Feature:
The WNFC Manifesto, p. 3
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VI. Our Plan. a. The basics. We plan to assemble a Low Power FM station over the next few months with sufficient power to reach all of Ferndale. We plan to call it WNFC-FM (We Need Ferndale Community). The station location will be disclosed at a later date. * We will operate without interfering with any existing signals. We will ensure our signal "protects" all other existing licensed stations on the dial. We will transmit at just enough power to cover Ferndale, perhaps about 100 watts. * We intend to operate WNFC for just two weeks, as a demonstration. We will make public the date of the demonstration well in advance so that Ferndale citizens can listen -- and participate -- in the station. * We will ask Ferndale residents to host their own shows. * We will host debates and town meetings. * We will maximize call-ins. * We will provide free advertising for all Ferndale businesses. * We will provide free community announcements for all Ferndale residents, organizations, etc. * If you're in Ferndale -- we want you on WNFC! * It goes without saying that all content will be appropriate for listeners of all ages at all times. We will insist on the highest standards of propriety with our on-air guests and content. b. Support and participation. We will not go on the air until we have the support and direct participation from the broadest range of Ferndale: 1. WNFC air time will be divided proportionately among conservative and liberal voices. 2. WNFC will speak to old and young. 3. WNFC will present the broadest possible range of religious, cultural and ethnic perspectives, news and information. 4. WNFC will promote the broadest possible range of Ferndale businesses, and help boost our local economy. 5. WNFC will provide a venue for challenging debate over every imaginable Ferndale issue: DIFT, the school board, IRV, light rail, the Woodward bridge, etc. We will not proceed with this demonstration until we can provide these things. We will also not go on the air until we can promise the direct participation of a broad range of our community's most respected and admired individuals. We will plead our case to every elected official from school board to senator, and urge them to lend their dignity to our demonstration. We will also seek out the direct participation of our business, religious, cultural, civic and other leaders. We want the Mayor, the police and fire chiefs, the Council Members, the City Manager and all of our other friends at City Hall to have their turn on WNFC-FM, to talk about what they think is important for Ferndale to know. We will gladly tape interviews with any such leaders who are hesitant about participating directly in the WNFC studio. However, in order to really demonstrate the power and value of radio, we want the majority of air-time to be live broadcast. We will also not go on the air until we can provide a way for the broadest range of Ferndale's ordinary citizens to participate. c. How it will unfold. We begin by distributing this manifesto to every home in Ferndale. This will happen in March or April of 2004. It will be accompanied by a postcard suggesting ways that people can endorse the project, help out or, best of all, participate directly. One by one, we will grow our list of endorsers. We will also begin scheduling VIPs, community organizations, etc. for interviews, debates, talk shows, etc. We will contact every Ferndale business and offer free advertising. We will contact Ferndale musicians and solicit their participation. We will contact the churches and community organizations and do our best to provide something useful to them. There is no deadline for this part of the project. We cannot go forward with the actual broadcast until the broadcast will represent Ferndale as a whole -- liberal and conservative, traditional and progressive, etc. And we will also not go forward until we have secured the active participation of an impressive list of Ferndale and beyond's most well-known, admired and respected individuals and organizations. We want our civic, cultural and other leaders to appear on WNFC to demonstrate their support. Our concerns about media democracy are shared by a majority of Americans. WNFC will provide our elected officials and public leaders with an opportunity to draw attention to this serious problem. We're not criminals. We're responsible public citizens. We will conduct this project in a manner in which any member of Congress would be proud to be associated. Along the way, we will try to raise awareness about the project via press conferences, rallies, fund-raisers, etc. Meanwhile, we will assemble the basic mechanics of the station: control room, transmitter, antenna, etc. This, by far, will be the easy part of the project. Radio stations do not have to cost millions of dollars! And our station will be as professional as any in terms of signal integrity, etc. When we are satisfied with our two-week schedule of programming and the diversity and stature of our guests, hosts and content, we will distribute our schedule to every home in Ferndale well in advance of the actual broadcast date. Then it's show time! We will do everything possible to draw attention. We will ask the City to block off part of 9 Mile for a launch rally with a pirate theme, designed to attract TV cameras. We will ask to have our signal piped in to the existing 9 Mile public address system for the two-week demonstration period. For the following two weeks, we will endeavor to capture the imagination of our city and inspire a longing for a permanent, legal, licensed solution. d. When it's over. At this point, we will assess the situation, and choose the next course of action. This project is intended to be the first stage of something which will again convince the F.C.C. to rewrite their rules. But it is impossible to predict what our new movement will look like even six months from now. While we are conducting our pirate station in Ferndale, others around the country are moving forward with the Mitre Study, LPAM, FCC localism hearings, new LPFM filing windows, etc. It is impossible to say which of these might be on the fast-track six months from now. This project is intended to light a fire around media democracy issues in Metro Detroit. It should be exciting and entertaining enough that after it is over a circle of energized activists will remain, who want to take the fight to the next level. They will decide -- based on the outcome of the project and news from the rest of the country -- what comes next. VII. The Risks. It is illegal to broadcast with any kind of significant power without a license. Those guilty risk fines, forfeiture and prison. And we're going to be guilty. History suggests that the risk of serious penalties are not great. Tens of thousands have broadcasted without licenses. Well over a thousand have been contacted by the FCC over the last ten years. Hundreds have had their equipment seized. The number who have been fined may also be in the hundreds. The equipment is not a concern. We are prepared to surrender every microphone, CD and roll of electrical tape. A few thousand dollars of equipment is a small price if it eventually leads to a major policy shift in Washington again. The fines can be significant, typically $10,000. But, based on the history of so many other stations around the country and the specific nature of this project, we don't think we're going to have trouble. Naturally, we will be ready with legal representation and a specific strategy should there be any problems. Of course, from time to time, agencies such as the F.C.C. seek to make an example out of someone. A perfect example is Lonnie Kobres of Florida, who refused to stop broadcasting even after several raids and seizures. He eventually faced a possible life sentence for broadcasting without a license! But the outcry around the country was so overwhelming that Kobres received limited sentence of house arrest. It is hard to imagine any risks whatsoever to those who merely appear on the air, either as a guest or host of a show, etc. And we will have hundreds of hosts and guests over the two-week period. VIII. The Future: What a permanent Ferndale station might be like and who might run it? The purpose of WNFC is to demonstrate what a Ferndale radio station might be like. If we do our job well, Ferndale won't want to give it up after two weeks! Thus, with public support rallied behind the effort, we can once again begin the awesome task of convincing Congress and the FCC to revisit the existing rules. We intend to make it possible, in the future, for someone to launch a permanent Ferndale radio station without fear of fines or prison. But it won't be us. If there can be only one such community station for all of Ferndale, it must be owned and operated by an impartial entity which is responsible to all of Ferndale's citizens. Again, The Mirror and The Daily Tribune provide excellent examples. Although both are private entities, they clearly provide a voice for all of Ferndale, not just those with whom their owners personally agree. Some will surely argue that a Ferndale radio station should be owned by the City. Eventually, Ferndale may decide that a single station is just not enough and that there must be competition. (Then perhaps there will be another fight to win back yet another slice of our own airwaves!) These are difficult and important questions. But they are for someone else to answer. The job of the Michigan Music Campaign is simply to create a legal option for others to appreciate and employ.
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