What: Community Cable Public Access TV Channels And  Radio  stations	Why: We need competition.	How: Educate Organize	Who: YOU  (150-300 volunteer DJ/News/Talk hosts =300 different views/cultures.
See our plans in our application to the FCC for a Low Power FM broadcast license!

Amassed Media
interview in Punchline 
published 9/2/99

Pete Humes, editor of Punchline asks the questions of Christopher Maxwell, Radio Free Richmond Project:

1.  Why does Richmond Radio suck? Short Answer: Because it can. If you visit towns with awesome radio, you find engagement, competition or both. Atlanta has several noncommercial nonreligious stations competing for your listening, because Atlanta has 56 radio stations, Norfolk (The Coast, WHRV89.FM, 96x) has 41 radio stations and Washington DC (WAMU, WPFW etc) has 58 radio stations. Richmond drifts along with only 33. With only 33 stations, no owner is starving enough with the scraps of Baby Boomers left over after 96.5, 102.1, 99, 106.5, 98, 1380 and 1320 are done carving up the "Don & Marie Demographic" to take a risk on something they don't understand ... like Techno.

In Miami Florida in 1998, one of the biggest busts of pirate radio operators bagged 15 pirate stations ... all of them Techno radio stations. The Big Boy Broadcasters could have put the Techno Trancers out of business real easily, by playing something we wanted to hear! Those pirates were struggling along with the same power you get from the 'fridge lamp, while those Big Boys can light up your flourescent lamp from a quarter mile away and with better sound besides. If they could pull themselves away from the beancounters recommendations of Garth Brooks and Boys II Men long enough ... there would be no need for pirates to risk jail, economic predation and sleepless nights just to get a decent dance going.

That is why it is so vital to pull out of Style Magazine's perpetual pessimism long enough to see that something positive could actually happen. Instead of being gramps in a 2020 edition of Saturday Night Live and croaking "Back in de day, we had five country stations and no techno ... and we liked it!" ... you could help convince Congress to support the Low Power Radio Service.

In a rare burst of  civic activity, a Federal regulatory body might actually regulate in the public interest; the Federal Communication Commission recieved 13,000 requests to start something that has room for something beyond "feminine freshness" and "Its not your parent's oldsmobile". The FCC responded with a proposal to create a new class of radio stations, Low Power radio stations (1000 watts or less, less than your hairdryer) that would wedge in between the existing 500 pound gorilla radio stations you've come to loathe. The Gorillas of course don't care for any competition for the bananas and are pulling out the stops.

The Chairman of the US House Telecommunications Subcommittee, "Billy" Tauzin (R-LA), has a daughter who works for the Gorillas, er, the network broadcasters lobbying arm, the National Association of Broadcasters. This would be like a judge hearing a case where the prosecutor is his daughter. Tauzin has been quoted as being concerned that missing link Skinheads like David Duke will get these stations and do such a great job that the "public" stations won't be able to compete for donations.

Speaking of Skinheads, the Chairman of the US Senate Telecommunications Subcommittee, Conrad Burns (R-Mont) gave a speech to the NAB in April saying, "We don't need all these little radio stations, I've had about all the diversity I can stand." Now there's a missing link!!    

2.  There have been many changes in regulations recently, but what does it all mean to the average guy who wants something decent to listen to? You want something decent to listen to? In the now-infamous words that launched the Radio Free Richmond Project, "If you know so damn much about radio, why don't you start your own station!?!" This was WCVE's Steve Clark's response to yours truly when I naively believed that WCVE88.9FM was actually interested in expanding their listenership. I called an asked for Talk of the Nation. They said there's no room. I said, 'no problem, start another eclectic station like WHRV89.5FM in Norfolk did for the eclectic news-jazz-techno and blues that the others won't use.'. WCVE said 'Oh, that would be so wonderful, but there are no frequencies left on the FM dial." Now I knew from visiting other cities that they often had almost twice as many as Richmond's (then) 30 stations. So I went to work, researching and mooching engineering help to bring WCVE the technical specifications they would need to legally apply for a 300 watt transmitter at 89.7FM on Church Hill. WCVE''s response was "Well, that would be so wonderful, but we don't have the money." Then one of the daughters of one of the people on the board of directors slipped me a financial statement ... over $20,000,000 they were sitting on!!

OK, so there is a point to this ... where there's a will, there's a way, no will, no way. Enough with the mushroom treatment. We have the right of free speech and assembly for a reason, there's no benign dictator, Democracy is run by those who show up. You want something decent to listen to, you have to flap something besides the gums, try letters to Congress in support of the Low Power Radio Service. How about flapping that Jackson (that would have been another stupid T-Shirt) at some organization of your choosing or making that would build a radio station?    

3.  What about the public radio station?  Aren't they supposed to be the pioneers of diversity? Yes, they are theoretically supposed to be the pioneers of diversity. : "From its beginnings in 1967, the mission of public [broadcasting] has been to … reflect the diversity of the American public. The Carnegie Commission Report, which led Congress to pass the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, argued that public [broadcasting] programming 'can help us see America whole, in all its diversity,' serve as 'a forum for controversy and debate,' and 'provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard.'" [Pg 139 "By Invitation Only: How the Media Limit Political Debate"]

Reference "Where there's a will, there's a way." Or you could flip that around, those who have the way get to throw their will around. It's not top secret, but not well known that the Chairman of the Board of Directors for WCVE88.9FM and Channel23 and 57 is ...(drum roll with "X-Files" theme) A. Prescott Rowe. Mr Rowe for many years simultaneously held the job of "Vice President of External Affairs" for Ethyl Corporation. His job was to convince the people and the elected folks that Ethyl was so wonderful, we should let them get their way and have a profitable existence. This is largely done by manipulating the appearance of Ethyl in the media. For example, when the only environmental news show for Central Virginia, "Living On Earth"(LOE) came out with a story critical of a gasoline additive, soon after, "Ethyl Radio" moved LOE to the middle of Saturday afternoon, when most environmentalists are OUT ... IN the environment, not listening to the radio. Naturally the ratings went into the (underground fuel) tank and then WCVE cancelled it for "lack of interest." WCVE could have used that information I researched for them to use 89.7FM to have a slot for LOE and Talk Of The Nation as well as all that cool music they play in between the news items on "All Things Considered"... but they didn't. Instead they let it go, and a few months later, the American Family Association got the frequency. Now that could have been a total coincidence, of all the hundreds of normally rural stations that the AFA applied for, Richmond could have just been the next holler on the list. But then we see that WCVE Channel23 (same management) chooses to play commercial videotapes of Dr. Laura during their pledge drive. Dr. Laura is in agreement with the AFA on issues of diversity, that is your right to choose your sexual partner. She seems to be in agreement that any TV show that discusses tolerance of homosexuality is teaching hatred of Christianity. How convenient then that the AFA sprouts from a subsect of a subsect of Christianity called "Kingdom Theology" that is cited in ACLU research as being a part of "postmillennialists, who believe that Christ will not return until after Christians reign for a thousand years. Because they believe that they must literally prepare the way for Christ's return, their ranks include some of the most committed political activists on the religious right." Their plank for utopia: no property taxes, biblical schools, and the death penalty for adultery and homosexuality. So even if WCVE didn't call up the AFA and give them 89.7FM before us "Godless heathens" could have a chance at competing ... WCVE certainly has done little to counteract the overall trend by playing commercial tapes of Dr. Laura on taxpayer funded TV.

Many people think that the reason for the formation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is to provide for fine arts listening. Actually, the founding mission statement for the CPB is to "provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard.."

Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook show 50 commercial classical format radio stations in the USA. Of the 35 that were in areas that were rated (the others being in rural unrated markets), 26 earned over a "one share". There are plenty of stations that provide a significant existence and survive for their listeners on less than a one share (1% of the listening market). They pull this off in spite of a commercial free competitor provided by the taxpayers just as Discovery Channel competes with public TV!

