Foundation Journal

On September 30, 2013 KKFI 90.1 FM, a community radio in Kansas City operating for over 25 years, rolled out a way for listeners to follow archived shows using a simple, common approach. This article outlines the steps for other radio stations to do the same. Despite the trend of decreasing subscribers to printed newspapers there is still   strong interest in radio listening , though as many as 40% of people now choose a digital device instead of an AM/FM radio. The station realized that to connect with listeners we needed to move radio content to digital spaces like the website and podcast outlets. KKFI has for some time streamed the live radio signal to the Internet, enabling computer and mobile listeners to tune in from these devices. But many listeners asked for access to copies of the public affairs shows after the original broadcast. The radio station used a combination of paid and donated labor to develop an efficient and low-cost way to archive radio programs, in fac...

Class participants at recent Facebook and podcasting Communiversity courses share their struggles with social media. The spirit of Communiversity is for people with knowledge, experience, or skills to share that information with area residents. The real magic for me is to conduct the classes as more participatory than lecture format. Audio Podcasting Made Simple The podcasting class included an individual with Independent Filmmaker's Coalition of KC, a self-published author on bargain hunting, a music blogger, a hair stylist, a holistic health advocate with the KC Wellness Guide (kcwellnessguide.com), and a food sovereignity activist. The people in the class bring a variety of web skills -- from novices to seasoned surfer. This was the third time I taught the class. One thing I've noticed is how many people are active in an artistic endeavor as a musician, writer, or filmmaking -- is everyone an artist?! Each person has an interest in expressing themselves, but many of th...

Start-up information for the entire podcast series: A Paypal account – this is required for billing in support of your Liberated Syndication account. An Apple.com account, which is required to submit a podcast to the Apple iTunes Store, a popular podcast directory. Series title name: “Eco Radio KC” Series description – “A weekly public affairs program on KKFI-FM 90.1, Kansas City community radio” Image or logo of your program in JPEG 300x300 pixel size. Filename = Eco-Radio-FrogKKFI.jpg Tags or keywords to describe your show – community radio, public affairs, KKFI, environment, ecology, climate, health Podcast feed address - http://ecoradiokc.libsyn.com/rss Email address: ... Single podcast episode: Program title: “Urban Farmers Re-design Kansas City – KCCUA’s Annual Meeting – Death by Zoning” Program description – “Steve Mann welcomes Beth Low, the New Director of the Kansas City Food Policy Coalition, to talk about what happened at the Annual Urban Farmers meeting held ...

Never a dull moment. That's how I would describe the second session on using social media tools for non-profits because we had lots of good questions and discussion. We covered another set of social network/media tools -- Youtube Channel, Flickr for groups, podcasting -- then showcased The Pixel Project non-profit group's global campaign to reduce violence against women. The Pixel Project uses social networking as a crucial means to fulfill their group's cause, which is why it was showcased last night. One of the take-aways from the Communiversity class is that there are different levels to using social media. The first level might be "just starting," when you're unsure of how the social networking tool works and skeptical about the value to your organization. Another level might be "one-way communication" to your group's followers. Many groups use Twitter to send information about events, but don't use it to engage supporters. The next lev...

Start-up information for the entire podcast series: A Paypal account – this is required for billing in support of your Liberated Syndication account. An Apple.com account, which is required to submit a podcast to the Apple iTunes Store, a popular podcast directory. Series title name: “Tell Somebody” Series description – “A weekly public affairs program on KKFI-FM 90.1, Kansas City community radio” Image or logo of your program in JPEG 300x300 pixel size. Filename = tslogopod.jpg Tags or keywords to describe your show – community radio, public affairs, KKFI, alternative radio, alternative media, media reform Podcast feed address - http://tellsomebody.libsyn.com/rss Email address: tellsomebodyradio [at] yahoo [dot] com Single podcast episode: Program title: “Ray McGovern Discusses the Gaza Crisis” Program description – “This week's ‘Tell Somebody’ radio program features a continuation of a conversation with Ray McGovern, former CIA official and now political activist.” Im...