Political Communication, 21:353367, 2004 Copyright Taylor & Francis Inc.

. ISSN: 1058-4609 print / 1091-7675 online DOI: 10.1080/10584600490481460

Black Radio Politically Defined: Communicating Community and Political Empowerment Through Stevie Wonders KJLH-FM, 19922002
PHYLIS JOHNSON

KJLH-FMs community service activities demonstrate that the stations mission is more than talk; it is action. It acted upon residents needs during the 1992 Los Angeles riots and has remained responsive to its audience. Front Page, KJLHFMs flagship program, served as an alternative voice in South Central Los Angeles and across the United States. KJLH-FMs response to the 1992 uprising was the reference point that the researcher used to identify themes and/or patterns defining the stations community role, especially as it affected civic participation and political mobilization. Beyond listeners anxieties regarding the violence in the streets and their criticism directed toward the Los Angeles Police Department, community empowerment and unity emerged among the top themes of the 1992 Front Page on-air transcripts. The KJLH-FM case, in particular, presents a rare opportunity to study the community responsiveness of Los Angeles only independently Black-owned station within the context of a historical event as well as examine its relationship with other U.S. Black/urban radio stations. A significant factor that led to the stations grasp of community issues in 1992 was its location, or proximity to its listeners. KJLH-FM also has a uniquely prominent position in its community, given its ability to draw celebrities and politicians into major events and discussions. Keywords African American radio, Black-owned, civic participation, community, KJLH-FM, Los Angeles riots, voter registration

KJLH is a community radio station located in the heart of South Central Los Angeles, one of approximately 100 Black-owned FM stations. The stations present owner, Steveland Morris (a.k.a. Stevie Wonder), purchased it in 1979. KJLH-FM is the oldest Black radio station in Los Angeles (Soul of America, 2001), and it is now the only independently Black-owned station in that market. It was relocated to Inglewood (about 5 minutes away from the original location) after its lease on the 3847 South Crenshaw property had expired in the late 1990s. Even after the sweeping governmental deregulation and subsequent media consolidation of recent years, KJLH-FM has managed to survive as an integral member of the South Central community and greater Los Angeles. In May 1992, the not guilty jury verdict in the trial of four Los Angeles police
Phylis Johnson is Associate Professor in the Department of Radio and Television at Southern Illinois University. Address correspondence to Phylis Johnson, Department of Radio and Television, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901-6609, USA. E-mail: phylisj@yahoo.com

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officers for the beating of African American motorist Rodney King touched off the Los Angeles riots. KJLH-FM played a pivotal role during the civil unrest, capitalizing on its already established partnerships with city agencies, churches, and social organizations. In the midst of the mayhem, KJLH-FM contacted the telephone company and requested a toll-free number for people to call to get information and help. Indeed, after the looting and the fires stopped, much of South Central Los Angeles was without electricity, water, and medical attention, in some cases for several days. Many people without electricity listened to the station on battery-operated radios and even transistor radios. The station turned into a community network of information on places to go in the city for food and shelter, places to cash checks, and ways to discuss with children what was going on in the streets. KJLH-FM worked together with area churches to create a resource center. In recognition of its efforts, KJLH-FM won a George Foster Peabody Award for distinguished public service and coverage of the Los Angeles riots. KJLH-FM host Rico Reed and news director Carl Nelson, along with other station personalities, dropped music programming and kept up a dialogue over the airwaves for more than 4 days, while fumes and frustrations filled the airinside and outside the studios. Movie stars, politicians, and journalists from across the globe gathered at KJLHFM and called for nonviolent solutions on the air. Camera crews arrived from all over the world to the area, and, at one point, the beginning of The NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw was broadcast live from KJLH-FMs studios. By the end of the 4 days of violence, the events happening around the station had been aired globally, and several U.S. radio stations oriented to African Americans carried KJLH-FMs programming. Through its service to the community, KJLH-FM countered some of the negative images strewn across television. More important, the radio station became the focal point for discussion and implementation of nonviolent solutions to the social ills of southern Los Angeles and to the larger African American community across the nation. KJLH-FMs social and political identity, subsequently, was not merely established via on-air dialogue but also through the civic participation it inspired from its staff and community. The stations political activism appears as an important component of its larger community role both before and after the 1992 events. KJLH-FM listeners interest and willingness to participate in rallies and voter registration drives became unifying forces within the Black community during 1992. KJLH-FM fostered a shared identity among its listeners as they called to voice their outrage with the Rodney King verdict. The KJLH-FM case presents a rare opportunity to examine Black radios role as civic activist. This case study (Yin, 1994) is based on a content analysis of KJLH-FMs Front Page call-in program for the 4 days of unrest (April 29May 2, 1992) that followed the Rodney King verdict. It also draws on 18 interviews, conducted from December 2001 to August 2002, with KJLH-FM employees and African American leaders who played significant roles during the stations broadcasts at the time of the riots or otherwise had knowledge of KJLH-FMs role in the community. Interviews included two sessions with key radio personnel (Karen Slade, Carl Nelson, Eric Rico Reed, E. Steven Collins, and Jamaal Goree).

