Page 1, 2

Special Interests Co-Opt Effort

"This has everything to do...Well, not quite everything, but most of it's designed to appease minority ownership concerns," said Furchtgott-Roth.

Minority ownership is a legitimate problem in the radio industry. More than 90% of the licensed radio stations in the United States are in the hands of corporations controlled by rich white men. Opportunities for minorities in the industry to make themselves and their messages heard is all but nonexistent.

The FCC is looking for a way to fix this, and it sees low power radio as the solution.

The other important factor among the majority of Commissioners has apparently been the "church lobby." "Minority ownership is the big driving force, but there's also been a lot of talk about giving stations to churches to broadcast their services and such," said Harold. "I keep hearing more and more about that (from other Commissioners)."

It sounds very good politically - appease two interests that have been thorns in the Commission's side for quite some time with one fell swoop.  But, said Furchtgott-Roth, "It's not going to happen."

Low power radio station ownership restrictions won't allow many of those who want a voice to have one. "They're going to be so strict as to kill off most opportunities," said Furchtgott-Roth. "You just wait and see." We couldn't get into specifics; his UW hostess was shooting dagger-eyes at me by this point for occupying so much of his time already.

Throw in restrictions on signal interference that aren't loose enough to substantially open up the FM band, said Furchtgott-Roth, and, "The vast majority of those that want these stations won't get them."

"Not only will the barriers to ownership preclude it, but technically, very few LPFM licenses will be available. Those that will will be in small to medium-size markets at best - places where people could go on the air with 101 watts right now without the need for special rules," he said.

So, among the five Commissioners who will ultimately discern the fate of low power radio, the majority are not out to make substantial change on the dial - they're out to throw special interests a political bone, and make it look like change has happened when, in reality, there will be no change.  No more, no less.

Out in the Cold

What about the "rest of us," who see a problem with today's radio landscape and want alternatives? The majority of people who filed comments in support of low power radio weren't minority groups or churches. Furchtgott-Roth shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you," he said. "It's not what (the LPFM proposal) is designed for."

Will we just have to live with the problems of consolidation? Furchtgott-Roth won't go there; in his opinion, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 isn't to blame. "There are movements underway, both at the FCC and on Capitol Hill, to change the law," he said. And if he had his way, Harold wouldn't tinker with the Telecom Act. "I can work with the law the way it is."

But the Telecom Act is part of the driving force for low power radio, I said. And if LPFM won't fix the problem, why not go to the source? "My definition of serving the public interest means following the law," Harold replied.  While it sounded like a Catch-22, I didn't challenge him on it. Maybe I should have. But I couldn't - the social reception was over, and it was time to go.

"Well, then, maybe you better pay closer attention to what the folks in your Enforcement Bureau tell you when they report that they can't deal with all the pirates," I said, "because they're going to come screaming for more money and men. The FCC shouldn't delude itself into thinking that they're all just going to go away - especially when your 'solution' isn't much of a solution at all."

"You know, you're probably right," said Furchtgott-Roth. Then he sighed.  "They're already overwhelmed with work."

"So what do I tell everyone?," I asked. "Where are we supposed to go from here?"

That's when FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth hit me with the kicker: "I honestly don't know," he said. "You know more about this than I do."

I would have felt pleased about the compliment - if it wasn't given under such depressing circumstances.