“Mosquito Fleet” of Microbroadcasters Occupy Seattle FM Dial During NAB Radio Convention, September 10-15, 2002
Operational Analysis – Behind the mics: a reportback on the fleet’s activities
Background
During the week of September 9, 2002, members of the radio industry traveled to Seattle, Washington for the National Association of Broadcasters’ annual radio convention. Continue reading “Mosquito Fleet Stings NAB”
Enjoy the partial story of mass microbroadcasting during the NAB convention in Seattle. A photo album and two zines published especially for the event are now online – the audio and feature detailing the broadcasts themselves should be ready sometime today or tomorrow.
Still slogging through lots and lots of multimedia goodies collected from Seattle that should, when properly assembled, paint an entertaining and informative picture of the Mosquito Fleet of Microbroadcasters who swarmed the recent NAB convention. Once I get access to a scanner and some video encoding equipment, the real party will start.
In the meantime, take a listen to the KJR-FM culture jam simulcast on at least six microradio stations on the opening day of the convention. Produced exclusively by a member of Negativland for the festivities, with extra-special digs at Clear Channel!
Much more should be online as the weekend rolls on. Stay tuned…
It has been a busy couple of days since we arrived into town…the Seattle Independent Media Center has been an awesome hub of activity, serving as a workshop, reception space and newsroom. At any given time you can find people sawing lumber, soldering equipment and making stories.
The Reclaim the Media! events got rolling in earnest last night, and they have been well-attended. The schedule of panels, workshops, rallies and concerts is an ambitious one, and kind of works against everyone meeting en masse in a single location. Rallies at Freeway Park have been relatively sparsely attended, but that will probably change as the weekend progresses.
I have been working hard trying to follow the Mosquito Fleet of microbroadcasters who are here in quite a significant contingent, but it’s dicey because operating locations are scattered throughout the metropolitan area and those running the operations are understandably low-key about disclosing information. Needless to say, though, that there’s people from all over the country here, and they’re all fired up about firing up. I’ll have lots more about this when all is over and the immediate risks have passed. Continue reading “Seattle is Radioactive!”
It’s packing time for the trip out to Seattle for the Reclaim the Media! conference next week, being held in conjunction with the National Association of Broadcasters’ own radio industry convention.
In addition to the panels, workshops, rallies and conferences, there will be plenty of time to follow the “mosquito fleet” of microbroadcasters who are mobilizng to send commercial broadcasting a strong message about media and democracy. Continue reading “Seattle or Bust”
Guess who stopped in this week for a look-see:
0.02%: foxtrot.nab.org
I’d just like to personally say hello to our visitors from the NAB and wish them a rambunctious time in Seattle come mid-September. Since the cat’s out of the bag, anyone heading there for the festivities should practice appropriate levels of personal and group security, as you may never know just who may be listening in on what you have to say. Continue reading “A Hearty Middle Finger to the National Association of Broadcasters”
In less than two months, the National Association of Broadcasters will hold its annual radio convention in Seattle, Washington. Media activists are mobilizing this year, much like they did two years ago in San Francisco, to confront the conference and strategize ways of reclaiming the airwaves from corporate domination.
From the looks of things, it looks like it will be a lot of fun. Heaven knows, another showdown with the NAB is long overdue.
Visit reclaimthemedia.org to get the full scoop.
While the Federal Communications Commission continues to slowly move ahead with plans to roll out new low power FM (LPFM) stations, its Chairman is sending mixed messages about the fledgling service’s future.
So far, 25 LPFM applicants have received construction permits for their stations. These permits allow the applicants to build their actual facilities and prepare for broadcasting, but they still require an official license from the FCC before they can flip the switch on regular programming.
The FCC will also complete its first round of application-processing in June, when it accepts LPFM station proposals from the 20 remaining U.S. states and territories who haven’t had a chance to file yet. Continue reading “A Slow Demise?”
November’s elections are just around the corner, and as the hype on the campaign trail intensifies, Congress is still “at work” in Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Senate is hammering out the federal budget; it approves it in pieces, as separate spending bills that lay out just how much each federal government agency gets to spend over the next fiscal year.
Unfortunately, budget bills not only get loaded down with “pork” (extraneous money seen as gifts Congressfolk get for their specific states or districts), they’re also notorious vehicles for politicians to ram laws through Congress that wouldn’t survive the normal approval procedure (like committee meetings, public hearings, etc.). Continue reading “Inside the Smoke-Filled Room”
After thousands of people shook up the National Association of Broadcasters by protesting at its annual radio convention, held in San Francisco last month, spirits were riding high within the newly-created Media Democracy movement.
But after the first open attack on their business and egos, the American radio industry did not take long to counter. It has been a busy past couple of weeks.
On Capitol Hill, the forces of corporate largesse have convinced more than a majority of the Senate to back efforts to cripple the FCC’s new low power FM radio service. Continue reading “Trading Shots”