Black Radio Politically Defined

KJLH-FMs historical role as mediator, activist, and change agent should be seen in the context of the community role that Black mass media, including radio, have long played in the United States. KJLH-FM, like many other Black legacy stations, has served as a public forum for its listeners and city leaders; in fact, it has encouraged political em-

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powerment through civic participation and community dialogue across the airwaves (Johnson & Birk, 1992). Inspired by the teachings of the African American church and later Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Black radio has long been active in community affairs (George, 1988; Kennard, 2000; Lornell, 1988; Spaulding, 1981). In the 1950s and 1960s, community service efforts such as raising money for Goodwill through WDIAs Star-lite Revue (which featured musicians such as Aretha Franklin, the OJays, and the Delphonics) set the stage for political struggles to come (Cantor, 1992). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a number of researchers, as well as the national press, criticized Black radio for its failure to address the needs of the African American community (Fedler, 1973; Ferretti, 1970; Meyer, 1970; Meyer, 1971; OConnor & Cook, 1975), although many others simply rejoiced that more black voices were being heard on the air (Cantor, 1992, p. 172). Black radios power to inform and unify the community, especially during times of crisis, has been documented (Alston, 1978; Black Radio, 1970; Fornatale & Mills, 1980; George, 1988; Jeter, 1981; MacDonald, 1979; Newman, 1988). In 1968, Black radio, serving as the voice of African Americans nationwide, became a unifying force immediately after Dr. King was assassinated. It came of age the night King died, and African American disc jockeys across the country interrupted the music to tell people to cool it (George, 1988, p. 111). New Yorks WLIB-AM, in fact, was given a George Foster Peabody Award for its decision to stay on the air (George, 1988). With the surge of Black consciousness in the 1960s and after, Philadelphias WDAS-AM/FM talk show host E. Steven Collins recalls, there was a recognition on the part of the Black community that Black radio was its best media friend (Collins, personal communication, 1993).

Voter Participation Through Black/Urban Radio

The political activism of Black radio has been widely noted. Johnson and Birk (1992) reported that voter registration was mentioned as one of the top three themes of promotional events conducted by commercial gospel stations owned by African Americans. In 1983, four Chicago Black-targeted stationsWBMX-FM, WGCI-FM, WVON-AM, and WJPC-AMalong with civil rights activists sponsored a massive voter registration campaign that led to the Democratic Party nomination and, eventually, election of the first African American Chicago mayor, Harold Washington (Sheppard, 1983; Zorn, 1983). Likewise, Black-targeted stations in Memphis played a key role in the dissemination of voter information and promotion of voter registration during the 1991 mayoral race between incumbent Dick Hackett and Willie W. Herenton (Caffey, personal communication, 1992; St. James, personal communication, 1992). Herenton became the first African American mayor of Memphis (Arndt, 1991; Herenton Elected, 1991). In Philadelphia, Black radio also promoted voter registration, and this contributed to the victory of mayoral candidate William Green over Frank Rizzo in 1981, when nearly 85% of all African Americans voted (Collins, personal communication, 1993). WDASAM/FM has been involved in the sponsorship and coordination of a number of voter registration drives and vote-a-thons in the past two decades. In particular, WDAS AM/FM talk show host E. Steven Collins (personal communication, 1993) underscored the significance of Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr. as a political voice to Philadelphias African American listeners in the 1980s, recalling that: Jesse Jackson was running one year, and we put together a hastily coordinated, at least from a technical point of view, live remote from a Center City park

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Phylis Johnson where he was addressing union workers. And we just stopped music which is just unheard of in a very competitive urban radio environment. We just, on the FM and AM stations, stopped music to put Jesse Jackson on the air live.

