The National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB) announced that it has received a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to provide services for African American public radio stations. The grant of $300,000 is for one year, beginning this month.
NFCB says the grant will be for it to provide services in the areas of training, community engagement, local programming, licensee relations, development, and Community Service Grant assistance. NFCB plans to hire a full-time project manager. It will also offer the African American pubcasters “unique strategic partnerships with industry consultants and organizations including, but not exclusive to, the Development Exchange Inc. (DEI) and the National Center for Media Engagement (NCME).
“This new service effectively positions NFCB as a central convener to organizations and stations primarily serving audiences of color. NFCB currently serves as fiscal sponsor for the Latino Public Radio Consortium and is incubating the Native Public Media project – collectively impacting over 90 nonprofit community and university licensed stations serving African American, Native, and Latino audiences,” NFCB said in announcing the grant. NFCB members include both full-power and LPFM station operators.
“NFCB is in a position to significantly impact the future of public media by contributing to the forward progress of media organizations most directly aligned with the growth opportunity for our industry – people of color,” said NFCB President/CEO Maxie C Jackson III.
With the grant in place, NFCB Vice President and Director of Federation Services, Ginny Z. Berson, expects to hire a project manager, in consultation with the station advisory committee, in the month of August. She plans to begin rolling out services to the approximately 28 stations located from Texas to New York by September 2010.
NFCB is headquartered in Oakland, CA.
