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News :: Elections & Legislation : Media |
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION VINDICATES LOW POWER |
Current rating: 0 |
by Prometheus Radio Project via ML
(No verified email address) |
21 Feb 2004
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Make More Room for LPFM, Engineers and Regulators tell Congress
Urbana's own Low Power FM is WRFU, 104.5. We are holding regular meetings to organize the station on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month at 8pm at the IMC. Please join us. You can also join our email list at http://lists.cu.groogroo.com/cgi-bin/listinfo/rfu |
The Federal Communications Commission released a major report today,
February 20th, concerning its Low Power FM radio service. The FCC is
making its recommendation to Congress that they remove the third adjacent
frequency restrictions that keep Low Power FM radio out of most American
communities, especially out of our cities. This act will open the doors
to hundreds, if not thousands, of new potential community radio stations
in the United States, more essential than ever in a time of increasing
media consolidation and decreasing access to the airwaves.
The original granting of licenses for the Low Power FM service was stopped
in its tracks in December of 2000, when Congress, under the
recommendations of the National Association of Broadcasters and NPR,
placed an exorbitant protection standard on the FM broadcast band.
Convinced by the corporations' cries of "interference", Congress
passed a law keeping Low Power radio off of most of its intended
frequencies, and over 60% of the potential stations were lost.
"When Congress listened to the big corporate lobbyists -- who were
telling them that our 100 watt radio stations would interfere with their
100,000 watt Goliaths, they were flouting decades and decades of
engineering precedent," said Prometheus Radio Project technical director
Pete Tridish. "Everyone in this business, including the FCC, knew that
there was room for our stations on the dial. Now Congress knows it for a
fact, and it's their job to pass the law allowing more LPFM stations to be
built."
LPFM licenses are granted to groups that promise to broadcast
non-commercial, locally-produced broadcasting that will serve their
regions and towns. The Prometheus Radio Project, alongside many other
national organizations, fought for the implementation of these licenses at
the turn of the last century. Prometheus will work to get the groups who
lost out on LPFM in 2000 back into the game, helping them apply for
stations and get their voices into their communities.
"We're very glad to see that the FCC is telling Congress what we've know
all along to be true," said Low Power FM broadcaster Mike Shay, of
environmental action station WRYR-LP in Anne Arundel Country, Maryland.
"I'm going to work overtime to tell folks all over the country that now
is the time to ask their Congresspeople to bring stations to their
communities!"
To read the report in its entirety, download the FCC's Adobe PDF document
from this site --
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-244128A1.pdf.
The Prometheus Radio Project is an advocacy group that builds,
proliferates, and works to further accessibility to Low Power FM community
radio stations. They also work for the movement for a more democratic
media and communications rights all over the country and all over the
world. For more information about Prometheus, contact Pete Tridish at
215.727.9620, or at petri (at) prometheusradio.org, or Hannah Sassaman at
267.970.4007, or hannahjs (at) prometheusradio.org.
* * * * * * * * * * |
See also:
http://www.prometheusradio.org
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This work is in the public domain |
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McCain Praises FCC Recommendations on LPFM |
by Rebecca Hanks
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
21 Feb 2004
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For Immediate Release
Friday, February 20, 2004
Contact: Rebecca Hanks 202-224-2670
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today applauded a report to Congress from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) concluding that statutory limitations placed on low power FM stations are unnecessary to prevent interference and recommending that Congress eliminate these limitations.
"Four years ago, broadcasters masqueraded their concern about competition from new low power FM stations in grossly exaggerated claims of interference. Today, the FCC has stripped the broadcasters of this disguise by concluding that these stations would cause virtually no interference, and recommending the removal of certain limits on such stations. In the coming days, I will introduce legislation to effectuate the FCC's recommendation," McCain said.
Since 1996, the radio industry has experienced dramatic consolidation. Many witnesses have testified before the Senate Commerce Committee about their concerns that media consolidation has hurt localism. In January 2000, the FCC sought to promote the use of radio to provide local content by creating a new class of radio stations - low power FM radio services. Despite being supported by state and local governments, community organizations, musicians, religious groups, and students, low power FM was severely curtailed by a rider added to an Appropriations bill late in 2000 at the behest of the powerful broadcast lobby.
"While it may be too late to turn back the clock on the radio consolidation that has occurred, low power FM may be one means of providing the public with a locally-oriented alternative to huge national radio networks," McCain said. |
