A quarter century on, micropower pioneer Mbanna Kantako still broadcasts to Illinois capital
An uncompromising voice for human rights, unafraid to make unrestrained and harsh criticisms of local and federal officials, is still heard on the airwaves of Illinois capital city. Despite multiple letters and visits from the FCC over the years, the Springfield, Illinois unlicensed station Human Rights Radio celebrated its 25th anniversary last fall. This week […]
Radio Free Sarawak broadcasts independent voices to Malaysian Borneo
Al Jazeera reports on the unlicensed Radio Free Sarawak which is making itself a thorn in the side of the Malaysian government, broadcasting independent voices in the run-up to general elections in that country. Sarawak is a former British colony located on the island of Borneo. The station is operated by expatriates out of studios […]
Spinning Indie Radio Station Field Trip to WZRD in Chicago
On Friday I continued my Spinning Indie radio station field trip series with a visit to Northeastern Illinois University’s college radio station WZRD 88.3 FM. With this trip, I was happy to check another Chicago college radio station off my list of stations to visit. Last summer I toured WLUW 88.7 FM at Loyola University, […]
Are you still a radio deejay if you just text?
This Thursday the What is Radio conference begins in Portland, and Radio Survivor will be there. Both Jennifer Waits and I are presenting papers. Expect some blogging about the conferences activities too. My paper is titled “The rise of the radioText” deejay, and wonders out loud whether it is possible to function as a radio […]
FCC indecency proceeding filling up with pro-censorship comments
I’ve been keeping an eye on the Federal Communications Commission’s proceeding on its indecency rules. It’s not looking good, from a First Amendment standpoint. Most of the comments seem to support more censorship. Some background: The FCC has been asking for public feedback on how stringently to enforce its broadcast indecency regulations since the Supreme […]
Is AM revitalization a cover to force an all-digital transition?
We received a couple of comments on my post about the revitalization of AM radio pointing to pieces that make convincing arguments that it was not a mere suggestion made at NAB last week to go all-digital with HD Radio on AM. Rather, there are forces at work to put this into policy, contrary to […]
KZSU’s Day of Noise Features 24 hours of Live Experimental Music
Stanford University’s college radio station KZSU 90.1 FM is a few hours away from the conclusion of its 11th Day of Noise. Despite the “noise” moniker, the music being played today isn’t necessarily noisy or discordant. According to the KZSU website, the Day of Noise is “Twenty-four hours straight of live experimentation and improvisation, featuring […]
Dictator blocking your Internet? Try a Radiogram
One of my favorite correspondents has brought the Voice of America’s Radiogram project to my attention. The venture experiments with transmitting digital text and images via shortwave broadcasting. Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott is running the show with some technical assistance from my aforementioned contact: Bennett Kobb. “These experiments are intended to establish the best mode […]
Is AM radio worth revitalizing?
This week is the annual National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas, which brings thousands of broadcasters, manufacturers, producers and journalists together to talk about and see what’s next for broadcasting. Radio tends to play a very quiet second fiddle to television and video at this show. But this year radio’s own second fiddle, […]
WRIR Curates Live Performances at Local Shops for Record Store Day
Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independent record stores, will take place all over the world on Saturday, April 20th. Non-commercial radio and independent record stores often have a synergistic relationship, so it makes sense that they would be natural partners for this event. Over the years I’ve heard about interesting collaborations between radio […]