Here's what I just sent out to our members in our first newsletter of the year. Thanks to my dear sister Molly for the inspiration and the John Berger quote. I've been thinking about it so much ever since!
"It is not that we have hope, we shelter it.”
John Peter Berger, English art critic, novelist, painter, and poet
(November 5 1926 – January 2 2017)
Sheltering hope is a notion I am filling my mind with as I bid farewell to 2016 and begin my fourth year at the helm of NFCB. For community radio, the road that lies ahead involves going deeper into our communities by reflecting the richness of our local cultures more authentically and daring to engage in uncharted conversations in creative ways.
As I read through the plethora of articles and essays about a variety of major transitions going on around us I am rededicating myself to the specific work that NFCB can do to fulfill its mission of helping community stations better serve their communities.
The day after the election, in an interview by Jann S. Wenner in Rolling Stone (issue 1276/1277), Barack Obama said “People are no longer talking to each other; they’re just occupying their different spheres. And in an Internet era where we still value a free press…. that’s a hard problem to solve. I think it’s one that requires those who are controlling these media to think carefully about their responsibilities, and where there are ways to create better conversation.” How can we create better conversations among the public we serve and amongst ourselves as colleagues in locally based and locally focused public service media?
Our team at NFCB is primed and ready to tackle these tasks and more in the year ahead. We broke new ground with our GiveBig to MyStation Initiative that raised tens of thousands of dollars for participating stations in a year-end giving campaign, we are already designing a national conference with an exploration of what the place called community is all about, we have new tools, resources, and opportunities to share with our growing membership.
I invite you to peruse this newsletter to get a flavor of what is going on at NFCB and in community radio circles. I invite you to engage with us and participate in building a stronger public media community of practice. NFCB needs you and so does your community. I hope you’ll join me in the delicate art of “sheltering hope”. After all, why are we here if not to contribute to making this world a better place?
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