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Northern Community Radio is an
independent, nonprofit organization that
operates a unique community-based public
radio station, KAXE. KAXE serves most of
north central and northeastern Minnesota
with a 100,000-watt signal originating in
Grand Rapids at 91.7 FM. Northern
Community Radio also operates
translators in Brainerd at 89.9 FM
and in Bemidji at 105.3 FM
KAXE is a different kind of radio. When
you tune in KAXE you hear northern
Minnesota...its people,
environment,
communities, attitude. These are the "stars"
of KAXE programs. KAXE is a place where
people gather to
dance to good music or to
find out about
the flowers in the ditches
and the birds at their feeders. It's a place
to
learn about the world,
laugh,
meet good
neighbors, and
share ideas.
Over 100 community volunteers add depth
and sparkle to KAXE, along with a small
staff. The voices you hear on the air belong
to real people making radio that is live,
immediate, and interactive. KAXE's
volunteers and staff love the medium of
radio and care about the people who live
here. Some listeners have told us about
moving away, only to find they were
compelled to move back under KAXE's signal.
Volunteers at KAXE are
trained to perform as professional
broadcasters, but they do what they do as a
community service and are not paid. Some
volunteers travel from as far away as the
Twin Cities, Bemidji, Brainerd and Effie.
Some live close by. Some volunteer
several times a week and some volunteer
occasionally.
KAXE is a first-of-its-kind rural public
radio station and a national model for
regional rural public radio of its type.
KAXE's mission is to build community through
programming and linkages with the people of
northern Minnesota. The station
intentionally shares the airwaves with
organizations and people.
Northern Community Radio operates in an
economically challenged but geographically
large market. KAXE is radio that operates
outside the box ... radio that believes
conventional wisdom can only achieve
predictable results. It is creative, frugal,
and responsive. In many ways it is closer to
old time radio than its modern cousins. We
are proud of KAXE and think the radio
produced in this small corner of the world
is some of the best to be heard anywhere.
Northern Community Radio is a federally and
state tax exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit
corporation. Its
board of directors can have
as many as 10 members (the board currently
chooses to operate with 9). Four are elected
by the membership and the rest are appointed
by the board itself. Northern Community
Radio's board adopted a system of policy
governance in 1993 that it still uses.
Northern Community Radio operates an
amphitheater on the lawn outside its studios
in the summertime. We use the amphitheater
for music and cultural events, and the
community uses it for their events. We also
operate
Northern Community Internet, a group
of participatory, hyperlocal community
websites.
The staff, board, volunteers, and members
of KAXE hope you enjoy what you hear and
find it useful and significant in your life.
Please contact us with your reactions and
comments. You may read our Public File
Report
here.
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