Oregon reservation radio shows power of tiny station

http://www.kcuwradio.org/


Dec. 29, 2010, 3:19 p.m. PST                                          Associated Press   PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) — One of Bill Young's earliest memories is listening to Elsie Conner tell him stories about Coyote as he fell asleep.  As an adult, he held that memory dear, even though he couldn't remember the stories themselves.

Now he is revitalizing those stories by reading them on the airwaves. Sunday through Thursday, between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., Young's voice goes out on 104.5 FM to the Umatilla Indian Reservation. He reads stories by well-known authors, with their permission.  "I feel like I'm saying goodnight to all my neighbors," Young said.

Though Young has just started his show it's been on air for about eight weeks he hopes to build a library of stories that can be broadcast over and over, repeating the oral tradition via the radio waves. The show, called "Good Night Rez," is one of many broadcast on KCUW, the low-power FM radio station of the reservation.  Its signal stretches from near Wildhorse Resort & Casino almost to Highway 11. Sometimes it can be heard as far west as the Pendleton city limits and, on a good day, as far east as Cabbage Hill.

The signal is powered with 100 watts, about the same as a bright light bulb. It is centered in a back office of the tribal public safety building on Ti'mine Way, near the large Nixyaawii Governance Center. Along with Young's show, the station broadcasts national shows and shows produced by local volunteers with a love for music, storytelling and community.  Now, more places across the nation will have the opportunity to serve their communities as KCUW does.

The U.S. House and Senate recently passed the Local Community Radio Act. It now awaits the president's signature. The bill will allow for more stations like KCUW to get licensed and serve their local communities  The Prometheus Radio Project, which helped start KCUW in 2004, was a big proponent of the bill.

"A town without a community radio station is like a town without a library," Pete Tridish with Prometheus said in an announcement on the group's website. "Many a small town dreamer has successfully launched a low-power station, and built these tiny channels into vibrant town institutions that spotlight school board elections, breathe life into the local music scene, allow people to communicate in their native languages, and give youth an outlet to speak."

KCUW DJs Daisy Minthorn and Cindy Halfmoon both said they wouldn't be able to be involved with radio if it wasn't for KCUW. Young admitted he would likely be involved in radio in some way, but KCUW offers him the freedom to do what he loves.  And it's that freedom that makes KCUW unique.

Minthorn hosts The Quiet Storm, an R&B show allowing her to indulge in her favorite music.  "I love it," Minthorn said. "I just like music new stuff that's just come out, comparing it to older stuff. Mix it up, basically."  Minthorn grew up making mix tapes and giving them to friends. Developing a radio show was a "natural step" forward.

Minthorn comes off as a quiet person, speaking softly. She said it took a few months before she felt confident enough to add commentary to her music show. She's gotten more and more bold and now takes requests via Facebook. She usually makes up her playlist a few days before the show.  It is also a nice break from her day job in the tribal housing department and serving on the Nixyaawii school board. It gives her time to relax and do something different.

Cindy Halfmoon said she looks forward to working on her show, "C-Bear Revivals," every week.  "It's a lot like exercise" Halfmoon said. "You put it off, but when you get in here it feels good."  Unlike Minthorn's show, Halfmoon mixes music and talk to tackle serious topics such as suicide prevention, gang awareness, depression and breast cancer. She also looks into timely subjects such as elections or honoring veterans.

"I see topics on the news and bring them up if they're relevant to the community in how it affects the reservation," Halfmoon said. "I don't think I'll ever run out of ideas."  She pairs these discussions with music that runs with the theme.

"There's a song for every occasion," Halfmoon said =.  Aside from the fun of hosting a show, Halfmoon revels in the opportunity to help her community.  "I've been a taker all my life," she said. "It feels good to be a giver."

Young enjoys that same sense of community when he reads stories about Coyote. They are old lessons. Lessons that don't have to do with modern life, like work and business. It teaches the importance of a secure family, of having a good hunt, of being prepared for winter.

"It allows us to live in another view of the world," he said.

US Senate Joins House in Passing the Local Community Radio Act

WASHINGTON, DC – Today a bill to expand community radio nationwide – the Local Community Radio Act – passed the U.S. Senate, thanks to the bipartisan leadership of Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and John McCain (R-AZ). This follows Friday afternoon’s passage of the bill in the House of Representatives, led by Representatives Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Lee Terry (R-NE). The bill now awaits the President's signature.

These Congressional champions for community radio joined with the thousands of grassroots advocates and dozens of public interest groups who have fought for ten years to secure this victory for local media. In response to overwhelming grassroots pressure, Congress has given the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) a mandate to license thousands, of new community stations nationwide. This bill marks the first major legislative success for the growing movement for a more democratic media system in the U.S.

“A town without a community radio station is like a town without a library,” said Pete Tridish of the Prometheus Radio Project, the group which has led the fight to expand community radio for ten years. “Many a small town dreamer – starting with a few friends and bake sale cash – has successfully launched a low power station, and built these tiny channels into vibrant town institutions that spotlight school board elections, breathe life into the local music scene, allow people to communicate in their native languages, and give youth an outlet to speak.”

The Local Community Radio Act will expand the low power FM (LPFM) service created by the FCC in 2000 – a service the FCC created to address the shrinking diversity of voices on the radio dial. Over 800 LPFM stations, all locally owned and non-commercial, are already on the air. The stations are run by non-profit organizations, local governments, churches, schools, and emergency responders.

The bill repeals earlier legislation which had been backed by big broadcasters, including the National Association of Broadcasters. This legislation, the Radio Broadcast Preservation Act of 2000, limited LPFM radio to primarily rural areas. The broadcast lobby groups claimed that the new 100 watt stations could somehow create interference with their own stations, a claim disproven by a Congressionally-mandated study in 2003.

Congressional leaders worked for years to pass this legislation. As the clock wound down on the 111th Congress, they worked with the NAB to amend the bill to enshrine even stronger protections against interference and to ensure the prioritization of full power FM radio stations over low power stations.

