Refugee Radio Station Blocked by Red Tape

Zathrus writes "According to a Wired story, a volunteer organized low power FM radio station is being blocked by local administration and red tape. They've already won the classically big battles -- securing FCC licenses, obtaining the broadcast equipment and radios, getting the manpower, and having some big name backing -- only to be blocked at the last minute by some lower level administrators who don't think information is a worthwhile resource." From the article: "According to KAMP, Royal claimed the Astrodome was not able to provide power to KAMP's low-power FM transmitter. When KAMP offered to bring in enough batteries to power the equipment off the Astrodome's grid, they were still denied. Obey, speaking to Wired News, explained that the JIC couldn't see a use for the radio station when they had the ability to communicate via the loudspeaker system and newsletters. "

Comments

Sounds similar to my experience in Dallas...

[ThinkComp]

For anyone who's interested...

http://www.aarong.thinkcomputer.com/essays/index.h tml?id=6

Information Control

[cerberus4696]

I'm wondering whether this has something to do with the fact that loudspeaker announcements and newsletters can be controlled by the officials in charge of the Astrodome, wheras a volunteer-run radio station can't.

Re:Information Control

[CDMA_Demo]

It is ironic that in a country that goes to war against other under the colours of freedom (much like Constantine used Christianity for) attempts to segregate the very people who claim the right given by the constitution. We had seen similar hypocrisy in New York during the 2004 RNC, when protesters were forbidden from meeting in central park and were arrested for using loudspeakers. Makes you wonder who gets to excercise their rights and who doesn't.

For anyone interested in the FSRN broadcast about Katrina here is the link.

Re:Information Control

[zippthorne]

or 2004 DNC (boston) where protestors were segregated to "free speech zones" locked behind a fence. under a freeway ramp. down the street from the convention center.

Free speech has never meant that you have a right to be heard. The only people who would argue for that are telemarketers. Do you also think that coke employees should be able to muscle their way into paid pepsi ads?

That said, I have a real problem with the way NO is being handled. If people want to provide some service, why not let them? Same thing with the boaters who tried to get in day one with chainsaws and provisions but were turned away. It seems as if whoever was/is in charge thinks that only "official" response is acceptable and good.

Unfortunate

[Da_Biz]

I understand the need for the Red Cross and other shelter organizers to promote a good atmosphere (well, as good as possible), but sheesh, I fail to see the harm done by a microtransmitter.

I am of the opinion that, overall, the American Red Cross is well organized and operated (I'm speaking with over six years of experience with EMS, SAR and Disaster Relief here). However, I have to sigh at the bureaucracy and lack of "out-of-the-box" thinking that sometimes crops up when I'm volunteering with them.

It's all about....

[Philip K Dickhead]

Control.

From the Villiage Voice:

FEMA Nixes Grassroots Radio Station for Hurricane Evacuees

Bureaucracy KO's info source at the Astrodome

by Sarah Ferguson
September 8th, 2005 5:04 PM

Although the effort was http://?www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la -na-radio8sep08,1,6993197.story?coll=la-headlines- nation>trumpeted in the media as an example of grassroots ingenuity in the face of disaster, local officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency have nixed an attempt by Houston activists to set up a low-power radio station at the Astrodome that would have broadcast Hurricane Katrina relief information for evacuees.

The project was unplugged even though it had key support. On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission quickly granted temporary licenses to broadcast inside the Astrodome and the adjacent Reliant Center. The station was also backed by the Houston Mayor's office and Texas governor Rick Perry. But local officials said FEMA bureaucrats KO'd the station--dubbed KAMP "Dome City Radio"--because of "security concerns."

"They wanted unlimited access to the buildings, which we could not give to anyone in the media," said Gloria Roemer, a spokesperson for Harris County, which has jurisdiction over the Astrodome complex. Currently reporters are allowed in only on 15-minute guided tours.

According to Roemer, FEMA officials also believed they could not allocate "scarce" electricity, office space, and phone and Internet access to the volunteer station--even though activists say they offered to run the station on batteries and use their own cellphones.

