Prometheus Radio Project

Last updated
Prometheus Radio Project
Company type non-profit
Industry low power community radio
Founded1998
Headquarters Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Products LPFM
Website Prometheus Radio Project

The Prometheus Radio Project is a non-profit advocacy and community organizing group with a mission to resist corporate media consolidation and radio homogenization in the United States. [1] Founded in 1998 by a small group of radio activists in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Prometheus has participated in the community radio movement by providing technical training, helping marginalized communities gain access to affordable media outlets, and creating a network of low power community radio stations. A lot of Prometheus' efforts have over-time been focused on legal advocacy for low-power FM (LPFM) stations. [1] [2]

Contents

Origins

The Prometheus Radio Project emerged from Radio Mutiny, an unlicensed station located in West Philadelphia that broadcast during the mid-1990s. In 1998, the FCC shut down Radio Mutiny, prompting the station's organizers to hold a protest at Benjamin Franklin's printing press where they vowed to teach people to build ten more stations for everyone that was shut down. Subsequently, former pirate broadcasters involved with Radio Mutiny established the Prometheus Radio Project. The organization's mission was to advocate for new low-power FM licenses and assist community groups in establishing independent radio stations. [3]

Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC

In 2003 the Federal Communications Commission, under Chairman Michael Powell, sought to significantly relax media outlet ownership regulations. In Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC , a number of broadcasters and citizens groups, including the Consumer Federation of America, the National Council of Churches of Christ, and Media Alliance, sued to prevent the FCC from following through on the decision. Prometheus was represented by Andrew Jay Schwartzman and Cheryl Leanza of the Media Access Project. On September 3, 2003, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay which prevented the new rules from being enforced pending the outcome of the litigation. In 2004, the majority ruled 2–1 in favor of Prometheus and mandated the FCC re-examine its media ownership rules. They ruled that a "diversity index" used by the FCC to weigh cross-ownership (of radio, television and newspapers) employed several "irrational assumptions and inconsistencies." Dissent by Chief Judge Anthony Joseph Scirica noted that the majority were simply employing their own assumptions. [4]

The Supreme Court later turned down an appeal, so the decision stands. The FCC was ordered to reconfigure how it justifies raising ownership limits.

Barnraisings

Studying the console at the WMXP-LP Barnraising, June 2007. WMXP Barnraising 6-07.jpg
Studying the console at the WMXP-LP Barnraising, June 2007.

In the spirit of the Amish barn-raising tradition, where a community comes together and erects an essential structure, Prometheus holds radio barnraisings. These events bring together the local community with community radio advocates from around the world to build a community radio station, while advancing the movement for media democracy. Prometheus barnraisings gather Low Power FM radio advocates, journalists, radio engineers, students, lawyers, musicians, activists and other folks from across the country to build a studio, raise an antenna mast, and put the station on air for the first time – all over the course of three days. At a typical barnraising, the organization invites expert facilitators to lead workshops on a wide variety of topics, like understanding the workings of the FCC, introductions to various aspects of radio engineering, updates on media and democracy campaigns, and how radio can promote social change today. In the inclusive spirit of Prometheus's mission, the events are open to the public.

Parade at the end of the WXOJ-FM barnraising on August 7, 2005 Valley Free Radio Barnraising 1 20080807.jpg
Parade at the end of the WXOJ-FM barnraising on August 7, 2005

Prometheus has held eleven community radio barnraisings to date: [5]

Prometheus has also been active internationally, working with groups in Guatemala, Nepal, Colombia, Jordan, Kenya, and Tanzania.

Prometheus Involvement with the Local Community Radio Act

For many years, Prometheus has strived to gain community members and nonprofit groups a fair share of the radio spectrum. Most recently, Prometheus was involved in the passing of the Local Radio Community Act. The act, proposed in 2009, opened up a portion of the radio spectrum to low-power community radio stations (LPFMs). Before then, community members could apply for licenses for full-power stations, which are five to ten times as expensive as LPFMs. Those groups who did not have the capital to build a full-power station were forced into piracy.

