About KNSJ

“We are a full FCC Licensed! This is What Democracy Will Sounds Like.”

Beginning in 2012

Activist San Diego is thrilled to announce that it has been awarded Construction Permits  by the Federal Communication Commission for a new, full-Power radio station in East County San Diego. The DESCANSO station is the first of two stations which we applied for. The second station is in Ramona and we fully expect to be granted that license as well. These two stations will bring education, information (including emergency information), community affairs, entertainment and cultural programs to areas where no such public broadcasting service has existed before. Potentially several hundred thousand people around East County and in greater San Diego County will be able to receive this signal and programming.

The project will also give voice to communities and organizations that have been excluded from the airwaves. The development of the San Diego Community Radio Project is on a fast-paced course and we are confident that we will be broadcasting programs by 2013.

While we are awaiting a legal ruling from the Federal Communications Commission on the RAMONA station, the DESCANSO STATION has been approved and it is only community funding that keeps the project from moving forward now! We have taken several key steps in advancing the project by coming up with an engineering design and by applying for major grants. As the next most important step, we are seeking the community’s participation in the realization of the project. We are seeking the wisdom, the volunteer work, fund raising efforts and specific ideas from the talent that abound in our community.

We eagerly look forward to your participation either as an organization or as an individual. Without your participation and inclusion, this effort would be rendered weak and meaningless. We invite you to attend the Community Information meeting, where we will inform you on the details of the radio stations and the efforts that are underway. We hope we will make a compelling case for your vigorous and whole-hearted support.

TESTIMONIALS: Praise from the Pros

“KNSJ.org, help put the unity in the San Diego community” -Jim Hightower,

A national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, New York Times best-selling author, and today’s “Johnny Appleseed” of progressive populism has for decades been a champion and supporter of community radio and has this to say about KNSJ. FM Radio:

“More than a spot on the dial, KNSJ 89.1 FM Radio Descanso/San Diego and KNSJ.org Networking For Social Justice — is radio of, by and for the people. It’s Community Radio at its best – Transformative, Accessible, Affordable. Unlike corporate media, KNSJ FM and KNSJ.org, help put the unity in the San Diego community, linking listeners to information, organization, harmonization and action.”

 

“San Diego airwaves KNSJ needs listener support”  -Philip Racuel

-“If you are like me and believe in fighting for social justice and equality so all can enjoy living free without duress and prejudice because it is the next right thing to do then KNSJ will be the radio station for you. But in order to keep my eventual program and many of the others on the air, so we truly bring democracy and fairness back to the San Diego airwaves KNSJ needs listener support”.

An invitation for you to become a Founder of the San Diego Community Radio Project

  • The Founding Five thousand – Those honored Radio Access Activists who donate $24 and pledge $2 a month
  • The Founding Fifteen Hundred – The Free Radio Radicals Rearing to Rebel …who donate $60 and pledge $5 a month
  • The Founding Five Hundred – The Free Speech Fabulosos …who donate $120 and pledge $10 a month
  • The Founding Fifty – Free Radio Freedom Fighters whose feisty $1000 donation and a $25 monthly pledge will allow the Community Radio Project to be free of Corporate control.
  • The Founding Fifteen – SD Radio’s Community Radio Champions who liberate the airwaves in the name of free speech and donate $5000 or offer a monthly pledge equal to $5000 over the next 3 years of radio construction.
  • The Founding Five – The Community Radio Rebellious Heroes, the organizations or individuals who launch Community Radio with a $20,000 gift or offer a monthly pledge equal to $20,000 over the next 5 years.

RADIO PROJECT MEETINGS

Please Join us at a San Diego COMMUNITY RADIO PROJECT.

At this time we are conducting virtual meetings the first through the fourth Thursday.  To join download the Zoom app, send an email to info@KNSJ.org or text 619-283-1100, and we will send you the link.

  • 1st Thursday – General Meeting focused on newcomers *
  • 2nd Thursday – Music Programming Meeting – email caseyhick@hotmail.com *
  • 3rd Thursday – Radio/Audio training sessions. Topics shift – email info@knsj.org
  • 4th Thursday – Steering Committee meetings. By invitation only – email tim.taylor@KNSJ.org

* Newcomers Welcome.

Call 619-871-9354 for information or email us at info@KNSJ.org.

Activist San Diego‘s in-the-works, full-power FM station. The signal will transmit out of Descanso, with a parallel Internet radio stream and studios based in East County and central San Diego. ASD is a 13-year-old 501c3 with a rock-solid mission of networking for social justice.

