I saw
Weather Underground last night. It's a documentary about the Weathermen, a leftist political terror group in the 60s. I recommend everyone go see it if they can.
Now, I didn't live through the 60s, but it kind of made me wish I did. One of the filmmakers, Sam Green, was at the screening, and we had a lively political discussion--everything from modern-day anarchism to the evolution of the FCC.
Nothing makes me madder than the FCC.
I could go on at length about the injustices visited upon the American people byt the FCC, but I'll keep it short. When radio was first introduced, the US government decided that no one could actually BUY the ariwaves, they belonged to everyone. So stations were licensed to use the airwaves and could profit off of them if they abided by certain rules regarding the public, like having a decent chunk of their programming be public service.
That's dead now, of course. Viacom, Disney, GE and Clear Channel own the airwaves. If they don't own them outright, they own the government that licenses them. Honestly, it makes me sick. It's bad for news, art, listeners, viewers... being a senior in J-school, this is a subject near and dear to my heart.
When I was in high school, some friends of mine--anarchists, vegans, so-far-left-they're-off-the-map--accepted a transmitter from a defunct pirate radio station in northern Maine. We did a lot of silly stuff, but our hearts were in the right place. We played independent music, leftist books on tape, live music performances, discussions, too much stuff to remember.
We were always worried about the black suburbans pulling up outside, though.
Between then and now, the FCC eased regulations about low-power FM stations. I've looked into these new rules. Before you set up a low-pwer transmitter, you must demonstrate
- That your organization has been active in the community for at least 2 years
- A committment to broadcast 12 hours per day
- A committment to locally originating programming.
Points are awarded by ranking in each of those categories--the highest ranking org. gets the license. I'm interested in applying for a license, but I'm not sure I could meet all the requirements, particularly the first one since I'm moving to a new city.
Does anyone know anything about this? Does anyone have experience with indy media or pirate radio? Are there low-power community FM stations in your area?