your radio. The pop up featured radio makers from Melbourne’s 3RRR, 3CR, JOY 949 and SYN FM, Sydney’s FBi, 2SER and 2RRR, 4EB and 4ZZZ in Brisbane, CAAMA and 8CCC in the Northern Territory and RTR in Perth.
The service used an active Electronic Program Guide on DAB+ using image and text data layers to accompany the broadcast utilising the unique artwork & design produced for the pop up by Melbourne artist Steph Hughes that were also used on the website, online marketing and poster.
The Girls to the Mic! Reference Group were Giordana Caputo (CMTO), Caroline Gates (FBi), Meri Fatin (RTR), Ellie Freeman (4EB), Lucy Kingston (Radio Adelaide), A
my Moon (CBAA), Areej Nur (3CR), Emma Ramsay (CBAA), Eliza Sarlos (EP) and Mikaela Simpson (CAAMA).
The Girls to the Mic team were Emma Ramsay, Monique Sebire, Amy Moon and Executive Producer, Eliza Sarlos.
For contributor information & archival audio of the broadcast contact the CBAA's
Digital Radio Project team on 02 9310 2999. The Girls to Mic website was archived December 2019.
PDF here of the Program & Presenters 
Girls To The Mic 2014 PDF.pdf
Broadcast Schedule
12am-1am Cloud Waves (RTR Perth)
Cloud Waves is a brand new show on Perth’s RTRFM in 2014, a late night selection of progressive, wavy rap music, intriguing nightclub constructions, and futuristic RnB - “Complex sounds to get wild and wavy to in your crib, car or club”. The show was devised, and is coordinated, by Dani Marsland, and Dani is joined in hosting duties by local DJs Aslan, Sleepyhead, Dan Dalton and Oni Ca$h. Presented by Dani Marsland. Produced at RTR, Perth.
1am-2am The Shapow Show (JOY Melbourne)
Sha-Pow brings you new music and old school classics, hilarious co-hosts, interviews with Aussie and international hip hoppers, all in a fun hour of radio. Presented by Shannon Power. Produced at JOY 949, Melbourne
2am-3am Ears Have Ears (FBi Radio Sydney)
Award winning program Ears Have Ears: Unexplored Territories in Sound, presents weekly experimental soundtracks, unique performances and unusual mixtapes created specifically for the show by artists whose musical output is simultaneously exciting, innovative and at times challenging. For this International Women's Day special, hear the best contributions made to Ears Have Ears from female musicians, composers and producers. Presented by Brooke Olsen. Produced by Scarlett Di Maio. Produced at FBi Radio, Sydney.
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3am-4am Doing It For Themselves (FBi Radio Sydney)
Doing it for Themselves celebrates DIY music made by women throughout the decades, particularly the 70s, 80s and now. From proto-riot grrrl weird punk, to post-punk and straight up pop, the X chromosome has long been responsible for creating weird and wonderful music, showcased in this hour. Sisters are doing it for themselves! Presented and Produced by Rowena McGeoch. Produced at FBi Radio, Sydney.
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4am-5am In The Pines (FBi Radio, Sydney)
Folk, alt-country, twang, harmonicas & harmonies: In The Pines is the home among the gum trees for all these sounds. Presented by Johanna Roberts, for International Women's Day, she'll be bringing along all that twang to Girls to the Mic! highlighting the role of women in folk, alt-country and everything in between.
Presented by Johanna Roberts. Produced at FBi Radio, Sydney.
5am-7am All Kinds Of Country (2SER Sydney)
A smorgasbord of country music ranging from traditional, bluegrass and contemporary country to bush ballads. Presented by Barbara Morrison. Produced at 2SER, Sydney.
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7am -10am Brekkie with Kulja Coulston & Sara Savage (RRR Melbourne)
Hear about women in sport with Leila Gurruwiwi, panellist from the Marngrook Footy Show, explore representation of women in politics with Mary Crooks (Victorian Women's Trust) and Tanja Kovac (National Convenor, Emily's List) and take a look at diversity in business with Lisa Annese from the Diversity Council of Australia. We'll stay in the workplace with a look at women working in male dominated industries, as we're joined by radio producer Camilla Hannan and digital strategist, researcher and developer Vanessa Toholka. We'll jump over into the literary world with a chat with Aviva Tuffield from The Stella Prize, and take a look at where we're at with women's empowerment globally, as we speak with the Executive Director of UN Women Australia, Julie McKay. We'll also be joined in studio by the Orbweavers for a couple of tunes live to air. Presented by Kulja Coulston and Sara Savage. Produced by Elizabeth McCarthy. Produced at 3RRR.
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10am-10:30am Women On the Line (3CR Radio Melbourne)
Women on the Line is Community Radio’s national women’s current affairs program. It is produced and presented by a range of women broadcasters from 3CR in Melbourne, and broadcast nationally each Friday at 13:04 EST on the Community Radio Network of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia. Producers: Jessica Alice, Areej Nur, Clemmie Wetherall. Produced at 3CR, Melbourne.
10:30am-11am Accent on Women (3CR Radio)
To celebrate and continue the struggle of women across the world on International Women's Day, a very special broadcast of Accent of Women. This IWD special will feature; Italia Mendez, a Mexican activist and one of 47 women that were sexually tortured during a police operation to repress the social movement of San Salvador Atenco in Mexico in May 2006. Aurora Anaya Cerda, educator, artist and founder of La Casa Azul bookstore in East Harlem, New York. Mikyung Ryu, the International Officer of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. Presented by Rachael Bongiorno, Jiselle Hanna and Lourdes Garcia-Larque. Produced by 3CR, Melbourne.
11am-12pm Backchat with AH Cayley and Heidi Pett
Your alternative to talkback! One sweet hour of Australian politics, news, and current affairs. Totally robust, never mendacious.
