What Became of Low Power FM?

Mark Tobenkin asks: "Early in the new century legislation was passed, allowing for medium-sized FM transmitters in the United States. The objective was to empower local communities in the face of growing media consolidation. However, in early 2001, Congress curtailed this new project. The fresh political climate following the rejection of the FCC's new regulations seems to offer hope. Does the Slashdot Community know of a movement to give LPFM a second shot in Congress?"

Comments

Oct. 17 day of LPFM action

[None a loaf]

I just read an article on that. They are trying to organize hundreds of LPFM stations broadcasting on Oct. 17.

Break the Corporate Media's Stranglehold on the Free Flow of Information, News, Artistic Expression and Cultural Creativity http://www.counterpunch.org/dunifer07252003.html

See also http://www.freeradio.org/

Low power FM

[bedessen]

Anyone interested in this topic should visit www.prometheusradio.org, notably the newest press releaste titled Broadcast Lobby Caught Red Handed With Red Herring. Basically, the results of a recent independent study show that all the concerns from the ClearChannel-type large broadcast interests were 100% complete FUD. The large stations protested LPFM tooth and nail, under the guise of "it will interfere with our broadcasts." In truth they are just scared of people having access to community radio programming that's not dictated and controled by payola and other corporate interests. All of their interference claims have been more or less completely debunked.

Hopefully, this will pave the way for Congress to lift the artifical restrictions on LPFM that it imposed a few years ago (at the request of NAB lobbying), and open the door to true community-controled radio.

Re:NPR

[AvitarX]

Also I would like to note that despite the anti-consolidation anti-clearchannel reports/jokes often heard on NPR Clear Channel gives them lots of money (they get thank yous between programs quite often in my area (WHYY)).

The reason is that NPR operates low cost (many low staff rebroadcasting stations) public radio and CC operates low cost commercial radio. Together they make sure that no small stations can take over there market. NPR needs all the donation they can get, and it is the closest thing to community radio available in a lot of markets, if people instead donated to the real thing they would end. The death of NPR for community radio would actually probably be a bad thing, the quality of NPR is very good.

CC on the other hand does not need every listener they can get to profit or stay in business(with the amount of adds and low amount of work they need to do they are making money hand over fist), but they are just greedy SOB's that want every penny they can.

the fact that they have alligned themselves together makes me sad, and even though I listen to NPR instead of sending them money I send a letter every pledge drive that states my beliefs (LPFM is good, and CC sucks) as an explenation of why I send them no money.

As a side note. I was disheartened to learn that my small state (Delaware) has the countries last independant news radio station (WILM). The station is probably listenable by less then 500,000 people and yet continually gets rained on with national awards due to its good news reporting. Is the nation in really such a sad state that there is no good news out there? I mean a smaller station in NY could get far more listeners then ours, and yet they can't keep independant and fail to beat our dinky little area in quality?