Each community should have a nonprofit community radio station that,
with mostly volunteer labor:
- reads the local news (summaries of stories from various news
outlets), followed by information on how to subscribe to these news
outlets (same program presented twice day),
- reads the local, regional, national and international headlines and
news summaries in Spanish (and perhaps any other languages common to
the area); (same program presented twice day),
- reads the obituaries and death notices for people in and from the
area, read the most recent police log (same program presented twice
day),
- reads out upcoming events: city council meetings, planning
commission meetings, community theater productions, high school choir
performances, parades, events at the senior center, the local VFW,
Rotary Club meetings, etc. (same program presented twice day),
- reads out local volunteering opportunities,
- interviews the mayor and city council members and the city manager,
state legislators, the police chief, the fire chief, leaders of area
nonprofits, head of the chamber of commerce, people running local
office, head of local animal welfare agencies, a local veterinarian,
etc. regularly (perhaps a regular public affairs show every weekday at
noon, or once a week, repeated at a different time of day or the
week),
- interviews someone in another language once a month (same program
presented more than once),
- interviews teachers, school administrations, coaches, and others to
talk about what’s happening in schools (same program presented more
than once),
- plays certain events live on the air: high school basketball games,
football games, baseball games, soccer games, rotary club meetings,
etc.
- presents a “this day” or “this week” in local history (same program
presented more than once),
- once a week, has a community singalong, where a person or group
sings songs in the public domain, and everyone in the community is
invited to sing along, and they lyrics of such are published on the
radio stations web site,
- has a 30-minute daily program to help people learn Spanish, another
for people to learn another language, etc. (same program presented
more than once)
- presents a different local service by a community of faith or local
ethical society every weekend,
- welcomes program ideas from community members, like a weekly,
limited-series radio serial, written and performed by high school
students, or a play now in the public domain, or part of such a place,
performed by a local community theater group (anything by Shakespeare,
for instance).
And in between all that, plays music. Different hours, or half hours,
would focus on a different music type.
In addition, the organization would train people on public speaking,
radio production, etc.
The radio station would allow advertising by businesses that serve the
local community, people running for local office, etc.