Even more amazing, plenty of stations do very well. WGMS in Washington DC regularly clocks a "four share" and is the 6th most popular station in a market of 42 commercial radio stations. Eighteen of the commercial stations in Washington survive on less than a one share.

Furthermore, Classical Music has the wealthiest audience. WCLV in Cleveland OH claims that its Commercial Classical audience is "298% times as likely as the average American to have an income over $100,000" and "216% as likely to own $10,000+ in stocks". The WCVL listener is twice as likely to be an executive as the Cleveland market's overall listeners. Does this sound like the bunch of folks who need your tax dollars to "provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard"?

There is nothing wrong with classical music, but to play commercially viable classical music on the only taxpayer CPB funded station to the near exclusion of the eclectic market is not in keeping with the CPB mission.

Considering that Dr. Laura already has a 50,000 Watt commercial voice on WRVA every weekday, WCVE is not demonstrating much interest in "providing a voice for the unheard."    

4.  What would it take for someone to own their own low power station? Let's see, would you like that raw and quick with a big fine on the side, or slow and basted in the juices of a dozen lawyers? Legal Low Power Radio Stations don't yet exist, it is but a gleam in a bureaucrats eye just yet. And there are those in Congress who will do just about anything to keep "those people" from having a chance at competing. As a result, thousands of pirate radio stations have sprouted up around the United States. You too can commit  Civil Disobedience in the finest tradition of "Give me Liberty or Give me death" for less than $1000. Actually, if you don't mind reaching any further than about 12 blocks, you can do it for under $400. Don't fall in love with the equipment though. The Big Boy Broadcasters (The NAB) are pressuring your taxpayer funded Federal Communication Commission to come down on you hard. Its like shooting fish in a barrel, they can triangulate your position in the time it takes to drive your car out to the mailbox. The key is to not get their attention, or have disposable equipment like a lizard drops his tail. There are pirate stations sprouting up like mushrooms in the manure that is Richmond radio and the tears that are the rain of frustration ... but they don't want me to tell you where to look on the dial. Turn off the "scan" and try it one frequency at a time. HINT: Those parts of Richmond that combine brains and frustration are usually your best bets to scan from. You can also go to the Internet and type in searches like "LPRS" and "Microradio" ... the GOP "Starr" filters are not yet in place.    

5.  I really can't stand Sugar Ray, Third Eye Blind and the Gin Blossoms.  Why do the big stations make me listen to them? Short Answer: Because they can. Let's face it, human nature is to get something for nothing. Americans love to brag about how they got something for half what that fool should have sold it for. Those who own and manage radio are no different. Why should they go out of their way to make you happy if they own all the competition? George Sosson, Clear Channel's senior vice president explains it all. Before the 1996 Telecom Act loosened restrictions on large corporation's efforts to create near monopolies of merged radio station  chains ... stations were afraid of being too boring or having too many advertisements for fear you would hit the next pre-set on your radio and visit the other guy. Sosson said candidly "Now, we all are the other guy."    

6.  Why do you get all worked up about this stuff?  Is it a revenge thing? It started with VCU actually. I built their recycling program and we had worked up all these grand plans that would have created jobs for students, provided real comprehensive recycling for small businesses around VCU, and pioneered various recycling studies to put on the Internet. We had found that about 75% of everything VCU threw out was recyclable and that we couldn't even get VCU  to cough up for a truck whose frame wouldn't keep breaking in half from the load. Something as simple as  not being allowed to have a key to the freight elevator in the hospital (thereby allowing us to finish in a fifth the time) kept us from ever recycling more than about 5%. That is a whole 'nuther nightmare, but the bottom line is none of that happened because those who stood to gain never learned what they were loosing. The media could not be bothered with the diversion of funds, the opportunities lost. I saw that "Project Censored" was so right, so often any news that runs counter to the interests of the owners is magically "not newsworthy" or "culturally viable" or it "might not be successful."

