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In September 2000, extraordinary events took place in San Francisco, where the National Association of Broadcasters held its annual Radio Convention. For the first time, people took to the streets to voice their concerns with the state of the media.
As rapid consolidation in the American radio industry drastically reduces the diversity of voices on the dial, listeners are noticing the change. More ads, less information. A booming bottom line, but nary a pipsqueak of real news and issues we need and can use.
It’s a dangerous trend. When the people can’t communicate with each other on a mass scale through a free and democratic media, then just how free and democratic can a society be? Continue reading “NAB Meets Media Democracy”
Category: NAB
Senate Moves to Kill
Congress is back “at work” in Washington, and the radio broadcast lobby has intensified its effort to kill the FCC’s new low power FM (LPFM) proposal through legislation.
It’s been nearly a half-year since the National Association of Broadcasters, conspiring with National Public Radio and others, convinced the House of Representatives to pass a bill drastically gutting the LPFM plan.
Since then, getting action in the Senate has been less successful. The original bill the NAB’s Senate puppets introduced, S. 2068, lost steam after gathering 36 cosponsors. Continue reading “Senate Moves to Kill”
On the Cusp
As often happens in Washington, there’s a flurry of activity on an issue – then it drops from the spotlight for a while. Such has been the case with low power radio.
Ever since Arizona Senator John McCain threw up a Congressional roadblock on the greased rails that the National Association of Broadcasters had built for a bill to ban the FCC’s re-legalization of low power FM stations, activity on Capitol Hill has dropped off.
Originally, many “inside the Beltway” felt that McCain’s introduction of a separate LPFM bill – allowing the FCC’s plan to continue yet opening up the new stations to huge lawsuits from commercial broadcasters, – was just a holding action designed to drain off the NAB’s lobbying momentum. Continue reading “On the Cusp”
Dueling Editorials, Round Two
It’s been about a year since the National Association of Broadcasters released its “Anti-LPFM lobbying kit” for its members to use as ammunition in a lobbying assault to overturn the FCC’s proposed low power radio service.
What a difference a year makes. The FCC has since approved a conservative LPFM plan, but the NAB is going full-out with a push on Capitol Hill to try and kill it. So far, the votes in support are racking up, and there’s a better-than-even chance the broadcast industry will succeed in its mission.
As part of last year’s “lobbying kit,” the NAB provided a “sample editorial” for its member stations to use in their local newspapers. It was a cheap attempt at furthering its propaganda; as an antidote, I prepared a pro-LPFM sample editorial directly based on the NAB’s original text. Continue reading “Dueling Editorials, Round Two”
Calling the Bluff
There is now compelling evidence that the National Association of Broadcasters’ current lobbying effort for an outright ban on low power FM radio stations is based on corrupt and intentionally misleading scientific data. This includes information the NAB recently presented as testimony front of a Congressional subcommittee.
The NAB has fought long and hard against the FCC’s new low power FM ruling, spending millions of dollars to try and prevent the FCC from legalizing the service. It lost. Now it is trying the ultimate trump card by pulling the strings of Congress.
As part of a drive to get a “Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act” passed in both the House and Senate, it has been distributing a compact disc to members of Congress that claims to illustrate the interference low power FM stations would cause to full-power stations. Continue reading “Calling the Bluff”
Propaganda
If you were holding out hope hope for seeing a legal and viable LPFM service, let go.
Regardless of the flaws in the plan, like the restrictive ownership qualifications and interference standards (which effectively cut out the majority of the American listening public from any new stations), the chances of actually seeing the service flourish are dimming quickly.
On top of a massive lobbying and legal campaign, the attack on LPFM is expanding. Legislation and lawsuits should not be our biggest concern anymore, because now broadcasters are preparing to use their stations – on our airwaves – to kill LPFM. Continue reading “Propaganda”
Multiple Threats
As groups get organized and prepare to apply for an LPFM license when the first opportunities come around in May, opposition to the new service is growing and attacking from multiple directions.
There are three threats which pose significant immediate danger to the new LPFM service. Each one is unique, and each one could shut the service down before it even starts.
The first threat is Congress. Rep. Mike Oxley’s (R-OH) “Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 1999” continues to draw more co-sponsors; it’s very likely that by the end of February, anti-LPFM forces will have mustered over half the votes they need to get the bill through the House of Representatives. Continue reading “Multiple Threats”
All's Not Well
On the heels of the FCC’s vote to create a low power radio service, advocates of LPFM – who’ve fought long and hard for more than a year on the issue – are celebrating. It’s a well-deserved morale boost, but by no means does the FCC’s action victory.
The war over LPFM is a multi-front battle, and while advocates have made substantial gains in front of the FCC, more dangerous fronts still remain.
The Federal Communications Commission, like any other government agency, operates at the whim of Congress. It is Congress who sets the FCC’s funding level, and it’s Congress who tells the FCC what to do by crafting the laws that imbue the agency with its power. Continue reading “All's Not Well”
Square One
Various news outlets – some radio-related and others mainstream – say the Federal Communications Commission will move toward a vote to make low power FM radio a reality this week. Many advocates who’ve worked long and hard to see this happen are shouting victory.
On the surface, it’s a heady development – but a closer look at the details shows it’s really not much different from the status quo. There is no cause for celebration; we’ve tried to work with the system, and – mark my words – it will let us down.
Whatever happens this week, it will be one big lie. Continue reading “Square One”
The End-Run Begins
Just two days after the FCC closed the second round of comments on a proposal to legalize a low power radio service, the broadcast lobby has chosen not to wait to hear the opinions that more than three thousand of you sent the Federal Communications Commission on the issue.
Representative Michael Oxley (R-OH) has announced the introduction of legislation called the “Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 1999,” which would prohibit the FCC from continuing its proceeding on the creation of a low power radio service, as well as prohibit the FCC from ever being able to consider such a service again.
Oxley has already issued a press release on his new bill. It is nothing more than the “party line” we have all already heard from the National Association of Broadcasters, its members and, most importantly, the lobbying force it controls. Continue reading “The End-Run Begins”