How many new LPFM stations will there be? That is one of the biggest questions on the mind of community radio supporters, especially since the FCC’s March ruling resolving the tension between processing the backlog of translator applications and saving room for new low-power stations. Radio World recently published a short survey of best guesses […]
After visiting probably 40 radio stations, I’ve come to expect to find certain artifacts at every station. As I wrote back in 2010, there are a whole bunch of items that I regularly see when I travel to college radio stations, including skull-themed paraphernalia. I frequently see sticker-covered cabinets, funky couches, pop culture artifacts (from […]
I’m always interested in visiting radio stations that defy the norm, which could mean that they play an unexpected genre or do experimental programming or are simply under the radar. As I plotted out my radio station field trip wish list in advance of my visit to Urbana-Champaign for the Grassroots Radio Conference (see Paul’s […]
Listeners to Free Speech Radio News may not realize that only two of the producers are in the same location. The rest of the staff–not just reporters and correspondents–are geographically dispersed and work together over the phone and internet. This is due to the grassroots nature of FSRN, but also because the organization’s tight finances […]
Over the summer I was in the Chicago and Urbana-Champaign area for a combined vacation/trip to the Grassroots Radio Conference. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to visit more radio stations and managed to tour six stations total in both Illinois and Indiana. My stops included three college radio stations, two community radio stations, and one […]
As college radio volunteers and DJs are getting settled into the new school year, it’s about time to start making hard choices about which college radio conferences to attend. October is a busy month, with both CMJ and College Broadcasters Inc. (CBI) hosting their annual conferences. Additionally, the 72-year-old Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) will be […]
There’s controversy at NPR over the service’s latest 100 best-ever teen novels list. 75,220 NPR listeners voted for their favorite young adult novels. The list quickly drew fire for its lack of diversity. “Only two—yes, two—books on the list are written about main characters of color,” noted reading and English teacher Shaker Laurie in a […]
On August 1, Little Miami Local Schools in Morrow, Ohio received word from the FCC that its renewal application for its nearly 42-year-old high school radio station WLMH 89.1 FM was being dismissed. In a letter from the FCC’s Media Bureau dated August 1, Little Miami Local Schools was informed that the since the station […]
Southern Oregon University and the Jefferson Public Radio Foundation appear to have come to terms after a bitter feud. Southern Oregon’s Mail Tribune reports that the deal they’ve hammered out gives SOU “sole control” of 22 radio stations in the region. The University says that the agreement was reached in mediation sessions over the course […]
One of these days I will conclude my Spinning Indie 50 State Tour, in which I profile college radio stations in every state in the country. The 17 college radio stations that I’ve featured thus far include stations in Arkansas, Wisconsin, Kansas, Louisiana, Alaska, North Dakota, Nevada, West Virginia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana, California, Nebraska, Idaho, […]
