THE GRASSROOTS RADIO MOVEMENT IN THE U.S.
by Marty Durlin and Cathy Melio

More than audio outlets, volunteer-based community radio stations are
cultural institutions in their communities, reflecting the unique concerns
and passions of the people who live there. With a system based on openness
and collaboration, and diverse programming produced by volunteers and
funded by listeners, these stations are cornerstones of participatory
democracy, offering ordinary citizens the chance to exercise First
Amendment rights in a mass medium and audiences the opportunity to directly
support the programming that is of interest to them. Mission Statement,
Grassroots Radio Coalition: Our mission statement goes to the heart of what
we are about. A global coalition of community broadcasters, producers,
volunteers, activists, and community members, we are unified in our
commitment to the *community* in community radio, encouraging openness and
accountability in governance, as well as programming.

What is Grassroots Radio? Grassroots Radio is an offshoot of public radio,
characterized by community access and volunteer involvement in every aspect
of station operations. Reflecting the varied interests of their
communities, grassroots radio stations have diverse formats, including
eclectic music and information from a variety of sources. Some of the
programming comes via satellite or Internet from independent producers
around the country. By *independent,* we mean that the producers, for the
most part, are not affiliated with any large distribution or production
house, like National Public Radio (NPR) or Public Radio International
(PRI), and that the programs are not underwritten by corporate interests.

What sets grassroots radio apart is that local citizens are the
programmers, producers, and hosts of the programming. The average
grassroots community station will have anywhere from 40-100 citizens on the
air each week, sharing their many interests, musical knowledge, passions,
issues, concerns, ideas, and information with their communities. They have
been trained, often free of charge, in the art and craft of radio
production. Our grassroots radio stations are training grounds for radio
broadcasters, journalists, audio artists, and activists. In the culture of
the grassroots station, training should be a very conscious part of what a
community radio station does. The broadcast licenses, issued by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), are *non-commercial and educational*- two
important aspects to focus on when considering the diverging viewpoints in
terms of what community radioÌs primary mission is.

As stated in the mission statement, grassroots radio stations are more than
audio outlets; they actually help create community in their listening
areas. Civic participation fosters community and identity. There is magic
and power in the concept of community radio. In exercising their First
Amendment rights, people are bringing issues to the airwaves that are often
misrepresented, if represented at all.

Listeners are educated, uplifted, activated, enlightened, frustrated,
surprised, or empowered by grassroots radio programming. These grassroots
stations become a lifeline in a community. They are interactive radio
stations. With community members sharing their various interests over the
airwaves of our stations, we create programming schedules that no Program
Director could dream up. Our Program Directors work with volunteer
programming committees (usually elected by volunteers) to create our
broadcast schedules, with community input encouraged. Some stations have no
program directors, only program committees.

You can recognize a grassroots community station anywhere in the country.
There is a freshness you'll not hear elsewhere due largely to the variety
of voices and connections the station has with its community. The
non-commercial nature of these stations allow us independence uncommon in
media controlled by commercial or corporate interests. We strive for an
engaging, professional air sound without sacrificing individual
programmer's eccentricities. Sometimes the performances of inexperienced
programmers are rough at first, but the beauty of the very idea of
community radio comes across with each new voice you hear: people from the
community, ordinary citizens, are on the radio. And those new voices become
competent and creative broadcasters before our very ears.

Many of the mission statements of grassroots stations refer to *giving
voice to the voiceless,* *serving those not fully served by other broadcast
media,* *providing a place for community dialogue,* being *the voice of
many voices,* *exploring alternative issues,* *promoting freedom of
speech,* etc. Since its beginnings in the U.S. half a century ago,
grassroots community radio stations have been a magnet for progressive
causes and organizations, as well as political and artistic freedom. While
local programming is the backbone of community radio, another element that
connects grassroots stations are the independendently produced national
programs many of us broadcast, including Alternative Radio, New Dimensions,
This Way Out, Counterspin, TUC (Time of Useful Consciousness) Radio,
Loafer's Glory, Democracy Now!, WINGS (Women's International News Gathering
Service), National Native News, and Making Contact.

