While the troubled economy takes its toll on community radio across the country, at least one radio program continues to thrive. Shelley Bluejay Pierce reports for Native American Times that Native American Radio Live (NARL) hosted by Albert Raymond Cata is going strong. NARL broadcasts out of Santa Fe Public Radio, KSFR, and has served its diverse community for 17 years.

Sixty-four year-old Cata, a master storyteller from Ohkay Owingeh (formerly San Juan Pueblo), New Mexico, started his radio career in 1986 after retiring from the U.S. Air Force.

“All I know about broadcasting I learned as I went,” he says. “I was interested in people and like the music and wanted to share with others about who the Native American person is within the fabric of general society.”

His advice to other radio programmers in this economy?

“You have to keep on top of your community needs. You need programs that address what interests the listeners and that include everything from music, politics, sports, school events, community fund drives and even gardening...The trouble I see for many community radio shows is that they don’t have a true ‘format’ and are not focused on the needs of their communities.”

Check out how Cata meets those needs on NARL’s website, which features interviews with prominent Native American politicians, artists and storytellers, including actor Adam Beach, known for his stirring performances in Smoke Signals, written by Sherman Alexie, and Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers.

Or, listen to Native American Radio Live streaming every Saturday from 3:00-5:00 Mountain Daylight Time.

Source: Native American Times

Native communities currently broadcast on 33 U.S. radio stations, a number that may double within the next couple of years, reports Mike Janssen for In These Times. Tribal communities applied for 51 radio stations last year, and 12 FCC approvals have trickled in thus far. These soon-to-be stations aren’t on the air yet—they’re still in the fundraising and planning stages—but they could play a significant role in strengthening Native communities. Janssen writes:

Many noncommercial stations around the country focus on community issues. This is especially true of Native stations, which cover topics such as health, education and the environment; feature locally programmed music; and broadcast in Native languages that in some places are spoken by very few people.

Several applicants are still waiting to hear back from the FCC. In the meantime, the nonprofit Native Public Media has a short list of Native stations that stream online and a directory of the stations currently broadcasting.

A new low-power FM station out east offers hope for music geeks, DIY broadcasters, and those of us who’ve had it with the corporate radio–favored mix of crappy pop songs and Steve Miller Band ditties. Vermont LPFM community radio station 105.9 The Radiator began broadcasting in September, after a seven-year journey to the airwaves.

Burlington’s alt-weekly Seven Days reports on how two dedicated scenesters dreamed up the idea for a noncommercial, low-power FM station committed to showcasing homegrown Vermont talent and then sustained the project’s momentum through the years. Today, the station broadcasts more than 50 local-interest shows. Wednesday evenings play host to Rocket Shop, an all-local program packed with Vermont-made music and live in-studio performances. The quirky Poli-Sci-Fi Radio airs on Sunday evenings, following an hour of music and poetry drawn exclusively from Burlington’s public library.

For another local radio success story, check out “Really Fresh Air,” a profile of Twin Cities public radio station 89.3 The Current, from the March-April edition of Utne Reader.

—Jason Ericson

On many reservations, cell phone service and internet access are spotty or nonexistent, and radio is an important resource for tribal communities to share information and stories with one another. Neelanjana Banerjee writes in New America Media that one national radio show, Native America Calling, connects many tribal nations by reaching 500,000 people via 52 stations. The call-in show, which broadcasts live on weekdays, invites listeners to join conversations on Native education, health care, arts, literature, and many other subjects. As Harlan McKosato, the show's host and producer, told Banerjee, "It’s about identity, first and foremost. That’s the core issue."

But even though most reservations have access to radio, getting ahold of station frequencies creates a major hurdle. So Native Public Media, a project of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, worked with several tribal communities to apply for non-commercial educational programming FM licenses from the Federal Communications Commission (the FCC accepted applications during a short window from October 9-15). Native Public Media will also testify before Congress on tribal telecommunications issues October 24. —Julie Dolan