Memphis Commercial Appeal, April 6, 2008
By Kevin McKenzie

When the "Hurricane Elvis" windstorm of 2003 left some Germantown residents in the dark for days, a radio station programmed by city government could have kept them informed.

"We wanted to advise people on what they needed to do to get downed trees, trash and debris to streets," said Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy.

"At some points, we've actually sent post cards to everybody," Goldsworthy said.

That's why Germantown views low-power FM radio -- opportunities for local, nonprofit stations the Federal Communications Commission created in 2000 -- as the answer to its communications problem.

But nationwide, and particularly in urban areas with FM radio dials crowded with stations, advocates of low-power radio have been frustrated by Congress and politics for years.

Arizona Senator and likely Republican presidential candidate John McCain in a 2006 statement to the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee described the situation this way:

"Because they feared competition, the National Association of Broadcasters claimed low-power FM stations would interfere with their broadcasts."

In response, Congress ordered the FCC to conduct an independent study, which took almost two years and cost most than $2 million. That study confirmed that low-power FM will do no harm to other broadcasters, McCain said.

The NAB continues to defend its position.

"The idea that hundreds, if not thousands, of additional low-power FM stations can be shoe-horned into an overcrowded radio dial without causing considerable interference simply defies the laws of physics," Dennis Wharton,NAB executive vice president, said in a statement in November.

National Public Radio shares similar concerns, although Mike Riksen, vice president for policy in Washington, said NPR is not against low-power FM.

"We continue to support changes that strengthen low-power services, as long as they don't undermine existing services,"Riksen said Friday.

Yet another obstacle for low-power FM emerged in 2003. The FCC offered an opportunity for thousands of new licenses for "translator stations" that relay radio station or satellite signals and compete with low-power FM for space on the airwaves.

Religious radio broadcasters, in particular, have discovered that translator stations help spread the word.

The Media Access Project, a nonprofit media and telecommunications law firm in Washington, reports that with one full-power radio station in Tupelo, American Family Radio uses 170 translators linked by satellite to reach 28 states.

However, the FCC is in the process of making rules that could settle that issue and the objections of full-power radio stations in favor of low-power FM.

In Congress, the Local Community Radio Act would lift the restrictions imposed in 2000. McCain is the Republican sponsor of the bipartisan bill in the Senate. The act is attracting support in the House and both Democratic presidential candidates also support it, said Pete Tridish, founder of the Prometheus Radio Project in Philadelphia.

"I think we're going to pass it," Tridish said.

Frank Bluestein,executive producer of GHS-TV Channel 17, cable community television produced at Germantown High School, is the point man for pursuing low-power FM for the city.

Germantown's first effort was crushed by the restrictions imposed by Congress. Bluestein has been lobbying ever since.

In addition to spreading local information during emergencies or special events that commercial broadcasters can't, low-power FM could provide airtime for Germantown civic groups, local musicians and others, Bluestein and Goldsworthy said.

"If we had a low-power station, we could get the word out," Bluestein said.

This article is copyrighted material, the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.