Local Media and the Importance of Community Radio

 

Sinclair media and other right-wing companies have made a business of buying up local tv and radio stations, depriving Americans of a true local voice in community affairs. Learn how you can start a community radio station.


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On KQED Forum there was is a great program on community radio, it’s potential in a community, and how you can set up a radio station in your town. 

Many people in rural American don’t realize that their local TV news station isn’t local at all, but rather part of a nationwide conglomerate, called Sinclair Media, a politically active company dedicated to spreading conservative ideology through local newscasts.

Local newspapers, likewise have all but disappeared or are mere shells with one page of local news wrapped around generic national content from a multinational media company.

That's where community radio comes in.

Who listens to the radio anymore? Well with internet streaming, even the smallest radio station can have a wordwide reach. Having a radio station identifies you with a community. 

I used to love riding through rural America and listening to the noontime "swap" talk on the radio the deejay would read the local listings of what people needed and what they had to give away, and who was having a yard sale. It had a real sense of community and place. I always loved that.

There is no reason that can't go away. Many radio stations still carry on this day with a real sense of place.

For example:

  • WBVI on Beaver Island, Michigan, which preserves the "Emerald Isle" tradition on an island that was once overtaken by a Mormon preacher Richard Strang, who had split from Brigham Young and led his flock to this Michigan instead of Utah.
  • WNMC in Traverse City,Michigan whose afternoon folk show often features artists who are in town performing at local venues.
  • KAFM Grand Junction, Colorado with the bluegrass sound of the West Slope of the Rockies
  • KVMR Nevada City, California

None of these stations are owned by Sinclar media and can be a source of great local news and community





Jurisdictional relevance: US

Legal Consumer - Piute County, UTLaw. The content of this article pertains to all US states and counties.