The Grassroots Radio Coalition is a coalition of

community media Community media are any form of media that function in service of or by a community. It is the rise of all kinds of alternative, oppositional, participatory and collaborative media practices that have developed in the journalistic context of ‘comm ...

activists. The GRC has a mailing list and holds a conference every year, but has so far not incorporated. There are no dues, no hierarchy and no bylaws. At the GRC11 in 2006, conference attendees decided to establish a steering committee to help coordinate coalition issues.

Mission statement

The coalition views itself as an offshoot of public radio that emphasizes community access and volunteer involvement in radio station operations. The group's Mission Statement reflects the view that grassroots stations are more than "audio outlets":

History

The Grassroots Radio Coalition was born in 1996, as a reaction against increasing commercialization of public radio and lack of support for volunteer-based stations. Though not "founders" per se, Marty Durlin of

KGNU KGNU (1390 AM) & KGNU-FM (88.5 FM) are a pair of community radio stations licensed to Denver and Boulder, Colorado respectively. KGNU is owned by Boulder Community Broadcast Association, Inc. History KFML 1390 AM was first licensed on April 4, ...

and Cathy Melio of

WERU WERU-FM (89.9 MHz) is a noncommercial, listener-sponsored community radio station licensed to the town of Blue Hill, Maine. It is owned by the Salt Pond Community Broadcasting Company. WERU-FM has studios in East Orland and its transmitter is ...

are generally recognized as "midwives" of the GRC. They have said that the idea of the GRC was ready to be born; they just helped make it happen. Conferences have been held each summer since 1996, organized and hosted by one or two grassroots radio stations or organizations each year. * 1996: presented by KGNU and WERU, hosted by KGNU in

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. * 1997 * 1998: presented by KGNU and WERU, hosted by KGNU in Boulder, Colorado from July 23–25. * 1999: presented by KGNU and WERU, hosted by WERU in

Bar Harbor Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. During the summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination and, until a catastrophic fire i ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

from August 20–23. * 2000: hosted by

WORT Wort () is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars, the most important being maltose and maltotriose, that will be fermented by the brewing yeast to produce alcohol. Wort ...

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in July 2000. * 2001: hosted by KGNU in Boulder, Colorado from July 13–15. * 2002: hosted by

WJFF WJFF (90.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported public radio radio station, station city of license, licensed to Jeffersonville, New York and serving the Catskill Mountains of New York (state), New York and Northeast Penn ...

in Jeffersonville, New York in August 2002. * 2003: hosted by KZMU in Moab, Utah from June 12–15. * 2004: hosted by KCSB in Santa Barbara, California from June 24–27. * 2005: hosted by

Prometheus Radio Project The Prometheus Radio Project is a non-profit advocacy and community organizing group with a mission to resist corporate media consolidation and radio homogenization in the United States.Hill, Ricky. "Prometheus Radio Project (United States)." ''En ...

in tandem with a barnraising for

WXOJ-LP WXOJ-LP (103.3 FM, "Valley Free Radio") is a non-profit, independent community radio station licensed to serve Northampton, Massachusetts as well as the central Pioneer Valley region. The station was first licensed to Foundation For Media Educati ...

, a new station in Northampton, MA, from August 5–7. * 2006: hosted by

in Madison, Wisconsin from July 28–30. * 2007: hosted by

WUML WUML (91.5 MHz) is a non-commercial FM college radio station licensed to Lowell, Massachusetts, United States. The station is owned by the University of Massachusetts Lowell. The transmitter is atop Fox Hall on Pawtucket Street in Lowell. Histo ...

in Lowell, Massachusetts from June 21–24. * 2008: hosted by

KBOO KBOO is a non-profit organization, listener-funded FM Community radio station broadcasting from Portland, Oregon. The station's mission is to serve groups in its listening area who are underrepresented on other local radio stations and to provi ...

in Portland, Oregon in July. * 2010: hosted by

KMUD KMUD (91.1 FM) is a community radio station broadcasting a variety format. Licensed to Garberville, California, the station serves Humboldt, Northern Mendocino, and western Trinity counties in the North Coast region. KMUD is owned by Redwood C ...

in Redway/Garberville, California May 13–16. * 2011: hosted by

KKFI KKFI is a radio station located in Kansas City, Missouri and owned by Mid-Coast Radio Project, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Formed in 1988, it broadcasts at 100,000 watts on 90.1 FM. Its music programming includes blues, jazz, reggae, rock, hip ...

in Kansas City, Missouri August 18–21. * 2012: hosted by

WRFU-LP WRFU-LP (104.5 FM, "Radio Free Urbana") is a radio station broadcasting a variety music format. Licensed to Urbana, Illinois, United States, the station serves the Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States ...

and Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois July 26-19 * 2014: Hosted by KHOI in Ames, Iowa August 14–17 * 2015: Hosted by WLPP-LP in Palenville, New York September 24–27 * 2016: Hosted b
KUHS-LP
in

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is n ...

October 7– 10 * 2017: Hosted by WCAA-LP in Albany, New York October 6–9 * 2018: Hosted by

at Portland, Oregon October 5–7 * 2019: Hosted b
WXIR
(100.9 FM) and WEPL-LP (PODER 97.1 FM), Rochester, New York October 4-6

Steering committee

At the GRC11 in Madison, Wisconsin, conference attendees decided to create a steering committee to help coordinate discussions, assist in conference planning, and maintain institutional memory. The concept of the steering committee is in line with the GRC's decentralized, grassroots nature. Though there is no minimum or maximum number of members of the steering committee, it was agreed that it should include representatives from stations who have hosted past GRC conferences, representatives from future GRC conference hosts, and representatives from the People of Color caucus.

People of Color Caucus

The

People of Color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

Caucus is a loose group of producers and activists in the coalition. The People of Color Caucus holds meet-ups at the summer GRC conferences and undertakes initiatives to help increase the racial & ethnic diversity of the coalition and conference attendees. The People of Color Caucus raises funds for and administers the "Solidarity Fund" - a scholarship fund to assist low income people of color to attend GRC conferences.

References

{{reflist, 2 Advocacy groups in the United States Communications and media organizations based in the United States Community radio in the United States

Mission statement

History

Steering committee

People of Color Caucus

See also

References