Award Winning Worldwide Radio App

The Radio Garden app - developed by Jonathan Puckey with a small team in Amsterdam and community radio advocates in Europe - is a free app for iPhones and Android devices that brings in tens of thousands of radio stations broadcasting live 24 hours a day.

It's like the search button on a car radio. The screen is covered by thousands of little green dots, each representing a different station.

Get the free app here

Live and Local - KALW

Excerpted from article by JoAnn Mar of KALW-FM San Francisco:

Twenty years ago, some public radio consultants from Washington came to the Bay Area and proposed to have KALW consolidated into one of three big media conglomerates operating in California through a local management agreement. But the San Francisco school board rejected the offer. KALW was allowed to remain independent and was able to thrive for many years thereafter, despite the consultants’ characterization of KALW as a “failed” station.

And now as it approaches its 80th anniversary, KALW finds itself at another crossroads. Can it continue to be successful as a scrappy, independent community public radio station? Or will KALW follow in the footsteps of those other small public radio stations and become another homogenized, robotic, automated station, relying mostly on syndicated network programs and outside consultants with minimal live, local, original content and few human beings on-site?

The key to success is to build on what has proven successful: harnessing the talents of senior staff members who have deep connections with the local community and collaborating with them. There are years of collective wisdom and a deep well of experience that could be tapped.

Place the focus on increasing live, original, local programming that can’t be replicated online. Recruit younger talent from the community to help out and carry on the spirit of community-based public radio. That remains the heart and soul of staying connected with local communities and truly serving the public interest.

Community Stations Share COVID Stories

Annual Grassroots Radio Conference addresses the pandemic’s impact across community radio in the USA.

Flash back to fall 2019 at a community station abuzz with activity. A DJ is in the studio, spinning records, while volunteers socialize, work in production studios and assemble donor gift packages. Training is underway for new recruits and anticipation is high for a co-promoted concert at a nearby venue. Hugs are exchanged along with “hellos” and “goodbyes.”

For much of 2020 most of these activities were just a memory, as stations adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic.

What does community radio look like when the community isn’t necessarily allowed inside the station? How are stations that pride themselves on 24/7 live in-studio DJs doing radio when they must restrict access to their buildings? And how are volunteer-reliant stations adjusting to socially distanced engagement?

The Grassroots Radio Conference confronted these questions in October. Held virtually, the event was hosted by ARTxFM, otherwise known as WXOX(LP) in Louisville, Ky.

See their results here: https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/programming-and-sales/commu...

Talk Radio in USA Fuels Conservative Politics

Author Paul Matzko writing in the opinion section of the New York Times:

Talk radio may face an aging audience, a decline in ad revenue and competition from new mass media forms like podcasts, but there are still millions of Americans whose politics are shaped by what they listen to on talk radio all day, every day. The dedicated fan can listen to nothing but conservative talk radio all day, every day of the week, and never catch up.

As Jim Derych, the author of “Confessions of a Former Dittohead,” put it, Rush Limbaugh “makes you feel like an insider — like you know what’s going on politically, and everyone else is an idiot.” There is power in that feeling, the proposition that you and the radio elect have been awakened to a hidden truth about the real way the world works while the rest of the American “sheeple” slumber.

Yet talk radio still somehow manages to fly below the national media radar. In large part, that is because media consumption pattens are segregated by class. If you visit a carpentry shop or factory floor, or hitch a ride with a long-haul truck driver, odds are that talk radio is a fixture of the aural landscape. But many white-collar workers, journalists included, struggle to understand the reach of talk radio because they don’t listen to it, and don’t know anyone who does.

Talk radio is not bounded by physical space. It can follow listeners wherever they go, from the car radio while commuting to the radio resting on the workbench to a radio app on a smartphone. It has the potential to dominate the construction of a person’s worldview in a way that other media simply cannot (until, perhaps, the advent of its white-collar cousin, the podcast).

In Point Reyes, All Ears Stay Glued to Local Radio

"We know that people totally rely on the radio," said Amanda Eichstaedt, general manager of KWMR, the local public radio station that serves Point Reyes, California. In this territory, where cellphones are spotty on a good day, the danger of deadly wildfire is ever present.

Since fire broke out here after an afternoon lightening strike on Aug. 18, Eichstaedt has turned the one-studio station into a vital source of information for the remote outpost and the rural towns that surround it. In a place where local news is otherwise a once-weekly paper or a conversation at the post office or local market, the radio station has long been a trusted source of knowledge when emergencies hit.

Across California, stations like KWMR fill a vital vacuum during crises, especially fast-moving wildfires. With their local knowledge — from where exactly back roads are located to quick access to the fire chief — these broadcasters are increasingly finding themselves to be crucial authorities in the worst moments, when power is out, danger is high and a radio wavelength floating through the air is a lifeline.

Since it was founded in the late 1990s, KWMR has "been a really important part of our community life," said Dewey Livingston, a local historian who has been interviewed on the station many times. "But it is especially noteworthy during times like this ... they are the ones you can go to for information."

(Los Angeles Times)

World Refugee Day 2020 Radio Marathon

Soundroutes is back!

To support World Refugee Day, they will hold a radio and web marathon on June 20th.

100 USA Community Radios to Simulcast Message

The National Federation of Community Broadcasters has organized a simulcast among nearly 100 member stations to send a message about racial injustice and police brutality in the USA. The event is organized as a way to bring the community media world together to mark the tragic events of the last two weeks.

On Tuesday, June 9, the radio stations will recognize the funeral of George Floyd by playing together Sam Cooke’s anthem “A Change is Gonna Come.” Radios wishing to participate can contact NFCB to be added to the list.

