KWSO shows the way for great community radio podcasting.
In profiling 12 of the best community radio podcasts, I got to identify some of the brightest qualities in podcasting across community media. The natural question that emerges from such lists is: what does a good community radio podcasting sound like?
Look no further than the launch of KWSO’s podcast, Indigenous Avenue.
Billed as “featuring interviews with people, talking about themselves and what they do,” Indigenous Avenue is different than what people talk about when sharing Native Americans’ stories. It is about music, culture, experiences, work and getting by. Here are its episodes:
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/295272679″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]While it remains a work in progress – and there’s a real need to include women as guests – Indigenous Avenue is a colorful and engaging look at a community. It isn’t your typical Native American tale as seen on television. The people are real and relatable. The conversation is relaxed and friendly. Community radio should take cues from this, because it’s well done, without being resource intensive.
Listening to the community radio station’s new podcast, I was reminded of a 2016 commentary from Hearken about the need to present new narratives about communities of color. Writer Ellen Mayer argues we need to tell stores that are bout the diversity of experiences. She adds:
That requires making room in the newshole for stories that aren’t just about disinvestment, crime, and dysfunction. It requires investing significantly in reporting about history, culture, enterprise, and day-to-day life…
Indigenous Avenue from KWSO is available at its SoundCloud account.
