Radio is a Sound Salvation
The media industry, including National Public Radio, have successfully squelched allocations of radio frequencies for new stations, despite increased capacities permitted by new digital technology. While grassroots media rebels have been chipping away at corporate-controlled radio for years, much of their effort focuses on low-power radio serving very small communities, less than a 3.5 mile radius. A leader in the radio reform movement has been Philadelphia’s Prometheus Radio Project, named for the charitable Greek god who pilfered Zeus’ fire as a gift for the huddled masses.
Prometheus’ barnraisings for low-power radio received a major boost recently when the Federal Communications Commission allocated new FM radio spectrum that will be awarded freely to new non-commercial, educational radio stations. Only communities with room on the dial are qualified for licensing, so this means most urban markets are too full. But the prospects for rural America are significant and could herald new access to information in areas dominated for decades by religious and corporate broadcasters. The new allocations could also significantly benefit Native American radio. A special website called Get Radio has been launched to assist communities interested in submitting applications to the FCC during the open period of October 12-19, 2007. Prometheus is one of a number of excellent media advocacy organizations engaged in a national campaign to spread word of the FCC’s rare offering, including Free Press, Radio for People Coalition and Future of Music Coalition.
