Prometheus Radio Project

Prometheus Radio Project
Type	non-profit
Industry	low power community radio
Founded	1998
Headquarters	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Products	LPFM
Website	Prometheus Radio Project

Last updated July 31, 2023

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]

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

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.

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

WRYR-LP – February 16–18, 2002 – Deale, Maryland with South Arundel Citizens for Responsible Development.
KOYO-LP – April 12–14, 2002 – Oroville, California with the Bird Street Media Project (originally KRBS-LP).
KOCZ-LP – November 15–17, 2002 – Opelousas, Louisiana with the Southern Development Foundation.
KYRS-LP – October 24–26, 2003 – Spokane, Washington with Thin Air Community Radio (who later launched a full-power station KYRS).
WCIW-LP – December 5–7, 2003 – Immokalee, Florida with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
WSCA-LP – September 10–12, 2004 – Portsmouth, New Hampshire with Portsmith Community Radio.
WRFN-LP – April 1–3, 2005 – Pasquo, Tennessee with Radio Free Nashville.
WXOJ-LP – April 5–7, 2005 – Northampton, Massachusetts with Valley Free Radio.
WRFU-LP – November 11–13, 2005 – Champaign-Urbana, Illinois with Radio Free Urbana.
KPCN-LP – August 18–20, 2006 – Woodburn, Oregon with Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste.
WMXP-LP – June 8–10, 2007 – Greenville, South Carolina with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.
WGXC-FM – September 24–26, 2010 – Hudson, New York with Free103point9.

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.

Related Research Articles

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.

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.

WRYR-LP was a low power radio station licensed to Sherwood, Maryland, United States. It served portions of Anne Arundel, Calvert, Queen Anne, Talbot, Dorchester, and Caroline Counties, including Maryland's capital city of Annapolis. The station was owned by WRYR Community Radio Inc. Its license was cancelled October 2, 2019.

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.

A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats the signal of a radio or television station to an area not covered by the originating station. It expands the broadcast range of a television or radio station beyond the primary signal's original coverage or improves service in the original coverage area. The stations may be used to create a single-frequency network. They may also be used by an AM or FM radio station to establish a presence on the other band.

WMXP-LP is a low-powered FM community radio station located in Greenville, South Carolina. The station broadcasts on 95.5 FM with an ERP of 100 watts.

WSCA-LP is a low-power community radio station in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; the mission of Portsmouth Community Radio is to operate a nonprofit, listener supported, volunteer driven, non-commercial FM community radio station dedicated to serving the greater Portsmouth community.

KAMP-LP was a high school radio station licensed to serve St. Michael, Alaska. The station was owned by Anthony A. Andrews School. It aired a high school radio format.

KJBS-LP is a radio station licensed to serve Mena, Arkansas. The station is owned by the Mena Public School Board. It airs a Variety format.

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 nationally syndicated 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.

WXBH-LP was a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Louisville, Kentucky. The station was licensed to Brycc House Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization. WXBH-LP's license was cancelled on June 14, 2013.

KOYO-LP is a low-powered community radio station licensed to serve Oroville, California. The station is owned by the African American & Family Cultural Center. It airs a variety format. The studio is located on Bird Street in Oroville. The transmitter is located on top of the historical Oroville Hotel.

WBHC-LP is an American low-power FM radio station licensed to serve the community of Benton Harbor, Michigan. The station, established in 2004, is owned and operated by Benton Harbor Area Schools under a license granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The Local Community Radio Act is an act of broadcast law in the United States, explicitly authorizing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to license local low-power broadcasting in the FM broadcast band (LPFM). After five years and four versions, it passed the U.S. Congress in 2010, granting equal protection to community radio stations with regard to translator and booster stations. All three types of stations remain secondary to full-power radio stations, which are typically owned by major corporations and nonprofits. The act negates the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000, which enacted prevented community LPFM stations on the basis of RF interference.

Minority ownership of media outlets in the United States is the concept of having ownership of media outlets to reflect the demographic population of the area which the media serves. This is to help ensure that media addresses issues that are of concern to the needs and interests of the local population.

WZWK-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 at 101.5 MHz with an FCC authorized ERP of 100 watts. The station goes by the name "Oldies Radio Kool-FM"

WXTF-LP is an American low-power broadcast radio station licensed to serve the community of Harrisville, Michigan. The station's broadcast license is held by the Alcona Music Project, Inc..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KYRS</span> Radio station in Medical Lake, Washington

KYRS, known as "Thin Air Community Radio", is a non-profit, non-commercial, full-power community radio station in Spokane, Washington at 88.1 MHz FM. The station has a translator, K222BG, at 92.3 FM, licensed to Dartford, Washington.

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 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.
↑ Dunbar-Hester, Christina. Low Power to the People: Pirates, Protest, and Politics in FM Radio Activism, MIT Press, 2014. p.2
↑ 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: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ 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 .
↑ Prometheus Radio Project barnraising overview Archived 2007-02-08 at the Wayback Machine
↑ www.nabef.org/documents/board/gordonSmith.asp.
↑ 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 .
↑ 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.
↑ 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.
↑ 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.

External links

Prometheus Radio Project official site
Free Press – National organization working to reform the media
Rec Networks – LPFM database
Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000 – Text of the act, supported by National Public Radio and the National Association of Broadcasters, which was overturned in the lawsuit Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC
H.R. 2802 Archived 2016-07-04 at the Wayback Machine – Text of the Local Community Radio Act of 2007
Radio for People – Coalition to expand community radio
Reclaim the Media – Seattle-based media activist group
Liberadio(!)'s interview with Kate Blofson of Prometheus Radio – October 8, 2007
Prometheus Cheerleaders – Performance outside the FCC hearing on localism, October 31, 2007

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[:0-1] 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: multiple 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.

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