Soapbox Blog 3: The Alternative Alternative
By Katie Finnigan

There's a lot that's missing from the radio dial in Cincinnati. Few stations play bands like Jake Speed and the Freddies, The Seedy Seeds, Eclipse, The Faux Frenchmen, the artists from Lyrical Insurrection and all the other talented musicians and spoken word artists from our city.

It's also tough to hear the news from the latest city council meeting, or in depth discussions about issues that affect your neighborhood. Cincinnati has a growing Hispanic community, but they can't turn on the dial and hear news in their own language.

WVQC-LP, Radio Free Queen City, which signs on the air August 1, 2009 at 95.7 FM, is your radio alternative. We'll air the quality, local, independent programming that you can't hear on Cincinnati's mainstream radio.

Radio Free Queen City, and low-power FM (LPFM) stations like it, are inspired by pioneering micro-radio stations like Radio Free Berkeley. In the 1990s, dozens of these small pirate stations popped up around the country, airing independent content and protesting radio consolidation, corporate playlists and syndicated programming. These stations didn't have a broadcast license, but they often had the support of their communities and even local legislatures.

The strength of the pirate radio movement, along with concerns about the decline of local radio, influenced the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 2000 decision to legalize LPFMs, small, non-commercial, FM radio stations operated by non-profit groups and dedicated to airing local content. Media Bridges, which operates Radio Free Queen City, applied for a low-power license in January 2001.

The FCC's ruling met powerful opposition. Organizations like the National Association of Broadcasters fought to keep the low-power stations off the dial and succeeded in getting strict restrictions on where they could be located.

The legal battles held up the LPFM movement, but in 2008, seven years after submitting our initial application, WVQC-LP, Radio Free Queen City was granted a permit to begin constructing a low-power station.

Cincinnati is lucky. Since 2000, less than 1,000 LPFM licenses have been issued across the country, and the FCC is not currently accepting applications for new ones.

LPFMs are almost always in rural areas. Due to placement restrictions and the crowded radio dial, few cities are fortunate enough to receive a license. Cincinnati is the largest radio market in the country to have an LPFM station.

The name, Radio Free Queen City, is a tribute to the micro-stations that started the low-power movement as well as a description of our content. We're free of format restrictions or playlists selected by out-of-town focus groups or faceless corporations.

We're also committed to the Queen City. Our goal is to represent the diversity of Cincinnati and to weave together the cultural fabric of its 52 neighborhoods.

We need your support to bring Radio Free Queen City to Cincinnati's airwaves. Our license requires us to begin broadcasting by August 2009. Missing our deadline would be a loss for the city. If we lose our license, it would be difficult, if not impossible for Cincinnati to get a new one.

Radio Free Queen City has just launched our Free the Airwaves Campaign to raise $127,000 by our launch date of August 1. The money will purchase necessary equipment and cover the station's operating costs for the first year. Donations can be made at our website, www.wvqc.org.

Don't miss this opportunity for our city. Help bring WVQC-LP, Radio Free Queen City, local, independent, community radio, to Cincinnati.

Soapbox Blog 2: The Community Alternative
By Katie Finnigan

How often do you get a say over what you hear on the radio?

At WVQC-LP, Radio Free Queen City, we believe the airwaves belong to the community and that local, participatory media, which includes the voices of the people it serves, is essential for Cincinnati.

The beauty of community media is that programming stays relevant, interesting and important to those who hear it and that the people closest to the action are the ones reporting it.

That's why we're committed to making WVQC a participatory and collaborative station. Think of us as a radio version of the popular wiki websites, a place where the listeners, the people most connected with the station, can create and contribute their own content.

We know how to make it work. Radio Free Queen City is operated by Media Bridges, which has two decades of experience as Cincinnati's community media center. As the steward of the city's four cable access channels, 4, 8, 15 and 24, Media Bridges helps people communicate effectively through media.

You can stop by Media Bridges in historic Over-the-Rhine to take free classes in video production, portable production, editing, Internet radio and computer technology.  You can rent video production equipment or schedule a time to use our television studio. Then you can air the content you create on public access TV, which reaches more than 60,000 people and 160 households in the Greater Cincinnati area.

Media Bridges offers even more. Our Non-Profit Services Department creates affordable promotional videos for local non-profits. We also host an Internet radio station, The Bridge, and a community technology center, which houses computers equipped with Internet access that are open to the public. Most of these services are provided free of charge.

