Prometheus Projects

Microradio Empowerment Coalition

Founding Members

Project Censored; FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), CDC (National Lawyers Guild Committee on Democratic Communications); Radio4All.

Robert McChesney, Honorary Chair.

Mission

The Microradio Empowerment Coalition is a coalition of microradio stations, community and civic groups, organizations, and individuals who are committed to working together to replace the FCC's ban on low-power broadcasting with a new regulatory setup that establishes a community based system of non-commercial microradio stations, starting this year, and carrying over through radio's transition from analog to digital broadcasting.

Principles

The Microradio Empowerment Coalition is founded on the principle that Democracy depends on community access to information and culture and that access is only genuinely achieved when there exist communications media that are non-commercial, accessible, based in and responsive to the diverse local forces which characterize every community. Building, supporting, and expanding a non-commercial media system is essential to helping to building, supporting and expanding a democratic society. Only with a real democracy will we ever move toward a just and fair society.

Analysis

The core of communication in this country, the mass media, are business driven enterprises that are based on and profit through commercialism. Commercial media have no real obligations to the public interest, no commitment to citizen access, localism, diversity, or civic journalism. The business of commercial media is to deliver (sell) audiences to advertisers for profit. Its commitment is not to educate or enlighten public awareness for the democratic good. With the passage of the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996, concentration of media ownership has increased, to the further detriment of democratic society.

Since the 1930s, the Federal Government has favored commercialism in the management of the airwaves, establishing license requirements that few grass roots non-profit community groups could ever hope to fulfill or afford. Since 1978, the government has aggressively enforced a ban on low-power community broadcasting.

Starting in 1989 and gathering steam over the past five years, a civil disobedience movement organized by microbroadcast activists has been growing, and recently, showing signs of having impact. A few weeks after hundreds of microbroadcasters demonstrated outside the headquarters of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in October 1998, FCC Chairman Kennard made a speech to the NAB in which he signaled an interest in considering new regulations for micropower broadcasting. This was good news, but people are very concerned that he has in mind primarily another tier of commercial stations.

Purpose and Proposals

The purpose of the Microradio Empowerment Coalition is to mount a campaign to win enactment of new federal regulations permitting non-commercial, low-power, community radio broadcasting, and to explore ways of creating a decentralized network of centers that offer training, advice, and resources for the advance of non-commercial, community oriented media.

Coalition members agree on the following points:

1. Non-commercial service

2. Only one station per license holder

3. Local license holding, no absentee licensees

4. Stations will be locally programmed. However recorded materials
such as music, poetry, documentaries, features etc. may be used.
Sharing of program materials and resources among micro and community stations is
strongly encouraged. No more than 20% of air time from off-site feeds or
syndicated tapes.

5. That licensees be unincorporated not-for-profit associations, or non
profit organizations.

6. That equipment shall be "type accepted" which meet basic technical
criteria in respect to stability, filtering, modulation control, etc.

7. That problems, whether technical or otherwise, shall be first referred
to the local or regional voluntary micropower organization for technical
assistance or voluntary mediation. The FCC shall be the forum of last
resort.

8. Amnesty and return of property for microbroadcasters who suffered
government seizure of property and fines.  No penalization of microradio
pioneers in any upcoming licensing system.

9. That licensing fees shall be affordable to all communities.

10. That within two years new spectrum space shall be allocated for
continued expansion of microradio broadcasters so that any community group
that wishes to broadcast has access to available spectrum space
(frequencies). Further, all manufacturers of consumer radio receivers for
sale in the United States shall be required to include this spectrum set
aside for microradio broadcasters.
 

Coalition Membership

1. Joining.  Each new coalition member organization joins by signing on to founding statement above, sending with it a letter of support.

2. Inform Congress.  As part of our campaign, each new coalition member sends a letter to their representatives in Congress requesting support for non-commercial microradio regulation, cc-ing each FCC Commissioner individually. (Snail mail is probably best, but e-mail is better than nothing.)

[Questions and Answers About Microradio, a microradio FAQ, may be of assistance when drafting letters]

Send to:
William Kennard wkennard@fcc.gov
Susan Ness sness@fcc.gov
Harold Furchgott-Roth hfurchtg@fcc.gov
Michael Powell mpowell@fcc.gov
Gloria Tristani gtristan@fcc.gov

Federal Communications Commission
445 12 Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554

3. Meet with civic groups.  Member organizations are encouraged to meet with civic groups in their community or area of interest, such as clubs, religious organizations, unions, media watch dog groups and the like, and solicit from them letters of support for the principles of the MEC.

4. Public Education, Outreach, and Publicity. Coalition members are encouraged to write articles and letters to press editors, attend or organize community meetings, rallies, etc. Send copies of newspaper stories, etc. to the FCC commissioners. Organizations are encouraged to use available resources like newsletters, web sites and listserves to help support and build the coalition.

5. Coalition members are encouraged to support their local microbroadcasters.
 

Funding

This project is in need of support to pay for mailings, phone calls, photocopies, etc.. If you can contribute monitarily to the Microradio Empowerment Coalition it would help ensure that our efforts get recognized. Contributions are in no way a requirement of joining the Microradio Empowerment Coalition, and we encourage any and all groups who support the points of the MEC to sign on.

Honorary Chair

Robert W. McChesney

Steering Committee

Diane Flemming
Sara Zia Ebrahimi
Peter Franck
Greg Ruggiero

If you would like more information about the Microradio Empowerment Coalition,
contact us at:

MICRORADIO EMPOWERMENT COALITION
2-12 Seaman Ave, 5K
NYC 10034

mec@tao.ca

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