Though the amendments to the bill will require some further work at the FCC, low power advocates celebrated the first chance in a decade for groups in cities, towns, and other communities to take their voices to the FM dial.

“After ten years of effort, a $2.2 million taxpayer-funded study, and new provisions to address this hypothetical interference, we are finally on our way to seeing new community radio stations across the U.S. This marks a beginning, not an end, to our work,” said Brandy Doyle, Policy Director for the Prometheus Radio Project. “For the first time, LPFM community radio has a chance to grow, and we’re ready to seize that opportunity.”

“All of us at UCC OC Inc. and at Prometheus express our incredible gratitude to Congressmen Mike Doyle and Lee Terry and Senators Maria Cantwell and John McCain for the leadership and counsel during this process,” said Cheryl Leanza, a board member of the Prometheus Radio Project and a Policy Advisor to the United Church of Christ, Office of Communication, Inc. “Without their work and the work of their committed staff we would not have come this far. At long last the 160 million Americans who have been deprived of the opportunity to apply for a local low power radio station will get a chance to be a part of the American media.”

"I am a leadership organizer from the ranks of the poor working with other low-wage workers – fighting for human rights in Maryland,” said Veronica Dorsey of the United Workers, a human rights organization in Baltimore. “Low power FM radio would allow the United Workers to expand the message of our End Poverty Radio show, which is currently only available on the internet. End Poverty Radio develops leaders and gives workers a way to tell their stories and be heard – and a low power FM station would reach a lot of people who do not have access to the internet. LPFM is a way for those in the community who are struggling to survive to hear stories that they can relate to, and to know that they are not alone in this struggle for human dignity. We can’t wait to work to build low power FM in communities like ours, so we can accomplish these goals."

“Civil rights groups and community organizations have wanted low power FM radio for years, and now the chance is here,” said Betty Yu, coordinator of the Media Action Grassroots Network, a national media justice network with members in many cities and communities that lost their chance to get low power FM radio stations. “From Seattle, Oakland, and Albuquerque to Minneapolis, San Antonio, Kentucky and Philadelphia, thousands of communities know that having access to our own slice of the dial means a tool to build our movements for justice. We have won something huge in Congress, but the fight is not over. Now we need to work at the FCC to make sure as many licenses as possible can be available in rural communities, towns and suburbs, and America's cities.”

LPFMs have saved lives in powerful storms when big broadcasts lose power or can’t serve local communities in the eye of the storm. WQRZ-LP in Bay St. Louis, MS received awards from President Bush and other organizations post Katrina in 2005, when one of the station operators swam across flood waters with fuel strapped to his back to keep his station on the air. The station proved so important that the Emergency Operations Center of Hancock County set up shop with the LPFM to serve the community after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Bipartisan Senators and House members have expressed support for the Local Community Radio Act as a vital way to expand emergency service media across our nation.

“I’m Frank Bluestein from Germantown, Tennessee, one of the several large suburban cities located just outside of Memphis. We have been fighting for the past 10 years to persuade Congress to give communities like ours the opportunity to establish a low power FM radio station. Our city wants to provide community and civic groups, students of all ages, local artists and others the power to communicate over their own LPFM channel,” said Frank Bluestein, a media teacher and Executive Producer of Germantown Community Television.

"Equally important for Germantown, we need a dedicated communication outlet that will serve the needs of our citizens in the event another tornado rips through town or if any kind of natural disaster hits,” continued Bluestein. “In this day and age, emergency management is a must for a city of our size and LPFM perfectly fits our needs. A low power FM radio station can stay on the air even if the power goes out. Low power FM saved lives during Katrina but strangely, the federal government is banning it from this part of Tennessee. That is not fair or wise. We have the right to be as safe as any other community in the US. After 10 years, now is the time! Congress has passed the Local Community Radio Act, and chances are so much greater that groups in towns like mine can apply for LPFM licenses. Germantown is ready to work here and at the FCC to make licenses for communities like ours possible.”

Grassroots leaders were key in helping Senators understand that expanding low power FM was important and urgent. “Our station provides some of the only local service to Gillette when big storms come through, and it puts great content on the air. That's why so many in our town think it is such a vital resource,” said Pastor Joel Wright of the First Presbyterian Church of Gillette, WY, licensee of KCOV-LP 95.7 FM . “Senators Barrasso and Enzi had concerns about expanding low power FM, but they heard from many Wyoming folks who want these stations, and dropped those concerns. Communities of faith and so many others can celebrate that we've jumped this big hurdle to more license being available in cities, smaller towns, and rural communities nationwide. I look forward to working with many other pastors and groups to launch their own wonderful new community voices.”

"The Media Mobilizing Project works with a huge diversity of leaders across Philadelphia -- from taxi drivers and immigrant communities to students and low wage workers," said Desi Burnette of Philadelphia's Media Mobilizing Project. "Our leaders have been lucky enough to produce multiple programs with WPEB-FM, 88.1 – bringing all of these communities together. But WPEB is a 1-watt station, only covering a few city blocks. Now with the passage of the Local Community Radio Act, Philadelphia has a much greater chance of getting at least one 100-watt station of its own.With low power FM in our community, poor and working people across this region would have an incredible tool to learn together, to understand their shared struggles and conditions, and to work to change them."

"Our low power FM radio station has allowed Guatemalan, Haitian, and many other hard-working immigrant farmworkers to communicate in their native languages, and to build the power for dignity and respect in the fields of Southwest Florida," said the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' Gerardo Reyes Chavez. "Our radio station, WCIW – Radio Consciencia – has developed womens' leadership, has allowed us to mobilize rapidly in crises, and has helped us transform not just our community but the hundreds of communities inspired by our struggle. We look forward to helping many other farmworkers learn how to build their own stations and how to expand justice on the FM dial."

