After rfb collected more than 3,000 signatures in its local and global petition drives, the Brattleboro Selectboard finally approved a resolution in support the station last week. It is a somewhat hollow victory, though, as it took two tries to get the resolution approved – and the version voted through was heavily watered down.
Most notably missing from the “official” town resolution is the fact that one out of four Brattleboro residents are on record in support of the station’s “authority to broadcast,” as demonstrated by its petition drive. A second petition, maintained online for non-Brattleboro residents to show their support, continues to collect signatures.
Category: Microradio
Adelstein on Microradio: "Go For It"
It was hectic and filled with pendulum swings of euphoria and panic; there is much to say about the National Conference on Media Reform/Be the Media shadow conference action that took place this past weekend. We’ll get to it all over the course of this week, cross-posting links as the posts flow on the Be the Media! blog.
First up is this one, my surreal encounter with FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.
Scene Reportage: Jostling for Space
Skywave Radio in Florida went off the air today due to the occupation of its frequency by a Haitian pirate station. According to Skywave’s founder, broadcast range was cut from ~10 to less than two miles; there are as many as a dozen other pirates on the air in Broward County alone.
A similar circumstance exists in Seattle, where a recently-established microradio station devoted to the exploration of beats is scouting for a new frequency after finding a Christian pirate squatting on theirs.
Free Radio San Diego is also on hiatus as it moves to a new broadcast location. The station’s created a page explaining the deal so as to pre-empt rumor mongering.
Liberation Radio Raid Update
A statement released by the station coupled with an excellent phone interview of Liberation Radio volunteer Karoline Hatch by Skidmark Bob clarifies things quite a bit.
Factual corrections: While the swarm of law enforcement involved in the raid numbered more than two dozen, only ~15 were federal officers. They were assisted by 10 San Francisco police officers (in contravention of the wishes of the city’s Board of Supervisors), although an IMC report cites Supervisor (and mayoral candidate) Tom Ammiano and SFPD chief Alex Fagan denying any city involvement. Continue reading “Liberation Radio Raid Update”
Mass of Marshals Descend on San Francisco Liberation Radio
According to several reports, more than two dozen Federal Marshals (armed with a battering ram) and “several” FCC agents hit San Francisco Liberation Radio‘s studios around midday today. They had arrest warrants for the equipment; over the course of several hours the entire station was cleaned out (a more accurate term might be ransacked). Everyone at the station is physically okay.
So much for community support: even though the city of San Francisco has endorsed SFLR, the feds flexed their muscles today. It’s unclear whether local law enforcement agencies participated in the raid (the city’s resolution in support of the station urges local non-cooperation). Continue reading “Mass of Marshals Descend on San Francisco Liberation Radio”
Adelstein on Microradio: "Go For It"
This was initially posted to the “Be the Media Blog” which provided a running commentary on the National Conference on Media Reform as written by participants.
Saturday night @ the Orpheum, after all of the speeches got done (C-SPAN was there), the Tell Us the Truth tour gang ran through an abbreviated reprise of their Friday headline performance.
This time around, however, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein joined the lineup. Adelstein’s quite dangerous with the harmonica, and performed several solos backed up by Boots Riley, Billy Bragg, Tom Morello, and Lester Chambers, to a repeatedly wowed crowd. Wonderfully surreal!
It looked like Adelstein got quite an adrenaline rush out of the (well-deserved) adulation, which perhaps explains the comments he made during a brief conversation with him after the show. Continue reading “Adelstein on Microradio: "Go For It"”
Szoka's Screwing Continues; Miscellaneous Self-Props
Jerry Szoka, former proprietor of Cleveland’s popular Grid Radio, was socked with an $11,000 fine more than six years ago, and the government came collecting in February. Szoka doesn’t have that kind of cash and has been trying to appeal the collection. He was supposed to have a hearing yesterday but the judge cancelled it and entered a judgment for the FCC: “They said they tried to contact me but didn’t have my home number…A complete travesty of justice.”
Szoka will attempt to continue to the appeals process, but without a lawyer (or the funds to hire one) the outlook remains grim. Continue reading “Szoka's Screwing Continues; Miscellaneous Self-Props”
Tactical Microradio Blogging; Radio Free Cascadia Makes Jump from FM to Shortwave
Monk, the prime founder of Boulder microradio outlet KBFR, is now blogging about the trials and tribulations of advanced microradio station operation. KBFR has been somewhat of a laboratory for tactical broadcasting shortly after its first visit from the FCC more than two years ago. It’s experimented with (and implemented) some clever ways of separating the transmitter from the studio, including the use of webcasting as STL and mobile operation. These tactics have kept the FCC chasing down blind alleys in its quest to bust the operation.
In somewhat older news, a group of microbroadcasters in the northwest are now focusing their efforts on the shortwave band. Radio Free Cascadia (a former Eugene, OR microradio project, also responsible for station Y2WTKO during the Seattle WTO protests of ’99) recently conducted regular broadcasts as Radio Free Cascadia International in support of the WTO protests in Cancun, Mexico earlier this month. It received reception reports from all over North and South America and Asia.
Radio Free Brattleboro Web Site Hacked
According to station members, the server was taken off-line over the weekend. It’s unclear whether the hack was specifically directed at the station or a more general exploit of the box its site ran on, but the site files have been “destroyed.” The site will be re-created, but it’s going to take some time.
RFB itself remains on the air, awaiting the FCC’s next move, nearly 20 days after the last encounter which promised a raid. Its legal assets are in gear and include an experienced member of the microradio legal defense team. Community support continues to build.
Freak Radio vs. K-LOVE: V-Man Wins by Forfeit
On Monday, KUSP’s “Talk of the Bay” was to host a 20-minute verbal spar between Vinny Lombardo (V-Man) of Freak Radio Santa Cruz and Dick Jenkins, president of Christian translator networks Air-1 and K-LOVE. K-LOVE just put up a translator that broadcasts into Santa Cruz on Freak Radio’s frequency.
As the segment began, the V-Man was in-studio and he and host John Sandidge chatted while the show’s producer tried to raise Dick Jenkins via phone. Four minutes in, the message was passed: due to “back trouble,” Jenkins could not appear on the program. An act of God, perhaps? Continue reading “Freak Radio vs. K-LOVE: V-Man Wins by Forfeit”