Minneapolis Community Radio / Low-Power FM Workshop Announced
for Immediate Release: Contact ARD at 612-874-6521 or the Microradio Implementation Project at 877-468-8884
Minneapolis, MN - With an anticipated August application
deadline for the state of Minnesota scheduled by the Federal Communications Commission, community groups are invited to attend a special workshop on low power, non-commercial radio, on Monday, July 17, from 7-9pm at the Resource Center of the Americas,3019 Minnehaha Ave Minneapolis, in the Oscar Romero Conference Room.
Sponsored by Americans for Radio Diversity (ARD), the Prometheus Radio Project, and the Microradio Implementation Project, the event is designed to help local organizations prepare for the first opportunity in over 20 years to apply for a community radio license.
After many years of public pressure the FCC voted on January 20, 2000 to create a new Low-Power FM (LPFM) radio service, to bring back community voices to the radio dial. In August community groups and non-profit organizations in Minnesota will be allowed to apply for an LPFM license.
Attending groups will receive help filing out the FCC LPFM application, get answers to their technical questions, have the opportunity to network with other community radio activists, and receive instructional guides.
Americans for Radio Diversity (http://radiodiversity.com) is a Minneapolis based non-profit organization who’s mission is to promote community-oriented commercial and public radio broadcasting. The group was a participant in the proceeding that created the LPFM service, has been involved with the FCC’s review of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and provides media and radio activists with news and action updates via its web site at http://radiodiversity.com.
The Prometheus Radio Project (http://www.prometheus.tao.ca) is a Philadelphia based non-profit educational organization created by radio activists to facilitate the growth of the Free Radio Movement. The group serves as public interest advocate group and as a microradio resource center offering legal, technical, and organizational support for non-commercial community broadcasters. The group has conducted workshops throughout the U.S., most recently a tour that covered the east coast.
The Microradio Implementation Project (http:www.microradio.org) is a national LPFM facilitation initiative of the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ (http://www.ucc.org) which has advocated public nterest issues before the FCC for the last three decades. Among MIP outreach targets are included community organizations, faith groups, language specific, and racial/ethnic groups.
After the Minneapolis workshop, members of Prometheus and ARD will be traveling across Wisconsin and Illinois giving workshops for communities in those states. Their final stop will be the Grassroots Radio Conference in Madison Wisconsin, sponsored by community radio WORT-FM on July 20th-23rd.