"In the rural areas we serve and all across the country, low power FMs are poised to celebrate and preserve unique local culture," said Nick Szuberla of Appalshop, a group that uses media to preserve Appalachian culture and tradition while working to improve quality of life. "More low power FMs mean that the vibrant, beautiful, and vital voices of America's rural areas and small towns will shine – and it will mean sustainable local resources in times of crisis. Low power FM stations can stay on the air in storms and save thousands of lives. Congress and community radio advocates should be proud of the resources they've won for American communities."

“Our group of 150 volunteers here at the Chicago Independent Radio Project (CHIRP) is extremely pleased that the Local Community Radio Act has been passed by Congress, and will be signed into law by our fellow Chicagoan, President Obama,” said Shawn Campbell, a founder of CHIRP. “For three years, CHIRP volunteers and supporters have worked diligently toward the goal of being able to apply for a low power FM broadcast license, and we look forward to working with our national allies and the FCC to make sure new stations are licensed in large markets around the country, including Chicago.”

"For decades, the Esperanza Center has worked in San Antonio and beyond to bring people together across cultures, and to ensure the civil rights and economic justice of everyone," said Graciela Sanchez of the Esperanza Center for Peace and Justice in San Antonio. "Whether we are fighting for the right to publically protest or to save the water systems of our region, we need to communicate and coordinate to effectively organize. Low power FM in San Antonio can unite people across cultures and issues to work together to make this city better for everyone. We celebrate this victory for everyone and pledge to work with allies to win as many stations as possible for communities nationwide."

Over 10 years, hundreds of groups of all walks of life struggled to bring community radio stations to every community possible, and they cannot all be listed here. We would like to thank the coalition who worked weekly to move this mountain including: Free Press, United Church of Christ Office of Communication, Inc, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Media Access Project, the Future of Music Coalition, the Media and Democracy Coalition, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, the Benton Foundation, the Prometheus National Advisory Committee and Board of Directors.

We thank those who were instrumental in this final push including: Reclaim the Media, The Media Action Grassroots Network, New America Foundation, Chicago Independent Radio Project, MoveOn.org, Color of Change, the Christian Coalition, and the National Association of Evangelicals, and Spitfire Consulting. Our partners in supporting community media including the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and the Grassroots Radio Coalition, and Media Alliance, Pacifica, REC Networks, the Alliance for Community Media.

We thank those who have helped at key moments throughout these ten years including: United States Public Interest Research Group, Consumers Union, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, the United Methodist Church Office of Communication, the Indigo Girls, OK Go, Nicole Atkins, the Microradio List, Amherst Alliance, MIcroradio Implementation Project, Pacifica Radio, Common Frequency, Christian Community Broadcasters, KYES -TV, National Lawyers Guild Committee on Democratic Communications, Virginia Center for the Public Press, every FCC Commissioner since 1999 (except for Harold Furchgott Roth).

We thank our radio barnraising partners who have time and again shown up to represent the best of what LPFM can be: WGXC-FM in Hudson, New York with Free103point9; WMXP-LP in Greenville, South Carolina with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement; KPCN-LP in Woodburn, Oregon with Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste; WRFU-LP in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois with Radio Free Urbana; WXOJ-LP in Northampton, Massachusetts with Valley Free Radio; WRFN-LP in Pasquo, Tennessee with Radio Free Nashville; WSCA-LP in Portsmouth, New Hampshire with Portsmouth Community Radio; WCIW-LP in Immokalee, Florida with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers; KYRS-LP in Spokane, Washington with Thin Air Community Radio; KOCZ-LP in Opelousas, Louisiana with the Southern Development Foundation; KRBS-LP in Oroville, California with the Bird Street Media Project; and our very first radio barnraising with WRYR-LP in Deale, Maryland with South Arundel Citizens for Responsible Development.

“We've built community radio stations from coast to coast and around the country,” said Hannah Sassaman, a longtime organizer with the Prometheus Radio Project. ‘The faith and perseverance of low power FM's legislative champions and the thousands who pushed the Local Community Radio Act has paid off in incredible ways. After ten years of struggle, it's stunning to know that in the next years, the FCC will work to and begin licensing LPFMs in city neighborhoods, in suburbs and towns, and in rural areas. It's humbling to understand that new young people will gain a love of telling stories at the working end of a microphone or at home listening to their neighbors. And it's powerful to know that these stations will launch leaders in every walk of life to change their communities, and this country. We look forward to launching the next generation of community stations with you.”

To learn more about low power FM community radio, visit http://www.prometheusradio.org.

Prometheus Radio Barn Raising, Hudson, NY

The transmitter takes flight.

Andrew Lynn interviews Sakura Saunders as the Sanctuary for Independent Media covers the 
barnraising raising in Hudson, NY
.
Kaya of WGXC speaks with The Sanctuary for Independent Media
Prometheus' 12th Radio Barnraising   September 24th- 26th in Hudson, NY with WGXC: Hands on Radio.!

Workshop participants build transmitters and puppets for the parade.

More information: http://prometheusradio.org/node/2361  
WGXC'swebsite http://wgxc.org/events/2306

WGXC volunteers pouring over the barnraising schedule
Friday, Sept. 24

Noon-1 p.m.

Automation: The In/Visible Programmer

Nick Ring (WBCR)

Automation system keeps the music and the programming going even when you can’t have a live DJ in the studio. Learn how automation can help your station be on the air ‘round the clock.

Drawing out the Wisdom in Groups and Meetings

Cory Fischer-Hoffman (Prometheus), Andy Turner (Cornell Cooperative Extension/WGXC)

This workshop is designed to give people the opportunity to explore different tools for working with groups. Through participatory exercises, sharing, and reflections we will learn together about techniques that can be useful in any group, and especially when facilitating or leading workshops. Anyone who wants to begin to build on their skills for working with groups as well as experienced facilitators are welcome.

