Media and Community Building: Community Radio in New Bedford

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Community Radio in New Bedford

Abstract

Community Radio is reflective of the community it serves and offers listeners content that is often overlooked or rejected by mainstream media and produced by volunteer, non-professional disc jockeys and producers. The website Save Grassroots Radio states that community radio stations are cultural institutions to the communities they serve, and that it is vitally important to fostering community and identity through civic participation in community radio. WUMD, a college radio station broadcasting out of the UMASS Dartmouth Campus serves primarily the New Bedford and Fall River area, but their broadcasting reaches from Providence to the Cape as well. WUMD has grown over the last 25 years, expanding their offerings in both musical genres as well as public affairs.

Community Radio

WUMD broadcasts at 89.3FM from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Recently however, they were forced to broadcast only via their website at www.893wumd.org , because on August 11th they were knocked off the air by a string of powerful thunderstorms, and they have since fully restored their transmitters.

Formerly known as WSMU, UMass Dartmouth's eclectic radio station, increased its power from 1,200 watts to 9,600 watts on June 10, 2006 increasing the station's average range from 15 miles to 25 miles, moved from its 91.1 location on the FM dial to 89.3 and changed its call letters to WUMD, reflecting the station's location at UMass Dartmouth.

Today the WUMD signal easily reaches the Providence, Newport, Taunton, Bridgewater, Plymouth and upper Cape Cod and the Islands markets while continuing to serve greater New Bedford and Fall River. In addition to other updates, WUMD utilizes cutting edge of technology with a high definition transmitter that allows the station to deliver CD-quality sound and provide the listener with the artist and song title on the display of their HD radios.WSMU first broadcast from a basement closet in the university residents' cafeteria as a 10 watt station. The Board of Trustees of then Southeastern Massachusetts University recognized and approved the organization in 1972. In the fall of 1974, WUSM upgraded its power and moved to its current location in the campus center. WUSM changed its call letters to WSMU in 1989.WSMU, a non-profit educational radio station, has been an outlet for ideas and forms of artistic expression which are not widely available in the station's broadcast area. Their mission being to feature an eclectic range of musical and informational alternatives to take you one step beyond passive listening.Public affairs programming on the station addresses current issues relevant to the university and surrounding communities with an emphasis on voices and viewpoints which are underrepresented in mainstream or commercial media coverage. The station produces nine public affairs shows, each airing weekly, and airs several independently produced programs. The stations public affairs shows with call-in segments are an effective way to give listeners a chance to be heard, and are a very important part of their station programming.

Another way the station fosters community participation and invites community members to share their interests and opinions is to provide a learning environment in which students and community residents can gain knowledge and experience in various aspects of radio broadcasting. The station offers free training sessions three times a year.

With all that WUMD has to offer the community that it serves, it also has the challenges typical of a community radio station to contend with including programming, personnel, finance and development, but it relies on students and volunteers to fill these gaps and serve the campus and community with in-depth public affairs programming, and an endless variety of musical alternatives.
References

Source URL: http://savegrassrootsradio.org/wiki/GrassrootsRadioMovement
Source URL: http://www.893wumd.org/
Source URL: http://www.fcc.gov/lpfm/

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Working Definition of Community

Being a member of a community isn’t always easy. In a world where friends can be a click away but a thousand miles apart, where you can be next to someone but can’t talk except via instant messaging, and where you don’t know your neighbors next door but you do know intimate details about your friends across the country on Myspace, a venture into community requires a trust in an unrelated network of people.

Whether communities are defined by geographical boundaries or by the categorization of who belongs to a community and who does not, both are essentially the same, as Cohen suggests “boundary marking processes and rituals are a vital tool for defining community, identity, belonging and exclusion, and give a sense of reality to specific communities, although in fact they are merely mental or social constructs of insiders and outsiders”.

