Northfield News Feature

Now in his third and final year as head of the station, [Cameron Nordholm] credited streaming audio – which allows listeners to tune in worldwide by visiting krlx.org – with changing the focus of a station that has been on the air since 1948.

Song requests from listeners in Minneapolis are regular occurrences now, and in the past few weeks alone the station has received messages from fans in at least 16 other states and as far away as Galsgow, Scotland.

“We’re not just reaching college students anymore so we’re providing different types of programming,” KRLX News Director Morgan Weiland said. “I think we’re trying to stay relevant, not only technologically but politically.”

In addition to listening to live streaming audio, KRLX is also beginning to “podcast” some content, including Locally Grown…

By podcasting, interested listeners can download programming that has already been aired and listen whenever they like. It’s a practice Nordholm likens to having “Tivo for your radio.”

“(Podcasting) really changes the nature of broadcasting,” Nordholm said. “Your want to serve your live listeners but you also want to keep in mind that people could be listening to this forever.”

Link to article pages one and two.
Northfield News Link.

Town and Gown Bridges: Locally Grown

In December of 2005 I made the fateful decision to contact the then current head of Northfield.org, a community-driven website for the city of Northfield, Minnesota. Griff Wigley was a direct, funny, and engaging advocate of citizen journalism and we hit it off well, quickly coming to an agreement to merge his current community news podcasting project with the resources and additional voices of KRLX-FM.

The resulting collaboration that we initiated, soon after dubbed “Locally Grown,” has seen a team of community and student journalists analyze and discuss pressing local issues including zoning, environmental, and civic works. Leader of the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation (NDDC) Ross Currier (left) and Northfield Economic Development Authority (EDA) member Tracy Davis have worked with Griff and the News Department at KRLX-FM to continue this community service through 2007.

Locally Grown Northfield Link.