The Campaign for More Low Power Radio

Pete Tridish (Prometheus), Diane Foglizzo

The Local Community Radio Act is getting close to the finish line! The bill has only a few months to pass before the legislative session ends, and we would have to start from scratch. If you would like to start a community radio station in your town, or want your LPFM station to be treated with more respect by the government, this is the workshop for you! Learn more about how you can get involved to help pass the LPFM bill once and for all, and also view testimonials from the People Powered Radio Project.

The Nuts and Bolts of Building Your Base

Twa-le Abrahamson, Kaya Weidman (WGXC)

Is anyone listening? Facilitated discussion about strategies for diversifying listener and membership base for a community radio station.

Radio Theater Workshop

Andrew Joffe (WGXC)

Radio Theatre is a key component of any community radio station. station. Thespians and non-theatre people alike, come join us to help to produce a radio play for our opening broadcast on Sunday! You can then utilize all your radio drama experience to produce radio in your own communities.

3-4:45 p.m.

Build an Itty Bitty Transmitter, Part 1

Pete Tridish, Allan Gomez, Sharp Hall

This is a hands on workshop where we will build some of Tetsuo Kogawa’s “simplest transmitters.” These transmitters have 12 parts and run on a nine-volt battery. They have a microphone and can be hooked up to an audio source and broadcast up to about 30 feet, if the wind is blowing right. They are great for learning the building blocks of radio electronics. We will also work on slightly larger versions which will be used in the launch event.

Hosting a Show and Sounding Good

Karen Michel, Sakura Saunders

What’s the role of a radio host? How much is pre-scripted, how much extemporaneous, how much does it matter? Differences between dj-ing, talk, and news shows. Using your voice to create conversation and a connection with the audience: some voice exercises, some practice.

Prison Radio: Connecting Families

Nick Szuberla, Lillie Branch-Kennedy, Marcie Crim Thousand Kites

Join this exciting workshop that explores the power and impact of producing grassroots programming for those inside our nation’s prisons. Learn strategies for working with families and friends of prisoners in a process of creating powerful cultural and human rights programming that bring communities together. Participants will learn approaches to building local community support, as well as outreach strategies to prisoner families, corrections staff, and prisoners. Media examples, and stories, will be shared, along with a series of hands on exercises that will explore different approaches for creating programming for your station.

Fighting Poverty and Media Injustice

Aliza Dichter, Tina Sharpe, Antoine Haywood

What’s needed to solve poverty-related problems in our region, and what’s the media role? From phone costs and affordable internet to information access and media coverage, what are the issues for our neighbors struggling to become self-sufficient and improve their life conditions? What can we do as community media builders?

Saturday, Sept. 25

9:15 – 11 a.m.

Build an Itty Bitty Transmitter, Part 2

Pete Tridish, Tianna Kennedy (free103point9)

This is a hands on workshop where we will build some of Tetsuo Kogawa’s “simplest transmitters.” These transmitters have 12 parts and run on a nine-volt battery. They have a microphone and can be hooked up to an audio source and broadcast up to about 30 feet, if the wind is blowing right. They are great for learning the building blocks of radio electronics. We will also work on slightly larger versions which will be used in the launch event.

Covering the Distance: Rising to the Challenge of Rural News Coverage

Paul Smart (WGXC), Lisa Phillips

Rural news unfolds at its own pace in a somewhat archaic mix of monthly meetings, sudden news events, cultural activities, and corrosive rumors. Yet today’s listeners also want to hear the loud issues of the day reflected in what they hear. This seminar presentation by two veteran rural news editors and reporters, from both the print and radio worlds, will explore the ways in which rural population’s news needs are met in an entertaining and enlightening fashion, highlighting the many challenges inherent in this often-overlooked niche market. Facilitated discussion will expand the workshop’s horizons to engage participants’ questions and suggestions.

Interviewing and Recording for Community News

Anabel Khoo, Candace Mooers

Learn how to present a focused brief news/current affairs radio interview that inspires social change. It includes a section on pre-interviews, the difference between a topic and a focus, how to order your questions, and interviewer etiquette for allied media-makers. Also, learn how to capture the best sounds for radio using a digital recorder. Participants can attend the Digital Editing workshop to learn how to edit their pieces.

Legal Clinic for Non-commercial Broadcasters

Michael Couzens, Alan Korn

Key Legal Topics, Mainly Intended for Programmers and Hosts: Indecency – Safe Harbor – Underwriting Announcements – Political Broadcasting – Copyright – Program Ownership – Libel and Slander – FCC Record

Keeping and Compliance – Using the FCC Data Base and FCC Web Site.

The Long March to Community Media

DeeDee Halleck, Nicole Hummel

Community media can take many forms– from scroll painting singers who go village to village in India to laser graffiti against the World Bank in Korea. This workshop will see samples and discuss how people around the world communicate to their villages and barrios.

Listen Up!

Karen Michel, Adi Gevins

We are our own worst critics. In Listen Up! participants will bring work in progress, completed work, ideas to hear and discuss. Adi and Karen will also bring some pieces they think are transcendent radio to listen to and

feed from. Please note this workshop will not be at St. Mary’s but instead take place nearby at 348 Warren St Hudson, NY 12534

11:15 a.m.– 1 p.m.

Antenna Masts, Towers and Poles

Al Davis (WGXC), Alan Gomez

The most important factor in radio coverage is height of antenna. So how are you going to hold that thing up? Get the skinny on tall things.

Volunteer Love: Preventing Burnout

Aliza Dichter, Sandra Valentin

A strategy session to develop recommendations for the radio station and other groups on how to support and sustain each other as volunteers, plus ideas for groups and services that can help.

Oral History Workshop: Method and Practice

Suzanne Snider

The workshop will be a whirl-wind tour of all that oral history has to offer us. We’ll cover interview techniques, ethics, and oral history project design, with an eye/ear toward the exciting ways in which radio can make use of oral history and vice versa. We’ll discuss life histories, community histories, family histories, institutional histories, testimony, and other sub-categories, while looking at the range of subjects that oral history can address (public health, war crimes, gentrification, memory…). I’ll be introducing some innovative and unusual project designs, including the oral history chain letter.

