I feature an interesting website, blog, Twitter feed, Facebook page or other online destination related to Waterloo Region on CKWR with Randolph J. Johnston called #WRawesome Online, Mondays at about 12:30. Here is the Midday with RJ’s Facebook page.

I hope by doing so that I’ll help people find places online that help them to connect to their community-online and in the real world. By doing so, I hope to help people find online places that they might not find otherwise and make our community a better place to live.

For folks looking for communications advice, you can get tips from each selection featured. I’ll highlight at least one example in my weekly post.

#WRawesome online: CKWR

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t feature the website of the radio station that offers my segment even if they are a great cause doing their annual fundraising campaign. But these are not normal times for Canada’s first community radio station CKWR.

Last week, it was reported that CKWR lost a substantial sum of money and that a former board member had been charged with fraud. The station that depends upon financial support from the community is described as being in “dire straights.”

I wanted to make sure that readers of this blog who live with the station’s broadcasting area were aware of its dilemma. If you are in a position to do so, please consider supporting this gem.

Your support also helps to purchase new equipment and upgrade existing equipment, which further enhances the quality of our on-air presentation. As well, your donation allows us to continue to bring to you an exceptional blend of daytime, specialty, and multicultural programs and the greatest music of all times.

If you’re like me, you take CKWR for granted because it’s always been there and you assume that every community has a radio station that is about giving the community a voice including cultural communities. So as in any other year, CKWR deserves the support of the community that it serves. But this year, it needs that support more than ever to make up for its unfortunate loss-and allow it to do more for Waterloo Region.

Listen online

I discovered in preparing for my segment that CKWR has recently upgraded it’s website. The most notable improvement implemented is that it is now easy to listen to the station online. You just need to visit: ckwr.com and you automatically start listening. Only a few months ago, listening to the station online was a difficult if not impossible challenge. Now they have an important digital media tool to serve their community.

Personally, I’d prefer to have a button to turn the station on rather than automatically tuning into the broadcast but the important part is that they addressed an important need in this digital age.

Does your website help your organization connect digitally with your most important assets?