The Prometheus Radio Project did everything possible to ensure the passage of the Local Community Radio Act. Members of the organization discovered that while the bill circulated in Congress, secret holds were put on it to prevent its passage. People who opposed the bill, like Senator Gordon Smith – the president of the National Association of Broadcasters [6] – were persuading other senators to vote against it. The moment the Prometheus Radio Project found out about this, members began contacting all the citizens they could. They encouraged their contacts to call their senators to show they were aware of these holds. Their efforts turned out to be successful when the Local Community Radio Act was finally passed in 2010. [7]

What signing this act means is that “the FCC [has] a new mandate to expand low power radio,” says Brandy Doyle, Policy Director for the Prometheus Radio Project. However, the FCC will not begin to automatically hand out licenses. Doyle states that “we think the FCC will need to do a rulemaking to clarify the intent of the new law and update the rules going forward.” (Doyle) Because of this act, more groups will soon start to apply for licenses and they will need a lot of support in order to “navigate the process” says Vanessa Maria Graber, Community Radio Director at the Prometheus Radio Project. Now, however, “many low power stations are under a significant and substantive threat of encroachment.” Low Power FM Encroachment Report, 2/15/2005. Encroachment is something that Prometheus will have to work on combating next. [8] [9]

Prometheus, saw the act's passage as an opportunity to give a voice to local community radio and bring community radio to urban areas. [10]

Prometheus' current Outreach Campaign involves the contacting and support of groups wishing to attain their own low-power FM community radio station.

See also

Related Research Articles

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Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" and broadcast translators. LPAM, LPFM and LPTV are in various levels of use across the world, varying widely based on the laws and their enforcement.

Micropower radio is a subset of pirate radio concerned with low-power radio broadcasting, usually less than about 100 watts radiated power and sometimes less than 0.1 watt. Micropower radio transmits to a number of recipients that belong to a small local group. Beginning in the early 1990s, there has been an increase in micropower radio because of the desire for such a service in local communities. Micropower radio gives an avenue for small groups and individuals to provide local neighborhood or community broadcasts of information, diverse programming, and entertainment. Micropower radio is usually a non-commercial service.

WRFN-LP is a community LPFM non-commercial radio station in Nashville, Tennessee. It operates at a frequency of 107.1 MHz and is branded as Radio Free Nashville. The station features a mix of music, talk and public affairs programming, almost all with a decidedly liberal or leftist political perspective largely not found on other area media outlets.

KVFS-LP is a low-powered radio station in Spokane, Washington.

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WCIW-LP is an American low-power radio station licensed to serve the community of Immokalee, Florida, United States. The station is operated by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, an organization representing farm workers in one of the largest winter vegetable markets in the United States of America. The WCIW-LP broadcast license is held by Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida, Inc.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXOJ-LP</span> Radio station in Northampton, Massachusetts

WXOJ-LP is a non-profit, independent community radio station licensed to serve Northampton, Massachusetts, as well as the central Pioneer Valley region. The station was first licensed to Foundation For Media Education Inc. until April 2010 when it was transferred to Valley Free Radio, inc. It airs a Public Radio format on its FM radio frequency, as well as through a live streaming service on its website. WXOJ is known as the original broadcast station of the nationally syndicated radio and television program The David Pakman Show and the radio program "Madness Radio," and was the home of a popular current-events program hosted by then-business owner and current Northampton City Council member Bill Dwight. The station also hosts locally produced programming at its main studios in the village of Florence, Massachusetts, such as The Enviro Show, Occupy the Airwaves, Farm to Fork, Bread & Roses, The Warm Heart of Africa, Poison Ivy of the Mind, Press Start to Continue and more. As an affiliate, VFR airs other local and national content from the Pacifica Radio Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBHC-LP</span> Radio station in Benton Harbor, Michigan

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WRTH-LP is an oldies/beach music radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, and serving the entire Greenville County region. It is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast on 101.5 MHz with an FCC authorized ERP of 100 watts. The station goes by the name "Oldies Radio Kool-FM"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXRK-LP</span> Radio station in Virginia, United States

WXRK-LP is an Active Rock and Alternative Rock formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, serving Charlottesville and Albemarle County in Virginia. WXRK-LP is owned and operated by Blue Ridge Free Media.

