Building Radio's Future: An Open Source Toolkit for Community Stations

Description

Did you know that radio reaches 80% of Americans every day, yet the thousands of non-commercial stations keeping communities connected are often held back by outdated, custom-built technology? In this project, you'll work directly with real radio stations (including Duke's own WXDU) to understand their challenges and build solutions that matter. You'll conduct user research with station managers & DJs, identify common pain points across stations nationwide and develop free, open-source tools that could transform how community radio operates. Whether it's automating FCC compliance reporting, streamlining DJ scheduling, or solving the surprisingly complex problem of tracking music played from vinyl records, your code will have immediate, tangible impact.

This isn't just about writing software; it's about building for a real community with real needs. You'll learn user experience research methods, collaborate with actual stakeholders, and establish contribution guidelines to ensure your work lives on in the open-source ecosystem. By the end of summer, you'll have created tools that stations across the country can use, contributed to the commons, and gained experience in community-driven development that goes far beyond typical coding projects.