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What Is a Barnraising?
Prometheus Projects
Project Outreach Campaign
We're Contacting Every Group We Can Find
As lifetime activists in the movements for social justice, we have a special interest in seeing community organizers and neighborhood organizations apply for new low-power FM stations.
Nasty Rumors
Perhaps the most ironic rumor we've heard going around is that the new low power radio stations are " not for groups like us- they are for the religious right churches." This was not the intention of the FCC when they created the service, and these organizations do not have any advantage over any other groups. If you are not a "non-profit organization that has been locally-based for at least two years," you may want to find one to help sponsor your project, because any such organization-a school drama club, a horticututral society, a groundhog day observation organization-can be eligible for a point in the competetive licensing process. But you do not need to be in existence for two years to apply.
Give Us Your Money or Go To Hell
The whole thing is a little depressing to us here at Prometheus. About half of the applicants in the first window were religious stations, and about half of them were nice looking ones, and the other half seemed like they were probably nasty fundamentalist give me your money or go to hell radio evangelist operations. As advocates of freedom of expression- we have no problem with Christian, right wing radios stations. The Christian Right, however, has been particularly adept at bending the FCC's rules to allow for nationwide repeater networks built out of stations that are supposed to be allocated for local use.
The Brutal Irony
In the first round of applications, these groups entered hundreds of superficially local efforts that were obviously fronts for a national religious programming network. It is deeply ironic that progressives have fought so hard for this service, but right wing churches seem poised to get most of the frequencies. It is all the more ironic because these churches have put little or no effort into establishing the service, and do not seem interested in persuading their Senators to support it- they spend all their efforts on getting as many stations as they can.
It's Either You or Tammy Faye Baker
Prometheus Radio Project seeks to counter this trend by getting as many legitimate, local progressive organizations and publicly minded institutions to apply for stations as possible. There will be just one, five day opportunity to apply for a low power radio station in your town, sometime within the next months. If you ever wanted to have a community media project- the time is now. It will not come again! If you don't apply and Tammy Faye Baker gets the last remaining frequency in your town- it's not the FCCs fault.
We are contacting every cool group we can find - community organizing groups, activist training groups, media arts centers, community technology centers, Libraries, saarchist bookstores/infoshops, Public access tv stations, Media reform groups, Environmental groups, Prison reformers, alternative political party chapters, housing/tenants groups, Progressive Unions, Activist households, Gay and Lesbian groups, Consumer advocates, Civil rights groups, Youth centers, Womens organizations.
Check out our outreach letter and, please pass it (or better yet, your own personalized version of it) to organizations that you think should be better represented on the publics airwaves. Thanks!
If you would like more information about our outreach campaign, contact us at:
