FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 23, 2001
MEXICAN COMMUNICATORS VISIT CALIFORNIA TO LEARN ABOUT U.S. COMMUNITY BROADCASTING
Three leading representatives of a Mexican movement to develop community radio broadcasting in Mexico meet with public broadcasters in northern California to learn from the experience of independent, grassroots stations in the U.S.
Radio Bilingüe, the Latino national public radio network based in Fresno and San Francisco, hosts Mexico City communicators Rafael Moya of Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social, Margarita Argott of AMARC (World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters) - Mexico, and Gustavo Hernandez of Red Nacional de Comunicadores Civiles, in a tour of stations in the San Francisco Bay area, Fresno and Salinas. They also meet with station leaders attending this year's National Federation of Community Broadcasters' annual conference in San Francisco.
The Mexican broadcasting advocates are lobbying in Mexico for legislation that would allow opening the airwaves for independent, non-profit, community-based stations that serve the needs of diverse, isolated and underserved populations in the country, including the youth and Indian-speaking communities.
The delegation is studying U.S. federal communication laws and local station models to examine audience services, financing, government, and technology.
Radio Bilingüe is a non-profit, five-station community radio network with offices in Fresno and San Francisco. Radio Bilingüe has been distributing Spanish-language news and information to the public radio network since 1984. In 1992, it developed its own satellite distributing system. Sixty stations in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico carry Radio Bilingüe's flagship programs.
The Mexican visiting fellows received partial support from the Cultural Section of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico.