5/24-6/7/99:Marketplace examines influence of underwriting on public radio in.

Read the Response by Lorenzo Milam, author "Sex and Broadcasting" about building community radio.

5/17--5/21/99: Marketplace "Morning Edition" (6:50am locally) special series "Radio Days" investigates the changing face of radio as a result of the 1996 Telecommunications Act that allowed huge consolidation of ownership/control of radio.

NOTE:] Notice that they wait until JUST before the end of the public comment period for RM-99-25, a proposal at the FCC that would open 3 to 58 new legal slots on the FM dial in Richmond for us to use to get on the air. Notice also at the bottom of this page there is a link to a legal statement of NPR's opposition to increased access to the airwaves. The claim is that these new stations will cause interference ... a bogus concern if certain provisions are enacted. Also interesting is that the local NPR affiliate WCVE88.9FM, has demonstrated a lack of interest in expanding into more eclectic programming. WCVE cannot be the only station that is resisting the national trend toward moving classical music to commercial venues and so one would then possibly wonder why NPR would oppose more outlets that would undoubtedly be more interested in their wider programming offerings than such stalwart "classical-dominated" stations as WCVE.
NOTE:] Don't wait to check this out or share this with friends, generally Marketplace does a terrible job of archiving and providing links, this is above and beyond their normal level of aid to the tardy and researching audience. It may not last.

10/5/98: RADIO PIRATES -- A group of community broadcasters from around the

country has converged on Washington trying to draw attention to their cause
and what they see as persecution by the Federal Communications Commission,
which has been shutting down low-powered, unlicensed "pirate" stations. On
Sunday evening, the pirates launched Radio Libre Mt. Pleasant, a pirate station
for that Washington, D.C. community. They also held workshops on how to
start a pirate station; issues of media concentration; and possible legalization of
low-powered radio. This morning, they held a debate at the Freedom Forum,
and marched to the FCC and the National Association of Broadcasters. NPR's
Dean Olsher reports. (7:30)

9/30/98 Public Access Cable -- NPR's Margot Adler reports from New York on the access cable channels in Manhattan. It's possible to see all sorts of, out-of-the-ordinary programming on these channels, at all hours of the night. She visits the production facilities of the Manhattan

Neighborhood Network -- which administers four different public access cable in Manhattan -- to find out just how some of the hosts of these shows on the air. (6:15)
Quote of interest: "Cable Public Access is a snapshot of NY as it really is ... the psychiatrists would call this the collective unconsciousness ... get a vector photograph of where the community is ... that's really important."
Quote of interest: "The process is more important than the programming itself ..."
Quote of interest: " ... has shows by Albanian Nationalists, Black Nationalists, Anarchists, comedians, poets and spiritualists, One producer, an anthropologist that has traveled the world sums up Public Access this way: People I meet in other countries are in awe when I describe my little show, there are people who would kill for this freedom."
NOTE:] We are working to expand the breadth of human experience seen on the local Cable Public Access channel. Please email RFRP or call 649-WRFR regarding having a guest show of your own! Many people are under the mistaken impression that Channel 38 MediaOne Cable Public Access is  a "religious channel" or the "preacher's stand" or costs money to get on. It is not and does not. You are welcome to become a direct participant in the creating of media and the telling of the story of civilization.

7/15/98 Minority Broadcasting -- NPR's Barbara Bradley reports from Washington that the coming of digital television is the latest in a series of legal and regulatory setbacks for minorities in television and radio. Since digital television broadcasts take up a significantly larger amount of the broadcast spectrum, low-powered stations could ultimately be forced off the air due to lack of space in the airwave bands. Many of these low-powered stations are minority-owned and may feature foreign-language programming. There's concern that already-underserved segments of the population such as immigrants and minority members could find themselves with no place to turn for programming geared toward their special interests and needs, as larger companies buy up the rights to the remainder of the spectrum and consolidate their stations. (7:30)
NOTE:] This report is on the displacement of (mostly) minority-owned low power television stations. The same problem applies to radio. In fact a quote from this story references radio; James Winston, Executive Director of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters,"This trend [consolidation following 1996 Telecomunications Act] is rapidly filtering out black and ethnic voices ... the issue here is who is going to determine what is news, what news gets covered, what viewpoints get aired, white Americans and minority Americans have different experiences ... it is important that that diversity is reflected in who controls the news ... A lot of people think that if Michael Jackson is on the airwaves, that community is being served."
4/4/98 NPR's Anthem : PIRATE BROADCASTING: Co-host Rick Karr talks with Millie Watt and Steven Dunifer about the state of "microbroadcasting" in the U.S. Microbroadcasters are low-wattage, mostly community-oriented radio stations that operate without Federal Communications Commission licensing. Watt and Dunifer report that microbroadcasting is flourishing in the U.S. but that there are significant legal hurdles before it. (12:00)
    NOTE:] Anthem seems like such a great show. Why:

1 Is not Anthem on Central Virginia's radio station WCVE?
2 Is there no realaudio archives of Anthem on NPR?

NPR opposition statement against Low Power Radio Service access for local and new organizations.