Prometheus Press Center

Low-powered radio station goes on air Saturday

Alain A. de la Villesbret. November 14, 2002. The Daily World.

The new radio station in Opelousas is brought to town by the Southern Development Foundation, the organization behind the Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival, and the Prometheus Radio Project, a national broadcast advocacy organization.

KOCZ is a low-power FM station dedicated to community-related issues and locally produced and performed music.

The foundation applied for an equipment grant two years ago, but it was not finalized until this year, according to SDF office manager Mona Kennerson. A room in the SDF's building at 328 Congress St. was converted into a radio studio.

"We have been installing equipment for about a month," said Kennerson. "We are very excited. This radio station adds another component to the Foundation's community endeavors. This will give us a better fitting to be more involved in our community, and to have our community more involved with our foundation. Our programming will evolve, but we will present news, community-related shows and music from our rich, diverse culture. We want to be inclusive to everyone."

This weekend, Kennerson said, the foundation will host radio workshops in cooperation with Prometheus Radio Project.

"We will have workshops from Friday until our official ribbon cutting 2 p.m. Monday," Kennerson said. "There will be engineers and technicians here, and they will provide all kinds of information about radio and programming." The workshops will be part of the "Low Power Radio Barn Raising" conference held Nov. 15 to 18, co-hosted by Prometheus Radio Project. Low power stations used to be called pirate radio stations. The government tried to shut them down. But now, thanks to airwave activists, low-power stations have a new mission, new organization and new-found respect as providers of community voices often under represented.

"We really exploded after the Telecommunications Act of 1996," said Prometheus programming coordinator Hannah Sassaman, who has assisting the foundation. "After the Federal Communications Commission attempted to shut down low power stations in Philadelphia, a group of activists, including Prometheus founder Pete Tridish, said not only would they not shut down their station, but they would go around the country helping build other stations." The advocates were effective in getting legislation passed that allow low-power stations to survive. Low power is always community-based and always non-profit.

"We are going to go 24-7," said John Freeman, chief operating officer, whose background in telecommunications and electronics came in handy Wednesday. Freeman was rigging gear in the studio. "It's going to be both automated and staffed. We traveled to Baltimore to look at some of the models for community-based radio, and this is one of the best. Opelousas will be a model for the rest of the country."

"We have all volunteers," Kennerson said. "These are people interested in radio, or just want to do something different. We are still looking around for people. It's still open. This is a really big task."

First-time broadcast talent Gladys Chatman, a nursing student at T.H. Harris, said that she is ready for her radio debut Saturday.

"I am excited," Chatman said, "and I am nervous. But I haven't had time to think about it because we have been getting the station ready."

Although the KCOZ is a low power, 100 watt station, it will have a world reach, Freeman said, because it will be streaming the Internet.

"Our mission is to have the station help make a better Opelousas," Freeman said. "We want to be part of the growth and prosperity of our city, and we want to help contribute to a better community."