Just Getting Started

It's like clay, you have to mold it in order for it to become something.

After reading the latest request for help on special programming throughout the month of January and while working on my submission for our Bread and Roses show, set to air at 6pm (PST), Friday, January 2 on KBOO 90.7FM, I thought about your typical street reporter. The one who walks around with a recording device and captures sound bites. Soon after, I started thinking about ways to re-engage with the community while staying neutral. I wanted to increase the opportunities for voices from the community to be heard, while honing my skills in producing the final product that gets aired.

KBOO 90.7FM is "...Volunteer-Powered, Non-Commercial, Listener-Sponsored, Full-Strength Community Radio for Portland, Oregon, Cascadia & the World!" I have the privilege of sharpening my career tools in the area of community radio. As both an engineer and programmer, I can participate in both music and public affairs shows. Bread and Roses is a feminist news and public affairs radio show, while An Evening of Afrotainment is a music focused show that allows me to play music from black artists worldwide. My objective is to merge the two programming categories in hopes of creating a "glazed" show.

These are the elements that I have to be mindful of while creating public affairs and/or musical programming at KBOO:

"Place an emphasis on providing a forum for unpopular, controversial, or neglected perspectives on important local, national and international issues.

Reflect values of peace, justice, democracy, human rights, multiculturalism, environmentalism, freedom of expression, and social change.

Cover a wide spectrum of expression from traditional to experimental, and reflect the diverse cultures we serve.


Strive for spontaneity and programming excellence, both in content and technique."

This is a lot to keep in mind when you are trying to create a vessel. Let's raise a glass to the clay we are molding in hopes that it won't crack while it's being baked, and let's also welcome in a new year and a new president.

Happy New Year ~ Bridget B.