Radio as a Tool to Organize and Build Community/Radio: una Herramienta para Construir Comunidad

Oscar Otzoy, John Jairo, Candace Mooers, Andalusia Knoll (Prometheus)

What is community radio’s role in community transformation? How are radio stations across the country using innovative programming to strengthen community organizing? In this bilingual session, Oscar Otzoy

from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers will speak about the role their LPFM station Radio Conciencia has played in their fight for economic justice, John Jairo from Radio Callejera will share stories about radio and immigrant rights and Candace Mooers will talk about the role radio plays in Anti-Poverty organizing in Canada. This discussion will be moderated by Andalusia Knoll of the Prometheus Radio Project. Participants will walk away prepared to utilize radio in their hometowns in ways that serve to catalyze community engagement and empowerment.

Start a Summer Radio Camp for Youth

Aaron Lakoff, Neil Griffith

This workshop will cover the ins and outs of creating a fun and enriching summer program for youth at your community radio station. For the last two years, CKUT radio in Montreal has been running week-long sessions for teen-agers to come in, get hands on experience, and go on the air with their own productions. The camp councilors from CKUT will share their experiences with this radio camp (and some audio clips of the kids’ productions too) in the hopes of inspiring other stations to start their own.

Get on FM: Legal and Tech Clinic

Gavin Dahl

Representatives from groups with FCC construction permits will have the opportunity to ask experienced engineers and attorneys all their legal and technical questions. What does the FCC think about this? How do you get your signal over a mountain?

1–2 p.m.

NCE Full Power Caucus

This will be an opportunity for new NCE Full Power stations to share their experiences applying for licenses, getting CP’s and getting on air including challenges, success stories and more in an informal lunch caucus setting.

2–3:45 p.m.

Building Your Station’s Web Presence

Galen Joseph-Hunter (free103point9), Gabriel Farrell (WGXC)

How do you integrate your website into your general station operations and engage your audience through it? How do you link it to social media, live and pre-recorded programs, community calendars and more. Listen to

a few case studies of stations similar to yours who have built themselves successful websites and online communities and are developing new programming using online technology.

Calm Down, Breath, Now Let’s Talk About the Conflict

Erubiel Valladares Carranza II, Melissa Roberts Weidman

This is a workshop that is interactive with attendees; Warning! high emotions, some profanity and a new way to learn and most importantly having fun while doing so. Conflict inevitably arises in every organization and

project, and radio stations are no exception! It’s how we deal with and address those conflicts that make the difference in whether they become crises that wear people out, or opportunities to learn and grow the relationships that make a project flourish. Come learn about conflict resolution techniques and communication strategies from some folks who’ve worked as mediators, and first hand from a member of KPCN in Woodburn, OR about conflicts that have arisen there and how they’ve dealt with them. This will be an interactive participatory workshop.

Organizing Your News Department

Vanessa Graber, Molly Stentz

To prepare newsroom producers and aspiring newsies for planning, producing, and leading an effective community news operation.

Making Policy that Works for Us

Brandy Doyle

How will communities access spectrum in the future? Who should be eligible for an LPFM license? What can we do to protect our stations from encroachment? This workshop will focus on the policy issues that matter most to this community. After tallying the votes for a participatory workshop agenda, we’ll facilitate a conversation about our shared priorities and policy goals.

Youth Radio

Emily Bennison

For teens interested in learning how to produce a radio show, this is the workshop for you! Brainstorm ideas for show segments, listen to examples from other youth producers, hear from experienced producers, and practice making radio.

4–5:45 p.m.

Intro to Audio

Stephanie Alarcon, Robin Collier

What are all these audio plugs and how do they work? How does my voice get from a microphone to speakers? How can I keep feedback from ruining my day, and why can I use headphones as a mic in a pinch? Come learn the basic science of sound, how to wire up a mixer, and how to troubleshoot common audio problems. We promise that by the end you’ll know an RCA cable from an XLR.

Behind the Scenes: Community Approaches to Radio Governance

Norm Stockwell, Sharmeen Khan

You got the license, the equipment and the people but how do you organize the station? This workshop will look at various ways of organizing the structure of your station, governance models and ways of getting things done. This workshop will also address how to create egalitarian and empowering stations when you have a combination of staff, volunteers and board members.

Digital Editing with Free Software/ Edicion Digital con Software Libre

Ana Martina, Vanessa Graber

In this workshop you’re going to experiment mixing and editing sounds, and words, the raw material radio!! Create your own audio collage with a free software open source, you don’t have to pay or have any brand computer to create your audio masterpiece! Close your eyes and open your ears. Ideal for those who attended the interviewing workshop who can then learn to edit their pieces.

En este taller vas a experimentar con mezclando y editando sonidos y palabras. Puedes crear su propio arte de colaje con software que es gratis. Sierra sus ojos y abran sus orejas. Este taller es ideal para los que van

a asistir al taller de intrevistas porque pueden aprender como editar sus piezas.

Inclusive Media in Divided Communities

Marcie Crim (WMMT)

This workshop will focus on the ways WMMT is in constant negotiations with staff, programmers, and listeners in order to be truly “fair and balanced” in an extremely polarized region.

Hacked FM Transmitters: ExiTrip

Ed Bear, Lea Bertucci (free103point9 Fellows)

For this workshop, we will teach participants to hack the iTrip Nano so it will work with audio inputs other than the iPod. By repurposing this device, we give new life to an otherwise obsolete generation of consumer electronics, expanding its potential for subversive and creative actions. No prior electronics experience is necessary.

¿No pasa naranja? La noticia explicada

Mariel Fiori (Bard College, WGXC)

Todo periodismo empieza con la noticia ¿Pero qué es la noticia? ¿Lo que se lee en los diarios? ¿Lo que el editor dice que es noticia? ¿Cómo se escribe una noticia? ¿Qué es la estructura de la pirámide invertida? A través de ejercicios prácticos y divertidos en el taller responderé a estas preguntas, y otras que puedan tener los participantes.