Along with local public affairs programming, these programs exemplify the
alternative programming which provides voices and issues not fully heard on
other broadcast media. These national programs connect the grassroots
stations, while our local programs ground us in our own communities. While
radio consultants find much to criticize about grassroots radio's often
*patchwork* programming, we realize that diversity is a strength, not a
weakness, and most people who support grassroots stations cite diversity of
programming as one of the reasons they contribute financially. The myth
often promulgated by radio consultants relates to how people *use* radio.
They tell us that people need to know what they'll find when they tune into
our stations.

We think it is insulting the intelligence of people to think that they can
not accept or appreciate variety of programming, especially at a station
owned by the community. We believe in expanding the audience for the
variety, not reducing the variety to expand the audience. We also broadcast
long format discussions, interviews and lectures which counter the
*soundbite* mentality of much of today's corporate media. Our stations
engage communities in dialogue about issues, local and global, and
encourage thought, debate, and action. Grassroots radio stations foster
community by sponsoring events on and off-air, events which bring community
members and other non-profits together. Musical events, lectures, fairs,
festivals, book & music sales, auctions, etc., are common fund-raisers for
grassroots stations. WERU FM's annual Full Circle Summer Fair and WMNF's
Tropical Heatwave bring together thousands of people in celebration of
community as well as creating awareness of the stations and their diverse
programming. KGNU's fund-raising lectures with speakers like Noam Chomsky
and Amy Goodman help reinforce the mission of the station while raising
funds and awareness. Most grassroots stations host events like this which
actually help create community.

Grassroots stations often have *community rooms* at their facilities, which
are used for meetings, events, and live on air concerts with studio
audiences in attendance. Important principles to maintaining a community
involved grassroots station are: participatory governance, with active
committees involved in decision-making, community and volunteer involvement
in all major decisions, openness on the air (no gag orders!), elected
volunteer representatives serving on the board of directors, open access to
the airwaves, active recruitment and ongoing training of volunteers,
commitment to diversity, consideration of those underserved by other
broadcast media, and diverse programming. Grassroots stations generally
have 100-200 volunteers each, depending on the size of the communities they
serve.

These volunteers become ambassadors for community radio in their broadcast
areas. The sense of ownership increases as the number of involved community
members increases. That is the crux of an important issue for grassroots
stations: the more people involved in your station, the better off you are.
If grassroots stations are to truly be cornerstones of participatory
democracy, we need to engage as many people as possible in our operations.
Grassroots radio fosters democracy, both in its programming and its
governance. When we make major decisions, our governance structure provides
plenty of time and forums for discussion which involve the community. We
broadcast call-in programs about important community issues and decisions,
as well as station issues and decisions. Our governance structure has
checks and balances built into it, to avoid some of the pitfalls we have
seen at our own stations and others. Grassroots stations are media outlets
which keep the public informed about bills and issues in national, state,
and local government which directly effect them. Our stations encourage
people to become more active citizens. The programming often fosters and
stimulates activism.

Grassroots stations facilitate and activate culture in their communities.
>From live radio drama to high school jazz bands, the airwaves are open for
the creative expression of all community members. Unhampered by commercial
interests, art can take place on the radio in areas with community radio
that is open and willing to be creative. Commercial interests do not
dictate what music gets airplay. You'll hear a wide range of music from all
parts of the world. You'll hear music produced by small labels and
independent artists that you are not hearing on other radio stations.
You'll hear live music and interviews with musicians regularly on
grassroots radio. Many musicians who travel the country feel welcome and at
home at grassroots stations. They appreciate the role our stations play in
helping their music to be heard.