According to Lorn S. Foster (1988), Reverend Jacksons political campaigns were an extension of the civil rights movement [and] the black church rather than an attempt to engage in electoral politics (p. 204). In 1988, his candidacy drew 7 million votes with 2 million new voters registered through his campaign efforts (Catania, 1996). That year, he spoke to a crowd outside the Crenshaw-Imperial Shopping Center (South Central, Los Angeles), saying You can vote for houses, decent health care, day care [and] you can vote to raise the minimum wage . . . your vote counts, and you count, in an effort to motivate African American voters to register for the general election in November (Boyer, 1988, p. 15). In Los Angeles, his message aired over KJLH-FM, as well as three other Black/urban radio stations then in the area: KACE-FM, KGFJ-AM, and KDAY-AM. On October 27, 2000, Reverend Jackson and Bill Clinton, with the endorsement of the National Association of Black-Owned Broadcasters (NABOB), used a special 1-hour telephone conference call to 40 NABOB stations to encourage African American listeners to go to the polls. Jackson ended the call by asking them to go to church on November 5 and to get others to vote on Election Day or what he called Dignity Day. Clinton also agreed to produce a public service announcement urging African Americans to vote in the upcoming election. During this time, Black radio played a large role in encouraging voters to participate in registration drives and in voting, with both the Republican and Democratic parties engaged in an unprecedented effort targeting black voters (Barabak, 2000, p. 2). The Democrats even taped political commercials featuring celebrities like actor Will Smith, singer Stevie Wonder and author Maya Angelou (p. 2).

Communicating Community Through Black Radio and Urban Media

W. Philips Davison, in his study on the effects of communication on quality of life in an urban neighborhood, points out that community media, in particular the local press, have the potential to promote community events and provide links to businesses or the government, especially if the coverage leads to stories in the city-wide press or on television, or if the local reports are forwarded through interpersonal channels (Davison, 1988, p. 25). Community leaders in one urban neighborhood, for instance, described their local paper as responsive [and] an active participant in community enterprises (p. 22). The early community press, according to Morris Janowitz (1952), was a significant force in the social fabric of the urban community through its support of area businesses and its positive attitudes toward civic organizations. This has certainly been true of the Black-owned press (Allen, Dawson, & Brown, 1989; Garland, 1988; Sherard, 1988). The Black press in Los Angeles goes back to The California Eagle, founded in 1879 and surviving into the 1970s. The Eagle championed the cause of equity and justice in the life of the African American in Los Angeles. It paved the way for the Los Angeles Sentinel (first published in 1933) and other Black-owned newspapers such as the L.A. Watts Times and The Wave (Burroughs, 2002). Radio offers some distinctive advantages over print as an urban community medium. It provides some of the same benefits found in face-to-face relations (Snow, 1983, p. 120). Powell (1993) explains, It does not require a disaster; all it takes is music that appeals to a community of twentysomethings or a call-in program for seniors

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on fixed incomes or a pair of brothers doing comedy (p. 74). Radio is community, according to Powell (1993), who explains that successful radio stations provide their listeners shared identity and community: Remember the central role of the local radio station in Spike Lees movie, Do the Right Thing? It was radio devoted to and defined by its community, in that case an urban neighborhood in Brooklyn. Sure, there are real-life inner city-community stations: Harlems WLIB-AM is a well known advertisersupported station, but its appeal crosses geographical boundaries well beyond Harlem. (pp. 7475)

