FLAGSTAFF — Community Radio station KSZN-Flagstaff 101.5 FM, Radio Sunnyside went on the air live with a short on-air ceremony at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 30, organizers reported in a media release.
KSZN is Flagstaff’s first listener-sponsored Community Radio station to acquire a FCC construction permit and build a transmission system. Organizers reported they finished connecting the studio to the transmitter on May 29.
Founded by the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association, Radio Sunnyside will feature programming designed to highlight the varied cultures and eclectic demographics of Flagstaff’s communities.
At full stride KSZN will produce more than an hour of local news and two public affairs programs per day, hosted and produced by station based producers and local neighborhood based and community and service organizations.
KSZN will air upwards of 18 hours of music programming like no other station in town. Music programs from reggae to hip hop, mariachi, corridos, fronteras, soul, funk, jazz, and blues, and country, rock, folk, and Americana ignored by commercial and public radio alike. KSZN, Radio Sunnyside is a tri-lingual station, presenting programming in English, Navajo, and Spanish.
More than 90 percent of our regular weekly programming will be created and produced by scores of volunteers working live from the studio, organizers reported.
“We have interviewed, selected, and trained a number of the volunteers who will produce the first broadcasts and we are looking for up to 50 more good people. If you can imagine yourself hosting a music show, public affairs program, or doing reporting for newscasts contact us today,” organizers reported. “All of the music programmers will be you or your neighbors playing a diverse selection of music and providing information about up coming community events, city council and county supervisor meetings and offering observations on current proceedings. We will have the ability to broadcast live from notable community events.”
Based out of the Mercado de los Sueños (The Market of Dreams) on 4th Street, Radio Sunnyside will feature a fulltime news department producing daily news stories about Flagstaff communities and issues effecting neighborhoods and Flagstaff citizens. Our public affairs programs will range from programs produced by station based programmers presenting issues from a broad swath of issues affecting those who live and work in Flagstaff, the Sunnyside neighborhood and other low and moderate income neighborhoods in the city.
Public affairs programs will allow community organizations and listeners to discuss issues such as environmental quality, city response to neighborhood issues, our National Forests, water issues, housing, streets, dark skies, workers rights and labor issues to mention just a few. Some programs will be hosted on a regular basis by representatives from neighborhoods and community organizations allowing for a broader and more direct discussion of the issues facing Flagstaff residents and voters.
For more information, send an email to mac@radiosunnyside.org or visit https://radiosunnyside.org