Pacifica National Board member Tracy Rosenberg has sent us her own assessment of the crisis situation at WBAI in New York City. I post most of her response to my Friday piece here. I’m not sure that I would describe the following as “cautiously optimistic,” but Rosenberg suggests that “if the station can cover much-reduced […]
Archive | Community Radio
WBAI at the cliff
6/22/13 – 9:47 PM. Update on this story here: an assessment of the situation from a Pacifica National Board member. Full disclosure: trying to verify anything at Pacifica radio these days comes down to citing around 5,000 unofficial spokespersons in the absence of even one of the official variety. But this statement purporting to come […]
Democracy Now on “the largest expansion of community radio in US history”
Democracy Now ran a focus show this morning on the Federal Communications Commission’s release of new procedures and application forms for the upcoming Low Power FM window, scheduled to open on October 15. The show includes Jeff Rousset of the Prometheus Radio Project and Ramon Ramirez, President of PCUN (Pineros Y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste), […]
Memo to WBAI: call the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (if you haven’t yet)
Last week Joel Kaplan, Ombudsman for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, posted a commentary on Pacifica radio station WBAI in New York City. “So far during my tenure as ombudsman there have not been a significant number of complaints about any of the Pacifica stations—until now,” Kaplan noted. He then cited one from one Mr. […]
FCC announces updated procedures for Low Power FM window
The Federal Communications Commission has released the updated online application and procedures for the impending Low Power FM application window. The filing opportunity will open on October 15 and close at 6:00 pm EDT on October 29. “Applicants are encouraged to access the system and prepare their applications and amendments at their earliest convenience. Applicants […]
Belfast gets community FM radio service for “over 55s”
Northern Irelanders in the second half of their fifty-something years will soon have their own FM community radio station. The United Kingdom’s Ofcom agency says that “Belfast FM” will provide community radio “for people aged 55 and over in the City of Belfast.” The station is one of five applications that just got a green […]
WBAI-FM Mourns the Deaths of Three Radio Hosts
I was stunned when I heard the news that three program hosts at New York’s Pacifica station WBAI-FM were found dead this week. On June 3, Ibrahim Gonzalez died in his sleep. The long-time WBAI staple (he’d been at the station for 23 years) and host of In The Moment and Radio Libre is being […]
KALW’s Community Story Gathering Project Hits NFCB
For the editorial crew at Radio Survivor (Matthew Lasar, Paul Riismandel and myself), it’s a labor of love. Much like many non-commercial radio practitioners, we are reporting on radio because we are radio fans. We care about radio history, we monitor the current state of the medium, and we are hopeful that there’s a bright […]
NFCB’s Ginny Berson: I “failed miserably” at not caring
One of my favorite people in community radio announced her retirement from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters at last week’s NFCB conference. Ginny Z. Berson is, until her departure, Vice President of the organization. “I started working at NFCB after sixteen years at Pacifica [radio],” Berson explained to the stunned audience. “Most of them […]
Andrew Phillips: the education of a KPFA general manager
I attended the National Federation of Community Broadcasters conference on Friday. No sooner did I wander into the main drag of the San Francisco event than I spotted KPFA’s beleaguered General Manager, Andrew Leslie Phillips, staffing a table. “Matthew!” Phillips cheerfully exclaimed after I introduced myself. “Got a lot of respect for what you do. […]