We announced a couple of weeks ago that Better Radio is on its way! And thanks to a community grant from Best Buy, we have the necessary funds to offer New Media training to young people in the North Country. That, along with the pending station confirmation, website and blogs to broadcast podcasts from for a larger reach, and our commitment to showcase local news, personalities, and music, really make Better Radio all about the people it serves. BetterArts board member and grant-writing powerhouse Sarah Herold last week found a great NPR piece that articulates this point exactly and goes a little more in-depth about how low-power FM stations are providing the public with unfettered information now so rare in mainstream media. Below is that piece reposted in its entirety, written by Betty Yu:
Roots, Radio and Social Change: Why Low Power FM Radio is about YOU
October 24, 2013
by Betty Yu for
Moyers & Company
Media watchdog group Free Press’s recent
infographic
reveals how media corporations are using shell companies to evade the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) ownership rules and gobble up local TV stations across the US. It’s another sobering reminder that we are facing some of the biggest threats to media democracy and free speech in our country’s history. The
acceleration of media consolidation
and unfair restrictions on community radio and TV have narrowed already limited access to the airwaves for local voices, especially women and communities of color. People of color make up over 36 percent of the US population, but own just over seven percent of radio licenses and three percent of TV licenses.
In an environment in which corporations and the government increasingly control the airwaves, where can social justice movements and marginalized communities go to have their voices heard? Enter low power FM radio (LPFM). Two years ago, President Obama signed the Local Community Radio Act after a 15-year organizing campaign led by
Prometheus Radio Project
and
Common Frequency
, two grassroots groups supporting community radio. The law marks the largest expansion of community radio in US history. It was a tremendous victory for social change and media justice movements. Local communities now have the power to transform the corporate-driven media landscape.
People of color make up over 36 percent of the US population, but own just over seven percent of radio licenses and three percent of TV licenses.
This expansion of LPFM stations means that hundreds of nonprofit organizations, schools, unions and other community groups have a unique and low-cost opportunity to develop programming to meet their local and issue-based needs. “With new community radio stations preparing to claim a spot on the airwaves, we’re looking forward to hearing truly local news, neighbors speaking to each other about the topics that concern them, and local culture and music programming,” says Julia Wierski of Prometheus Radio Project.
There are many inspiring stories about the profound impact that LPFM stations have had on local communities, not to mention on issues of self-determination, cultural sovereignty and social justice. One such story is the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’
Radio Conciencia
, a station in Immokalee, Fla., run by its members. The coalition is made up of mainly Latino, Maya Indian and Haitian immigrants, working in low-wage jobs throughout the state. They started Radio Conciencia WCIW- LP (107.9 FM) in 2003, a 100-watt station that features news of its members’ labor fights, campaigns and other local issues; music; and cultural and educational programming in several languages, including indigenous dialects. Most coalition members lack access to the Internet, relying on the station for basic news, local information and entertainment.
