So, I wouldn't normally use the Young People For blog to self-promote, but it's for a good cause: I have a little article in this month's CosmoGIRL! about why Cosmogirls should go blue and become Democrats.

Most of us are well aware of the Right wing voice on the radio but perhaps progressives shouldn't be so quick to give up the air waves as a lost cause. When talking about progressive media, we often hear references to independent news sites, blogs, youtube, or other internet-based media. I don't discount the importance of these types of media  in the progressive movement, but I'm concerned that progressives, caught up in a frenzy of instant news, RSS feeds, html and up/downloading will forget that outside of their virtual vicinity, some folks just don't have the regular access to the world wide web as they do. Sounds shocking sure, but it's true. It even has a name, the Digital Divide. So, while many progressives may be internet-savvy, we should also be looking to other sources of information as a way to communicate and educate. Inspired by Latin American activists, I think that progressives should at least consider the possibilities of community radio as a method on information dispersal. Two years ago, Sarah Posner warned that conservatives were quickly taking over the available low power, community radio stations. Should progressives do something about this? Should they even care?

One way of estimating the effectiveness of community radio as a tool for democracy and social progress is to look to how our neighbors to the south have been using it.