02/03/2023
We are living with new roomies with LPFM buddies in the SouthEnd of Seattle. Come learn about our new home and volunteer for us/them and build media justice through radio and technology and giving voice to those in need of a platform.
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Lu Carpenter
[email protected]
February 1, 2023
KVRU 105.7 FM REBOOTS HYPERLOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD RADIO
Seattle, WA—KVRU 105.7 FM has been a community arts & culture project of Southeast Effective Development (SEED) under their SEEDArts programs with Rainier Arts Center (RAC) and Columbia City Arts Gallery for over 5 years. As the radio station approaches its 6th Anniversary in October, they are reimagining the radio station into a community education hub that provides pathways to opportunities in media and technology education and career fields. Join them for their hybrid open house event on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm in person in their studios at 3642 33rd Ave Suite c-5, Seattle, WA 98144 or online by RSVPing at https://bit.ly/KVRUReboot and acquiring their online attendance link.
Through community effort and grassroots media justice organizing many low power FM radio stations popped up in the Northwest region and beyond. The organizing reminded citizens that the radio and other forms of media were owned by a few corporations, as they protested the FCC, and pushed for communities to take media creation in their hands through ownership. Many years later, KVRU 105.7 LPFM can still be heard in South Seattle and beyond streaming at www.kvru.org. Sprinkled throughout you hear familiar accents, languages, and voices distinct to the diversity of the 98118-zip code. Any day, you can hear your neighbor being interviewed or interviewing someone along with multilingual Public Service Announcements (PSAs). There are conversations about art and culture and of course music! The range is from “Silver Fork Mixed Tape” classics to “Afrobeats “to “Spanish Castle Magic” brings soft tunes and hard beats.
The community at large is invited to come to the launch of the “Radio Reboot” Campaign and Open House of this beloved small neighborhood community that is providing multiple opportunities for youth, young adults, elders, and many marginalized community members. The Open House will consist of tours of the revamped recording and broadcasting studios for in-kind trade and rent from 6:00 pm to 6:30pm and 7:00pm to 8:00 pm on a rotating basis. There will be a formal presentation and Q&A session from 6:30pm to 7:00 pm to discuss the new structures in place that will support more media and technology access, volunteer and learning opportunities. Throughout the 2-hour open house, attendees are invited to comment and reaffirm or reset the founding values and goals set forth by the community in 2017 through interactive information stations. Help this hyperlocal and participatory radio reset and realign!
The station has been transformed by the Pandemic and is now asking for intentional feedback on lessons learned. This will be the first formal event the station is throwing since the Pandemic. Overall, KVRU is reimagining itself and asking the community to envision with them and help them build for 5 more years through funding, foundational values building, and mission check-in.
Luzviminda Uzuri “Lu” Carpenter, the Radio Station Manager states, “we are gathering the community and its stakeholders to be transparent about our successes and challenges and putting our collective brains together to imagine the sustainability and reset the foundation of the station. I started running the station in the middle of a pandemic and it has been a struggle, but we have pushed through with awesome interns and supporters, and we are ready to open our doors, safely of course.”
KVRU is pushing forward and asking for feedback and ideas, so attend with curiosity and wonder at how you can be involved in small and big ways.
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