Com­mu­ni­ty and col­lege radio sta­tions are unique in broad­cast­ing because in addi­tion to being impor­tant com­mu­ni­ty ser­vices, many are also a com­mu­ni­ty cross­roads, host­ing dozens or hun­dreds of peo­ple in their stu­dios and spaces in any giv­en week. That means the nov­el coro­n­avirus COVID-19 pan­dem­ic pos­es a spe­cif­ic chal­lenge for these broadcasters.

KPFA’s ​“UpFront” co-host Bri­an Edwards-Tiek­ert and Nation­al Fed­er­a­tion of Com­mu­ni­ty Broad­cast­ers pro­gram direc­tor Ernesto Aguilar join to help us under­stand how col­lege and com­mu­ni­ty sta­tions should deal with the pan­dem­ic on and off the air. As a com­mu­ni­ty jour­nal­ist, Bri­an has been on the front lines of help­ing Bay Area lis­ten­ers get the best infor­ma­tion and advice. He has rec­om­men­da­tions for how sta­tions should address crit­i­cal infor­ma­tion, and mis­in­for­ma­tion, on air, and how they can frame issues for vital com­mu­ni­ty discussion.

Ernesto observes that the pan­dem­ic is a ​“learn­ing oppor­tu­ni­ty” for sta­tions to be sure they have an emer­gency response plan that keeps them on air, even if func­tion­ing with just one staff, vol­un­teer or engi­neer. Hav­ing automa­tion can be one impor­tant tool, caus­ing him to warn that the cur­rent sit­u­a­tion is a ​“wake up call” for sta­tions that have resist­ed the tech­nol­o­gy as a ​“badge of honor.”