The 1996 Telecommunications Act

The American communications system was revolutionized with the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which relaxed ownership restrictions for broadcasting, cable, satellite, and telephone companies and allowed for sweeping consolidation among radio stations and various media. Five years later, a handful of radio companies owned the majority of U.S. stations. Indeed, most radio stations are owned by one of 25 top radio companies, and the number of independently owned stations has continued to decline since 1996 (Shweder, 1998). The post-Telecommunications Act consolidation, and the deregulation that preceded it for two decades, has downsized and deskilled the workforce within the radio industry (McCoy, 2000). The number of smaller localized radio companies and employees has decreased, particularly since the onslaught and escalation of deregulation in 1996. Fewer than 3% of all broadcast stations in the U.S. are owned by African Americans, and many of those are now operated by a handful of corporate chains such as Radio One and Inner City, which, according to Buffa (2000, p. 2), have eliminated their news departments, dramatically cut back public affairs programming, and moved their remaining public-affairs shows to the middle of the night. Radio One, a 25-station network, is the nations largest Black-owned radio company, reaching into eight markets including Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, and Washington, D.C. The ability of Black investors to consolidate may ultimately determine the fate of Black radio in a highly competitive marketplace in which a nonminority corporate radio giant, Clear Channel Communications, Inc., owns 1,200 stations. Consolidation has also made it difficult for Black-owned stations, especially independently owned outlets, to hire and retain qualified employees, in particular female and minority personnel who are often recruited by larger corporations with promises of advancement and higher salaries (National Telecommunications and Information Administration [NTIA], 1998). To complicate the problem further, minority owners tend to own AM stations, which have become typically less profitable and powerful than FM signals over the past 15 years (Hutchinson, 1999). Black AM talk radio stations as well as Black public affairs programming have virtually disappeared since the late 1980s (Silberman, 1997). The only alternative for some broadcasters with limited capital has been to set up low-power community stations such as Black Liberation Radio, which originated from a Springfield, Illinois, housing project (McCoy, 1999).

Black Radio as a Public Forum

Squires (2000) contends, in her study of Chicagos Black-owned WVON-AM, that Black talk radio advances the legacy of the black press via radio, in essence creating an

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institution that serves and revitalizes a Black counterpublic (p. 78). Squires proposes that Black talk radio, in particular, provides an alternative to mainstream discussions, even within a commercial model of broadcasting. Squires (2000) argues that a counterpublic is necessary to give oppressed or marginalized groups arenas for public talk outside the surveillance and without the participation of the dominant group (p. 75). This follows the work of Nancy Fraser (1992), who holds that those excluded from dominant discourses . . . invent and circulate counterdiscourses, so as to formulate oppositional interpretations of their identities, interests, and needs (p. 123). Can a commercial enterprise be a vehicle of a vital public sphere or counterpublic sphere? Robert Park (1922) pointed out that the ethnic press originated in the U.S. as a localized commercial enterprise. Black radio also has been a commercial venture since its inception, yet it has communicated a message of community and oneness across the airwaves. Squiress study of WVON-AM, Chicago, concludes that the line in Black talk radio is less distinct between producer and audience (Squires, 2000, p. 77) than is the case within mainstream media. Black radio, in essence, might be envisioned as the conduit to discussions both parallel and oppositional to mainstream voices in the marketplace (Squires, 2000). WVON-AMs ability to project a highly credible voice to its audience, with immediate links to certain forms of political action and organization (p. 84), is probably a function of its African American owner, Melody Spann-Cooper. As one of two Black-owned stations in its market, WVON-AM serves to promote discussion among listeners and community leaders; by doing so, it provides a high degree of utility (p. 79) for its listeners. Its slogan, bringing the community together, captures the essence of the stations mission; [it] sponsors a number of community events [and] provides information about upcoming rallies, protests, seminars, and entertainment events in the Black community and Chicago at large (p. 79). Squires (2000) concludes: I argue that commercial media can play a positive role in forming and sustaining serious discourse within a subaltern public sphere, especially through a smallmarket or niche format like WVONs. By constructing and attracting a dedicated family of media consumers, WVON and its listeners have created a media environment whose commercial and community goals overlap. (p. 84)

The Case of KJLH-FM

KJLH-FM has a uniquely prominent position in its community, in terms of its ability to draw celebrities and politicians into major events and discussions. In part, this prominence is a result of its owners celebrity, but even before Stevie Wonder bought the station, it played a significant role in the community. In its early days, KJLH-FM was promoted as the only Negro-owned station in the West (Black Radio, 1970, p. 45). John Hill Jr., a mortician, became the owner in 1965. He aired church services every Sunday morning like his father did in earlier years (Barlow, 1999). By 1979, KJLH-FM sponsored 21 different church services. (In the 1990s, KJLH-FM ranked third overall in the Los Angeles market on Sundays, 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., when it aired church services [see Love, 1999].) Also in 1979, Hill decided to sell KJLH-FM only to a black buyer (Barlow, 1999, p. 269). Stevie Wonder (under the company name of Taxi Productions, Incorporated) purchased KJLH-FM for $2.2 million. Wonder was an early proponent of establishing Martin Luther Kings birthday as a national holiday and an outspoken opponent of apartheid in South Africa, where his music was banned. These social concerns, as well as his commitment to the local Black populace, became the centerpiece of