Our stations will take chances with our programming that other types of
radio stations would never take. We broadcast original comedy and satire.
Our airwaves sing with poetry, drama, music, and dreams. People of all ages
become involved and excited about the fact that a community has its own
radio station. Grassroots stations are alive. Our public affairs programs
often awaken people to take action on issues, to get involved, sometimes to
start new organizations to work on specific issues, all inspired by the
programming on their local grassroots community radio station. Our stations
are advocates for other non-profits, conduits for their missions and
messages. Environmental organizations, social justice groups, students,
labor organizations, schools, and many alternative entities find that
grassroots stations will give them airtime when they want it, to get the
message out about their actions, meetings, events, etc. Grassroots stations
broadcast call-in programs on important topics, giving the listener a
chance to be heard, enabling community dialogue about topics that deserve
full discussion.

Some grassroots stations cover large areas and create cross pollination
between counties. Access is key in community radio, and there need to be
many entry points for that access. When there is a climate of
accessibility, you'll find that the community itself fosters access to the
airwaves. People think of their grassroots stations when issues come up
that they feel should be explored or aired, because they know that access
is not only possible there, but necessary, since much of the programming
comes from the community through letters, e-mail, phone calls, and visits
to the stations.

When people understand how grassroots radio is different from other media,
that understanding is shared and more community involvement results. When
people share their excitement about grassroots radio, they are usually
excited about the concept itself, about access to the airwaves, access to
training, access to information, access to free speech, and access to the
governing of the station. The fact that grassroots stations can be
competitive with radio stations with much larger budgets speaks well of
what that access represents. There is a wealth of knowledge, creativity,
and passion in every community. Grassroots radio helps a community share
those gifts in many ways.

When you assess the vital role these stations play in their communities,
you see that the impact is broad and deep, especially when you consider the
number of people involved in the grassroots stations on the air and behind
the scenes. Many times a person who calls in to a community radio program
or is on the air as a guest will become a volunteer and before long a
producer or programmer. In areas with grassroots radio, everyone knows
someone on the radio, or has been on the radio themselves, or will be...
The flexibility of roles is an interesting and important aspect of
grassroots radio. Individuals easily move in and out of the organization. A
listener may become a volunteer and later a board or staff member.
Volunteer programmers end up working on events or writing for our program
guides, some maintain our buildings and grounds.

The fact that these roles are so accessible and flexible demonstrates the
organic nature of these organizations as well as their ability to grow,
change, and flower in their communities. It also demonstrates how much
choice volunteers have for involvement, depending on their own interests.
Many of the volunteers are involved in other organizations, which they help
connect to the stations. True ownership by the people engages community in
a very real way. Grassroots stations have their problems, and challenges
are many, but if the structures and systems are in place to keep fostering
open, collaborative governance, it can be heartening to watch the changes
occur in these organizations.

When volunteers get involved, they are not usually aware at first just how
much they will participate in different levels of station operations, but
time and time again, volunteers are drawn to help these stations thrive by
giving more of their time and talents. Many people are drawn to the
stations to learn broadcasting and find themselves willingly becoming
involved in fundraising, governance, concert production, training, and many
of the other important tasks involved in running a grassroots station.
Volunteers serve on many different committees: programming, personnel,
development, finance, engineering, public affairs, and others. This active
participation of volunteers sets grassroots stations apart from other types
of radio stations.

How Grassroots Radio Came About

The Grassroots Radio movement in the U.S. grew organically within community
radio over the past ten years as it became evident that community radio was
falling prey to the negative forces of commercialization, corporatization,
and homogenization which have infiltrated so much of the media, including
public broadcasting. Under pressure from Congress to prove that public
media could compete in a commercial market, the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting (CPB) encouraged these trends by altering grant criteria and
policies, rewarding the creation of new funding streams (more and longer
underwriting announcements, entrepreneurial ventures and so forth), funding
programming which would appeal to a greater segment of the American public
(read *mainstreaming*), and encouraging consolidation to cut costs.

