Low-power Radio
Across the country, communities are taking control of the media and adapting it to their purposes—using it to distribute, and make accessible, some of the most important social, economic, educational, cultural, and information services that communities can provide for their residents. Low-power radio, also referred to as LPFM and micro-radio, serves as a way for groups of citizens and nonprofit organizations to produce their own media programs and effectively speak to their own communities.
Sound Partners for Community Health recognizes the potential of low-power radio stations for creating locally relevant programming, and its grantees have shown the power of community partnerships in building and sustaining such stations. Therefore, Sound Partners has developed this toolkit.
The toolkit's goal is to help communities mobilize around the potential of LPFM stations. Included are low-power radio training tools already developed by the field (especially those of Prometheus Radio, Media Access Project, and the National Federation of Community Broadcasters), partnership resources developed by the Sound Partners program and its grantees, and stories from the low-power field.
Toolkit sections include:
Building a LPFM station
This section provides links to existing resources on how to build and maintain a low-power radio station and why communities and organizations should get involved in producing their own media.
Sustaining a Low-power Station
The Sound Partners web site provides guidance for organizations interested in creating successful partnerships between local broadcasters and community organizations. These tools can be used by low-power radio stations and their partnering organizations. Funding resources so essential for every community-based organization can also be found in this section.
Learning from the Field
Stories of successes have begun to emerge from the low-power field offering case studies for those organizations just starting the process of getting an LPFM license or just building a station. In addition, this section includes stories of successful partnerships between broadcasters and community organizations.
Media Advocacy and Policy
Included in this area are links to media advocacy organizations and news headlines detailing policy developments in the low-power field.
Survey Report
In the spring of 2005, the Benton Foundation conducted a survey of low-power radio producers that explored challenges and successes. This section outlines the results from that survey.
About Low-power Radio
In 1999, the Federal Communications Commission legalized the licensing of low-power radio. These radio stations provide an affordable means for delivering vital programming to local audiences and add to the diversity of the airwaves by providing a forum for underrepresented voices to be heard. For more information about the history of low-power radio, read the About low-power page.
Learn more about the history and development of low-power radio in this brief introduction!