I realized that the only way for the interests of the citizens to get even a half a breath's chance at seeing the light of day was for a citizen's radio station to be built, a station of 150 to 300 volunteer citizen-programmers who come in and play the songs, talk the talk and filter the news from the perspective of hundreds of people who feel left out of the values that inform the current programming decisions at the Big Boy Broadcaster stations.

As time has gone by, I see this is far from radical. The whole reason that we fought the King Of England was "Taxation Without Representation."  Consider that the current crop of Big Boy Broadcasters use our taxpayer funded government agencies (the FCC, the Federal Marshall) to protect their use of our resource (the airwaves) and yet those same Big Boys cannot be bothered to accurately reflect major sections of American culture. America is not a melting pot, it is a goulash, a Brunswick Stew. The corn and the beans and rice all mix to make the flavor of the stew, and their juices soak into each other, but if you filter out that corn, it is still recognizable as corn. If the corn is not represented in the decisions, if those who vote do not hear the story and values and perspective of the corn, then the beans and beef create policy that does not take into account the needs and desires of the corn. That is Taxation Without Representation!

Radio is not just a business, it is that vital link between those of us who make policy (government, corporate boardrooms) and those of us who suffer from policy (customers, workers, voters). Newt Gingrich said "The media is the nervous system of a free society."

That is also reflected in Justice of the Supreme Court William Brennan, "Freedom of speech does not exist in the abstract. On the contrary, the right to speak can flourish only if it allowed to operate in an effective forum -- whether it be a public park, a school, a town meeting hall, or a radio and television frequency. For in the absence of an effective  means of communications, the right to speak would ring hollow indeed."

Voter participation is down. In the 1998 primaries in Nevada where the voters could select "none" 33 candidates for statewide office lost to 'None"! In Texas, only 7.6% of the electorate cast ballots! That was seven POINT six, not seventy six. People are loosing trust in the public life that got us here because the media is so busy with the semen spot on Monica's dress, they don't have time to point out that while we got on Milosovich for 2000 Kosovars (at first) the Turks had slaughtered 30,000 Kurds with US weaponry!!

As it stands now, the Big Boy Broadcasters make more money the worse a job they do. The candidates for elected office have to buy ads to make up for terrible news coverage.

Naturally they don't want some scrappy volunteer or small business or small church radio stations upsetting such a sweet deal.    

7.  Will low power stations offer smaller cash prizes for call-in contests? Isn't saving money because you found out ahead of time how much MacPhereson Struts on cars suck the money from your wallet a good enough prize? Or howabout the fact that if you don't drive your car to work ... your liability insurance can drop by HALF? That is not something you'll hear between "Brought to you by Moore's Volvo" or a screaming creaming ad for a sports car.    

8.  Besides watts, music and radio waves, what is all this really about? Everybody wants to matter. There should be at least one radio station  where those of us who are not the "beautiful people" or "the anointed" can go and be appreciated, to create and thrive. Radio  should not be just for those parts of the human story that are "viable" ie profitable. Everybody should be who they want to be and that means that everybody should have a reasonable chance at "the telling of the story of civilization" in a way that has value for them. This is the bottom line, you don't know who is right until you hear them out. You think that you are right, but deep back there somewhere you KNOW that you've got something wrong, you've missed something. The only question is WHAT is wrong or inaccurate and HOW are you going to find out? There's only two ways: Test it (trial and error, and the post Renaissance systematized version, science) and ASK SOMEBODY what their experience was. That's what radio is all about.    

9.  What are you going to do for Richmond radio? Push, bitch, scream and yell until they stop selling me down the river. Since that will probably only happen when there is one OR MORE community radio stations ...    

