Friendships are finally getting their due. Once relegated to a distant third position after life partners and children, a spate of new books are spotlighting the importance of friends. And research shows that people with close friends are healthier – both emotionally...
Purpose Prize
The Latest from CoGenerate
An Intergenerational Approach to Getting Families Housed in Santa Barbara
Lyiam Galo is the co-director of Generations United for Service, a program of the Northern Santa Barbara County United Way and one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing...
Utilizing Faith-Owned Land to Strengthen Intergenerational Community in Seattle
E.N. West is the co-founder and lead organizer of the Faith Land Initiative of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing older and...
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Bill Siemering
Purpose Prize Fellow 2008
Strengthening community radio to help developing countries
As a founding board member of National Public Radio and creator of All Things Considered, NPR’s first news program, Bill Siemering understood that local radio stations could change lives and improve society. But his travels in developing countries showed him that existing assistance programs short-changed the small stations that could best do the job. At age 70, Siemering founded Developing Radio Partners (DRP) to support and train community radio broadcasters in developing countries. In areas where illiteracy is high, local radio stations reach nearly everyone. They can promote healthy practices, good governance, environmental conservation, peace-building and better lives for women and young people. But they are chronically under-funded, often operating with transient volunteers and under charged political conditions. Siemering’s DRP offers training in journalism and management; fosters associations to help stations engage as a group with key stakeholders; and operates a network for program exchange that gives each small station a larger audience. He is also promoting the use of text messaging with radio to improve citizen engagement. Siemering’s work has already supported balanced election coverage in Sierra Leone that led to 75.8 percent voter turnout and fair elections, and has empowered herders in Mongolia to add their voices to the public forum. “What other social investment can have a broader reach or affect more lives than an engaging local radio station?”