Call for Papers: Revisiting Audience Engagement and the Relevance of Local Radio
For Immediate Release: November 12, 2025
Washington, D.C. – Symposium call for The Journal of Radio and Audio Media
The Journal of Radio and Audio Media (JRAM), the world’s premier radio research journal, is published semi-annually by the Broadcast Education Association. JRAM is dedicated to radio research and the new technology redefining radio’s traditional use.
JRAM sponsors frequent symposia to address important topics relevant to the mission of the journal, and this call hopes to energize interest in researchers in revealing particularly insightful activity related to local market radio programming, in the U.S. and abroad. JRAM had invited individual articles in recent years related to this topic, but now wants to extend the call for articles to be published as a symposium in the Spring 2027 issue.
Traditional broadcast radio competes for audience attention and share with various digital media, including podcasting and a variety of digital music options. At the same time, local radio today can be very automated and voice-tracked and ‘generic’ in terms of how it is presented locally. In the context of these important technology impacts on broadcast radio, articles submitted should demonstrate ways traditional local radio is or still can be vibrant and successful.
Fuerst (2016) addressed the foundations of the ‘shrinking local audience’ problems nine years ago, and, at the time, recognized the problem had been developing for many years prior. That conversation implied, at least for public radio at the time, that managers recognized the trends and intended to increasingly emphasize local programming to respond. In relation, over the past decade, there have been frequent conversations about ‘hyperlocal’ programming (Broom, 2015; Could Radio, 2024). Outgoing President and CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau Erica Farber is quoted in Inside Radio, saying: “I think the more that broadcasters can focus in on their local community, that is key. And there should be no question when you’re listening to a local radio station what city you’re in, and that you know what you’re listening to” (Could Radio, 2024, p. 1).
Within this context, this symposium call invites submissions of research reports that profile and demonstrate effective, successful, traditional local commercial or non-commercial terrestrial broadcast stations, investigating such topics as:
- historical studies demonstrating successful local markets stations and/or personalities
- existing effective local programming
- challenges presented by specific areas, such as the Alaskan hinterlands or any similarly unique or noteworthy successes in rural areas outside of officially
designated “market areas” - existing unique, compelling local talent that engages the local audience
- immediate plans by local stations to develop new approaches
- current non-traditional content (podcasts, LPFM, online-only stations) that could be considered by traditional local commercial or non-commercial broadcast
stations, and any other similar cases where community radio - and/or any local broadcast radio is thriving or is making efforts to reinvent itself.
Submission Instructions
Initial submissions will be extended abstracts detailing the existing or planned study. Only original manuscripts will be accepted, and all final article submissions will undergo a blind peer review, per the journal’s policies. Invitations to submit full papers will be issued shortly after the deadline for extended abstracts, and all final papers will undergo the peer-reviewed process for final publication. For specific information about the journal’s requirements and the submission process, please see the “Instructions for Authors” page on the JRAM site.
Once Extended Abstracts are accepted, completed manuscripts must be submitted through the Manuscript Central link at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hjrs
Documents prepared in Microsoft Word are preferred and should use APA 7th for style and citation. Manuscripts should not exceed 7000 words and should include an abstract of no more than 150 words. In addition to the manuscript with no reference to the author(s), the author(s) should include a separate attachment with contact information. Please fill in the manuscript information as directed on the journal submission site.
Submission Deadlines
Scholars interested in submitting an article for the special issue should send an extended abstract of 1500 words for initial review to Dr. Tony DeMars at DrTonyDeMars@gmail.com by April 3, 2026. Feedback and an invitation to submit will be provided by May 1, 2026. All final papers will undergo a peer-reviewed process for final publication and must be submitted to JRAM by August 1, 2026.
If you have any questions about the CFP, please send an email to DrTonyDeMars@gmail.com, Subject line: JRAM Local Radio
References
Broom, J. (2015, August 18). Seattle area to celebrate new FM ‘hyperlocal’ radio. Seattle Times, https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-area-to-celebrate-new-fm-hyperlocal-radio/
Could Radio Be Overthrowing Newspapers & TV As The King Of Local? (2024, January 24). Inside Radio. https://www.insideradio.com/free/could-radio-be-overthrowing-newspapers-tv-as-the-king-of-local/article_3f357480-ba87-11ee-afd3-57470e966b0a.html
Fuerst, M. (2016, October 25). Changing the conversation: Embracing ‘local that works.’ Current. https://current.org/2016/10/changing-the-conversation-embracing-local-that-works/
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About JRAM: The Journal of Radio & Audio Media (JRAM) is a semiannual publication designed to promote scholarly dialogues generated by various disciplinary and methodological points of view. The Journal welcomes interdisciplinary inquiries regarding radio’s contemporary and historical subject matter as well as those audio media that have challenged radio’s traditional use.
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