In addition to the idea of community being a group of people with a common interest, be it geographical location, social clubs, religious beliefs or ethnicity, communities can also be influenced by external events beyond their control. With the current economic situation it seems like there’s more call for help and more people in need of support and assistance. In chapter 1 of Community-ariasm, Smith explains how the term community is both shaping and being shaped by society itself, in an endless loop or re-creation. Economic situations, new technologies, available education, and social opportunities are just some of the factors that can contribute to the way in which communities are shaped, and if they are sustainable or if they will eventually die out.

Even a concept as malleable as community has a common thread, however. In the various readings and articles we have covered so far, the idea of community being a vehicle for self-actualization is touched on repeatedly. One of the key benefits people get from participating in community and their reciprocal relationships is a sense of belonging that is a part of their individual identity. “People construct community symbolically, making it a resource and repository of meaning, and a referent of their identity’ (Cohen 1985: 118).

Another defining aspect, which also contributes to the constant flux of the definition of community, is that even though individuals can experience a sense of self through them, often communities are more than just the people who are in it. A community can continue to exist even as its individual members move through it, and as new members enter into it, the community itself can remain rather unchanged.

Aristotle tells us that community requires different kinds of capacity, interest and character among its members because through the interplay of diversities, people are able to serve as compliments of one another and to attain a higher and better life by the mutual exchange of different services. The phrase “sense of community” begins to get at this meaning. It refers to a sharing of common beliefs that involves a connection at a more personal or emotional level. Words like “passion,” “devotion,” and “commitment” also come to mind when discussing the concept “sense of community.”

It is usually assumed that when people feel that they belong to a community, they have an active interest in ensuring that it functions well and are more likely to contribute to the well-being of the community. The emphasis on a collective well-being over individuals is a large part of Community-ariasm which has a focus of interest toward communities and societies and away from the individual. Smith’s explains in Chapter 3 of Community-ariasm that as long ago as 1955 George Hillery listed some 94 definitions of community he had found in the social science literature, and concluded that the only thing they all held in common was a reference to people.

From our class readings so far, it is evident that the definition of community continues to shift and evolve, and the introduction of modern communication methods, i.e. instant messaging, internet, cell phones, etc. have contributed significantly to the rapidly changing idea of community on a global scale. Even with the constant change and the difficulty in defining exactly what community is, it seems clear that the strength of ties between the groups, no matter what the subject matter is, is truly the essence of definition of community.

Works Cited:
Smith, G "Community - arianism" Chapter One: Community; ideology and utopia
Cohen, A. P. (1985) The Symbolic Construction of Community, London: Tavistock (now Routledge). 128 pages.

Media and Community Building Conclusion

The boundaries of Community can sometimes be drawn on a map, other times it is a category of people or characteristics of members. (Smith) As a communication tool, community media is beginning to adapt to emerging technologies and the ever-sharpening interactive features online. As a result, community boundaries continue to change and realign, creating a new generation of members with a constantly-evolving sense of community.

In this enviornment, the media landscape will be reshaped by the bottom-up energy of media created by amateurs and hobbyists. (Blau) As an empowerment tool, it is among the poor and oppressed especially, that community becomes a means to group solidarity and mutual help. (Smith) Because Community Media is able to operate independent of traditional corporate influences, public access to Community Media is vital to the democratic health of a community.

Community Media is an effective means of citizens interacting with community leaders and politicians, and an invaluable tool for holding them accountable when necessary. Community Media is also a gateway for the enrichment of educational opportunities for community members who do not have private access to new technologies or who need assistance in utilizing them. The future of Community Media is an exciting prospect, as new technology allows for the dissemination of information with an immediacy never seen before, as well as a rapidly evolving web that features more and more interactive features for the consumer.

All of these exciting technologies require us – the consumers- to be well educated and informed as to who the source of the content is, as well as hone our abilities to discern for ourselves which of these technologies adds value to our individual lives and which don’t.

Works Cited:
Smith, G; Community-arainism, Chapter 1
Blau, Andrew; The Future of Independent Media, Sept. 2004

Media and Community Building

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Community Radio in New Bedford

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New Bedford, Massachusetts

Working Definition of Community

Media and Community Building Conclusion

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