Last week, community radio activists from around the country converged on Portland, Ore., for the Grassroots Radio Conference, a celebration of local media.
This year’s Grassroots Radio Conference featured talks by Alternative Radio’s David Barsmanian, former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and longtime community organizer Wade Ratke. Plenaries featured such subjects as hip-hop in community radio and creating inclusive spaces in community media.
NFCB member station KBOO played host to this year’s conference. Attendees were treated to tours of the historic station as well as the studios of newcomer Freeform Portland, a low-power station in the northeast sector of town.
NFCB’s Sally Kane and Ernesto Aguilar were on hand for the event, which offered a variety of workshops, skills shares and more. NFCB staff discussed recent community radio survey findings during a Friday morning talk, and Ernesto Aguilar was a guest on the Radio Survivor live podcast taping, along with PhillyCAM’s Vanessa Graber, to talk about community radio trends and challenges.
NFCB wishes to thank GRC 2018 co-chairs Betty McArdle and Becky Meiers, as well as the many volunteers, speakers and attendees who made this year’s meetup a success. The 2019 event location and schedule is to be announced at a future date.
