Tune-in to Trinity Radio

By Lara Pickford-Gordon
Email: snrwriter.camsel@catholictt.org
Twitter:@gordon_lp

Trinity Communications Network (TCN) will this month relaunch its internet radio station Trinity Radio based at the Living Water Community (LWC) Centre, Frederick Street. A satellite of the station will be operating out of the Catholic Centre, 31 Independence Square, Port of Spain.
LWC co-foundress Rhonda Maingot said Trinity Radio has been around for many years and reached a wide audience online “and had people from all over the world on it on a regular basis.”
At the end of 2019, the server “went down” and the station was not functioning. With the pandemic in 2020 and things getting hectic with Trinity Television it was not yet restarted. “We are preparing to come back in and relaunch it,” Maingot said.
Deacon Derek Walcott is using the permanent deacons’ room at the Catholic Centre for a satellite of Trinity Radio. Maingot said the satellite station will hook into Trinity Radio at different times. “We will work the programming together” she added.
In an interview December 11, Rev Walcott said the operation was “very simple” to establish and all that is needed is a laptop/desktop, mixer, microphones, and headphones. He said the software used costs about TT$30 monthly.
The 24-7 station is already up, and Rev Walcott said he has been testing it and getting feedback. It was easy to “pre-programme” everything. He had programmed Advent teachings by Archbishop Jason Gordon, and by Bishop Robert Barron, author, speaker, theologian, and founder of Word on Fire, a global media ministry.
Rev Walcott said the station will carry live Masses and use the Church’s liturgical seasons as the basis for structuring content.

In addition to the Catholic News, he has subscribed to Catholic websites from which he will provide news updates—6 a.m., noon and 6 p.m. Relevant news from other local media will also be used to keep people informed of “what is happening in Trinidad and Tobago” and when necessary, give a Catholic perspective.
Rev Walcott cited Archbishop Gordon’s weekly column ‘Conversations with Archbishop J’ in which topical issues are addressed.  “We can as a station, deal with issues that are important and Catholic people need to know what the Church’s teaching is, what is my Archdiocese saying, what is our shepherd saying.” Rev Walcott plans to have call-ins for live shows and already has a cellphone “hooked into the system”.
He would like to see satellite stations in each vicariate and personnel responsible for a segment of programming. He said parishes should be sending personnel to the Caribbean School for Catholic Communications from which trained persons in media including social media, voice, film etc. can contribute to communications in the Archdiocese.
“It is ready-made for them for vocation, as a profession” he said. Rev Walcott particularly wants to see young persons involved and even spearheading the radio stations in their vicariates.