At the same time, CPB stopped giving the five percent credit for volunteer
hours that used to count as income (which gave volunteer-based stations
more CPB grant money), and began using Arbitron figures as one of the
measures for whether stations would even qualify for CPB funding. Because
they focus mostly on the bottom line, these policies threaten the very
foundation upon which community radio was built: citizen access to the
airwaves in a non-commercial, community owned and operated public radio
station, with volunteer power, and funded by listeners. By rewarding the
creation of new funding sources, including *enhancing* and increasing
underwriting and creating profit-making ventures, CPB shifted the burden of
financial support away from listeners and federal funds and toward the
commercial sector. By encouraging the use of focus groups, CPB fostered
programming that focused on *non-offensive* topics and formats, rather than
the educational programming that has been the cornerstone of public
broadcasting. By encouraging consolidation, CPB rewarded conglomerates,
bigger stations swallowing smaller, state networks competing with local
community stations, and non-local programming.

Staff of community radio stations operating under a grassroots,
volunteer-powered, consensus-oriented, community-involved model found
themselves gravitating to each other at public radio gatherings such as
conferences of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB), in
order to have discussions that were not happening in the workshops and
panels. There were at least two distinct models of community radio evident:
one which seemed to emulate the NPR model, and in fact some of those
stations broadcast NPR programming, and the other model, the grassroots
community model, committed to volunteers, access to the airwaves, and
alternative programming. The grassroots stations supported one another in
the commitment to free speech radio.

Two of those stations were KGNU FM of Boulder, Colorado, and WERU FM of
East Orland, Maine. As managers of these two stations, we decided to host
the first Grassroots Radio Conference together in Boulder in 1996 and
co-founded the Grassroots Radio Coalition (GRC) at that conference. We
recognized a need for grassroots staff, volunteers, producers, and
community members who care about keeping the *community* in community radio
have forums for discussion beyond what already existed. By sharing our
concerns over trends in public broadcasting, the grassroots stations were
able to articulate what some of the challenges were that we faced, as well
as acknowledge a desire to work together to deal with some of those
challenges.

Questions were arising about the direction of NFCB. One of the issues for
some stations was The Healthy Station Project conducted by NFCB. The
Healthy Station Project In the early nineties, NFCB began to push stations
towards a model of community radio driven by audience share and homogenized
programming, through a CPB funded initiative called The Healthy Station
Project (HSP). A similar project, The Blueprint Project was a precursor to
the HSP. WERU was one of the stations tapped for the Healthy Station
Project in 1993-94.

At that time, NFCB was under the direction of Lynn Chadwick, who later went
on to be the Executive Director of the Pacifica Foundation during its
ongoing crisis. WERU withstood the attack of the HSP by doing what any
truly healthy community station would do: opened up the dialogue for
discussion and debate among the entire community, having open meetings and
on-air call-in programs on the topic. WERU solicited listener input on the
air by asking *What Does Community Radio Mean to You?*  Many eloquent
letters were received elaborating exactly what the community valued about
*their* radio station.

Radio consultants were brought in during the HSP. They criticized the
eclectic programming and urged homogenization. The HSP tried to dismiss the
importance of volunteers by excluding them from decision-making and
discounting their importance as programmers.  It's measurements for
*health* were questionable if you took the public interest into
consideration. The listeners were kept informed of the HSP, even though the
project itself urged WERU to separate the *internal* from the *external.*
The project also favored closed door meetings which excluded volunteers and
some staff members.  WERU went against the grain of the HSP, exposed its
weaknesses and its skewed priorities, and ended up more committed to the
diverse programming and collaborative governance which the project had
ridiculed. NFCB never finished the HSP at WERU. Along with listeners, WERU
volunteers, staff, and board reiterated the commitment to measuring success
in more than dollars and numbers.

Any community station could garner more listeners by mainstreaming its
programming, but it would then no longer be community radio. For example,
the HSP favored carriage of *World Cafe,* a daily music program produced at
WXPN in Philadelphia. WERU resisted, because it had a fine local program of
eclectic music called *On The Wing,* hosted by five different volunteers
each week. It had the ability to bring local information within the music
program and to respond to listener input and community concerns. If all
community stations carried the *World Cafe* every day, think about the
number of community voices which would be displaced. Think about how that
would change the nature of those stations.

