Rhode Island inmates to participate in radio show

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Latino Public Radio in Rhode Island—now 24 hours a day—is launching a new series featuring state inmates. The Department of Corrections says the inmates will be featured later this fall on the “Our Youth” program, which airs Saturday mornings.


Latino Public Radio went 24/7 via a new signal on 10/8. The change expands the nearly all-volunteer station’s reach, including into Massachusetts, says station president Dr. Pablo Rodriguez.

Latino Public Radio is one of 31 public Spanish-language broadcasting stations in the US and Puerto Rico, and one of only two [the other is in Miami] on the East Coast. The expansion, from 15 hours, six days a week to the 24/7 format, is via the from the frequency lease-swap agreements between Latino Public Radio, Rhode Island Public Radio (WRNI) and the Wheeler School’s student-operated WELH FM 88.1. Latino Public Radio moved from WELH to 1290 AM, the previous home of WRNI. In turn, Rhode Island Public Radio will move to 88.1 FM. It will also continue to broadcast on 91.5 FM in Coventry and on 102.7 FM from South County to Newport and Little Compton in that state. Wheeler’s student station will move online to wheelerschoolradio.org.

“Our Youth” host, Maggie Picot, is also administrator of community confinement for the state prison system. Different inmates will tell their stories every week and discuss their bad choices. Officials say they selected nine male and four female inmates to participate. They have no discipline record in prison, participate in programming and hold down jobs where they are incarcerated. Officials told The AP the inmates’ real names will not be used and details about their crimes will not be released. Picot plans to follow the inmate feature with a series about crime victims.