The Missouri Model of Radio Preservation

A pioneering statewide effort to collect, digitize, and preserve local commercial radio station recordings in Missouri constitutes a singular and valuable model of collaboration and cooperation among multiple organizations. Under the direction of veteran broadcaster Frank Absher, who founded the St. Louis Media History Foundation, the “Missouri model” of radio preservation has resulted in numerous airchecks, commercials, and other historical audio (and printed) materials being made accessible to researchers and the public at the State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia. In this interview, Absher discusses the origins and development of the Missouri model; his collaborators at the Missouri Broadcasting Association, University of Missouri-Kansas City (the Marr Sound Archives), and elsewhere; why preserving local radio commercial broadcasting has important sociological ramifications that extend beyond simply documenting commercial radio; why sound history is cultural history; and how other states and localities might benefit from the preservation efforts he’s pioneered in Missouri.