Low Power Radio
- Overview & Table of Contents
- What is LPFM?
- Congress Second Guesses its Expert Agency on Spectrum Allocation
- Low Power Radio: An Antidote to the Modern Radio Industry
- Demographics of Radio Station Ownership
- Participation in Employment by Minorities and Women
- Radio Consolidation and Homogenization
- Conclusion
Examples of Low Power Stations
Appendices
Appendix A: Many Exciting New Stations Potentially on Low Power Radio
Because of Congress’s inaction, a wide range of radio stations may never see the light of day. A look at the vibrant examples of proposed stations and existing stations gives insight into the vast benefits of low power radio today. Examples are featured throughout the report and below.
Already On the Air
Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, Woodburn, Oregon (see Success on the Dial)
WSBL-LP, South Bend, Indiana (see Success on the Dial)
KRBS-LP, Orville, California (see Success on the Dial)
Radio Consciencia, Immokalee, Florida, plays Latin music not heard on local commercial Spanish-language radio stations. It keeps alive folk music of the indigenous cultures from the listeners’ home communities. (see Success on the Dial)
KDEE-LP (97.7), “Grown Folks Music,” licensed to the California Black Chamber of Commerce, features expansive community news and public affairs, classic soul music, and great opportunities for local leaders to get on the FM dial.
Applicants Not Able to Obtain a Station
Sur Sangam Radio, in Hayward, south of Oakland, broadcasts using shortwave radio signals to South Asians. They applied to broadcast at 92.5 on their own low power FM frequency, but Congress limited LPFM from densely populated areas like this one.
The Mbaise Cultural Union (see Lost Opportunities)
Warith Deen Mohammed High School serves Atlanta’s rapidly growing Muslim population.
The Zion City Church in St. Louis, an interracial community church serving many diverse communities, lost its chance to share its message because of Congressional restrictions on low power FM radio.
St. Louis University High School, a Jesuit preparatory school that could have used its own low power FM radio station to teach essential technical skills to its young leaders, lost out when Congress limited LPFM. Currently the student radio station, The Pulse, can only be heard online or over cable connections, or on their extremely tiny unlicensed FM broadcast.
University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo/Arecibo University College and other Puerto Rican applicants (see Lost Opportunities)
Other Examples of Applicants Interested in Radio
The Society for the Preservation of Korean Culture and Language applied for a low power radio station in the Chicago area.
Oakland’s Media Academy is part of an Oakland consortium of schools, the Fremont Federation of High Schools. The Media Academy is one of the four schools that share a library, health clinic, physical education facilities, a unity center, auditorium, and cafeteria. The school is built around careers in newspaper, magazine, radio, and television journalism.
The Southwest Youth Services Collaborative (see Lost Opportunities)
Prominent African-American churches, including the Faith African Methodist Episcopal Church; and Haitian groups, including the Anakawona Association and the Nago Cultural Association, applied for LPFM licenses in Brooklyn. Anakawona has won a number of community arts awards for the arts service, performance, and training they provide in eastern Brooklyn. A 22 year-old Haitian community arts and training organization, Anakawona provides multi-media offerings folkloric dance, theatre, song, percussion, poetry, art, history, and geography of Haiti.
The Pentecostal Church of the Eternal Rock in Detroit, which serves Dominican immigrants close to Dearborn, lost out when Congress limited LPFM radio.
Detroit Summer, a project of youth of color working to build power and justice in urban Detroit, produces radio content and music about the lives of high schoolers trying to change their city for the better with creativity and critical thinking.
Marietta’s Noonday Baptist Church, in Atlanta, operates a leading preschool program and kindergarten, counseling programs, and community outreach to immigrant and non-English speaking communities.
Next Section: Appendix B: Third Adjacent, Second Adjacent – What does it all mean?
