Creates Opportunities for Hundreds of New
Community Radio Stations
A media release from Prometheus Radio Project, www.prometheusradio.org
Washington, D.C.
— In a victory for communities nationwide, on March 19 the Federal
Communications Commission announced that the agency will open the airwaves for
community radio. To make room for a new wave of local stations, the FCC will
clear a backlog of over six thousand pending applications for FM translators,
which are repeater stations that rebroadcast distant radio stations. The
decision will allow for the first new urban community radio stations in
decades.
“Today the FCC
has opened the door for communities to use their own local airwaves, and that
will be transformative,” said Brandy Doyle, Policy Director for the Prometheus
Radio Project. “We commend the Commission staff for the care and diligence they
have shown. We also wish to thank Chairman Genachowski, Commissioner McDowell,
and particularly Commissioner Clyburn and her hardworking staff for their
efforts on behalf of communities.”
The announcement
concludes the first hurdle in implementing the Local Community Radio Act,
passed by Congress in 2010 after a decade-long grassroots campaign. The FCC is
on track to accept applications for new Low Power FM (LPFM) stations nationwide
as early as Fall 2012. Community groups are gearing up
to apply for the licenses, which will be available only to locally based
non-profit organizations.
“For our migrant
communities here in Arizona, community radio would give a voice to people who
rarely get to speak for ourselves in the media,” said Carlos Garcia, Lead
Organizer with Puente Arizona. “Anti-immigrant voices dominate the airwaves.
Community radio can help us tell our own stories, share news and information,
and get organized.”
Broadcast radio
remains one of the most accessible means of communication in the US, with 90%
of Americans listening at least once a week.
“Radio is a
great tool for reaching working people — it’s free to listen, easy to produce,
and people can often tune in on the job or while doing housework,” said Milena
Velis, Media Organizer and Educator with Philadelphia-based Media Mobilizing
Project. “In Pennsylvania, we’re facing big challenges, from education cuts to
rural poverty to environmentally destructive shale drilling. We see community
radio as a way to bring people together and create solutions from the ground
up.”
Low power
community stations are non-commercial and cost as little as $10,000 to launch,
putting these stations within reach of many communities who have limited access
to other media outlets.
Hundreds of
pending translator applications will be dismissed in Philadelphia, Phoenix, and
dozens of other cities, in compliance with the rules released today. The FCC
plan will preserve channels by dismissing translator applications that would
preclude future community radio stations in certain markets where the FCC has
determined that space for community radio will be scarce.
“We are pleased
that the FCC has taken such a careful approach to preserving channels for
community radio,” said Doyle. “And we’re particularly glad that the FCC has
taken our recommendation to ensure that the frequencies set aside are in
populated areas, where they are needed. This will make a big difference in San
Antonio, Sacramento, and 12 other mid-sized markets, where stations too far
from the city would have reached only tumbleweeds or farmland.”
The FCC had
stopped processing the pending applications in response to a 2005 petition
filed by Prometheus and Media Access Project. The new processing plan includes
several changes proposed by Prometheus to improve the outlook for community
radio.
Also today, the
FCC released a set of proposed rules for new community radio stations, asking
for public comment on the proposals. That release begins the final rulemaking
procedure which must be completed before the agency can accept applications for
new stations.
The Prometheus
Radio Project has been the leading advocate for low power community
radio since 1998. Prometheus led a decade-long grassroots campaign to pass the
bipartisan Local Community Radio Act, succeeding in 2010. Over its history,
Prometheus has supported hundreds of communities in licensing, building, and operating
their own radio stations.
