Foundation Journal

GRC conference quilt Community radio producers, DJ's, advocates, organizers, engineers, and students came together for the 2011 Grassroots Radio Conference in Kansas City to share the joys and frustrations with producing independent, community-focused media. The vision of an informal national network of Community Radio stations is represented by the conference quilt that stitches together several radio station T-shirts. This vision, which references a dedication to local communities is as strong as ever, but masks the difficulty of maintaining resources and developing new programs. Representatives from stations as disparate as KPFA in San Francisco, KKFI in Kansas City, WORT in Madison, KOPN in Columbia, Missouri, KCSB in Santa Barbara, and many others spoke about the difficulty in attracting community organizations and individuals to produce their own programs. Joy Rushing with KOPN noted the lack of student involvement in the operations and programming of that station desp...

What a difference a year makes! After two years of financial difficulty which forced the community radio station to downsize the number of paid staff members, KKFI 90.1 FM has rebounded with some encouraging developments. The station worked for years to gain recognition for its strong community and education direction by applying for a federally-funded PTFP grant. The persistent focus on community action and local programming paid off with a $75,000 matching grant to replace the station's original transmitter. Along with the transmitter news, the station won kudos by it's selection as the host broadcaster for the 2011 Homelessness Marathon , a nationwide radio broadcast to 140 radio stations and 25 television channels. KKFI also was selected as the host for the 2011 Grassroots Radio Conference , which focuses on radio producers, programmers, and developers. KKFI is a place Kansas City area community organizations come to talk about their programs and activities. Engaging...