GIFT NEWS To...

The thinking behind this site is simple:  

Everyone needs local and national news and exposure to a mix of opinions, and

anyone with a radio antenna can access both... thanks to news-oriented, community-supported news stations.  

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Morning and evening newspapers used to provide local and national news along with different viewpoints.  Today, so many local papers are dying three major institutions are tallying their disappearance -- witness maps by Scripps College of Communication, the  Columbia Journalism Review and UNC's School of Media and Journalism.  At the same time, broadcast monopolies are in some places narrowing the choice of television news, and the loss of net neutrality means fewer guarantees that everyone will be able to easily and cheaply stream a variety of news shows. 


What we can do?

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Help news-oriented, community-supported radio stations survive.  

Like to mark  holidays  by contributing to good causes?

Honor a newshound with a gift to his or her  local  station.  

Worried about the impact of print news deserts?  

Help  other sources of news in those deserts thrive.

Want to  make sure a station you choose has  local support?   

Make your gift a matching grant.  

Not sure how to choose a station?

Start by checking out our interactive maps and the links provided below for some possible criteria.   

stations plotted on data maps

More ways to identify a station to support

One option...

 - Identify a print news desert on one of several maps: 

Expanding News Desert Map by UNC's School of Media and Journalism, or

 Columbia Journalism Review map, or

 The Media Deserts Project by Scripps College of Communication, Ohio University.

- then perhaps cross reference a print news desert with the searchable FCC listing of TV broadcasts and the areas they reach -- is there a missing viewpoint? 

Why don't we have a map that plots radio stations on print news deserts?  Because the print news desert data is not ours...  as we progress, we hope to forge a partnership and offer that.


Another option....

Choose a criterion -- e.g.,  population density,  household median incomes, places where family or friends live, areas with only one source of television news.   See what public and community-supported radio stations broadcast and report news in that area 

- consult one of our maps with NPR-and  CPB-affiliated as well community stations

        it allows you to search by city, town and/or county 

        each yellow triangle is a news-oriented station 

        a pop-up window provides info and  links 

For states our maps don't yet cover,

- consult the  map by the Corporation of Public Broadcasting 

        it is not limited to news-oriented stations

        it does not include unaffiliated  stations  

 - or search stations by place in RadioLocator 

        public stations are identified as such

        unaffiliated community-run stations are harder to spot, but they often are tagged LP

        (Low Powered transmitters)


You can also see what television channels are available in that area thanks to the FCC Reception Map.  If there seems to be a missing viewpoint, that might guide which radio station to support.


If you have specific criteria you'd like to see, let us know and  we will do our best to make that possible. Email us at feedback@giftnews2.us