[cma-l] Fwd: Low Power Radio Triumphs over Big Broadcasters in Washington: Local Community Radio Act Sweeps House Subcommittee in 15 to 1 vote

[CMA-L]

Community radio in the United States receives a boost.

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NEWS ALERT

October 8, 2009

Contact: Cory Fischer-Hoffman
Campaign Director
Prometheus Radio Project
610-761-5414
coryfh at prometheusradio.org

The Local Community Radio Act was passed out of the House Subcommittee
on Communications, Technology and the Internet this morning in a
sweeping 15 to 1 vote. The Act would allow for the creation of
hundreds of new, low power FM (LPFM) radio stations that would
broadcast community news and local perspectives to neighborhoods
across the country.

“All I can say is, it's about time,” said Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), a
co-sponsor of the bill. “It was absurd and ridiculous that
broadcasters went to such great lengths to block the public from
having some small measure of access to the airwaves, and disgraceful
that we had to spend more two million dollars to prove what the FCC
already had shown—that LPFM would not interfere with full power
stations.”

Big broadcasters have historically opposed the Local Community Radio
Act, claiming that LPFM could cause interference to full power
stations, a concern later disproven by a Congressionally mandated
study. But with unanimous FCC support, strong bipartisan
co-sponsorship, and grassroots momentum, even industry news is now
predicting a win. “We do not expect that there is any stopping it at
this point,” the Radio Business Report commented this morning.

“The bill still has a long way to go in the legislative process, but I
am optimistic that by the end of the year the Local Community Radio
Act will be signed into law,” said Congressman Doyle (D-PA), lead
co-sponsor of the bill with Congressman Lee Terry (R-NE).

The bill gained the support of former doubters of LPFM, including Rep.
Cliff Stearns (R-FL), a former lead co-sponsor of anti-LPFM
legislation and ranking Republican on the subcommittee, Rep. Greg
Walden (R-OR), the only former broadcaster in Congress, and Rep. John
Dingell (D-MI), who called for the study of LPFM interference in 2000.

“Today’s vote signals a policy shift towards more local and diverse
media,” said Cory Fischer-Hoffman, Campaign Director for the
Prometheus Radio Project. “We need to use this momentum to push for
full passage of the Local Community Radio Act so groups working
tirelessly to have a voice in their communities can start building
stations.”

Hundreds of groups—including schools, churches, and emergency
responders—were denied licenses in 2000 after Congress blocked the FCC
from handing them out in crowded media markets.

Advocates point to the successes of existing low power FM stations to
prove their value to communities. “When Hurricane Katrina hit the
Gulf, low power radio was the only source of emergency information in
a number of counties. Residents in East Texas tuned their
battery-operated radios to KZQX-LP while they waited a week for power
to be restored,” said Andalusia Knoll, Community Station Director at
the Prometheus Radio Project. “In Louisiana, KOCZ-LP has proven
essential to the cultural survival of Zydeco music, which is rarely
heard on the airwaves. And low power station WRYR-LP hosts public
debate about the environmental impacts of development on the
Chesapeake Bay.”

“Congress should act swiftly to pass LPFM and support the families,
workers, and places of worship that serve as the anchors in our
communities,” said Joel Kelsey, Policy Analyst at Consumers Union.

Nancy Zirkin of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights added, “In
an era of mass media consolidation, we in the civil rights community
believe that it is critical to promote diverse ownership and diverse
viewpoints over the public airwaves, and we look forward to the
passage of this bill into law.”

The Local Community Radio Act is now poised to move to the full Energy
and Commerce Committee, chaired by longtime LPFM supporter Rep. Henry
Waxman (D-CA).

The Prometheus Radio Project is a Philadelphia based non-profit that
advocates for greater public access to the airwaves through the
licensing of low power radio stations. http://www.prometheusradio.org

-- 
Prometheus Radio Project
http:// www.prometheusradio.org

"Radio is one sided when it should be two. It is purely an apparatus
for distribution, for mere sharing out.  So here is a positive
suggestion: change this apparatus over from distribution to
communication.  The radio would be the finest possible communication
apparatus in public life, a vast network of pipes. That is to say, it
would be if it knew how to receive as well as transmit, how to let the
listener speak as well as hear, how to bring someone into a
relationship instead of isolating them."  Bertolt Brecht