Global Dialogues on Community Media in the Post-Pandemic World

The UNESCO Chair on Community Media announced the launch of a series of online Global Dialogues on Community Media in the Post-Pandemic World. Tune in from mid-June for informative and engaging conversations with practitioners, advocates, and network representatives from Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Americas.

IJP CEE Bursary

The German non-profit organization IJP (International Journalists’ Programmes) would like to announce its second special fellowship for journalists interested in reporting in the field of climate and energy.

Journalists, who are granted the climate & energy bursary, will receive a deeper and more detailed insight into the field and get the opportunity to work and specialize topically and internationally alike. They are also welcome to pursue a transnational research on a common topic during their fellowship.

The bursary offers this opportunity for ten journalists from Germany, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania with a passion for climate and energy topics.

The scholarship programme starts with a thematic introductory conference. Subsequently, the participating journalists will begin their stay at their respective journalistic host organizations. Journalists from Germany will stay at a host media in one of the other countries for the time of the scholarship while the journalists from those countries will spend their time in a media in Germany. These media are selected by the IJP in consideration of the interests, qualifications and wishes of the fellows.

While being embedded partly in the workflow of the host media, the scholars will work on their own journalistic projects and mainly report for media in their home country. During the six to eight weeks of the stay, the journalists will get to know the host country better, establish contacts to local journalists and deepen his or her knowledge about climate and energy issues.

Grant Information Each fellow will receive a stipend of 3.800 Euro to help cover travel costs, accommodation and personal expenses during his or her stay. The participant must cover any additional costs.

Criteria The application is open to any journalist from the above mentioned countries, working for any print, radio, online or TV media (employed or freelancer). 

Fluency in German or one of the other countries’ official languages is not expected, though helpful for successful application. At least workable knowledge of English is essential.

Applications should include:

  • CV, incl. photograph
  • letter of recommendation by an editor or supervisor, supporting the application
  • four written samples of work (TV and radio journalists are asked to send a comprehensive list of contributions).
  • scholars from Germany should select three media and countries they would like to stay and journalists from the other countries should come up with at least three possible host media in Germany they would be interested being located at.

For more information, visit https://www.ijp.org/en/fellowships/centraleasterneuropean/

Radio Stations That Lift Spirits in Hospitals

Volunteer-run broadcasters are a British tradition. The New York Times reports that among the hundreds of community radios in the UK, hospital radio stations are one of the less well-known: tiny operations, staffed by volunteers, that you would never know existed unless you’d been a patient here.

Despite the proliferation of technologies for listening to audio, hospital radio has ironically become more popular among patients, due to its unique position for personalization. Lisa Wells, a nurse treating Covid-19 patients at the Queen’s Medical Center in Nottingham, said in an email that she had been happy to collect requests because the radio was good for patients’ families as much as for the patients themselves. It gave people peace of mind “that somebody’s just gone that extra mile to personalize what is such a dreadful time,” she said.

 

Local Media Matters

Journalists, citizens, and politicians are calling for any future stimulus package for the Covid-19 crisis to include funding for local journalism. Advocates argue that communities across the U.S. are at risk of losing their source of news because of the pandemic. Commercial, public service and community broadcasters are essential sources of news and information for the communities they serve, offering a variety of viewpoints, and are often considered more trustworthy than social media.

 

Community radio WORT in Madison, Wi. offers a typical example. WORT local newscasts present alternative viewpoints – both in the sources it uses and the stories it covers. Newscasts include local and state news, weather, and regular features. It also aims to give underrepresented people a voice.

RadioExpert recognizes the tremendous value that local news provides to communities, and supports the inclusion of local media in future funding initiatives.

The Value of Student Radio

As the media landscape evolves and embraces digital convergence, so too have innovative student radios. These organizations are expanding their output to include text, images and video. Student Radio R in Brno, Czech Republic embodies this approach, and is continually evolving to meet the interests and media habits of the upcoming generation.

Another important element of assuring the future of student radio is to maintain adequate financial, political and social sustainability. At WSUM student radio at the University of Wisconsin, general manager David Black says the key is to focus on the mission statement; making sure everyone agrees and promotes it accordingly.

Whether through innovative programming, or focusing on sustainability, student radio in all it's forms must adapt and evolve to continue providing a real training ground for future professionals in media.

Radio Gains in Diversity in Most of Africa

The Center for Media, Data and Society reports that the radio sector has been thriving in Africa in recent years, significantly diversifying in terms of ownership, content and access platforms. "Having a diverse radio framework helps deepen democracy" said Lumko Mtimde, former head of the Media Diversity and Development Agency (MDDA) in South Africa.

UNESCO Chair on Community Media

Largest US Broadcaster Cuts Local Radio Again

The largest radio conglomerate in the country, iHeartMedia, initiated a round of mass layoffs this week, cutting enough people that one former on-air host described Tuesday as “one of the worst days in on-air radio history.” The layoffs were concentrated in small and medium markets, where staffs had already been reduced, striking another major blow to local radio - according to an article in Rolling Stone magazine.

“We’ve gotten so far from local owners that radio is almost unrecognizable now,” said Karen Slade, vice president and general manager of the independently owned KJLH in Los Angeles, in a 2019 interview. “It’s dominated by massive corporate structures, and the communities that we need to service get lost in the shuffle between the giants.”

One former employee is quoted: “Any smaller to medium market in the country lost, in all likelihood, most, if not all, of their on-air staff. As far as the music stations go, there’s not a single local talent [left]."

iHeartMedia was able to wipe away much of its local presence thanks to a recent decision made by the Federal Communications Commission. In 2017, the FCC succeeded in getting rid of “the main studio rule,” meaning that stations were no longer required to maintain a studio or any staff near the location of their broadcast license.