As part of the HSP, David LePage of NFCB also pushed for community stations
to hire *paid morning hosts* for *consistency.*  Again, grassroots stations
rejected this message. Our diverse volunteer morning hosts strive for a
consistent program format while sharing their own unique knowledge and
experiences with the listeners. Uniqueness of programming has always been a
hallmark of community radio.

The Grassroots Radio Conferences By 1996, enhanced underwriting, focus
groups, and Arbitron-based programming decisions had begun to alter the
landscape of community radio. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was passed
with little public discourse or debate and led the way to the corporate
monopolization of the media we are now experiencing. There were tremendous
external pressures on our stations, including technological changes,
increased competition and shifting political winds. The push towards
reducing the diversity of programming to increase listenership threatened
to reduce eclectic, diverse programming in community radio. The trend
towards more mainstream programming also threatened to water down the
strong political messages and voices which were already being marginalized
by the corporatization of community radio.

We hosted the first Grassroots Radio Conference in Boulder in 1996 to
provide a forum for discussion of these pressures on our stations, and
hopefully, to save some community stations from the rush to homogenize
programming and disempower volunteers -something that had already happened
at some community stations. So much is lost when a community station
restructures itself in response to consultants who favor mainstreaming.
While that community connection cannot be measured, it is safe to say that
it is not outweighed by profits of any size. The community has lost the
airwaves. We jokingly called it *invasion of the body snatchers* but this
was really no laughing matter. We also wanted to provide support and
information to new stations and stations in the planning stages so they
would know that they could operate their stations with volunteer power,
collaborative governance, and diverse programming. Perhaps the new
grassroots stations being started will provide a counterbalance to those
lost to homogenization and greed.

For some stations, the change from volunteer produced local programming to
homogenized and satellite-fed programming increased listenership and
revenue and was hailed as *success.*   Discussions at the Grassroots
conferences have led us to clarify how community radio can measure success
beyond the financial bottom line. We have explored the importance of being
non-commercial, of community access, of functioning as a training ground,
of creating community. In addition to KGNU of Boulder, Colorado, and WERU
of East Orland, Maine, some of the community stations working under the
grassroots model which have been involved in GRC since 1996 include WORT of
Madison, Wisconsin, KMUD of Garberville, California, WMNF of Tampa,
Florida, KCSB of Santa Barbara, California, KZMU of Moab, Utah, KUNM of
Albuquerque, New Mexico, KDUR of Durango, Colorado, and others.

These stations, plus independent producers of alternative programming,
former Pacifica staff and volunteers who had been embroiled in the early
stages of the Pacifica crisis, as well as members of AMARC (World
Association of Community Broadcasters), formed a core group of attendees at
the annual Grassroots Radio Conferences. The first year there were 85
participants, the second year more than 100, the third year 130, including
a tribal caucus of 20 Native American producers and managers, and the
fourth year there were 160 participants.

The first three Grassroots Radio Conferences (1996-98) were held in
Boulder, Colorado hosted by KGNU, and GRC4 took place in Bar Harbor, Maine
in 1999 hosted by WERU. GRC5 is scheduled for July 20-23, 2000, in Madison,
Wisconsin, hosted by WORT, a grassroots station celebrating its 25th
anniversary this year. These conferences foster dialogue about grassroots
issues that were often missing at NFCB conferences, issues like community
involvement, access, activism, and accountability in both programming and
governance. NFCB staff have also attended all grassroots radio conferences.
We believe that GRC has also helped NFCB pay more attention to these
issues.