Sunday, Sept. 26

9:15-11 a.m.

Streaming and Podcasting

Ana Martina, Fred Nagel

In this workshop you are going to learn how to do audio streaming, that means to broadcast live to all listeners with access to internet in the world. Also you will set up your Podcast, so if listeners don’t have time to be in front of a computer, they can just download your show, and take it with them in their audio device.

Grassroots Fundraising Strategies

Twa-le Abrahamson, Norm Stockwell

Most community stations do it. So should you. For many stations, this is the biggest fundraising strategy and the way they acquire the most new members. When you’re trying to reach people, remember, you run a radio station. Get on the air and ask for what you need! We will provide an overview of the questions your group needs to ask and the preparations that need to be made before undertaking this. We will also have some short video clips from an on-air fund drive that has taken place a week before this training event at a community radio station in Spokane, WA.

We Begin by Listening: Methods of Transformative Community Organizing

Diana J Nucera (Allied Media Projects)

Allied Media Projects (AMP) has been bringing people together to share models for how community media can be used for community transformation. Over the past 12 years we have learned form our network that the best strategies are rooted in a set of shared principles. The most import of these principles is: “We begin by listening.” In this workshop we will use popular education to break down the principles that guide the AMP network and share examples of what these principles look like in practice.

Asuntos Comunitarios

Jose and Rosa Briceño

Asuntos Comunitarios. Una charla que toca estas temas: ¿Como podemos ayudar nuestra comunidades? ¿Como podemos usar este opportunidad del radio?

Brainwave Music

Zach Layton

An introduction to brainwave music, this workshop will introduce, display and sonify brainwave data. Participants will be given an opportunity to make music with their brainwaves, learn about the different rhythms that correspond to various states of relaxation and explore concepts of mental telepathy through the interface between radio transmission and biofeedback.

11:15 a.m.-1 p.m.

Studio Transmitter Links: How to Get the Audio From Here to There

Andy Gunn

The methods for sending audio from a radio studio to the transmitter site have expanded and changed over the years. As Plain Old Telephone Service fades in to history, what are our options for the future? What won’t break the bank? What can we do ourselves, and when do we have to pay for it?

Diversity and Power-Sharing at Community Radio Stations

Nan Rubin, Sharmeen Khan

Because community radio stations rely on a large and diverse cohort of volunteers, there is always a question of where the power rests over policy and programming decision-making. Often there are equal but conflicting interests jockeying for control, and entrenched positions which keep people away can be hard to alter. How can community radio stations address accessibility and diverse political interests that are empowering and fulfill the mandate for ‘alternative’ radio? This workshop will examine how different community radio stations approach diversity and anti-oppression through policy, practice and programming. Hear stories of workshops, programming decisions and other approaches, along with their outcomes -– both positive and negative -– in efforts to strengthen the responsiveness and access of various interest groups to a community voice.

Writing for Radio

Selina Musuta, Adi Gevins

Writing for radio’s special, not like writing for print, blog or TV. We’ll explore writing with sound, leading with the ear not the eye. We’ll discuss truthfulness vs. truthiness; balance, perspective, and voice. We’ll play with painting pictures, setting scenes, and presenting characters. We’ll also talk about the role & character of the reporter/narrator/host. Be ready for sharing: Discussion, Small Groups, and Exercises.

Experiencias de Radios Hispanas

Juan Basilio Sanchez

A traves de este taller los participantes podran exponer sus logros, sus obstaculos, el caracter participativo de los esfuerzos y los retos en un país, en el que la cantidad de medios de comunicacion, no se corresponden con la cantidad de hispanos recidentes.

Circuit Sniffing

Philip Stearns

Electronic devices silently emit gobs of electromagnetic energy, their signals leaking out into public space and permeating the world around us. In this workshop you’ll learn how to make “Circuit Sniffing” devices that let you literally listen to what is going on inside a circuit! Once we’ve put together our circuit sniffers, we’ll create an improvised musical performance using the electronic devices we have available to us in the workshop environment.

Young Producers Project

Jeremy Thal, GideonCrevoshay

In this workshop, young Hudsonites will develop a one-minute radio short, featuring music, poetry, and interviews. We’ll learn how to record, edit, and mix sounds using Ableton Live. This workshop is for youth only.

1-2 p.m.

LPFM Caucus

This will be an opportunity for Low Power FM stations to share experiences, challenges, success stories, jokes, stickers and more in an informal lunch caucus setting.

2-3 p.m.

PTFP Clinic

Nan Rubin

PTF-what? Interested in learning more about this federally funded program for public radio stations? PTFP expert Nan Rubin will be on hand to explain this funding opportunity and answer questions.

Insights Into Hispanics in the Hudson Valley

Mariel Fiori

Are you aware to what extent Hispanics influence life in our counties and what services and programs these Hispanics are being offered? Find out more on Sunday, September 26. Mariel Fiori, journalist and three time recipient of the Ippie award for best overall design from the New York Community Media Alliance, will be speaking both about her magazine, La Voz, as well as her insight into the Hispanic presence in the Hudson Valley.

FCC Hearings in Richmond VA 2003: Media Ownership

Commissioner Michael Copps organized hearings on media ownership, starting in 2003. This one was held in Richmond, Virginia. Local Filmmaker, Curator, James Parrish held his monthly Flicker meeting as a warm-up for the FCC hearing, with a video about media consolidation and presentations by many media activists who had come to Richmond for the occasion.

‘There is a narrative that’s missing’ Laura Flanders tells grassroots radio gathering

Calling the Obama administration "a veneer of new backed up by the same old same old," Flanders took shots across the political spectrum garnering bursts of applause with her characteristic mix of humor and breaking news.

She stressed that there is a failure in the media to report on important news from the perspective of the public, and insisted that those stories can be told better at the grassroots level. "There is a narrative that's missing," Flanders insisted. "Rupert Murdoch bought the narrative when he paid $5 billion for Wall Street Journal... And we are being played and played and played and played."