WVQC will continue in Media Bridges' tradition of community media. We belong to Cincinnati, and we are shaped and molded by the people here. At all levels of WVQC there are built in safeguards to keep the programming relevant, interesting and accountable to the community we serve.

Cincinnatians like you will help shape our program schedule. We are seeking your input through a discussion forum http://www.wvqc.org/discuss on our website, comments on our blog, on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook pages and through letters and emails. Join the conversation and tell us what you'd like to hear on WVQC. We are actively monitoring all of these locations and we are using your comments to guide our schedule.

The community will even be involved in programming at a more direct level, because our shows will be produced and hosted by local volunteers. After all, who knows the city better than the people who live here?  Starting this summer, we will offer training in radio broadcasting and accept applications to host shows. Programs will be selected based on their quality, uniqueness and locally focused content.

Funding is the final measure of our importance to Cincinnati. We are a non-profit, non-commercial station and we depend on the support of listeners, members and sponsors to get us on the air and keep us on there. You can show support for WVQC through memberships, donations and even underwriting sponsorships.

At WVQC-LP, Radio Free Queen City, we're committed to expanding community media in Cincinnati and we're looking for you to get involved and help it succeed. This is your radio station, so help shape it. Visit our website to find out how you can support and get involved with WVQC.

Soapbox Blog 1: The Local Alternative
Katie Finnigan

It's time to bring the local back to Cincinnati's media.

When it comes to media, the last 20 years have seen the rise of global and the loss of local. Cable, satellite TV, syndicated radio and the Internet provide news and entertainment from across the country and around the world, but local DJs are losing their jobs, local TV affiliates are losing revenue and almost every day brings word of another newspaper's decline.

It can be easier to find out what's going on around the world than what's happening right here in town. In our city, you can hear an American Top 40, but not a Cincinnati Top 40. Events at the White House and Capital Hill are followed more closely than initiatives at City Hall.

It's time to return to local. Global communication is exciting and important, but it shouldn't and needn't come at the expense of the rich and vibrant culture that makes Cincinnati a great place to live.  A growing city like ours needs a healthy, thriving variety of local media outlets.

That's where low-power radio comes into play. WVQC-LP, Radio Free Queen City is Cincinnati's first low-power FM (LPFM), a 100-watt, non-commercial, non-profit, FM radio station with a broadcast reach of 3-5 miles. Starting on August 1, 2009, we'll be on the dial at 95.7 FM. For Cincinnatians who can't pick up our signal, we'll also be streaming online.

Some see our limited signal reach as a liability, but we see it as an asset. It allows us to be anchored and accountable to Cincinnati and to develop closer, more personal relationships with the neighborhoods we serve. The small station also comes with a smaller, more sustainable budget.

WVQC's strengths are our local roots: we're 100% Cincinnati, we eat chili, we go to Reds games, we live, work and play in all of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky's unique neighborhoods.

Our studio is located in historic Over-the-Rhine. Our license is held by Media Bridges, Cincinnati's non-profit community media center. Our funding is donated and our programming created by the citizens of Cincinnati.

On WVQC, you can expect to hear radio that celebrates the talent of the city and weaves together programming from Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky's diverse neighborhoods and groups of people. You'll hear content that showcases the arts, culture and news of the city.

Wishing there were more local music on the dial? If you tune in to WVQC, you'll hear the bands you love to see play live at Northside Tavern, Southgate House and other great venues around the city. From bluegrass to punk to hip hop to spoken word, we'll play the latest and greatest from Cincinnati's large and exceptionally talented music scene.

But music isn't all you'll hear. WVQC is committed to promoting local culture, too. Our schedule isn't finalized yet, but we'll consider any show the community wants to hear. Do you want to talk about local arts events? Local businesses? Development issues in Over-the-Rhine? Hoping for Spanish-language news, or reviews of restaurants and bars? Let us know. Propose a show in our online discussion forum or volunteer to host it yourself.

Local government is just as important as local arts and culture, so on WVQC, you'll be able to tune in and hear what's happening at City Hall, from council meetings to the mayor's big speech.

Low-power radio will be an asset to Cincinnati, but for WVQC to get on the air, we need your support. We just launched our Free the Airwaves Campaign to raise $127,000 to purchase equipment and cover our first year of operating expenses. It's a shoestring budget compared to the millions it can cost to purchase a full power FM station and the hundreds of thousands more a year to operate one.

Help us put the local back to Cincinnati radio. Support WVQC and bring quality, independent, community radio to Cincinnati.  Learn more or donate online at our website.