This September 24-26, Prometheus Radio Project and WGXC-FM 90.7 Hudson, NY will hold Prometheus’s 12th community radio barnraising. Radio barnraisings are weekend-long radio and movement-building events. Individuals from the local community, participatory media advocates, and artists from around the country will converge in Hudson to share ideas, experiences, and skills in the launching of WGXC’s full power community radio station.
“For the past ten years, we’ve been fighting to take the airwaves out of the hands of the powerful few and place them in the hands of communities. We’ve supported many groups in starting low-power and full-power FM radio stations that serve as tools for social justice organizing and a voice for community expression,” says Andalusia Knoll, Community Radio Coordinator with the Prometheus Radio Project.
The collaboration with WGXC, which will broadcast at 3,300 watts as opposed to the 100 watts of low power stations, will be Prometheus’s first full-power barnraising. This new station will be uniquely decentralized with three main studios spread out across the listening range, allowing broader participation from residents of New York’s Greene and Columbia counties.
Partnerships are already forming with schools, music venues, and town halls to create live feeds from various locations, furthering the scope of the station. WGXC: Hands-On Radio will be much more than just a radio station, with regular exhibitions and events, ongoing media trainings, a news blog, and community meetings. “We are all aware of the urgent importance of protecting and supporting our local resources, food system, watersheds, farmland, and local arts and cultures,” explains Kaya Weidman, a member of WGXC’s Radio Council. “WGXC is simply local media, a key tool for all these crucial issues.”
