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What is Community Public Radio? | Print |  E-mail
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The answer varies quite a bit depending on your country of origin and your point of view.

 From wikipedia:

In the U.S., community radio stations are often staffed by volunteers and air a wide variety of programming. They are generally smaller than public radio outlets. Community radio stations are distinct from public radio in that most of their programming is locally produced by non-professional DJs and producers, where public radio tends to rely on more syndicated programming. Community stations often try to reduce their dependence on financial contributions from corporations in comparison with other public broadcasters. These stations are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission. Many community stations are licensed as full-power FM stations, while others - especially newer community stations - are licensed under low-power broadcasting rules.

The National Federation of Community Broadcasters formed in 1970 as an umbrella organization for community-oriented, non-commercial radio stations. The NFCB publishes handbooks for stations and lobbies on behalf of community radio at the federal level. The Grassroots Radio Coalition is a very loose coalition of stations that formed as a reaction against increasing commercialization of public radio and lack of support for volunteer-based stations (including in the NFCB). Some stations are part of both groups.

WNMC fits in pretty well by these general standards: we're staffed mostly by community volunteers, we're community oriented, we broadcast a wide variety of locally produced programming, etc. 

For some, though, community public radio MUST be a collective (managed & directed collectively by all the volunteers). WNMC is not collectively managed. The problem some see in the collective governance model is that listeners' interests are not properly represented, and collectively-run stations tend to be much more oriented toward the volunteers than toward the broader listenership.

Some say that community radio should be run by a community board exclusively dedicated to community media (rather than, say, an elected board of education, which would have priorities other than community media).

WNMC does not qualify as a community station by these stricter standards. But, in that the station is staffed by community volunteers, and its license is held by an elected board (the NMC Board of Trustees), and in its local character, WNMC has a pretty strong claim to the community radio mantle. 

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 02 January 2008 )
 
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