Recently the National Association of Broadcasters sent out a communication to its members urging them to be listening closely to their FM dials for “pirates” and, if any are found, to report them immediately to the FCC. Microradio activists have taken this as tantamount to an act of war.
What follows is a response from Stephen Dunifer, founder of Free Radio Berkeley. Now that the NAB has stepped in and is trying to throw their weight around on free radio, it’s about time someone stepped forward in defense of microcasting.
In response to the direct attack on micropower broadcasting by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) we, as a coalition of Micropower Broadcasters, supporters and interested parties, make the following statement. Continue reading “NAB Declares War; Dunifer's Response”
Inspecting a Public File
The FCC recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rule making seeking comment on the location of a station’s public inspection file (MM Docket #97-138). According to current FCC rules, licensed stations must keep a stack of required documents on hand at the station’s main studio for anyone to inspect.
Most of the time, the most expected person to inspect the file may be a visitor from the FCC. But since the FCC doesn’t get around to inspecting stations that much, stations sometimes neglect their public files, missing updates and other pieces of information that, if discovered missing, could very well cost the station a hefty fine or license problems.
Now a move is afoot to allow stations to literally distance themselves from the people they serve. MM Docket #97-138 would allow stations to locate their studios farther away from the community they’re actually licensed to. That isn’t that big of a deal; so many radio stations are now automated, carrying pre-packaged programming from somewhere else, that they’re really not “serving” the community of license with their air signal anyway. Continue reading “Inspecting a Public File”
The Plus Side of Radio Monopolies
It is disturbing to see how consolidation in the radio industry is leading to the gobbling up of radio stations by major companies. Evergreen Media just swept through the Chicago market, taking a gangsta-rap station and changing it into born-again gospel overnight!
However, there is a small way to fight against the tide. Granted, not all the ways may be legal, but they are doable.
Raid the chief engineer’s closet.
A lot of stations, after being bought out by the some monolith, traditionally do some downsizing. There’s been a lot of outcry about the dwindling amount of local programming available on the airwaves, but station engineers are getting hard hit, too. Why keep one person on the payroll for each station if it’s not necessary (FCC rules now allow for unattended operation), or contracted technicians can do the job at half the cost? Continue reading “The Plus Side of Radio Monopolies”
The Hundt Follies
FCC Chairman Reed Hundt has announced his resignation from office. Hundt’s in good company; FCC Commissioner James Quello has already announced his intent to step down, and Commissioner Andrew Barrett flew the coop in April.
The current Commission has been unmatched in its zeal to sell out the public. It was under Hundt and cohorts that auctions of portions of the spectrum became common practice. While the agency was mandated to adopt the process with the passage of the Telecom Act of 1996, the zeal with which it went ahead with the sales is disturbing.
The auctions have been somewhat controversial, but when the plan brought hundreds of millions of dollars into the government’s coffers, the outcry slackened off. Now the winning corporations “own” the rights to broadcast on various areas of the spectrum, and the public loses. Continue reading “The Hundt Follies”