Supporters of KAMP, which was set to launch at 95.3 FM, blame red tape and bureaucrats seeking to "manage the news."

"I'm very disappointed," said Councilmember Ada Edwards, who represents a mostly black district in central Houston and had issued a letter of support for the station. "One of the real challenges of this big tragedy has been access to communication--open and honest communication. I really hoped this would be an open outlet for people to get information that was unscripted and that would really address their needs.

"But it seems par for the course in terms of how this whole thing has been rolling out with FEMA and the Red Cross trying to keep tight control and manage the news," Edwards complained. "It's really sad when these people feel they have to sanitize all the time."

Activists with Houston Indymedia and Pacifica radio first brainstormed the idea over the weekend when they visited the Astrodome and spoke to swamped relief workers and survivors desperate for information about emergency services and news from back home.

"People were asking things like how can I get my FEMA check, do my kids need shots for school, can I get a free cellphone, how do I get out information about missing family members," says Jim Ellinger, a freelance radio consultant from Austin. "This is complicated stuff that you can't really address on a booming public address system. The mainstream radio stations are more focused on broadcasting to the general public about where to donate to hurricane relief, so there was no place for survivors to go to get what they need. "

"We talked to cops, volunteers, church groups--everyone said it was a good idea," Ellinger added.

But Astrodome officials were apparently more concerned about evacuees fighting over the radios. "They were worried about noise and people stealing them or that people would be tuning in to gangsta rap on other Houston stations, which they said could incite violence," says Tish Stringer, a graduate teacher at Rice University and organizer with Houston Indymedia. After several days of back and forth, activists agreed to provide 10,000 cheap, Walkman-style radios with batteries.

Re:It's all about....

[Philip K Dickhead]

I love the worry about "Gangster Rap".

There's the basis of your racist bullshit from FEMA, right there. Someone got their whole family drowned, has been starved, dehydrated, literally dragged through shit, kept in a stable under the conditions of a hog farm feed-lot... Listening to Kurupt is gonna' put 'em over the edge.

Public Safety Bah!

[Hategiants]

This is absurd, what year is this again? Newsletters and loudspeakers to distribute safety information but no radio? Need to inform thousands of people of imminent danger, please wait while we print newsletters and distribute them one at a time to inform people of the matter. Failure to use technology to properly distribute information is one of the many reasons this disaster occured in the first place. Lets just repeat that mistake again.

This damage control isn't for you.

[RyanFenton]

The first priority of damage control for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is not to save lives. It's to mask blame. Not that there isn't blame to go around - but the talking points going around are built to make all blame seem equal. To make it seem like any one of the politicians involved in this disaster had the same ability to help save people, and Republican politicians who did not help did nothing wrong compared to everyone else.

Having a radio stations where people affected could speak their minds openly, or even potentially openly would hurt this damage control.

Ryan Fenton

Re:The politically-unfriendly truth will be told.

[jcr]

They might question why their federal government failed them so badly in so many different ways.

Let's not forget the apalling incompetence of the state and local governments while we're at it. 500 busses, fueled and under water. No food or water stockpiled, no medical supplies, or doctors at the superdome. Way to go, Mr. Mayor.

I do hope that the people in the Astrodome are free to leave. They are in great danger of being turned into some bureaucrat's meal ticket for years to come.

-jcr

Put itin a van

[wiredlogic]

Why do they have to be stationed in the Astrodome? I'm sure the authorities in charge don't want to be responsible for the cable runs out to their tower.

They can just put their equipment into a van and broadcast from the parking lot like regular pirate radio. They can still do interviews within the dome using portable radios and cell phones.

My thoughts exactly.

[Vellmont]

If you lose control over information, you could lose control over the mass of people. I'm sure what they're worried about is the radio station broadcasting anything that's no in line with the message that the officials want heard. It's sad to imagine that our government has become more like China in this whole matter, caring more about saving face, and keeping the serfs in line than actually providing assistance.

