Radio Survivor readers should already be aware of the love we express for New Jersey’s non-commercial freeform radio powerhouse WFMU. Although the station may not be as popular or highly rated as a top commercial station, it has many admiring listeners, who themselves are productive and creative. Filmmaker Tim Smith is one such fan, who […]
Tag Archives | Community Radio
Tune in the Wisconsin recall tonight with WORT and Free Speech Radio News
If you’re in the US you haven’t been able to avoid news about the recall election happening in Wisconsin today, where an enormous grassroots movement mobilized to kick Gov. Walker out of office, following last year’s protest and capitol occupation. Grassroots and community media, especially radio, were vitally important in providing fair coverage of the […]
WFMU Manager Ken Freedman honored by NFCB for online innovation
I’ve long admired New Jersey non-commercial freeform station WFMU. It started life as the college station for Upsala College. When the college went bankrupt in 1995 the volunteers formed a nonprofit corporation to buy the license, rather than see it liquidated. Since then WFMU has been a strong voice for true freeform radio and an […]
Retired Navy air traffic controller to do community service for running pirate radio station
Back in January I reported on Ft. Myers, Florida resident Albert Knighten, a retired Navy air traffic controller who was arrested in December 2011 on charges of unlicensed broadcasting for running a neighborhood community radio station. Knighten got in additional hot water when he missed his arraignment hearing in order to appear on a panel […]
Reactions to the FCC’s LPFM ruling
I was talking with my pal John Anderson earlier today about how relatively muted the reaction is to the FCC’s LPFM decision on Monday. We did get a statement from Prometheus Radio Project pretty quickly. But even today, three days later, there’s only a handful of hits on a google news search. Perhaps the news […]
FCC acts to preserve space for new low power community radio stations
A couple days ahead of its March open meeting, on Monday the Federal Communications Commission released a two orders addressing the implementation of the Local Community Radio Act to bring more low-power FM community radio stations to the nation’s airwaves [press release PDF]. Most significantly, the FCC has decided to prioritize the establishment of LPFM […]
San Francisco Bay Area’s Bounty of Independent Radio Offerings
Yesterday I was excited to see that the cover story for the San Francisco Chronicle’s “pink section” was all about independent radio in the San Francisco Bay Area. Based on the cover’s headline, “Up in the Airwaves: The state of independent radio in the Bay Area,” I expected to see a comprehensive list of local […]
Low Power FM decision on the agenda for FCC’s March meeting
The FCC just released the tentative agenda for its March open meeting, to be held March 21. LPFM and translator stations are on the agenda: Creation of a Low Power Radio Service Report and Order: The Commission will consider a Report and Order to implement a market-specific FM translator processing scheme, adopt application caps to […]
Conference to explore community media and the Arab Spring
AMARC is the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters and for nearly 30 years has worked for media democracy by supporting the growth of community radio. This year AMARC’s Middle East and North Africa conference will focus on “community media and the Arab Spring.” The conference will be held March 9 and 10 in Tunis […]
One step closer to more low-power community radio; FCC says LPFM no threat to commercial stations
Last week the FCC released its report on the economic impact of low-power FM stations on commercial radio. The report was mandated by passage of the Local Community Radio Act of 2010 (LCRA), and its primary conclusion should surprise nobody with any knowledge of LPFM: “LPFM stations are unlikely to have more than a negligible […]