On Saturday I headed out to Davis, California for a full day of radio immersion thanks to Common Frequency. I’ve been a fan of Common Frequency for awhile, so it was great to be able to not only learn more about their organization, but also meet some of the radio groups who they are helping. […]
There’s good news in the Pacifica radio network’s latest financial audit. Listener donations to the five listener supported radio station non-profit rose in 2010 from their catastrophic drop of almost $4 million between 2008 and 2009. The donation total was $10,585,979 in 2010, up from $9,808,729 in 2009. That doesn’t compensate, of course, for the […]
Kanyi Pamukwendengwe a Rusitu villager in Zimbabwe writes in the South Africa Mail & Guradian about the brief run of Pachindau People’s Radio, an unlicensed shortwave station that broadcast from Chimanimani in Eastern Zimbabwe. As Pamukwendengwe explains, the inspiration for the station came from the fact that the state-run stations in Harare could not be […]
You need a score card these days to keep up with programming changes over at listener sponsored Pacifica station KPFA in Berkeley. About four months after dumping the KPFA Morning Show and replacing it with a volunteer lineup called ‘The Morning Mix,’ the station’s management says it is ending that experiment, too. Pretty much everything […]
Radio doesn’t always begin and end with a broadcast over the airwaves. Sometimes radio transmissions are used by artists as another tool for creative expression. This year the arts organization 23five is curating the Activating the Medium XIV festival in San Francisco and will present several performances and radio broadcasts focused on the theme of […]
Twelve organizations are named to share an $8.5 million class action settlement pot over the great Google Buzz Fiasco. I was happy to see that Youth Radio of Oakland is one of the groups listed. The outfit just won a Peabody Award for its series on prostitution. Some background: about a year ago Google tried […]
In the aftermath of the departure of Pirate Cat Radio founder Daniel “Monkey Man” Roberts from the scene, the Pescadero low-power community radio station he was managing is carrying on, trying to clear the haze of confusion he left behind. The San Mateo County Times followed up with KPDO, including its founder Maggie Celeste Worden, […]
He’s produced albums that inspired The Rolling Stones. The 50th anniversary of his Arhoolie Records label was noted by The New York Times. His voice has regaled public radio listeners about “down home” music for decades, especially at KPFA in Berkeley. Generations of Blues, Cajun, Tejano, Gospel, Polka, and Bluegrass legends have graced his studios. […]
In the world of community radio, there is probably no term more contentious than “professionalism.” Say the word and watch the conversation flare up. Why is the p-word so threatening? Probably because at places like community/college/LPFM radio stations, most community media people are volunteers. So when words like “professionalism” surface, folks imagine themselves being replaced […]
Doug Henwood of the Left Business Observer is one of my favorite people in the world of arts, letters, and radio. A brilliant and entertaining critic of neo-liberalism, neo-conservatism, and neo-crackpotism, Henwood is the author of Wall Street and After the New Economy—the latter a remarkable analysis of the dot-com-bomb phenomenon. Doug is long associated […]