Not a real issue

[SpaceGhost]

As someone directly involved with this effort (as a member of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service), I can assure my fellow slashdotters that this is simply not an issue, much less worthy of a slashdot story. Although this sounds like a great idea on the surface, I can understand where the JIC or for that matter the Incident Commander would chose to deny this request.
What is not apparent to anyone outside Reliant City (as the astrodomain is now being called) is that it is utter CHAOS in there. It's not that the guests are anything but orderly, that the volunteers are anything but helpful, or that the involved agencies dont care, but there just isnt time for the responsible parties to even think very hard about it. Keep in mind that this is a gargantuan effort on the part of almost everybody involved - every agency I've come in contact with has expressed amazement at the vastness of the task and the speed with which it is being accomplished. And by now they are all pretty much exhausted. Sunday there were 25,000 guests on the ground - today it's far less than half of that. Meeting immediate needs is pretty much all that they can do. I alone have worked over 40 hours on this event since last wednesday, in addition to my regular full-time job.
It would certainly be wonderful if the guests were being entertained, or even efficiently informed. And when I first heard about this effort I thought it was a great idea. But providing a communications channel without professional guidance as to content and application could just as easily cause more harm then good. After the event there will be a great deal of effort to review procedures and decide what went right and what went wrong, and I really hope that this specific option is included in future plans. I think it is awesome that the organizers of this effort did so much, this option has a great deal of potential. But please dont assume that some "lower-level official" just decided to be mean or felt power-hungry - it is just as likley that they thought it was a good idea, but just didnt have the time to give it a chance or make sure it was done right.

Wayne Barker AD8A
Amateur Radio Emergency Service
Emergency Coordinator, SouthWest Harris County, Houston, TX

Re:Not a real issue

[dtobias]

"...providing a communications channel without professional guidance as to content and application could just as easily cause more harm then good..."

Sounds like just the sort of thing the Communist Chinese government says when they censor the Internet, jail dissident journalists, run tanks over protestors, and so on. It's shameful to have anybody in the USA express such a position.

eep

[dlefavor]

But providing a communications channel without professional guidance as to content and application could just as easily cause more harm then good.

Why does this statement make my blood run cold?

Re:black people

[Marxist Hacker 42]

George Bush had been trying to get the local government to declare a need for federal assistance.

You might want to check Snopes before you try to repeat urban legends as fact, lest we think you're a part of the current administration (who all seem to be so media illiterate that they probably can't spell snopes let alone look up to see if their information is accurate before spreading it).

Re:No, that's incorrect

[Vellmont]

If there are important things to say that the refugees need to hear over the radio, why not get one of the dozens of existing radio stations in the area to broadcast it. If your message is really that crucial, it shouldn't be a problem finding someone to play it.

I think you're missing the point of a micro broadcast radio station. Is a local station that serves the needs of the entire Houston area going to broadcast a message like "lunch of the day for the astrodome is cheeseburgers" If you really think that, you're just naive. This isn't about broadcasting ultra-important messages to everyone, it's about keeping people informed about the resources available to them, giving them something to do, etc.

This is just a bunch of geeks that got told, "No, your idea won't actually help anyone", so they went and complained to /.

Very true, but that doesn't diminish the fact that it WILL help people. This isn't some wild crazy techno geek idea of giving out free Wi-Fi internet access to people that don't have laptops or computers in the first place. Radios are dirt cheap, and anyone that has a few dollars can buy a portable one. They're cheap enough that someone could buy a thousand of them and distribute them to everyone in the Astrodome.

Re:No, that's incorrect

[dubl-u]

They're cheap enough that someone could buy a thousand of them and distribute them to everyone in the Astrodome.

Indeed, they had already arranged a donation of 10,000 radios, so that there would be plenty for all.

Very true, but that doesn't diminish the fact that it WILL help people.

Indeed. A psychiatrist was mentioning somewhere that one of the worst things for people who have been through disasters is to sit around with nothing to do and nothing but the disaster to think about. For people developing PTSD, it can intensify and lengthen their problems.

And there's a lot to be said for community-building and morale. Heck, just the music alone would help. Imagine you're on a long road trip and the radio breaks. How sad would you be? And now imagine somebody else is driving, you don't know where you're going, and you're not sure when you'll get there.