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the stations new format (Barlow, 1999, p. 270). In fact, Wonder decided not to change the call letters KJLH, and instead each letter became a symbol of his desire to bring the community together through kindness, joy, love, and happiness (Gronau, 2001, p. 1). Its motto today epitomizes this heritage: We Are You (Barlow, 1999, p. 270). This positioning statement can be heard across KJLHs airwaves and seen on the Web, and what it conveys at first glance is a desire to link its station image with the larger African American community. Over the years, the station has demonstrated its strong news and public affairs commitment by adding reporters and discussion and call-in shows, encouraging community access to the airwaves, and providing a number of services such as helping to pay electric and utility bills for destitute families (Barlow, 1999, p. 270). In recent years, Front Page has served as the community centerpiece and mouthpiece, and thus the hallmark of KJLH-FMs community vision. It became the only station programming through the aftermath of the unrest, although this programming began as a 15-minute light news/call-in segment prior to the uprising. Indeed, the one undeniable piece of evidence that KJLH-FM increased its commitment to its audience immediately after the 1992 civil unrest is its expansion of Front Page to a 90-minute program that compels listeners to respond on-air to issues that specifically affect the African American community. Front Page airs weekday mornings, 4:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. (and more recently across the Internet). The depth of its investigations has recently garnered the attention of the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers across the U.S., although KJLH-FMs activities were consistently reported in the neighborhood and metro Black press prior to the civil unrest. According to station manager Karen Slade (personal communication, 2002), KJLHFM has also held town-hall meetings on drive-by shootings as well as on economic topics and, more recently, terrorism. Another station-sponsored town-hall meeting brought former CIA director John Deutsch to South Central. Front Page host Carl Nelson (personal communication, 2001) explained that KJLH-FM broke a story on the governments alleged involvement in selling crack cocaine to the African American community. The topic became the theme of a town-hall meeting that was cosponsored by KJLH-FM and the Congressional Black Caucus (Gronau, 2001, p. 2). The event drew 2,500 people, as well as numerous local politicians and national media. Formatted as adult rhythm and blues (or urban adult contemporary), KJLH-FM attracts an audience that is more of a minority mix than most Los Angeles stations: Listeners are primarily adult African Americans skewing female, probably about 32 and up (Slade, personal communication, 2001). About 70% of its audience is African American, and the other 30% is probably a combination of Hispanic and then White and then maybe just a very small percentage of Asian (Slade, personal communication, 2001).

Themes in the 1992 Front Page Coverage of the Los Angeles Riots
Findings compiled from Front Page transcriptions of the April 1992 civil unrest coverage are presented in Table 1. I identified more than 100 conceptual terms or phrases and conducted a computer word search to tabulate concepts within the Front Page transcripts. Each word/phrase was checked for its context and relevance to the appropriate concept (or issue). For example, reporting of school closures during the civil unrest was not categorized as an educational issue. The top KJLH-FM themes, as determined by frequency of occurrence, were violence and Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). These categories were related

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Phylis Johnson Table 1 1992 Front Page transcripts: Frequency of theme occurrence Theme Violence LAPD Community unity Community empowerment Safety/peace Economic empowerment Emotional venting Community service Conspiracy Media Concern for youth Education Church empowerment Watts
a

Frequency 360 342 258 253 169 134 132 102 89 82 53 51 30 7a

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Frequencies under 10 were not ranked.

largely to the 1992 events. A related theme was safety/peace; the need to stay safe and increase the peace on the streets was an ongoing theme, especially during the first 2 days of the unrest. The hosts and callers warned listeners, especially young people, to stay off the streets and keep within curfew. A number of callers expressed fear regarding the events that were occurring on the streets and near their homes. The 1992 Front Page transcripts also documented an emphasis on community. The combined categories of community unity, community empowerment, and community service were represented by 613 references. In virtually all of the documentation, empowering the African American community through information and service activity became evident as a theme: Our community is much more important than playing a few commercials, cause we say in our slogan that We are you, so whatever the pain thats going through our community goes through us too. And if we dont have a community, we dont have a radio station (Slade, personal communication, 2002). Front Page represents one of a few programs in the U.S. that exist certainly in the [African American] community at large, that is brave enough, that is committed enough to [engage in political dialogue] (Carroll, in Front Page transcripts, 2002).

