I spent this evening at The New School listening to a panel discussion about Radio Performance in effecting social change in rural areas and third world countries.  Here’s the marketing notes from Radio Communities: The Other Side of the Electronic Divide:

“Radio creates a dimension in which various communities can meet, exchange, discuss, and develop ideas, transforming the way we think of notions of geography and public place. Since cyberspace and advanced technologies in media have not yet reached much of the developing world, radio is still the most accessible medium for sharing knowledge across borders and in spite of time and space. As non-visual medium, it has gained additional prominence in politically charged situations where a certain degree of anonymity is necessary. What political, cultural, and humanitarian goals can be served by this medium exclusively? How does radio function as a tool for shared information? This panel discusses the longevity of the medium and the ability of the airwaves to keep the world connected where technology fails. Panelists include Pete Tridish, founder, Prometheus Radio Project; William H. Siemering, president, Developing Radio Partners; Khin Phyu Htway, student, The New School and contributor to Voice of America, Burmese service; and Gregory Whitehead, writer and artist. Moderated by Stephanie Guyer-Stevens, producer, Outer Voices. This event is presented as part of the Vera List Center’s program cycle on The Public Domain. “

My take aways from this talk… Radio (and we’re not talking about Internet Radio) is much easier for communities to adopt than other mediums of communication - and a lot less expensive. 

There were several examples of inexpensive radio stations built in low income areas of 3rd world countries where it’s literally changed the life of the people of that community.

The was some discussion of various laws that govern ownership of a radio station and how that should be equitable (if a corporation can own a radio station, why not a labor union? that’s’ a question asked  a couple of times tonight).

I left before the end of the talk and briefly went by Flute bar, where a party was going on - but soon left and came home - but not before I had a glass of red wine.