March 26, 2005

Low-watt station ready to go

By Robert Plain
Ashland Daily Tidings

Local, independently owned radio will soon be available in the Ashland area. KSKQ, which was recently granted an FCC license, will be available, first on the Internet, and by June 2006, at 94.9 FM.

"We have so many unique and different perspectives in the Rogue Valley - from poets to writers to activists to comedians," said Suzie Aufderheide, the acting spokesperson for KSKQ. "I think people feel this community is lacking a way to communicate with itself."

The group spearheading this effort has grown to about 25 core members, with more than 60 people involved on the periphery. Aufderheide said the group hopes to have some initial programs to stream over the Internet at kskq.org sometime this spring. By June of 2006, a radio transmitter will be set up not far from Emigrant Lake, and the low-powered FM station will be broadcasting over the more traditional radio waves.

"Corporate media just gives us soundbites from Madison Avenue and the government," she said. "We have all our own news happening all the time. That's the beauty of LPFM."

Aufderheide said many amateur and aspiring radio disc jockeys have expressed interest in news shows, call-in talk radio, activists' songs, local music shows, book readings, old-time radio dramas and even a show featuring the interviewing of hitchhikers.

"Anything anyone wants to do, they can do. It's only limited by our imagination," Aufderheide said.

John Fricker, who has also been critical to getting this project off the ground, said he hoped there would be an emphasis on local news and local music. But the way KSKQ will be structured, it will be open to anyone. He said his 13-year-old daughter, Tanager, and her friends hope to produce a teen radio program.

"I met a guy in a coffee shop the other day and he wanted to host a R&B show," he said. "People like him are going to come out of the woodwork."

Aufderheide and Fricker said KSKQ was looking into becoming an affiliate of Pacifica Radio, which could give the station access to programming such as "Democracy Now!"

The group meets again on April 2 at 1 p.m. in the Ashland Library. For more information, call 482-0102.