The KJLH-FM mission toward community unity, service, and empowerment has not changed, and it continues to be articulated and exemplified through the words and actions of management, staff, and community leaders. The importance of culturally specific economic empowerment (134 occurrences) emerged as a significant theme during the transcripts. In essence, Black-owned businesses and media were viewed as critical toward the accomplishment of social and political objectives within the community by both KJLH-FM staff and listeners. Other

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themes also emerged, such as discussions centered on governmental conspiracy against African Americans (89 occurrences), bias inherent in mainstream media (82 occurrences), concerns for the welfare of African American youth (53 occurrences), acknowledgment of the importance of education (51 occurrences), and the role of the church as a social and political force within the community (30 occurrences). KJLH-FM provided information and perspectives not offered by non-Black media (with particular emphasis on the important role of stations such as KJLH-FM that are independently Black owned and targeted toward an African American audience). Information was indicated as key to political and economic empowerment (information is power), and the role of Black radio in providing counterinformation to that of governmental agencies and nonminority media was deemed essential toward serving in the public interest of the KJLH-FM community. Moreover, there was specific discussion about the need for more Black talk, especially as a format, in Los Angeles and across the U.S. than presently exists over the airwaves. It became evident during the interview process that corporate radio, and to some extent Black corporate radio, is perceived as part of an economic and political system of power that limits solutions and information to its listeners. KJLH marketing director Greg Johnson (personal communication, 2002) articulates his views on the mission/outreach of KJLH-FM as one of social and political equity that can be achieved only through economic empowerment: Our mendrug addicts, in prison, theres a million brothers behind bars, a millionjust think of all those minds that could be out here effecting change, you know, so then, you know, what do you say to the men that are out here, how do we galvanize? I dont know, butwe need brothers to come step forward and be real men, and if I can help speak that through these airwaves, through the stuff that Im doing as a marketing director here, and, you know, if Im at the Rec Center in Nickerson Gardens and the guy tells me, you know, Greg, I need volunteers, Im on the radio saying, I need some men down here to help coach these kids, you know, or be positive role models something, we need that. So, the revolutions not over, but its not guns and burning down the stores, the revolution is economic (emphasis added). Yet through all this discussion, what, if any, lessons were learned by those inside and outside the community? Jamaal Goree, former Front Page co-host and producer, only recently left KJLH-FM, and points out that there is a distinct difference between talking about an issue and working toward a solution. In fact, racial profiling is still a major impediment toward rebuilding the social, political, and economic fabric of South Central: I would say some of our politicians became a little more aware of the anger and they started to address some of those issues, but addressing the issues and solving the issues are two different things. They did start to address them. Now again, racial profiling, which is a great issue in this cityit really was not addressed. It was thought to be just those whining Blacks out there because of their criminal nature. Theyre now crying because theyre getting caught. . . . Even as recently as a couple of years ago in Philadelphia, they showed a group of police officers beating a Black motorist for apparently nothing. Okay, but the point is that prior to March third with Rodney King, there wasnt a lot of discussion on racial profilingso what did they learn?

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Phylis Johnson I cant say a whole lot, other than they need to be more careful the next time, make sure theres no camera pointing at you. (Goree, personal communication, 2002)

