Editor’s Note: Prof. Terry also guests on this week’s Radio Survivor Podcast, which is a companion to this post. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals recently handed down a decision in a third round of the case Prometheus Radio Project v FCC. This decision, while reasonably straightforward, has the potential to be earth shattering to […]
Archive | Op-Ed
Opinions, editorials and fun stuff.
10 Weird Things Spotted by a Kid during Radio Station Tours
I’ve been spending a lot of time reflecting on my radio station tours as I prepare for my 100th tour report this week. During that process, I asked my daughter if she could list off for me some of the interesting and/or weird things that she’s seen when accompanying me on radio station tours. She’s […]
Community Radio Pays Off with Collective Effort for the Greater Good
Editor’s Note: In last week’s edition of our free email newsletter, the Radio Survivor Bulletin, I asked readers to share what keeps them motivated and excited to create great radio, even when burnout begins creeping in. Rachel Duchak responded and directed me to this short essay she wrote for her website, Central Coast Foodie. It’s […]
Friendships Forged in Community Radio
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 14th annual Filmed by Bike Festival here in Portland. As an avid cyclist and enthusiast of independent, grassroots filmmaking, it’s pleasure to take it in. But it also so happens that founder and festival director Ayleen Crotty is an old friend whom I first met […]
Are we at the dawn of the post-iHeart radio era? (And will it be good?)
Medialife ponders the imminent collapse of iHeartMedia, a product of Clear Channel’s famous leveraged buyout, which, apparently, has not rescued the new company from its $21bn mountain of debt. Bankruptcy is what the author of the piece hopes for, which will unleash 850 radio licenses onto the market. Ditto for Cumulus Media, drowning in red […]
Can station managers fix the “self-imposed smallness” of college radio?
The usual excellent suspects associated with our Radio Survivor podcast produced an interesting debate program about the “self-imposed smallness” of college radio last week. Popular radio blogger Ken Mills served as the show’s guest critic. He’s a very smart articulate guy with a lot of experience in radio. “I come from a management background,” Mills […]
How can we protect community radio talk show hosts from their listeners?
Morning show host Carl Wolfson has another ten days or so over at XRAY FM in Portland, Oregon, then he says he is quitting. “OK. I’m done,” Wolfson declared on his Facebook page in late January: “The vitriol of so many Bernie [Sanders] supporters and the threat they pose to Democratic unity is a bridge […]
I’m Going Nuts for this Little Acorn Radio
I must have been a pretty good boy in 2015 because on Christmas morning I found in my stocking a cute wooden radio that is shaped like an acorn, and is about the same size. It’s made by the Dutch company Kikkerland, which also puts out other small novelty accoutrements, like robot tea infusers and […]
On the Hunt for Truly Weird (Internet) Radio
I’m turning to you, dear Radio Survivor reader, for help. I’m looking for some really good and weird radio shows or stations that I can dive into during these dark winter days here in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. I need rejuvenation, and I hope you can help! What am I looking for? […]
New LPFMs: Don’t Let DJs Own Their Time Slots; Be Ready to Fire the Bad Ones
I’m so excited that hundreds of new LPFM community radio stations are going on the air right now. First, because it represents massive growth in the number and diversity of broadcast voices. Second, because it’s an unprecedented opportunity for experimenting with what it means to be a community radio station. I’ve had the pleasure of […]