Monday, November 09, 2009
At a time of media conglomeration, an effort is underway in the House of Representatives to expand the number of small, local radio stations on the FM dial. The Local Community Radio Act is designed to pick up where the Federal Communications Commission left off in 2000, when it first approved low-power FM (LPFM) radio. Since then, media activists and community groups have lobbied Congress to get behind the creation of more independent radio stations, which large media groups have opposed.
Currently, there about 800 LPFMs on the air, but only the one in Richmond, Virginia, WRIR-LP, is licensed in one of the 50 largest radio markets. The new legislation, which is expected to come up for a vote soon, would change federal law to encourage the establishment of more of these FM stations in cities, and not just in rural areas.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Low-Power Radio and What the Media Won't Tell You About the Media (by Amber Sands, Truthout)
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