Radiocracy: local radio & democracy
Lythrodontas , Astra Radio and Mike Hajimichael
This informal group in partnership with Astra FM, is made up from young people from rural areas of Cyprus, most of whom are involved in communication studies. Astra 92.8 is a private radio broadcasting station whose mission is to enrich people's lives with programmes that inform, educate and entertain. ASTRA was founded with a unique goal: to stand for the progressive and alternative voices in Cyprus’ radio community, providing the audience an alternative to the status quo of talk radio. The group is led by Mike Hajimichael.
Mike is an Associate Professor at The University of Nicosia in the Department of Communications. His PhD was in Cultural Studies at The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) in England. CCCS was an important experience as it defined many aspects of his academic, cultural and political perspectives.
Besides being an academic Mike is also a performance poet, recording artist, radio presenter and freelance writer. These experiences have enhanced and informed his writing and research for the last two decades.
Recent conference engagements includes in the Art and Social Justice conferences Durban (2010), Nicosia (2011) and Gernika (2012); Art of Record Production, Leeds (2010) and San Francisco (2011); and The International Reggae Conference, Kingston, Jamaica (2013).
Mike is particularly interested in art and social justice, media literacy, citizens’ media, colonial writing/texts, applied ethnomusicology and the impact of technology on creative processes. He also produces a weekly radio show ‘Outernational’ which is played on 7 different stations in 5 countries.
Astra FM
Astra 92.8 is a private radio broadcasting station whose mission is to enrich people's lives with programmes that inform, educate and entertain.
It is a Radiostage Co ltd’s ownership and is run by a board of members.
It broadcasts all over Cyprus at the frequencies of 92.8 and 105.3.
The 7th of December 1994 was its first day “on air”.
ASTRA was founded with a unique goal: to stand for the progressive and alternative voices in Cyprus’ radio community, providing the audience an alternative to the status quo of talk radio.
Lythrodontas
Lythrodontas is built on the foothill of the mountain region of Machairas and is covered by the green colour of the olive groves. It is not after all accidental that Lythrodontas is known for its rich olive groves.
The village is located in the Nicosia District, in a relatively short distance from the capital, since it is only 31 kilometres away.
http://www.lythrodontas.org/
The Cyprus Team