FCC to Accept Low Power FM Applications August 28 through September 1, 2000 for Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, Virginia, and Wyoming. See story link for details.
Members of ARD and the Prometheus Radio Project recently held LPFM workshops in Minneapolis, MN; Decatur, Springfield, Urbana and Chicago, IL; and Madison and Milwaukee, WI. Press Coverage from the events can be found by visiting the following links:
Rochester, MN Coverage
Decatur, IL Pre-workshop Coverage
Decatur, IL Post-workshop Coverage
The Microradio Implementation Project has announced LPFM workshops in Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and Oregon. See story link for details.
For months, Republicans in Congress have sought to block a Federal Communications Commission program to license hundreds of new low-power radio stations. But now the first batch of applications for the stations has come in, and it turns out that about half are from religious organizations, mostly the sorts of fundamentalist churches active in conservative Republican politics.
From Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego to In His Image Outreach Ministries in East Greenwich, R.I., hundreds of evangelical churches are asking for space on the airwaves to spread the Gospel. Some simply want to read Scripture verbatim; others want to preach against abortion.
They will not get the chance, however, if the Republican Congressional leadership -- lined up on the side of big broadcasting companies and their lobbying group -- gets its way. And that has left many of the applicants and their supporters frustrated, while offering a fresh reminder of the divisions that persist in the Republican Party.
The Federal Communications Commission's decision to fill blank spaces on the FM radio spectrum with low-power stations has tapped a gusher of grass-roots enthusiasm and provoked a broadcasting industry campaign to cap it....
Although half of the license applicants are churches or groups with religious affiliation, the other half is diverse: school districts; ethnic, theatrical and musical groups; chambers of commerce; community self-help organizations; and many individuals, including former "pirate" station operators. They share the conviction that commercial stations and National Public Radio are delivering bland, homogenous, unsatisfying content badly in need of cogent programming and informational nourishment.
Both the National Association of Broadcasters and National Public Radio oppose creation of so many low-power FM stations.
The NAB argues that implementing the FCC decision would jam the airwaves and interfere with full-power broadcasters and aviation frequencies. The "CB-ization" of radio would be impossible to regulate, according to the NAB. NPR says that the broadcast spectrum is already too congested and that the new stations would not foster the diversity of voices claimed by the FCC.
"All the criticism is a red herring," said FCC spokesman David Fiske. "We will not license where interference will occur." The broadcasting industry has another agenda, he said. "We are neutral judges. This debate has been to try to reduce the (technical) expertise role of the
FCC."
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.