On this very special International Women's Day edition, learn about the origins of International Women's Day within the workers rights movement. We talk to Kate Doak about what's happening to public housing right now and what it means for women, and more specifically how changes will affect trans women. We talk to Yolanda Beattie from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency about the importance of gathering data on women in the workplace, and how the gender pay gap works. Meet Hayley McQuire, a UNICEF Australia Young Ambassador. Plus, we celebrate the fact that the Minister for Women, a man, is now a feminist while the female Senator assisting him refuses to identify as one, and we explore why so many engaged and educated women who believe in equality share that reluctance to identify as feminists. Presented by AH Cayley and Heidi Pett. Produced by Andrew Rhodes. Produced by FBi Radio, Sydney
12-1pm So(Hot)Right(Now) (2SER Sydney)
WHO RUN THE (ART) WORLD?
A list of 20 influential emerging female artists, art workers and creative practitioners, who will shape Australian arts in 2020
We ask: are there still obstacles for women in accessing the arts, or climbing the ladder in the arts world? Does more women running institutions and curating shows, or festivals, necessarily mean more work by, about or for women on our stages, screens and gallery walls? Presented by Jess Scully. Executive Producer: Caitlin Gibson. Producers: Andy Huang, Bec Allen. Produced at 2SER, Sydney
1pm-2pm Women On The Line: Intersectionality and the Failings of White Feminism
Bridget Backhaus and Ellie Freeman serve up a range of news, features and interviews by women about women from community radio programs around Australia. Celebrate the diversity of the sector with our show broadcast from 4EB in Brisbane; and stories coming from programs The Wire, Fair Comment, All the Best and Where Are You From? and from 8CCC and CAAMA in Alice Springs, Noongar Radio in Perth, FBi Radio in Sydney and 3MBS, JOY 94.9 and SYN in Melbourne. The program profiles a wide variety of women from diverse backgrounds, as well as some familiar voices across sport, journalism, performance, and feminism in Australia today. Hear from Jess Hill, Eva Cox, Ellyse Perry, Candy Bowers, Saba Abraham, Mish Grigor of POST, Steph Hughes of Dick Diver and Boomgates, Josie Jones and more. The program will also feature vox pops from ethnic broadcasters explaining their programs in English and wishing us a "Happy International Women's Day" in their own language. As part of our interview with Steph Hughes, producer Tess Lawley made us a mixtape of Steph's influences. You can hear it in full here. Presented by Bridget Backhaus and Ellie Freeman. Produced at 4EB, Brisbane.
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6pm-8pm Drastic on Plastic (RTR Perth)
Siren songs and torche singers, from the funkiest of soul divas to twee indie pop chanteuses, riot grrls and pro-active MCs – Drastic on Plastic celebrates women in music across all styles and genres in as many different musical contexts as possible. For over thirty years Drastic on Plastic has been highlighting the vital role that women play in music, not only in providing a counterpoint to the male-dominated music industry, but as innovators and experimenters in their own right, and as spokespeople for their generations, their cultures and their gender. Drawing from underground rock, indie pop, smouldering funk, soul and disco grooves, Drastic on Plastic ensures that women’s voices are heard a little louder, a little longer. Presented by Jane Armstrong, Sarah Tout and Meri Fatin. Produced at RTR, Perth.
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8pm-10pm Girls Gone Mild (FBi Radio)
Girls Gone Mild is a conversation between boisterous siblings Hannah and Eliza Reilly. Discussing emerging social phenomena, news stories and personal anecdotes in a playful, upbeat way, ranging from the absurdly enlightening to the enlighteningly absurd! On a very special edition of Girls Gone Mild, hear from Sydney songwriter Caitlin Park, etiquette queen June Dally Watkins, plus comedians Gen Fricker and Alice Fraser. DJ Adi Toohey brings you an exclusive mix of original divas including Erykah Badu, Gladys Knight and Aretha. All packed in with great new music from as many talented females as possible. It's an International Women's Day love-in and everyone's invited. Presented by Hannah and Eliza Reilly. Produced by Caroline Gates. Produced at FBi Radio, Sydney.
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10pm-11pm Women of Rock Live From the Public Bar, North Melbourne (3CR Melbourne)
Join us at 10pm where we'll be tuning in to 3CR's Women of Rock for live performances from Ninetynine and The Villenettes, and hosted by the crew from Music Matters. Held on IWD, Women of Rock celebrates Melbourne's proud tradition of rockin' female musicians. The festival will also be Broadcast Live on 3CR 855am, Digital and Streaming from 7pm to Midnight. NINETYNINE combine indie guitar rock stylings with tuned percussion and layerings of casio keyboard to create a unique kind of pop music. Ninetynine are Laura MacFarlane, Cameron Potts, Meg Butler and Iain McIntyre. THE VILLENETTES love Elvis, Sailor Jerry, vintage guitars, bad horror movies, leather jackets, leopard print dresses, and running amok on a Saturday night. They play original rock’n’roll with a splash of surf, a shimmy of girl group and a razor edge of zombie punk. The Villenettes want to make you dance like the devil and party like it’s 1959. Produced by 3CR, Melbourne.
11pm-12pm Megaherzzz (4ZZZ Brisbane)
Megaherzzz raises awareness of relevant issues faced by women within society, including intersectionality with other marginalised groups including LGBT women, women of colour, and women with disabilities. Presented by Sam Kelly and Rae White Produced at 4ZZZ, Brisbane.
Girls to the Mic was a joint initiative of the Digital Radio Project and the Community Radio Network at the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia. All illustrations by Steph Hughes. The facebook page is found @girlstothemic.
The broadcast was also informed CMTO & CBAA collaboration the Women in Community Media Project.