Regular readers of Radio Survivor likely are aware that we’re big fans of independent media, especially, and obviously, independent radio. It seems quite serendipitous that during the same week as World Radio Day we also have Support Your Media Day. It’s a one-day fundraiser focused on some of the most vital independent media organizations online, in print, on television and radio.
Two radio-focused groups that are participating are Pacifica Reporters Against Censorship, which produces Free Speech Radio News, and the International Radio Project, which produces Making Contact.
Free Speech Radio News grew out of struggles at Pacifica in the early 2000s, when freelance reporters for Pacifica Network News went on strike. What I most respected at the time is that the reporters decided to keep reporting and created FSRN as a venue for their stories. FSRN continues to be one of the only consistent, independently produced daily radio news programs in the US. Furthermore, to the best of my knowledge, FSRN is the only daily radio news program that works as a collective, putting into action the idea that there can be media that is a true alternative to the corporate system.
I’ve been a big fan of Making Contact for years, since first hearing the program while working at Community Radio WEFT. Every week the program airs in-depth radio documentaries that get to the heart of important political and economic issues and their impact on people and communities around the world. Making Contact has kept a focus on the Occupy movement, avoiding sensationalist reporting that only highlights conflicts with governments and police, instead airing thoughtful discussions about the core issues motivating Occupy participants, as well as the future of the movement as a sustainable agent for change.
All of the media outlets participating in Support Your Media Day do important work to provide a counterbalance to corporate and government-owned media, which have to answer to stockholders, advertisers and politicians. They deserve our support.