10.  Will I only be able to listen to these stations while driving across the Lee Bridge or on sunny days in my backyard while wrapped in tin foil? Well, that beats the hell out of getting a wireless headphone, plugging it into your computer and running back everytime the realaudio server chokes or AOL hangs up on you. You could buy a wireless cell-phone modem for your laptop and somehow waterproof it for jogging if you don't mind $.33 a minute for the music. This brings up a good point. The FCC has long had (and never used) the authority to require that receiver manufacturers meet certain minimal requirements for receivers. You probably noticed that all but THE cheesiest car receivers kick most boom box and tabletop receivers butt. This is not because of the car, it is because people demanded it. Even a $50 car receiver usually has the ability to pick up Norfolk, but we let the boombox and tabletop manufacturers get away with charging $200 for something that can't pick up the audio part of Channel 6 at The Boulevard. Actually the antenna location is going to make the biggest difference there. If the owners of WDCE90.1 had any intention of making anything more than "dorm-sleep-over-radio", they would have moved the antenna many moons ago, and fixed the meters on that poor transmitter while they were at it! That poor station is lucky to light the display on my calculator much less punch through the steel cinderblock of an apartment building. But at least if the antenna were not down in a valley ... By the way, if the National Association of Broadcasters get their way, they are trying to "go digital" using a totally inferior system that will wipe out most smaller radio stations. They are trying to use something called "In Band On Channel" digitalization that will block our ability to use the Low Power Radio Service. This system laid in limbo for years while the rest of the planet moved forward with the WORLD STANDARD called "Eureka 147" that uses a pure and effective digital method. So while Canada, France and England are already moving foreword, The Big Boy Broadcasters are using this inferior system to shut down any chance at competition by claiming that the FCC can't open up the spaces between the big stations for the Low Power Radio Stations because that will block their use of the IBOC technology. The irony is that if they get their wish, you really won't be listening to radio anymore ... a digital signal suffers from something called the "Shelf Effect" where the signal sounds great, wonderful, and then suddenly when you've gotten too far away, BLAM NOTHING, not even faint with static involved. Have you noticed when you go under a bridge, past a truck, the stereo light flickers off? Now imagine when that happens, you completely lost the signal instead!! If you want more of a techno discussion, visit the Radio Free Richmond website, find the "Spring 1999 Murrow's Hope" and follow the links under "You can help: Support strong community radio". Because we intend to specifically be community radio, we will place the antenna in such a location to reach those of us who work for a living. WDCE has the best programming in Richmond ... but the ownership is too satisfied with near irrelevance. Where there's a will, there's a way, no will, no way.    

11.  Do you prefer 'radio goo-goo' or 'radio ga-ga'? Radio GoGaGa is an awesome actual Internet "radio" station with "Music For Cubicles". Radio Goo goo is what I got last winter when I set that boom box on the heater and the thermostat kicked on. Then again, the Internet sucks so hard on sound quality and unreliability that I get melting mad at it half the time anyway. The only reason I bother is I really have heard "squeeze my lemon" just one time too often. Too bad I can't squeeze the sour ball of those beancounters that have ruined radio.    

12.  Can't we just all get along? In short, NO. Rush Limbaugh did not change all that many minds to cause the big Republican Congress. Limbaugh preached to the quior, he rallied the troops, and they came out of their bunkers to vote. If you don't have the will or the means to defend yourself, others will walk right over you. That is why balance of powers is such a vital part of the idea of a democratic republic. No body gets along if they really think they can get over on a defenseless group of people. Mr. Pleasants great great grandfather wrote a letter in 1773 to Patrick Henry asking him to give his slaves their freedom. This is three years before that "Give me liberty ..." stuff. To paraphrase Henry, "While I cannot justify ... it would be too big an inconvenience." It is simple, the blacks didn't have their Rush Limbaugh. They were not getting their story out sufficiently, they were not able to exchange information, to rally the troops, to organize (until later). Unfortunately, we are headed back in that direction. FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani has noted that, "less than 3% of radio stations are minority-owned, and that number is dropping. On the more desirable FM band, black-owned stations dropped 26% and Hispanic-owned stations dropped 9% between 1995 and 1997. Those numbers mean that existing minority broadcasters are selling out and they're not being replaced." Larry Irving at the U.S. Department of Commerce noted, "The loss of minority owners is particularly alarming because of its ramifications for programming. The decline in minority ownership means a decline in diverse voices and viewpoints. Such diversity is essential to a rich culture and a vibrant democracy. When I was in Memphis, for example, I was told that the Black-owned radio station called upon listeners to go to the polls, which helped get an African-American mayor elected. That radio station is now majority-owned and no longer makes such appeals."

