September 2011 Broadcast
It has been just over nine months since the Local Community Radio Act was signed into law and interest among community groups wanting a station continues to grow. Hundreds of you answered our call to submit comments to the FCC around translators, demanding more community radio, not more of the same, and your support was invaluable.
We have traveled around the country and met with grassroots groups and media experts to better understand what groups need to be successful. In response we have created new webinars and materials to support groups in their efforts to get on air – see our community calendar.
There is no doubt that in the next 12-24 months, the media landscape will change. What that landscape looks like is up to all of us. We need engineers and outreach volunteers AND we need your financial support. Donate today for more stations tomorrow.Inside this issue:
- Country to FCC: Yes to More Community Radio
- Si Se Puede! Community Radio for Immigrants Rights
- New Webinars for New Stations
- Station Profile: RadiOpio
Country to FCC:Yes to More Community Radio
When the FCC asked the public to comment on a plan to reserve channels for low power radio in urban areas, the response was loud and clear: We need more community radio, in all of our cities and towns.
28 House Representatives wrote the FCC in support of more low power FM (LPFM) radio. This followed a letter from the four lead cosponsors of the Local Community Radio Act in both the House and Senate. read more...
Si Se Puede! Community Radio for Immigrants Rights
Nearly one million immigrants have been deported from the U.S. since President Obama took office, according to statistics from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, the agency within the Department of Homeland Security tasked with enforcing immigration policy. Across the country immigrants are being scapegoated for the nation's problems, and immigrant communities and families, both documented and undocumented, are being torn apart.Immigration stories are common in the news, but immigrants' unique voices and perspectives are underrepresented or totally absent from mainstream media. In the next several months, that can change. read more. .
This summer Prometheus staff had the pleasure of both attending several great media conferences and meeting with many amazing community radio stations all over the country. After meeting with leaders in the field, we gained a deeper understanding of the needs of groups organizing for a license. With this new insight, the Station Support team is excited to announce a series of additions to our instructional materials on the web. Thanks to the ideas and suggestions of many of our supporters, we are pleased to offer the next round of free webinars for community radio:
- Getting Your Organization Ready for LPFM, 9/22
- Transmitters, Antennae and Towers, 10/20
- Social Networking for Community Radio, 11/3
Station support will also begin working on the production of short instructional videos for those interested in Community Radio Stations which can easily be viewed online. These videos are meant to answer frequently asked questions and be distributed via social media. We have found that information is most successfully imparted to our supporters when delivered in a variety of different formats. To that end, look for more multimedia on our website.
Station Profile KOPO: RadiOpio
Twenty years ago, “community members, recognizing the many needs of local youth, got together and Paia Youth & Cultural Center was born,” said Laura Civitello, Program Director of KOPO-LP and youth program of radiOpio. The PYCC made its home in the last building standing after a tsunami swept away the rest of the neighborhood in 1946. Their location has since transformed from a fire-charred, graffiti-covered house to a beach-side recreational drop-in center with a skate park, cooking program, film and music production, computer lab, adventure/challenge program, and dedicated long-term staff. read more. . .
