Florence is a city that is frozen in time. Every street feels like a time machine, taking one back to the days when artisans of the Renaissance and the Catholic Church ruled. It is hard to imagine a modern society in a city so rich in history and religion. While the streets of Florence may be frozen in time, that does not mean that society has to be too. 

In the late 1970s, progressive movements and groups were starting to voice their opinions in Italy. Journalism began to make a shift during this time, especially for the radio scene, when the idea of the "free" radio station was born. Controradio Station took this progressive shift in society and ran with creating a radio station that is not controlled by anyone but themselves. 

 

"Up to 1975, it was impossible for private broadcasting in Italy; it was not allowed," says Gimmy Tranquillo of Controradio. "In 1975, something happened; a glitch in the law, and there was basically permission to start broadcasting on FM, video, and TV," he adds. 

 

This shift changed the entire trajectory of radio in Italy. Now radio could produce stories and play music that the station wanted to play without having some big corporation control what they aired. While plans and the idea for Controradio began circulating in late 1975, it wasn't until March 31, 1976 that Controradio became officially registered. 

 

"A lot of our goal is to inform people in a way that does not try to lecture them," Tranquilo explains.

 

Initially, Controradio mainly focused on politics, considering what was happening right outside the studio with things like the ‘77 Movement and the Student Movement. Since Controradio is free, the station is able to explore topics from their own mind and report on groups that are usually overlooked. This allows listeners to converse and decipher their thoughts on a situation rather than being told what is right or wrong.

After the movements ended, politics slowly started to trickle out of the spotlight, and then came the entertainment shift. While Controradio is still a political radio station, their main focus shifted when they hopped on the entertainment train. 

Club Tenax was Controradio's next big step toward this shift. Tenax is a place where Controradio can network with these more underground groups and discover new music, which sparks inspiration for what can be aired. 

 

"We were completely free of the mainstream. We can do whatever we want, and the great thing was not only music but everything, art, fashion, theater, everything was passed," Tranquillo says. "With Tenax, we basically decided to build an underground wall that doesn't need anything from the system to entertain ourselves or the people like us." 

 

Since then, social media and web players like Spotify have boomed, which makes mainstream networking easier than it was 50 years ago. So what will happen to Controradio and radio as a whole? 

Controradio is already staying up to date by incorporating programs like This is Florence (TIF), which is a part of the station that is run by people all under the age of 35. TIF helps promote the station through social media platforms. Additionally, many apps like Whatsapp and Facebook help Controradio connect and communicate with their listeners while also helping to advertise the station. 

 

"Radio is never going to disappear because radio has an advantage over all the other media. The unexpected," says Tranquillo.

 

Like most journalistic media outlets, the station is able to reach out to all peoples and not just one group. While not everybody has spotify or streaming platforms, everybody does have access to the radio in some way or another. That fact alone is what sets places like Controradio apart from most media that we as a public consume today and is why radio stands a chance of surviving in this modern society that we live in.