Building Community Through Dialogue and Action

Even before the verdict in the King trial was announced, station manager Karen Slade (personal communication, 1993; Slade, 1993) was preparing an editorial on the importance of getting involved in the community, registering to vote, and participating in the political system. Listeners were encouraged to register to vote at a rally held on May 2, 1992 (the deadline was May 4). That became one of the main topics of the night, among other things. Rico Reed, along with other personalities such as Brandon Bowlin (HBO; Tom Joyner Morning Show), Tyrone, and J. Anthony Brown (The Arsenio Show), kept the dialogue going through the night. Rico Reed: Good evening. KJLHyoure on the special edition of Front Page. What is your name and where are you calling from? Caller: . . . Im calling from Westchester. I just want to say that I was disgusted beyond words when I heard about that verdict coming back this afternoon, and it sends a message out to all African Americans that you do not have a say in the way that this country is run. Your voice means nothing so far. People, we have to get out there; we have to vote. We have to get these clowns out of office who say theyll represent us and theyre not representing us at all. Our best interests are not their top priorityits the rich White people who are supporting their campaignstheyre doing what they want to do. Brandon Bowlin: Exactly. Tyrone: And when you get that literature in the mail that tells you how to vote and tells you about the issues, do not throw it away. Rico Reed: Read it. Tyrone: Read that stuff and vote intelligently. Know what youre voting for. Rico Reed: Its not just the president, its not just the councilmen, its the issues, the propositions that you are missing out on. . . . Thank you so much for calling. Heres a number to call if youre looking for someplace to register to vote or you need more information, write this number down7-2-1-1-10-0. That is 721-1100. You must be registered by May the 4th, thats coming upwhat is that, Monday? J. Anthony Brown: Monday. Rico Reed: Monday, you must be registered by Monday to vote in the June election. If anything can move you to vote, this should do it right here. (Front Page transcripts, 1992) Now, nearly 14 hours after the King verdict had been announced, hosts and listeners were becoming more articulate in their calls for voter participation, and it became obvious that the community was beginning to reorganize and respond to the needs of its neighbors:

Black Radio Politically Defined J. Anthony Brown: I feel bad about the fact that the news stations, the television stations were showing a lot of the violence, but there were a lot of churches and there were a lot of civic organizations that were doing things to calm the people, along with the radio stationand none of that was broadcast. They really focused on the violence. (Front Page transcripts, 1992b)

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As captured through KJLH-FMs on-air coverage, religious leaders were among the first in the nation to organize nonviolent rallies protesting the 1992 acquittal of the four officers. Jackson was one of the first political leaders to arrive on the scene of the Los Angeles civil uprising. He camped out in the KJLH-FM offices over the next few days. The demarcation between church and politics is not clearly delineated in South Central. On Wednesday night, April 29, 1992, Reed and Nelson called Jackson to ask for his help in calming down the people of South Central and neighboring communities: Thats when I decided to call Reverend Jackson, and I said, You know, you need to get here, cause this thing is totally out of control. I see no ending, cause theyre not listening to the mayorobviously, theyre not listening to the mayor and theyre not gonna listen to Pete Wilson. (Nelson, 2001) At 9 a.m., Jackson was in the KJLH-FM studio listening to President George Bush, who urged for peace in a speech carried by radio and television stations nationally. Bush also condemned the murder and destruction by looters and rioters in South Central Los Angeles. This was the first time that KJLH-FM carried a presidential speech. Jackson, who was in the studio, reacted immediately to Bushs announcement, refuting his condemnation and arguing that the president had not addressed the problems and plight of those living in poverty and inequality. Jacksons message resonated throughout the nation. On Saturday, May 2, 1992, 20,000 people came out to register to vote amid the confusion and destruction on the streets.

Conclusion
According to long-time Front Page producer Jamaal Gorre (personal communication, 2002), KJLH-FM has looked beyond radio to the Internet to connect its South Central listeners to others across the U.S. and the world: Our community was burningand our community wanted something; they wanted a forum where they could express their rage, their anger, and obviously, we had a voice that wasnt getting the kind of airplay or getting the forum that they neededand so KJLH began to become that forum. Its primary goal is to serve its South Central audience, but it is providing an alternative forum to listeners across the country that is virtually untapped in other radio markets. We are cultivating a national audience, you know, because as you were saying, for this type of programmingits not on mainstream radio. People are searching for it, and so theyre finding it on the Internet. Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, these are areas where we have our larger listeners on the Internet, especially in New York. . . . Its great for them because its 7:30its still hell for us cause it is 4:30. According to MeasureCast Top 50 (2001), KJLH-FM ranks 42nd of 50 top Internet radio stations in terms of hours streamed and number of unique listeners (3,207) tuning into the

