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Individually, we are one drop.
Together, we are an ocean.
Ryunosuke Satoro
2018 is the year of connecting the drops and making an ocean that gathers our listeners to its shores for reflection, celebration, and illumination. Yes….we can offer that. Yes….people are seeking that. Yes…the time is now.
We’ll be holding three Regional Leadership Summits in 2018 and putting things in motion through them for a powerful national conference early in 2019. We’re shaking things up because that’s the world we are living in. We’re shaking things up because narratives that tell a story of stagnation or an industry in decline is not who we are. We’re shaking things up because business as usual doesn’t cut it.
Grounded in our homes, neighborhoods, towns, and regions we are steeped in a sense of place. We know the power of belonging. We know the anguish of estrangement. We also know how all of that plays out in daily life at a local level. Harnessing this knowledge is how we are able to serve community so that something larger than we can do alone can be accomplished. It’s not rocket science, it’s alchemy and we know how to do that.
In 2018, “something larger” is nothing less than an urgent call to help reclaim civility in public life, to enhance our ability to respond in times of duress, and to deepen the ties that bind us to the local people we have served for decades. You can’t be one drop and make that happen…we need an ocean and we need it now.
As you read through the newsletter, you’ll read inspiring stories of great work being done and the issues and trends that impact us. You’ll get a sense of where you can go and how NFCB can help you get there. Thank you for connecting with us this year. Thank you for sharing your stories. You’ve inspired us to gather the drops, form a collective ocean, and make some waves in the coming year.
Away we go!
Sally Kane, CEO
National Federation of Community Broadcasters
skane@nfcb.org
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The stories of 2017
Community radio's 2017 was filled with successful pledge drives, electrifying in-studio performances, and evocative programming. In cities and towns across America, valued stations were the gathering place for neighbors to come together.
Along the way, there were many news stories that impacted community media. From low-power FM community radio drawing headlines to efforts to save college radio, few years saw as much coverage of community media. Several stories dominated the news cycle. Here are three of the biggest in 2017:
3.) The fight for noncommercial broadcasting. 2017 was a year where public funding for noncommercial radio and television was gravely threatened. Shortly after the Inauguration, the Trump administration's budget principals suggested axing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was among the options being considered. NFCB and allies leaped into action, bringing on Brian DeShazor to head the Community Counts Coalition and issuing materials in support of community media's priorities. Listeners around the country contacted their representatives, community radio spoke out in editorials, and Congress listened. Although the battle for educational media will continue, community radio took part in a successful effort this year to defend Americans' access to media.
2.) The 50th anniversary of the Public Broadcasting Act. The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, which codified the nation's commitment to educational broadcasting, turned 50 in 2017. "Today our problem is not making miracles--but managing miracles. We might well ponder a different question," President Lyndon B. Johnson said on the Act's signing. "What hath man wrought--and how will man use his inventions?" Since that day, noncommercial radio has made an immeasurable impact on communities nationwide. Community radio has also enjoyed support through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which was created through the Public Broadcasting Act. A major event was held to commemorate the occasion. In addition, NFCB's Ernesto Aguilar was among those featured in the #IAmPublicMedia campaign aimed at commemorating the anniversary.
1.) Community Media Conference. In July, more than 300 community radio leaders, producers, visionaries and activists gathered for learning, conversation and community in Denver. NFCB's national conference is the longest running event for community radio. From veteran radio organizers to high school students, the attendees experienced a powerful keynote by award-winning journalist Jenni Monet; summits for Native, rural and low-power FM stations; and sessions covering development, content and innovation. The 2017 Community Media Conference closed with community radio's signature awards. WOWD-LP received the Golden Torchlight for excellence, WERU's Pat Fowler was recognized for more than 30 years of service as Volunteer of the Year, the Community Media Assistance Project was honored with the Media Citizenship Award and Sue Schardt of the Association of Independents in Radio received the Michael Bader Award for a career of exemplary service to public and community media.
Here's to a 2018 filled with even better news.
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At a city near you in 2018
If you are starting with or leading a community radio station, you have probably struggled at times to get the guidance and training you need. How many of us get station leadership resources, human resources directors, digital content managers, mega-fundraising mentors and the tools to be the best leader possible? Oftentimes you may feel like you are building the plane while you fly it.
What if your station's volunteers and staff could have the coaching you need? What if you had time with some of the best minds in our field, to help you unpack the big issues before us, like programming, fundraising and engagement? How much better could you and your community radio station be with outside support that you wished for?
Money is the big reason stations do not invest in training and the help leaders want. Many of us just do not have thousands of dollars for consultants, experts and guidance that would benefit our stations.
Hope is in sight. NFCB will make growth more accessible than ever with the 2018 Regional Leadership Summits, affordable events across the United States.
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NFCB's Regional Leadership Summits are intended to help you and your station's team get essential skills for our changing media landscape. From assets that help you raise money to conversations with some of community and public media's most successful thought leaders, the 2018 Regional Leadership Summits are aimed at providing the groundwork so few of us in community radio get, or which can take years and big dollars to acquire. Exclusively for member stations, NFCB will host Regional Leadership Summits in your time zone at rates that will allow you to bring the whole team out.
These events – to be hosted tentatively in Grand Rapids, Mich., Monterey, Calif., and Charlottesville, Va. – will bring community radio leaders to you. Bookmark our events page and join NFCB, if you are not already a member, to be in attendance for the 2018 Regional Leadership Summit near you.
And mark your calendars for February 2019, for the national Community Media Conference, which will return to a winter-warm state with provocative conversations and powerful stories aplenty. We hope to see you soon.
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Change in the air
Next year will see developments for community radio. Elimination of the main studio rule, posted in the Federal Register in November, is set to take effect. The tax bill recently passed by Congress has conflicting language related to the Johnson Amendment, which bars 501(c)(3)s from engaging in political activity. With the House version permitting nonprofits to participate in political campaigns, the Conference Committee will seek to reconcile the entire bill and, with that, nonprofit regulations. And more news is expected soon.
Now is a great time to join NFCB, or to renew your membership. With our Solution Center knowledgebase, educational webinars and network of leaders, NFCB helps you stay in compliance as well as to get stronger. Just hit reply to get membership information.
We hope to see you at a Regional Leadership Summit in 2018.
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