Signals in the Air
Signals in the Air: Native Broadcasting in America is the first book-length study of one of the most unique communications enterprises in U.S. history. It is the remarkable account of how the nation's most exploited minority group overcame adversity by embracing the airwaves. Through their own radio and television stations, American Indians have found a way to keep their cultures and languages from perishing. This book examines the impetus behind the development of Native-run stations and how these stations operate today. It assesses the influence and impact of Native broadcasts in the Indigenous community and seeks to chronicle the formidable challenges confronting Indian broadcasters as they provide vital programming services to the often impoverished inhabitants of the nation's remote reservations.
MICHAEL C. KEITH is a member of the Communication Department at Boston College. He is the author of several books on electronic media, including The Radio Station (3rd edition, 1993) and The Broadcast Century: A Biography of American Broadcasting (1992), with Robert Hilliard. He has held various positions at several radio stations, and was Chair of Education at the Museum of Broadcast Communications.