Her most recent book Blue Grit looked at an upsurge in grassroots activism during the previous presidential administration. She said Friday night that there was more progressive politics than anything reflected in the Democratic party. On keeping President Obama accountable to those who elected him she said, "We're not doing any better job than the civilians of Afghanistan."

She broke the news of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposing the elimination of $12 billion in California welfare spending, which she said would affect 1.4 million people. She talked about the controversial new climate bill, the 27 drilling licenses approved since the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and said sometimes Congressional hearings can make good viewing on CSPAN.  However, Flanders exclaimed, "It's not Congressional hearings we need into Massey or BP or Goldman Sachs. We need court hearings. We need some of these people taken away in chains."

Clearly, Flanders enjoyed the crowd's reactions to her key points, and she made some statements that are more politically radical than her image, including encouraging one pirate radio advocate that California's budget crisis could limit enforcement. However, her most outrageous statement came up near the end of the speech (available in full below).

"Why don't you do what Oklahoma wants to do with people who want abortions?" she asked rhetorically. "You can be strapped to a gurney and required to listen to the heartbeat of your fetus, as if this had never occurred to you before, that there was a heartbeat there. What if we strapped some derivatives traders into those stirrups, made them put on that gown, and listen to the high-pitched squeals of people who can't pay their mortgages? What if we strapped the folks who are responsible at British Petroleum and Halliburton and the Interior Secretary and forced them to listen to the pleas of people who have lost their entire livelihoods on the Gulf Coast?"

The crowd of volunteers and staff for commercial-free, independent radio stations around the continent cheered her on, enjoying the mood in the rundown old movie theater in downtown Garberville, CA.

Passion is not proprietary

Hosted by the Southern Humboldt County community radio station KMUD, the fifteenth annualGrassroots Radio Conference brought together hundreds of broadcast enthusiasts for a weekend of workshops and skill-shares. Topics included community journalism, legal compliance, technical wizardry, and social justice.

Maka Munoz of Palabra Radio and Ana Martina of El Otro Lado began their workshop on building a network for immigrant-rights radio content by asking attendees to share stories from home. The group of two dozen heard about inaccurate media portrayals, a controversial gang injunction, widespread profiling, and the separation of families by detention and deportation. Representatives from 15 immigrant radio projects will converge at the upcoming Allied Media Conference (June 17-20 in Detroit).

Pete Tridish and Maggie Avener of Prometheus Radio offered insight into how the airwaves are being reshaped in response to new technologies, and worked with the attendees to strategize about ensuring the grassroots has a place on tomorrow's spectrum. Rip Robbins of KSVR Mt Vernon, WA and Elizabeth Robinson KCSB Santa Barbara, CA supplied information on limits to on-air expression. Low-budget stations have to be careful to avoid sanctions from the FCC, the IRS or the law.

Compliance with radio royalty structures supporting musicians were explained by Clay Leander ofKPFA Berkeley and attorney Michael Couzens. SoundExchange collects royalties for labels and artists from webcasters. Congress has been lobbied hard about the Performance Rights Act, which seeks to force broadcasters to pay royalties to performers, not just songwriters and copyright holders.

David Pakman explained his production process, syndication, outreach, marketing and value added content. He is host and producer of Midweek Politics, a political talk show with 40 TV affiliates and 40 radio affiliates. He Dan Roberts has produced The Shortwave Report off-the-grid since 1997. He demonstrated the basic equipment he uses to share international perspectives gleaned from shortwave transmissions. His program airs on dozens of community radio affiliates in North America. Both programs are made available free online.

Govinda Dalton and Christina Aanestad of Mendocino County-based Earthcycles.net showed off their veggie oil-powered remote broadcasting studio. The converted school bus is home to studio equipment, LPFM antenna, satellite dish for web streaming uplink, wind turbine, solar panels, even a wood stove inside the bus. KMUD also tours inside their emergency-response broadcast trailer, which was parked outside conference headquarters all weekend.

Claude Marks of the Freedom Archives demonstrated projects that re-purpose historical archives of community radio and social justice movements. "Healthy programming has to have roots," he said. Community radio reporters were embedded in the movements of the fifties, sixties and seventies, not with the military. "It's a subjugated history," Marks says. "The movements were attacked. So last year we anticipated the repression of Black Panthers by producing our documentary Legacy of Torture and that meant that the press couldn't just run with the cops' story."

Cointelpro 101, the new film by the Freedom Archives, will debut at the US Social Forum (June 22-26 in Detroit). Marks is wary of society's short-term memory, seeking to protect the stories of uprisings and dissidence from misinformed representations. And he also hopes to inspire new generations of community journalists to learn of traditions of resistance and have the courage to risk getting into the line of fire to tell important stories. He says, "The history isn't all made in the studio or over the phone."

This audio is from RAW STORY's Gavin Dahl, uploaded May 16, 2010.

http://rawreplaymedia.com/media/2010/1005/LauraFlanders_GRC.mp3

People Powered Radio

Youth Radio in Albuquerque

This tape was made as part of the Prometheus Radio Making Waves tour.
Albuquerque, New Mexico is a hub of community media. In our time here we have got to meet with folks from QuoteUnquote, a community-run Public Access Television Station, youth radio- out of KUNM, and The Media Literacy Project and the Media Arts Collaborative Charter School. Youth from throughout Albuquerque are creating media, telling stories from their perspectives- and utilizing the media to discuss issues important to their communities.

In our workshops and presentations here we have focused on radio as tool for organizing and as a tool to solve problems. Participants brainstormed about using radio and community media to overcome discrimination towards Arab and Mexican people, combat drunk driving and pedestrian deaths, end dog fighting, preserve native languages and culture, stop police harassment, and more. Youth Radio in Albuquerque already focuses their radio program on social justice issues which they share through KUNM and also their blog. They are currently mobilizing and fundraising to send youth members to the Allied Media Conference.