KVGK-LP was a radio station licensed to serve Las Vegas, Nevada. The station, founded by Gregory LaPorta, was established in 2010, was owned by Las Vegas Public Radio Inc. and affiliated with Feature Story News (FSN), T-Mobile, the Las Vegas Tribune, Syndication Networks and Public News Service (PNS). Portsonic Communications, LLC was a local community radio investor and management company for Las Vegas Public Radio Inc. KVGK-LP was governed under the Local Community Radio Act of 2010 as a public radio station to the Las Vegas, Nevada valley. The FCC licensed Portsonic Communications, LLC, a commercial company for KVGK-LP 97.9 FM from May 12, 2023 to November 12, 2023 to work on a split of the nation's Low Power FM service through a research and development pilot project running under a Temporary Application for Provisionial Commercial Use at FCC Facility ID: 190166 in North Las Vegas, Nevada where Las Vegas Public Radio had been broadcasting from with the original KIOF-LP 97.9 FM. Because the FCC licensed a commercial company for Low Power FM operations during a short period of time, KVGK-LP 97.9 FM never came to air and was used to trace fatal flaws in the FCC's Licensing and Management System (LMS) during the final report issued by the FCC on May 14, 2024 in FCC DA 24-252. This single report heavily documents why the LPFM Commercial Service never came about over the past 25+ years due to regulatory/statutory blockage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WFNU-LP</span> Radio station in Minnesota, United States

WFNU-LP is a community low-power broadcast radio station licensed to Saint Paul, Minnesota, serving Frogtown and much of Saint Paul on 94.1 MHz. The station has a hyper-local focus on the Frogtown community and surrounding neighborhoods. Programming is varied, with multiple genres of music to local talk with community members. WFNU-LP broadcasts from an antenna on top of the Frogtown Square building on the corner of University Avenue and Dale Street in Frogtown.

WEQY-LP is a community radio station licensed to Saint Paul, Minnesota and serves the Dayton's Bluff/East Side neighborhoods. Its broadcast license is held by Dayton's Bluff District Four Community Council.

KOCZ-LP is a non-commercial low-power FM community radio station in Opelousas, Louisiana, United States. The station operates at a frequency of 94.9 MHz and features a mix of cajun, rhythm and blues, hip-hop, gospel and local public affairs, with a focus on the area's African-American community. The station, which was started as the third community radio "barnraising" initiative of the Prometheus Radio Project, went on the air on June 20, 2003.

References

  1. 1 2 Hill, Ricky. "Prometheus Radio Project (United States)." Encyclopedia of Social Movement Media, edited by John D. H. Downing, SAGE Reference, 2011, pp. 423-424. Gale Virtual Reference Library.
  2. Dunbar-Hester, Christina. Low Power to the People: Pirates, Protest, and Politics in FM Radio Activism, MIT Press, 2014. p.2
  3. Dunbar-Hester, Christina, 1976- (7 November 2014). Low power to the people: pirates, protest, and politics in FM radio activism. Cambridge, Massachusetts. p. 12. ISBN   9780262028127. OCLC   875771189.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. Summary of the Third Circuit Court's ruling on Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC from the Media Access Project Archived 2008-02-16 at the Wayback Machine .
  5. Prometheus Radio Project barnraising overview Archived 2007-02-08 at the Wayback Machine
  6. www.nabef.org/documents/board/gordonSmith.asp.
  7. Everhart, K. (2011, January 11) For LPFMers, radio act brings a ‘ton of joy.’ Current. Retrieved from www.current.org/radio/radio1101lpfm-bill.shtml Archived 2011-05-24 at the Wayback Machine .
  8. Obama Signs into Law the Local Community Radio Act: FCC Chairman Pledges “Swift Action to Open the Dial”. Retrieved from www.prometheusradio.org/node/2445.
  9. Riismandel, P. (2011, February 1) Prometheus Radio’s Brandy Doyle on the road ahead for LPFM. Retrieved from www.radiosurvivor.com/tag/local-community-radio-act.
  10. Prendergast, Curtis and Stephenson, Hank. (2010, July 10). A Brief History of the Local Community Radio Act of 2009. sonoranchronicle.com/2010/07/11/a-brief-history-of-the-local-community-radio-act-of-2009.