Do You Remember Rock n Roll Radio?

Some great news on the radio preservation front. The Radio Preservation Task Force (RPTF) of the Library of Congress is in the beginning stages of identifying existing collections of radio broadcasts throughout the country, with the ultimate goal of creating a national database of archival collections.
Christopher Sterling (task force director and Associate Dean at George Washington University) and reserach director Josh Shepperd recently published an article outlining the RPTF's current activities, which you can read over at Antenna. The RPTF is focused on identifying and preserving non-commercial, local , and regional broadcasts as well as identifying major gaps in current archival holdings.

A little background: National Recording Preservation Board Chair Sam Brylawski created the RPTF in early 2014 following the recommendatoins laid out in the Library of Congress National Recording Preservation Plan. The Plan, based on work conducted by over 100 librarians, researchers, historians, media representatives, and others, identified four major areas of concern: preventing the further deterioration of rare archives; the need for standardized preservation strategies; accessibility challenges, including the lack of a national database and copyright issues; and long-term national preservation and access. Brenda Nelson-Strauss, Head of Collections at the Archives of African American Music and Culture at Indiana University (their monthly newsletter is a must read) directed the development of the national plan.

The Obama administration is considering opening up the Eastern Seaboard to seismic oil exploration. North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory is naturally on board. Exploration would make use of seismic airguns, which, "are repeated every ten seconds, 24 hours a day, for days and weeks at a time."

Blasts can be as loud as 250dBs. Needless to say, exploration will kill marine life. And all this despite the fact that little oil actually lays beneath the Atlantic seaboard. Thankfully, the Raleigh News & Observer came out against this plan back in March 2014, citing environmental concerns and the potential disruption to coastal tourism.