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"Golden
Hours Radio," In its 30th Year of Operations, Re-Launches
from
New Base in Portland
Contact: Jerry Delauney -- 503.784.7649
OmniMedia Networks
(PORTLAND,
OR)-- Golden Hours Radio, a local, 30-year-old reading service
serving the blind, elderly, disabled and homebound communities,
announces its new base of operations at the Portland-based
Oregon Commission for the Blind. Golden Hours Radio, streamed
on the internet through OmniMedia Networks, provides international,
national and regional news up to an estimated two-hundred-thousand
blind, elderly, and disabled persons living in the state of
Oregon. Jerry Delauney, 57, is founder of the not-for-profit
OmniMedia Networks and long-time program director of Golden
Hours, which was formerly affiliated with Oregon Public Broadcasting.
He says, "We are human beings reading the news to people
who often feel isolated from the world. Our on-air readers
become like family in the lives of our listeners. We're the
friend they can count on."
Golden
Hours Radio re-launched programming services from its new
home at the Oregon Commission for the Blind on April 21, 2008.
The radio service is unique with its user-friendly internet
access, links with other reader services around the state,
and its affiliation with the IAAIS, which advocates for the
visually-impaired community's access to audio information
services. Listeners can tune in to the service 24/7 to hear
volunteer hosts read news from The Oregonian, the Statesman-Journal
and the Eugene Register-Guard along with editorials, business
and entertainment news. Golden Hours also features "Old
Time Radio" and airs works of literature, non-fiction,
westerns and children's books.
"Other
news services exist for the target population served by Golden
Hours," says Delauney, who is legally blind. The IAAIS
estimates the U.S. radio reading audience at roughly 2 million
people. "But these services are largely phone-based where
the listener must call in. Often they depict voices that are
machine generated." Such barriers are foreboding for
many listeners with physical disabilities. Says Delauney,
"The blind, elderly and disabled live on the edge of
society in terms of their visibility. But they are citizens
within a democracy and deserve to have access to our public
discussion. This is the mission of Golden Hours.
Golden
Hours also seeks to partner with radio or television stations
to extend its programming. Says Delauney, "We reflect
community values. In this often impersonal world, that human
touch is what our audience appreciates." People interested
in learning more about Golden Hours or who are interested
in volunteering may contact Jerry Delauney, Golden Hours Radio,
503.784.7649, www.omnimedia.org. The Oregon Commission for
the Blind is located at 535 SE 12th, Portland, Oregon, 971.673.1604.
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