Holiday Community Radio Reads and Listens

We’ll send you off for the holiday with great reading.

Molly Stentz of member station WORT has a lot to say in Current about citizen journalism. There’s been a great deal of discussion about whether reporters should be politically active. Stentz says, “We believe that individuals are shaped by their experiences, and we all have various implicit biases. This is why efforts to diversify our newsrooms are so important to questions of representation and perspective in newsgathering. We have to work on building a collective sense of humility — as well as curiosity — to examine our assumptions and consider other views. We also have to have those perspectives in the room.”
Member stations WXNA, WSFM and WCOM are acknowledged in Radio World as part of a growth in low-power community radio in the last year. Low-power FM stations saw a lot of press in 2016. These stations “[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][continue] to show their communities how essential local arts, culture and news [are] for their areas.”
Member station WMMT was among community radio stations featured in a big spread in the New Yorker. Not only is this particular article beautifully designed, but it puts community radio before a fresh audience. The whole feature [PDF] is worth a look.
Member station WRFA shares the story of a community effort in New York State aimed at neighbors sharing warm clothes with neighbors during the region’s bitter winter.
Speaking of outstanding listens, a training program hosted by Internet member station Radio Phoenix seeks to bring disabled adults into the media age. This collaboration with the Civitan Foundation has resulted in some great radio you can hear now.
A DJ at member station KRCL is profiled by Utah television station KUTV. He was involved in a catastrophic accident that nearly took his life, but is now on the mend and back to hosting a popular show at KRCL. “I realize how grateful I am to have so many things in my life, to have my leg, to have my life,” DJ Brad Wheeler told the station.
Member station KDNK, facing a raft of financial challenges, tells Current it is leaning on NFCB’s GiveBig to MyStation next week, in hopes of making up some of its shortfall.
Big news for member station KALW. Its program, Inflection Point, is included in PRX’s Project Catapult, an effort to boost podcasting.
Jess Evett at member station KRBX shared this abstract on community radio’s power to change communities [PDF] as part of our larger discussion on hate speech and community broadcasting.
Hyperallergic points out the viral Radio Garden gives people a chance to discover community radio worldwide.