A new collaborative radio program produced by and for community radio stations in the Pacific Northwest has finally found its voice. After months of planning, Reclaim the Media hired community media producer Yuko Kodama to produce and anchor a pilot, completed in early April. The program has a home: KBCS radio has agreed to provide office and studio space. And, the show has a name: Listen Up Northwest.
You can listen to the MP3 by clicking here.
The pilot edition featured pieces contributed by four member station producers on an environmental initiative of the Samish Nation, homelessness in Seattle, arts and empowerment in women’s prisons, and remembering Japanese internment.
According to Reclaim the Media’s Jonathan Lawson, the new producer will focus on acquiring, assigning and editing content for the program while his administrative team will emphasis fundraising, promotion and outreach/station recruitment. Regular weekly production is under way. They hope to have 6 stations committed to broadcasting the program by May, doubling to 12 stations by fall 2008.
Station-based producers are invited to pitch stories and ideas that give a sense of regional identity. Lawson reports they’ve decided to shift some grant funds away from equipment and toward stipends to reward reporters whose stories make it into the program.