Radio comunitaria en español demanda de la comunidad inmigrante en Denver, Colorado

http://makingwaves.prometheusradio.org/

Denver, Colorado

Ventajas de la radio: atraviesa murallas

Justo en las afuera de Denver, en Aurora, Colorado se encuentra uno de los Centros de Detención para Inmigrantes administrado por una empresa privada. Así como el programa de radio, 'Holla to the Hood', que se transmite en la radio WMMT en Kentucky cruza las paredes de la prisión, también la gente de Aurora tiene un programa que cruza las paredes de este centro de detención. Esta iniciativa nació después de que una mujer que está involucrada en la organización llamada Coloradenses por los Derechos de Inmigrantes, fue detenida allí y cuando salió, empezó un programa en el cual los detenidos pueden llamar y recibir apoyo emocional y apoyar a otras personas encarceladas. Ella alquila tiempo aire en una estación cristiana comercial ya que no hay estación para la comunidad en el área.

Making Waves: Transmitting Popular Power

Prometheus Radio Project - Palabra Radio - Project South
Outreach Tour: March- April 2010

Our Communication Rights
In the United States, similar to the majority of Latin American countries, big private corporations own information & communication technologies: telephone, television, radio, Internet, newspapers and magazines, etc. To obtain a commercial license, it is necessary to purchase a pre-existing full power station. This requires enormous upfront capital, which non-profit community groups do not have access too. The high cost of licenses and equipment, coupled with the for-profit climate of media prohibit ordinary people and community groups, especially poor people, women and people of color, from owning and controlling the media.
On the rare occasions that individuals within the corporate media tell a different story, they are often silenced by those who own and control the airwaves. For example, during the 2006 massive immigrant mobilizations, many commercial DJs who mobilized members of immigrant communities to participate in street marches were threatened and fired from radio stations.

Objectives of the Tour
• Promote the use of radio as a tool for participatory communication that facilitates community organizing.
With this tour, we would like to visit community stations that already exist and also meet with groups that want to use radio as a tool to organize for social justice. On this tour we will facilitate bilingual workshops on:
• Analysis of corporate media: In this workshop participants will analyze the media and discuss the impacts that media has on our daily lives. Through participatory exercises people will have an opportunity to experiment with creative forms of communication.
• Participatory Radio as a tool for community organizing: Making radio is more than transmitters and djays and strikes right in the heart of community organizing. This workshop helps groups to spell out the pieces-often invisible-that are need to construct participatory radio.
• Strategies for participatory communication: In this workshop participants will identify different models of communication and through collective processes identify the use and impact of each model for the organization.

We will also do some public presentations on the role of the media within resistance movements in Latin America and the United States and the fight to make the radio airwaves and the media in general more more fairly distributed in the United States.
www.prometheusradio.org – palabraradio.org – www.projectsouth.org
Prometheus Radio Project and the Campaign to Expand Low Power FM radio
Over the past decade, the Prometheus Radio Project has collaborated with numerous community organizations to start LPFM stations through “radio barnraisings”, which bring together hundreds of volunteers to build a station over a weekend. Two LPFM stations launched by these “barnraisings” have inspired Prometheus to partner with Palabra Radio to build a network of immigrant community radio stations through a national tour. Radio Movimiento, run by Northwest Tree-planters in Woodburn, Oregon, and Radio Conciencia, run by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Southwest Florida, are excellent examples of how communities can use their media to communicate, solve problems, preserve their language and cultural heritage and organize for economic human rights. Both stations broadcast a blend of cultural and informational programming focusing on worker and immigrant rights, and music from the worker’s hometowns in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Low Power Radio Licences
Throughout this tour, the Prometheus Radio project will be mobilizing people to support the Local Community Radio Act and to prepare to file applications for the next opportunity to apply for Low Power FM radio licenses from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
For the last 10 years, Prometheus has been leading the battle for people's access to the radio airwaves. The struggles is based in the principal belief that communication is a basic right. Now we are closer than we have ever been to a very important victory in the legislative campaign to pass The Local Community Radio Act (S592): which is a law that would give an opportunity to various community groups to obtain licenses for new Low Power FM radio stations. We believe that LPFMs can be vital tools and we want to assure that these licenses arrive to the hands of community organizations that will use them to build popular power and strengthen their communities.
Low Power radio stations transmit with up to 100 watts and have a range of approximately 3-5 miles. The license are free and are only allotted to non-profit groups.
Palabra Radio Network
Is a network of technical support and accompaniment of community radio projects in the southeast Mexico, Chile, and within immigrant communities in the united states. Our principle objective is to facilitate and accompany the process of appropriate technologies and the knowledge of organized groups that have a clear message to transmit using this means to organize their community and build social justice. The workshops promote the use of open-source software, and facilitate the documentation and systematization of the process of learning with the objective of creating and distributing materials.
As a part of the objectives of this tour, Palabra radio will be distributing and coordinating the realization of new spaces for spanish-language workshops at the upcoming Allied Media Conference from June 18- 20 in Detroit. This year's track will be composed of 4 workshops focussed on strengthening the work of community radio projects already underway in immigrant communities across the country- and the creation and articulation of a network of these radio projects.
Project South
Project South- the institute for the elimination of poverty and genocide will collaborate with Prometheus and Palabra Radio for the Southern portion of the tour. As a part of their on-going work in movement based infra-structure they have been developing communications tools that spark dialogue, convey vision, and inspire action. Their media justice work includes: Youth Speak Truth: Youth-led radio bi-weekly current affairs program on community radio station WRFG in Atlanta and Southern Regional Shared Newsletter: Southern Strategies, initiated by Highlander Research & Education Center process to produce and distribute a print and online joint newsletter vehicle for multiple organizations and communities in the South. Project South will also be mobilizing for the US Social Forum in Detroit June 22-26, 2010.
 prometheusradio.org– http://palabraradio.org  http://www.projectsouth.org