GRC4 in Bar Harbor, Maine also had many participants from Canadian
Community Broadcasting, thanks to AMAR's involvement. To give you an idea
of the GRC dialogues, the following are some of the sessions and plenaries
from previous Grassroots conferences: Advocacy on Community Radio,
Programming as Outreach, Community Radio on the Internet and Beyond, The
Pacification of Public Radio, Managing a Volunteer Based Station, The
Musical Mission, Local News on a Shoestring, AMARC Update, Preserving
Culture, What Happens When Everything Goes Wrong: The KOOP Lesson, Training
Our Youth, Micropower Radio, Grassroots Underwriting, Collaborative
Decision-making, Volunteer Committees, Communications as a Human Right,
Media and Democracy, A-INFOS, The National Radio Project, Beyond Arbitron,
Beyond Pacifica, Recruiting and Training Volunteers, Environmental
Programming, Activism & Community Radio, Exploring Our Missions, Grassroots
Fundraising, Independent Producers Panel, Walking the Talk, and much more.

The Grassroots Radio Coalition supports micro-broadcasters and have had
their participation at our conferences since the beginning. We see
potential for collaboration rather than competition, and believe that with
the media monopoly and corporatization of everything else, the efforts to
give a few more crumbs of the airwaves to the people would be a victory for
all of us. As new community radio stations start up, they often find
micro-broadcasting a useful first step towards creating their stations.
Community stations could potentially be training grounds for
micro-broadcasters. We think it is unfortunate (and inaccurate) to call
micro-broadcasting "pirate radio" since they are not stealing anything, but
simply attempting to take back some of what rightfully belongs to the
public. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 might more accurately be called
"piracy." The grassroots stations have served as models for new community
radio stations seeking input about what direction to take as their stations
take shape.

Stations like KGNU, WERU, WORT, WMNF, KMUD, and others demonstrate that a
volunteer powered community radio station can thrive with eclectic
programming and collaborative governance. Grassroots Radio Conferences
continue to explore these questions: What does "non-commercial" mean in
this age of mega-mergers, enhanced underwriting, and increasing pressures
on community stations to be "successful?" What does "success" mean in terms
of grassroots broadcasting? What can we do to support each other,
independent producers, micro-broadcasters, and other media alternatives as
the pressures and fears of the corporate media bear down upon us? How can
our Boards, Community Advisory Boards, staffs, volunteers, committees,
communities, and systems function smoothly and fairly, with accountability
encouraged through the systems? What does the future hold for the
Grassroots Radio Coalition five years after its inception?

These questions and others will be addressed at GRC5 in Madison, Wisconsin
in July. The GRC provides an important context for community stations to
network and form alliances among stations, producers, staff, and volunteers
to help work for integrity in governance and programming. For us, it Ìs
about taking back more of the airwaves for public discourse and the common
good. It's about encouraging the community to be involved in the stations
operations. It's about openness on air, fostering freedom of speech,
discussion of important issues, inspiring creativity, and activating
community on many levels. It is about seeking out voices that are unheard,
underrepresented, oppressed, or suppressed. It is also about recognizing
that art and culture are vital human needs which help stimulate activism
and richness of experiences in a community.

Pacifica's Role in Grassroots Radio Most of the stations involved in GRC
are Pacifica Affiliates, carrying such programs as Pacifica Network News
and Democracy Now! We have discussed the Pacifica situation in terms of how
it was affecting our own stations and listeners, as well as its impact upon
freedom of speech, worker's rights, volunteer power and diversity of
programming. We have kept our listeners informed of events within the
Pacifica Network, as well as requesting that Pacifica itself cover the
crisis because it is news. As Pacifica Affiliates, we have seen managers
dismiss volunteers at some of the five Pacifica stations, we've seen
increasingly autocratic management, conflict with the union staff and the
union itself. We watched with horror and disbelief the takeover of KPFA in
Berkeley, which culminated in having armed guards in a pacifist community
radio station celebrating its fiftieth anniversary.

