Rooting for radical radio
Stefan Christoff
Hour.Ca
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June 4 2009
Canada
David Barsamian, founder of Alternative Radio
Amidst the current global crisis facing major media organizations,
with newspaper and magazine offices closing within the larger global
financial storm, alternative media projects on the radio and online
are alive and flourishing, with increasing numbers of people turning
to such outlets for their news on the world.
The National Campus and Community Radio Conference (NCRC), taking
place here June 7-13, focuses on the current state of independent
media, especially community/campus radio, and brings community radio
delegates from across the country into an open discussion.
Dating back to the 1980s, Alternative Radio, founded by
Armenian-American journalist and author David Barsamian, has been
a shining example of an independent media initiative that wields
international scope while maintaining fierce independence and strong
ties to social movements. Barsamian is the keynote speaker at the
NCRC, offering a historical perspective on the current state of
independent media.
"Radio is uniquely positioned to deliver intellectual content,
particularly because a listener is not distracted by the image,
as in TV or the Internet," says Barsamian. "I think that for ideas
and serious talk, radio is the singular medium that can offer a real
ability for listeners to really delve into the profound issues of
our time."
The NCRC is the largest gathering of community and campus radio
workers in the country. In recent years, it has seen the development
of Groundwire, the first national grassroots news program broadcasting
on community radio across Canada.
"Viewers of television and readers of print media have been
disappearing in droves in recent years, and their advertising dollars
with them," outlines Barsamian. "People are turning to alternative
media in increasing numbers – particularly among young people there is
a real disgust towards corporate media, and many of the most popular
new media projects are created by young people who are inventing new
media languages."