Prometheus Radio Project, 12/21/2020:
With the 10-year anniversary of the passage of the Local Community Radio Act and oral arguments in Prometheus v
set for next month at the US Supreme Court, there’s a lot going on at Prometheus these days. We’ve been busy supp
Low Power FM stations with advice and engineering support, and we’re preparing for new radio licensing opportun
the FCC in the coming years.
Diverse local media is essential for democracy and movements for justice and human rights. We hope you will dona
support our work as we fight for powerful and sustainable grassroots media.
Local Community Radio Act Anniversary!
Friday the 18th marks ten years since the US Senate
approved the Local Community Radio Act (LCRA), paving
the way for thousands of local organizations to build and
operate radio stations. The victory was a decade in the
making and a version of the bill was first introduced in
2005. Opposing the mass media consolidation that started
in the ‘90s, Prometheus activists and community media
advocates across the country campaigned for the bill.
The LCRA repealed restrictions on Low Power FM
spectrum put in place by Congress in 2000 at the behest of commercial broadcasters. The restrictions unfairly limite
frequencies available for Low Power FM stations based on unfounded claims, later debunked, that the small stations
interfere with big stations. Importantly, the bill allowed the construction of dozens of new stations in the largest US
markets.
In the decade since the Act was enacted, over 1,400 new LPFM radio stations have gone on the air. During that sam
Prometheus helped hundreds of community organizations apply for those FCC licenses and worked with dozens of
across the country to hang antennas, energize transmitters, and train media makers.
Prometheus v. FCC
This week Prometheus Radio Project filed a brief with the US Supreme Court arguing that the FCC’s rule changesharm diversity in media ownership. The FCC is seeking to throw out longstanding protections that limit corporate
consolidation of multiple broadcast stations and newspapers in local media markets.
In 2019, the Third Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals found that the FCC’s justification for changing its ownership
was “so insubstantial that it would receive a failing grade in any introductory statistics class.” Prometheus, along wi
Movement Alliance Project, Office of Communication Inc. of the United Church of Christ, Common Cause, Nation
Association Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communications Workers, and Free Press, argues that the Court
affirm the Third Circuit’s opinion vacating the rule changes.
Oral arguments in front of the Court are scheduled for January 19, 2021.
Supporting Grassroots Media in Philly
Coincidentally when the COVID lockdown
began, we received a grant fromIndependence Media to
help some of our regional radio (and web) stations—two
with exclusively Spanish-language content and three
serving African American communities. With Independent
Media Action headed by Prometheus founder Pete Tridish,
we worked with interns to rebuild 4 studios and hired Pável
Uranga to lead grassroots journalism training. Pável is
coordinating a brand new neighborhood news magazine for
stations to share, built from their own producers’
submissions.
Our technical, engineering, bureaucratic, funding, and radio-journalism assistance is helping stations to make valuab
community radio by overcoming annoying obstacles. Sustainable funding is a challenge for most small grassroots ra
stations so we want to help them enter the world of underwriting. That and a lot more work remains and we are hop
continued funding for Philly stations.
Coming Up!
The FCC has previewed upcoming application windows for full-power non-commercial (NCE) FM radio stations iareas. There will be few, if any, opportunities in urban areas because of lack of available space on the FM dial.
Educated guesses:
• 2021 - Non-commercial new radio station window. There is very little space for new stations.
• 2022 - LPFM new radio station window.
You can donate to Prometheus by hiring our station services at LPFM-friendly rates, or the usual way.
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Prometheus Radio Project
PO Box 42158
Philadelphia, PA 19101
United States
https://www.prometheusradio.org/
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