KRSM starts airing

A new community radio station began broadcasting at the end of November on 98.9 FM to a potential 300,000 Minneapolis listeners.

KRSM Southside Media Project is a low-power FM radio station that operates out of Waite House Community Center as part of the Community Media Initiative by Pillsbury United Communities.

The station, which began live streaming online in March of this year, will share 65 hours per week of original programming in 6 different languages created by a team of over 100 volunteers and hosts.

The weekly schedule includes shows about mental health, community organizing, relationships and sexuality, entrepreneurship, history, music and more.

The station will also feature syndicated content such as lessons in Ojibwe language, history, and culture created by partner stations on Native reservations around greater Minnesota as well as Spanish-language content from Democracy Now.

“From advocating with media justice partners nationally to working in our local communities, we’ve been able to build a station from the ground up,” said Advisory Board member Danielle Mkali. “It’s an opportunity to learn and listen to our own stories, which means that we are shaping our world together. Community radio can be a healing and community-building space.”

KRSM is designed to provide a platform for elevating the voices, narratives, and cultures of communities that have a history of being marginalized, misrepresented, and erased by traditional media. Over half of the shows are run by women, 73% are hosted by Indigenous and people of color, and 80% of the hosts have had no previous experience working in radio.

The station also serves as an on-ramp to jobs in the media industry by offering free training opportunities and access to professional grade equipment.

New programming to expect soon includes a monthly radio novella from El Colegio high schoolers as well as a show run entirely by people incarcerated in prison. The full show schedule is available online at krsmradio.org, and listeners can access programming through the website, mobile app, or 98.9 FM.