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stations site at least once in a months time. New Yorks urban giant WBLS-FM came in at 39, with a monthly audience of 4,546, and the only other Urban presence was Internet Radio Inc. (ranked at 13, with 34,638 listeners). Approximately 5 million African Americans have made the Internet part of their daily routine (NTIA, 2001). Moreover, Lekhi (2000) points out that African Americans purposively target Afrocentic sites (p. 95). KJLH-FM as an independent and often alternative source of information is reflected consistently within this study. A sense of community unites staff with listeners, in the sense that KJLH-FM provides a safe haven for outrage and emotional venting, amidst prevalent mistrust of mainstream media and social and political institutions outside the Black public sphere. KJLH-FMs proximity to listeners and its historical link to area churches and neighborhoods create a political dialogue that engages local leaders, celebrities, and public officials. KJLH-FM was already established as an influential and credible voice in the community before the 1992 civil uprising. The concept of localism, according to Napoli (2001), is only relevant when discussions move beyond physical location to a community-centric activism that connects listeners to local information and political change agents. KJLH-FM appears to have succeeded in this regard. The general consensus among KJLH-FM staff and community leaders is that the mission of Black radio is not to teach or preach, but rather to empower its listeners through information. In 1992 KJLH-FM listeners caught on early to the message, which was also echoed by celebrities, community leaders, and public officials during the week-long coverage. The station has empowered its listeners to participate in the political process by informing them of the power of their vote and its ability to change the system. During the 2002 Special Anniversary Edition of Front Page, Nelson commented that the embers that sparked the uprising 10 years ago are there today in L.A. and a lot of people feel [that] there could be another riot in the South Central area. That same day, President W. George Bush spoke to a group of community leaders at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church (F.A.M.E.) in Los Angeles regarding the tenth anniversary of the uprising. Ten years prior, his father recognized the church as the 177th point of light . . . for its efforts to revitalize South Central (Front Page transcripts, 2002). Nevertheless, one listener expressed his outrage during the Front Page anniversary edition: How can we allow ourselves to let . . . corporate America [which] perpetuated this uprising in the first place, sit down and dictate what the agenda will be out here today. He continued, Bush [will] be here to talk to some community leaders. The only community leaders . . . are the ones that [are] really kind of [politically] conscious and listen to KJLH (Front Page transcripts, 2002). KJLH-FMs employees, indeed, also have been personally empowered through Wonders commitment. For example, Front Page host Carl Nelson has bought his own commercial radio station in Florida that forwards the notion of community broadcasting to another generation of listeners. Jacquie Stephens (KJLH reporter in 1992; current news director), Greg Johnson, Karen Slade, and a host of supportive African American community leaders continue to engage listeners and fuel community spirit through the South Central airwaves. In July 2002, the community of Inglewood was tested once again when Mitch Crooks, 27, caught on videotape the violent arrest of 16-year-old Donovan Jackson at a gas station across the street from Crookss motel. KJLH-FM, located in front of the Inglewood police station, opened the airwaves to its listeners. Wonders testimony (along with Karen Slades) to federal communications commissioner William Kennard in a 1999 hearing on localism and diversity indicated that KJLH-FMs coverage of and responsiveness to the 1992 uprising was an extension of its community mission, just as it had been in the stations past:

Black Radio Politically Defined During the unrest of the 60s and the 90s, my station had a special voice that served and affected the reality of despair and frustration in our community. Our messages helped heal and unify the community. A simulcast between KJLH and Radio Korea was designed to dissolve tensions between the African American and Korean communities. The station was a beacon of hope for all of Los Angeles. And during the uprising of 1992, the studio stayed open in the midst of turmoil and violence. People came day and night to use this medium to soothe the community. . . . Minority single owners have a personal motivation to provide this kind of service for the public interest. Our concerns are not driven by remote stockholders who are looking at the bottom line for return on their investments. Our concerns are not dictated by the Dow Jones, but by the Mary Joneses who rely on our station as their source of information and entertainment. (FCC proceeding, 1999, pp. 7980)

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His personal investment in KJLH-FMs ongoing community service mission was made clear during the 1999 hearing: I wanted . . . to make sure that the voice of a community would be consistently heard and that it would open up a place of communication so . . . all various peoples of this melting pot . . . could be heard and united (FCC Proceeding, 1999, pp. 9798).

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