I’ve loved local radio since I was a kid listening to the “goings-on” in my tiny town. As an adult I carried that interest to New Orleans where the community radio station started in the storeroom above Tipitina’s music stage. They’d drop a mic down through a hole for broadcast. Then I moved to St. Louis, where 88.1, Double Helix, began in the old Gaslight Square district. You rarely knew what they’d be doing, but it was always interesting. From humble beginnings, both stations have become integral parts of these communities.
A low power, non-commercial, community radio station* can play a unique role by promoting local civic and cultural participation by all, including the underserved populace. It is a place where people from all parts of a city can express themselves. Diverse voices speak and a free marketplace of ideas flourishes, helping audiences better understand each other and participate in the process rather than remaining mere consumers of sight, sound, and information.
Since more than 99% of US homes have a radio available, Low Power Community Radio (LPCR) can be a good choice as a communication and educational resource for a wide range of people underserved by commercial media. This group could include : 45 million U.S. adults that are functionally illiterate, 5 million who don’t have TV, and 60 million who don’t use the internet. That said, it seems like a great idea that many LPCR stations also stream online and expand services with more interactive options.
Rebuilding local media is becoming an important discussion with more nonprofit journalism, and hundreds, maybe thousands of new licenses for non-profit community stations to be issued by the FCC. In the Twin Cities, KFAI is a good example of Community Radio. It has programming in 13 languages with 89 diverse shows. The eclectic format engages males, females, young, old, gay, straight, majority, minority, first nation, long-time residents and new immigrants, and persons with disabilities. Along with live broadcasts (90.3- Minneapolis & 106.7-St. Paul), there’s streaming, archives at kfai.org, and mobile apps.
If you always had a burning desire to have your own radio show, why not give it try? KFAI’s WAVE project lets you have your own one hour program, complete with an engineer to help you. Check out the project at http://kfai.org/waveproject.
It’s a fun to “go local” elsewhere, too. Try listening to music in another language. Stop by the Gumbo Pages http://www.gumbopages.com/noncomm-radio.html or World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) http://www2.amarc.org and check-out community radio stations in the US and around the world.
*For comparison Low Power stations are usually 100-900 watts. Most FM stations operate between 6000-100,000 watts.
References: The following sources were used for this article: wwoz.org, kdhx.org, freepress.net/low-power-fm-radio, More Than a Music Box- Crisell, editor, Making Waves-Dagron, report to Rockefeller Foundation, Global Media Journal-Purdue University, Stats: wikipedia.org, Literacy Project Foundation, USA Today, and Washington Post, kfai.org, GumboPages.com, and amarc.org.