HELP US BUY AN ANTENNA: The San Diego Community Radio Project is conducting a targeted fundraiser for an essential piece of hardware to get on the air: an antenna, which will cost just $20,000 — and we hope it will have your name on it.

We were heartbroken with the loss of KLSD; we had hopes with Liberty One; is San Diego County ready for this NCE (non-commercial, educational, listener- supported) endeavor led by progressives? Come find out more, we’re creating a commons!

What others are saying about KNSJ

East County Magazine about KNSJ

San Diego Community Radio Project also gets set to launch from Descanso; seeks funds and volunteers

By Miriam Raftery

April 21, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) –“Every once in a while, government does something that is not only good news, but refreshing,” local author and former public radio producer Walter Carlin said of last month’s decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to open the airwaves up for community radio stations, rather than reserving that space for mega-networks with concentrated ownership and opinion-shaping power.

The decision, however, presents a new challenge, Carlin notes. “Can and will local radio respond?”

The FCC rule changes aims to open up the airwaves for potentially hundreds of new low-power community radio stations across America. To make room for new stations on crowded airways, the FCC will halt processing applications for 6,000 FM translators, which are repeater stations that rebroadcast programs from distant areas. Some mega-broadcasters have used the translators to block local programming. For instance, Horizon Christian is a religious network that owns 435 radio licenses including many translators broadcasting on a spectrum reserved for educational broadcasting.

Such monopolization of the airways was made possible by deregulation, in which a rule limiting one media outlet to owning five radio stations was eliminated. That gave rise to powerful conglomerates such as Clear Channel, which at its peak owned over 1,000 stations including a half dozen or more in San Diego.

“Pirate radio” stations sprang up illegally, reaching small geographical areas until the FCC shut down such operators.

Now, however, aspiring broadcasters hoping to serve their communities will soon be able to apply for legitimate low-power FM licenses.

“Typically they only reach a radius of a couple of miles,” said Martin Eder, whose San Diego Community Radio Project recently had an application approved to launch a full-power FM radio station that will transmit from East County. KNSJ89.1 FM should be broadcasting from a tower above Descanso by the end of 2012, but streaming radio from KNSJ.org will be online in the near future.

In East County, Eder is best known for efforts to help defeat Blackwater’s plans to open a private military camp. Eder’s station has a potential initial audience of several hundred thousand (still low by full-power FM standards, less than KPBS and far below strong signal stations such as KOGO).

Even a low-power station capable of more limited reach, however, can have value for local listeners. “They are local and community oriented. They may be for a language minority and serve a specific community,” Eder observed. “They definitely tend to give voice to the voiceless, to those people who have no access.”

Eder estimates that San Diego may have only two or three low-power licenses available, fewer than some other urban areas due to the proximity to the border and signals reserved for Mexico.

Although Eder supports the FCC move to block translator applications, the step actually hinders his station’s effort to obtain a translator to boost its signal. But Eder says there are other options. “We may be able to relocate our antennae closer,” he said, adding that with emerging new media models, more people may also be able to listen online or through other means, such as cell phones or satellite radios in their cars. “So we are going to start small, and hope to increase both our signal and quality and certainly do radio streaming.”

To get on the air, Activist San Diego must raise at least $50,000. “We are committed to get on the air by the end of 2012,” said Eder, adding that about 25% of that goal has been reached thus far.

The organization aims for an inclusive programming model of community-based broadcasting that “allows for a very high level of civic mindedness and civic involvement,” Eder said. “We want to be able to highlight local culture, local musicians, and local issues but also tie in to national programming that has to do with citizen participation in social, cultural, economic and political involvement,” he said of the venture, which will be nonprofit. “Also very much in our plan is to take existing local journalism like East County Magazine, Voice of San Diego, and Zengers Magazine and give an audio version of this.”

The San Diego Community Radio Project is looking for locals to produce shows and provide content, particularly local and civic affairs. Meetings are held the first and third Thursdays each month at 4246 Wightman Street, San Diego 92105. All volunteers or supporters or independent media are invited.

Are you looking for naming rights? San Diego Community Radio Project is conducting a targeted fundraiser for a custom transmitting antenna that costs $19,000–an essential piece of equipment to get on the air. Radio donors will be permanently recognized as founding members. To help, call 619-871-9354 or donate online at our donation page .

Website Design, Production and Maintenance for KNSJ.org is donated by Art Zenith Graphic Design Studio and Casa Montezuma Vacation Rental Home.

Each One, Reach One; Pass the Microphone; Pay It Forward
For info: 619-528-8383 info@ActivistSanDiego.org or Martin @ 619-871-9354 or Funguy 310-507-7458