Radio Free Richmond seeks to be a light unto those who are not illuminated by existing commercial, religious or public radio stations.

We will play the News Views Jazz and Blues techno and free-form other radio stations would rather not use.

In this way we will contribute to a stable and just society where everyone can become who they want to be. 

We seek to enable the weakest links in our society to become strong  so that no-one can thrive on the pain and weakness of others.

Get on the air before 2000: 

 

More information on LPFM

 

Effort to defend our ability to hear WDCE 90.1FM as well as any new LPFM stations.

The Fall 2000 "Murrow's Hope" newsletter is the Video SlideShow and Audio File (playing now on AT&T and Comcast Cable Public Access channels)... or you can read the script here.

 

Read more details on the LPRS in Spring'99 Newsletter "Murrow's Hope"

 

Subscribe to eMurrow's Hope

.......

------------------------ WHAT IS LPFM? ------------------------

LPFM stands for "Low Power FM". LPFM is essentially the re-legalization of small affordable radio stations for new entrants to create competition to serve audiences ignored by larger stations.

The Big Broadcasters have had the rules bent for decades to make room for their 40,000 and 100,000 watt stations to squeeze onto the dial and spew horrible morning shows and repeat the same music over and over and over ...  for DECADES!

Now a few thousand churches, educational and community civic groups want to get the same deal and make space on the FM dial to build affordable radio stations to bring those stories, values, culture and music that the big religious, NPR and commercial networks can't be bothered with.  Your stories, values, culture and music.

The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) received 13,000 requests for a slot to  build a station in 1997.

Thousands of "pirate" radio stations have taken to the air for $1000 each or less. 

The FCC received over 3000 formal comments in the Low Power FM hearings, more than any other issue in FCC history!!

And so the FCC created the "Low Power FM" broadcast service. Designed to be affordable (less than a new car) and protected from the big boys (only new and only new local ownership can apply for one).

LPFM has BROAD public support, half of the LPFM applicants are (often) conservative churches, half are educational organizations or radical change organizations. 

And the Big Broadcasters know this and can't stand the competition. The Big Broadcasters are trying to cut costs, cut jobs by running all their radio stations by remote control. They don't want to have to hire back that staff because some 98 watt LPFM weakling is doing a better job on local music, culture and news than they can remotely. 

And so here we are at the tail end of a Senate Session. They were due to adjourn last week.  Many Senators want to go home and campaign for reelection.

The Big Broadcasters are working hard to get our Senators all lined up to kill LOCAL COMMUNITY AND CHURCH radio  that would increase their expenses because they would have to compete with us for your heart and soul.

The Big Broadcasters hope that President Clinton will not follow through on his promise to veto  any bill that harms Low Power FM.

We need to provide Clinton with the support he needs to veto anti-LPFM legislation no matter what.    

ALSO: remind Clinton that you don't appreciate NPR President Kevin Klose going against his own NPR membership stations in opposing Low Power FM, using tax money to kick thousands of church and educational LPFM radio stations off the air.    

NPR affiliate Brasher, "I felt a little like a citizen might feel if he woke up one morning to find that a new president had been elected, but nobody told him there was an election. Frankly, I really doubt that the position taken by the officers, and I understand, this Board, represents the true feelings of the men and women who work in National Public Radio and in our stations.!"  (Speaking to the NPR board about President Kevin Klose's apparently renegade attack on LPFM.)