Tune your radio to Portsmouth Community Radio (106.1 FM) any weekday afternoon between 3 and 5 p.m. and you’re liable to hear a conversation like this:
“We got our report cards today, and I got straight As,” DJ Danielle Zamarchi says proudly.
“I got straight… Cs and Ds,” replies her partner, Amy Stewart, adding that the first is obsessed with school.
“I’m not obsessed with school,” she counters. “I’m just smarter than you.”
There’s more amicable bickering, then Amy exclaims, “Someone’s a little heisty down there!”
“It’s feisty, not heisty,” Danielle says, and the girls break into peals of laughter.

Danielle Zamarchi and Amy Stewart are part of the “Tres Amigas,” one of the many youth radio programs on WSCA that disseminate the unfiltered voices of Portsmouth’s teenagers over the airwaves for two hours most weekday afternoons.

WSCA is not alone. There are more than 100 youth radio programs broadcasting across the country on community radio stations, with formats ranging from music and news to talk shows and radio dramas. It’s true reality radio, unscripted and spontaneous, a refreshing departure from the tired, pre-programmed formats of commercial radio. Sure, it’s a unique educational opportunity, one that teaches the kids responsibility, media literacy and broadcasting skills. But for the kids involved, it’s simpler than that—it’s just fun.

putting kids on the air

WSCA has hosted up to 10 hours of youth programming each week since the low-power FM station went on the air last September. Though the show lineup is always changing, three of the shows, “The Blacklist,” “Operation Impending Doom” and “Tres Amigas,” have been on the air for almost a year.

The current crop of kids hosting “The Blacklist” is Max Kliegle, 11; Zac Mayeux, 13; Ty Lefebvre, 13; Erin Kellenbeck, 13; and Rebecca Cole, 13. They spend the hour before the show choosing music, setting up playlists and preparing on-air material. However, all of the banter on the show is unfiltered and unscripted.