Air America is a self-identified liberal radio talk show network initiated in the months before the 2004 U.S. presidential election. This article examines Air America's efforts to gain legitimacy in politically tense times as well as attract audience through its use of comic genres. The article explores how its grappling with fundamental questions of political truth versus lies shapes the form and content of its shows. The growing popularity of Web logs may also contribute to the continued existence of the shows: Air America illustrates the reciprocal influences of talk radio and blogs, as well as the roles of both in political interaction.

The evolving history of Roma Radio is not unlike other attempts to engender media support for underserved audiences. This essay employs Radio C as an example (a) to understand ethnic minority populations and the challenges they face in maintaining a strong cultural identity, (b) to explore the advantages and disadvantages of radio as a medium for unifying the Roma culture in Eastern Europe, and (c) to suggest a framework for radio and Gypsy cultures in other areas of the world as well as for other nomadic or diasporan cultures.

Across the radio spectrum, there are relatively few stations in the United States that concentrate on community building and sustainability. One of the country's early community radio stations, KBOO-FM in Portland, Oregon, has been on the air since 1968 and has significantly expanded its signal reach and audience during that time. Preceding National Public Radio, KBOO is the outcome of a Portland grassroots activist movement that initially sought to restore classical music on the local airwaves and eventually concurred on a more radical mission to serve the underserved and to cater to communities at the margins in the metropolitan listening area and beyond. KBOO transmits a potpourri of musical and artistic styles, foreign language programs, and critical news, public affairs, and commentaries—all with a largely volunteer-based governance structure. It also devotes its attention to promoting community-based initiatives. This article focuses on four major community functions served by KBOO community radio: public transmission, radio training, political education and mobilization, and community building and outreach. We conclude with observations about the uses and potential of community radio in developing a rich democratic civil society.

"Book Review—J. Emmett Winn and Susan L. Brinson, eds., Transmitting the Past: Historical and Cultural Perspectives on Broadcasting." Journal of Radio Studies, 12(2), pp. 308–309

This investigation explores the interaction between radio listenership, station attributes, branding and promotional strategies, and their impact on total audience and target audience transference during frequency switching. A multistation, single market switch in frequencies serves as the focus of this case study analysis. Although the enhancement or deterioration of signal strength is a primary contributor, stations whose formats had the greatest competition within the market and who had highly accurate and accessible Web sites did the best job of product differentiation through station branding and were most effective in maintaining and, in some cases, increasing audience share.

This article describes the process of establishing the National Recovery Administration (NRA) codes in U.S. broadcasting beginning in January 1933. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) fortified its dominant position in shaping federal broadcast oversight during the first New Deal period (1933–1935). As it championed economic recovery efforts, the NAB largely favored President Roosevelt, a long-time supporter of radio broadcasting. Radio industry control through 1935 continued to tilt toward national broadcasters over lower-power station owners as it became clear that the medium could serve as the most efficient means for a U.S. political, economic, and/or defense mobilization.

Adding another dimension to current histories of Canadian broadcasting, this article illustrates how the private and public elements of the system worked together—in a complex and contradictory fashion—to capitalize on the development of early radio broadcasting in Canada. It also illustrates how transnational relations of production not only framed the field of broadcasting but also extended into the heart of its organization and development and how, both directly and indirectly, the public sector worked to subsidize and promote the development of private broadcasters.

(2005). Book Review of Jim Cox's Frank and Anne Hummert's Radio Factory: The Programs and Personalities of Broadcasting's Most Prolific Producers. Journal of Radio Studies: Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 184-186.