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WDFH
FM 90.3 OutCasting Public Radio's new LGBTQ Youth Radio Show OutCasting, a new public radio program giving voice to LGBTQ youth issues, is now heard on WDFH, the only community public radio station in the lower Hudson valley. Available in ARCHIVES and via PODCAST Seeking new student participants Are you a high school or college age LGBTQ person or straight ally? We are seeking new volunteers to participate in OutCasting. Get involved on the air or behind the scenes. For more information, e-mail Travis - at - wdfh - dot - org or Mady - at - wdfh - dot -org.
In the past year, the LGBTQ community has seen major advances: marriage equality in New York, the Obama administration’s speaking out against DOMA, the start of the It Gets Better campaign, and the repeal of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” military policy. In stark contrast, there have also been several highly publicized teen suicides. Not long ago, The New York Times published an article about anti-gay groups that actively oppose anti-bullying programs in schools. The article quoted Candi Cushman, an educational analyst for the notorious anti-gay organization Focus on the Family, as stating, “the advocacy groups are promoting homosexual lessons in the name of anti-bullying.” In this unsettled environment that juxtaposes progress with ignorance, intolerance, and bigotry, a group of teenagers in the lower Hudson River valley is starting a new public radio show to explore the issues directly. The show, titled OutCasting, gives voice to the LGBTQ youth community with a combination of insight, reflection, respect, and a little humor. WDFH is working
directly with the students in its new studio, training members of a new
generation of media activists by teaching them how to produce a regularly
scheduled show from concept to broadcast. This includes identifying
topics to cover in each edition; scheduling guests; preparing, conducting,
and recording interviews; editing and assembling the show for broadcast
and online distribution; and promoting the show through press releases,
social networking, and other tools. For the students working on OutCasting, it is much more than just an after-school activity. When asked why this show was important to her, Nora, one of the student participants, said, “I’m strengthening my voice as a supporter of LGBTQ rights through radio. Not only am I working for a cause I truly believe in, I’m also developing media skills that I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else.” Marc Sophos, WDFH’s founder and executive director, was shaken by the recent news of the apparent suicide of a bullied 14-year-old, Jamey Rodemeyer, in upstate New York. He noted that a television news program opened with the anchorman saying, “We begin tonight with a story about something we don’t normally cover here. But an awful lot of people in Williamsville are hurting tonight because of a suicide there.” Mr. Sophos countered, “Why don’t they normally cover stories like this until they erupt into violence and suicide? There is far too much focus in the media on events and too little on issues, and it’s damaging our country. It’s like shining a spotlight at the outward symptoms of a disease without trying to understand and eliminate the underlying causes.” He said that OutCasting is an on-air and online resource for young LGBTQ listeners but that the program is also aimed at a general audience that wants to better understand the complexities of LGBTQ identities. “Our country can’t seem to stop tying itself up into knots over LGBTQ issues,” he continued. “There is so much deliberate misinformation out there and it’s hurting and killing kids. We hope that OutCasting will be able to inject some humanism, and specifically an LGBTQ youth perspective, into the media conversation.” The first
episode, broadcast on October 6, focused on the role of Gay-Straight
Alliances in schools. It included a discussion among several of the
students behind OutCasting and an interview with Mary Jane Karger, the
Hudson Valley regional co-chair and a national board member of GLSEN (The
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network). Dan Savage, the
journalist, writer, and columnist who co-founded the It Gets Better
Project, was a guest on the second episode. California State Senator
Mark Leno appeared in an episode on the new California law requiring the
teaching of gay history in public schools. Brian Ellner, one of the
main strategists of the successful legislative campaign for marriage
equality in New York State, has been invited for the spring of 2012.
THE NEED FOR FUNDING WDFH must raise funding in order for OutCasting and other programming to continue. In particular, we are trying to reach foundations, businesses, and individuals who support LGBT issues and the empowerment of youth. All contributions are fully tax-deductible. We need your help, so please step up to the plate.
ABOUT WDFH WDFH is the only public radio station in the lower Hudson valley. Our history has been well documented by The New York Times, The Journal News, The Gazette, The Enterprise, The Westchester County Business Journal, WNBC-TV, and other media. Thanks to a recent signal expansion, WDFH’s signal, at 90.3 FM, can now reach a potential audience of 400,000 people in central and northern Westchester and eastern Rockland. We can also be heard anywhere online at http://wdfh.org. Unlike most other public radio stations, WDFH is run by volunteers who bring their passions and their vital interest in our local communities into the station’s programming. WDFH produces in-depth public affairs programs such as In Focus and Recovery Talk and broadcasts other public affairs programs from independent producers around the country. As the local broadcast affiliate of the Pacifica Radio Network, we air two daily national news programs, Democracy Now and Free Speech Radio News. WDFH also broadcasts a freeform mix of rock, folk, blues, and jazz. We are entirely nonprofit and noncommercial and are registered as a not-for-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. For more information, please Marc Sophos, WDFH’s founder and Executive Director, at marc -at- wdfh -dot- org.
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