R A D I O B I L I N G U E

Latino Community Radio Network

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:

April 28, 2008 Alma Martinez

(559) 455-5753

Radio Bilingüe unveils historic digital archive project to preserve cultural programming

(April 28, 2008) – Using cutting edge technology to digitize, save and store hundreds of radio programs, Radio Bilingüe is unveiling a new web archival project that will preserve interviews and cultural programming featuring Latino community leaders and some of the top Latino performing artists in the world.

Programs of special interest -- like interviews with historic figures such as the legendary Tejano music folksinger Lydia Mendoza, singer/composer Lalo Guerrero, “The father of Chicano music,” and social justice activist Bert Corona -- are among those archived in the Historic Digital Archive project.

The archives also include interviews with author Isabel Allende, film maker Edward James Olmos, Mexican comedian Piporro, New Mexico’s folk musician Roberto Martinez, Nobel laureate scientist Mario Molina, Nobel Rigoberta Menchú, farm worker rights pioneer Dolores Huerta, Justice Cruz Reynoso, famous Mexican political cartoonist Rius, and more.

Available at www.radiobilingue.org, the project is funded in part by the Nathan Cummings Foundation and is being developed in collaboration with the Henry Madden Library at California State University, Fresno.

Radio Bilingüe has about 6,000 hours of archival material and providing open access to these digital files over the Internet is a benefit to the community at large, said Hugo Morales, Radio Bilingüe founder and executive director.

“Radio Bilingüe’s community-oriented programs have documented the authentic voices and viewpoints of Latinos in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico,” Morales said. “No other bilingual media provider makes available such wealth of programming by and for Latinos with such a high social and artistic value.”

Samuel Orozco, director of Radio Bilingüe’s Historic Digital Archive Project, said the repository includes past and present programs that cover developments in areas that are top concerns for Latinos: health, the environment, immigration, education, arts and culture, and civic participation.

“This project is about organizing, cataloguing and preserving the memory of many diverse voices.” Orozco said. “It’s a collection of programs where leading Latino public figures and common citizens get to talk to each other in Spanish about their common experience and the most pressing issues of our time.”

Ricardo Gonzalez, Radio Bilingüe's Webmaster, said the project is part of an overall revamping of the community-based radio network’s Internet site that logs more than 100,000 visitors a year.

“The archives will be available in high quality audio streaming, with bilingual text program summaries,” Gonzalez said. “They will be easy to browse and will feature interactive web tools that make possible for visitors to comment on archived programs. We have been able to digitize and catalog 500 hours of audio material so far.”

Fresno State, with the support of the College of Arts and Humanities, has agreed to host the audio collection through the archive of the campus’ Henry Madden Library, the largest academic library in the San Joaquin Valley and soon to be the largest in the CSU system. Dr. Jeronima Echeverria, Provost and Vice-President of Academic Affairs for Fresno State, has been a leading advocate of the partnering project.

“Preserving this valuable and educational material through web-based archival will make it widely available for research and reference use to scholars, students, teachers and the public at large,” Echeverria said. “This project is a major step in fulfilling our mission to reflect the diverse interests in our academic community and promote and preserve the rich Latino culture.”

A redesigned version of the Radio Bilingüe Web site was launched in June, 2007 to distribute the non-profit radio network’s award-winning bilingual coverage of immigration, the environment and health to new users.

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About Radio Bilingüe, Inc.

Founded in 1976 and taking the air in 1980, Radio Bilingüe owns six full-power FM stations in California, serves over 100 affiliate stations via satellite, and provides live webcast, podcast, and text news service through its Internet site. Radio Bilingüe provides audiences with news, information and cultural programming from its award-winning programs Noticiero Latino and Línea Abierta. The network also distributes selected programming acquired from partnering networks in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Europe and Latin America. Radio Bilingüe is available on HD and several major English-language public radio stations throughout the U.S. offer the bilingual programming on the second-channel service to its Spanish-speaking communities.

Funds for Radio Bilingüe's news services are provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The California Endowment, the James Irvine Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Mitchell Kapor Foundation and the Lumina Foundation for Education.

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