When Pacifica switched to the Ku Band for satellite distribution in 1996,
affiliates were offered a three year contract which included a "gag order,"
preventing the stations from broadcasting critical comments about Pacifica.
Since KGNU and WERU do not have gag orders at our own stations, we refused
to sign and negotiated a change in the contract to eliminate the gag order.
At the second Grassroots Radio Conference in Boulder in 1997, Pacifica
touted the potential of the Ku for enabling affiliates to distribute our
own local productions as well as share productions with each other. With
the total lack of communication from Pacifica to affiliates, even
discussing the possibility of uplinking our programs is impossible. We also
organized actions in response to the Pacifica crisis, such as "A Day
Without Pacifica," a one day affiliate boycott of Pacifica programming in
October of 1999, in which 16 Pacifica Affiliates nationwide participated.

With that action, we stressed the value of the programming provided by
Pacifica, particularly Democracy Now!, yet highlighted our concerns over
Pacifica management's many affronts to democracy, as well as Pacifica's
lack of accountability, communication, and consideration of affiliates
during the ongoing debacle. The events of last summer at KPFA in Berkeley
were profoundly disturbing to grassroots stations and their listeners, who
were kept informed of the events through our own local programming, as well
as other media outlets. For us, the Pacifica crisis did not simply appear
in 1999. We have been concerned and aware of problems at Pacifica for at
least five years previous to the explosive summer of 1999. We have also
been informing our listeners of these issues for at least the past five
years.

Many of us have come to question the value of Pacifica Network News since
the removal of news director Dan Coughlin (apparently precipitated by a
brief news report he aired about the October affiliates boycott) as well as
Verna Avery Brown's departure in response to Dan's dismissal. Most of us
support the Pacifica Stringer's Strike and many grassroots stations are
broadcasting Free Speech Radio News (produced by the striking journalists)
one day a week in place of PNN. Pacifica Affiliate KCSB has dropped PNN
altogether, and WORT has been involved in a "rent strike" against PNN. We
believe that some of the problems at Pacifica stem from the same place as
with the misguided "Healthy Station Project," namely the attempt to
increase audience while sacrificing just what makes community radio so rare
and valuable: access for the public, programming not heard elsewhere, and
accountability in governance.

Of course we all want to increase our audience, but not at the expense of
the mission of our stations. We believe that is what Pacifica has done. We
will continue to explore the future relationship of Grassroots Radio and
the Pacifica Network in Madison this summer at GRC5. What happens at
Pacifica affects all of us, and we need to pay attention and care about
what is going on there. At GRC4, we began a Pacifica Affiliates Listserv to
stay informed about developments at Pacifica and connected to the people
working hard to democratize Pacifica.

What's Next for GRC?  GRC is helping to strengthen the roots of grassroots
access to the airwaves. It is providing an opportunity for grassroots
broadcasters to come together, discuss important issues, and act
collectively on those issues. We have given a brief account of the
Grassroots Radio movement from our perspectives within community stations.
We feel great excitement about the convergence of alternative media, about
micro-broadcasting, Independent Media Centers, and the Internet. We hope to
encourage collaborations with new media. We feel that grassroots radio will
remain vital and relevant in the places it hasn't already been lost. We're
heartened by the activism and articulate messages coming from the people in
this country, as well as the formation of many new action networks.

As people organize, grassroots community radio is a natural tool for
spreading the messages of grassroots organizers, as it has always been.
Grassroots community radio stations are in a position to share information
in new ways thanks to new technology. No matter how many great new music
and news streams become available to the public, grassroots radio has a
niche all its own, set apart by the sheer number, variety, knowledge, and
talents of the community volunteers who make it all happen. It is also
unique because it is rooted in its community, it is radio with an open
door, an open door that regularly draws people in. GRC is optimistic about
its future and about the necessity of reclaiming more of the airwaves for
the public.

Because of webcasting, we are able to listen to other grassroots stations
from around the country, which has brought us to another level of kinship,
rather than only hearing those stations when visiting in their signal
areas. Hearing other grassroots stations helps us understand what the
unifying factors are as well as how connection to our own communities give
each station its own unique character, and why that matters.

What does the future hold for the Grassroots Radio Coalition? With the
fifth Grassroots Radio Conference approaching, all of our stations are
facing major issues, as always, but GRC has helped us strengthen our
connections to each other and to our mutual mission of making access to the
airwaves available to the public. GRC is an organizing tool for grassroots
radio and we will continue to explore the potential of collective action in
dealing with some of the challenges, as well as sharing creativity,
information, and resources. We are excited about new technologies and about
the convergence of various media. As the importance of the work of GRC
becomes clearer, we acknowledge that we must be aware of change in response
to the many changes around us, and be open to new efforts which will come
about in response to other needs and concerns which GRC is not addressing.
GRC has provided a necessary compliment and challenge to NFCB.

We are an alternative which evolved organically out of a need for an
alternative to an alternative. We have consciously stayed a "loose
coalition" for five years. At this juncture it is appropriate to fully
discuss the future of GRC in light of the many developments within media
since 1996, especially in reference to the Telecommunications Act of 1996
and its impact. We will once again have the collaborative discussion about
whether to formalize the Grassroots Radio Coalition in Madison, Wisconsin
at GRC5 in July, 2000. We will address the issues of diversity among GRC
participants and what we can do to ensure that people who are not seated at
the table will be.

How can we increase involvement by all underrepresented people at GRC, at
our stations, and in our programming? Grassroots community radio stations
are natural allies to micro-broadcasters, the Internet is a natural source
of information and connection for grassroots broadcasters, independent
media journalists and centers are collaborating with grassroots stations
and independent producers, and the Internet itself has enabled many
grassroots stations to go global. We'd like to see grassroots community
radio flourish and thrive, creating more space for dialogue in the public's
interest, not the corporation's interest. We'll continue to encourage
grassroots radio stations to speak out about the self censorship permeating
mainstream media, corporate control of media, and the need for increasing
the number of community voices heard in all media. People deserve and need
their own media, media that tells what is going on in the real world, not
just what is being bought and sold.

Grassroots radio will continue to work in collaboration with alternative
press, cable access television, Internet media, micro-broadcasters, and
other non-profits. We hope that the number of grassroots community stations
will increase with LPFM and other media, and that the exponential potential
of grassroots radio will be more fully realized. We close with a quote from
a promotional announcement in support of "grassroots" community radio: "I
hope you'll support this community radio station and if you do, maybe the
21st Century will be the Century of the Democratization of Technology. This
is Pete Seeger signing off and saying, "don't forget to make music
yourselves."

The airwaves are a precious natural resource, much of which has been given
away to commercialism, corporate control, and censorship. The Grassroots
Radio Coalition hopes to continue to provide a forum for shining a light on
this corruption, for not only preserving what has been saved thus far, but
to hopefully help create more public space on the airwaves, to, as Pete
Seeger says, "democratize technology" in small, but important ways.

Marty Durlin and Cathy Melio May 2000 Marty Durlin Cathy Melio KGNU FM WERU
host & producer P.O. Box 885 RR2, Box 55-4 Boulder, CO. Stockton Springs,
ME. 303-449-4885 207-567-3344 marty@kgnu.org cath@mint.net

Marty Durlin has been Station Manager of KGNU in Boulder, CO for the past
13 years. She began her career in public radio in the early 1970s in
Denver, and has also worked in commercial radio and as a newspaper
journalist and editor. Ms Durlin served on the board of the National
Federation of Community Broadcasters for four years, and is co-founder of
the Grassroots Radio Coalition. She has developed principles for effective
management of volunteer-based radio stations which she has taught at
numerous conferences and workshops around the country.

Cathy Melio is an artist, activist, radio producer, and educator. She was
co-founder of the Grassroots Radio Coalition in 1996 with Marty Durlin,
Station Manager of KGNU in Boulder, CO. She served on the staff of
community radio WERU in East Orland, ME since its inception in 1988, first
as Production Manager from 1988 -95 and then General Manager from 1995-1999
In addition to regular exhibitions of paintings, she hosts a weekly program
of music and information called ÏOff the CuffÓ on WERU, and is a professor
of communications at Unity College in Unity, Maine.