Prometheus Radio Broadcast: August 2009

August is coming to a close, which means its time for Prometheus's last broadcast of the summer! This month we invite you to become one of our beloved SUSTAINING FUNDERS.  Sign up to give $50, $10, or even $5 a month for a year and, in addition to making our work possible, you will receive a limited edition copy of our 10th anniversary zine with inspiring stories about rolling back media consolidation, creating the Low Power FM radio service, and raising the roof at radio barnraisings throughout the country. Donate now

LPFM: What’s Your Number?

Hundreds of people participated in the July 20 National Call-in Day for low power radio. They asked their Representatives to support the Low Power Community Radio Act, a bill that would create thousands more local community radio stations across the country.  Here are some more numbers that tell the story of where we currently stand in the legislative battle to expand LPFM:

  • 7: Cosponsors in the US Senate (S 592)

  • 11: Cosponsors on the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet

  • 15: Cosponsors on the Full Energy & Commerce  Committee in the House

  • 24: Former cosponsors that have yet to sign back on to this year’s legislation

  • 77: Cosponsors of the legislation in the House of Representatives (HR 1147)

  • 100: The number of cosponsors we want to get by this fall

Is my Representative a cosponsor?

 

Fighting Back: LPFM Stations Respond to the Threat of Encroachment

Ever since the Low Power FM (LPFM) license was created, commercial forces have tried to suppress the service. But, at every attempt to thwart the LPFM service, the low power stations have fought back, winning protections and political support. For stations currently on the air, encroachment is the largest of these threats, and a recent opportunity at the FCC allowed threatened stations to weigh in on new rules that could help curb encroachment on their signals. READ MORE

 

Dispatch from the Allied Media Conference

Inspired and rejuvenated, the Prometheus Radio Project recently returned from the 11th annual Allied Media Conference (AMC) in Detroit, Michigan. We rolled deep at the AMC, leading workshops such as “Kicking Ass in the Halls of Power”, “AMC-FM Radio Production”,  “Elements of Radio Broadcasting”, and a hands-on electronics workshop. We also hosted a three-day live broadcast, We Are Ready Now (WARN) Radio, which was webstreamed and terrestrially broadcasted with a solar powered computer and bike powered transmitter. WARN Radio featured the voices, beats, and stories of Detroit Summer, Elementz, Project South, Palestine Education Project, Bump, Com munity News Production Insitute, Radio Rootz, the Media Mobilizing Project, Free Speech Radio News, various LPFM stations, and more. Click here to listen to all these programs, as well as the one hour radio special produced in conjunction with KCBS, “AMC Best Of”.

 

Prometheus Holds Powerful Community Event on the Coup in Honduras

On the last Wednesday of July, a month after the coup d’état that ejected President Manuel Zalaya, over a hundred people assembled for an event hosted by Prometheus at the Free Library of Philadelphia to learn about and discuss the present crisis in Honduras. After the event, nearly 70 people then marched to the Philadelphia Inquirer to protest the distorted coverage of the coup and to show solidarity with the resistance in Honduras. CLICK HERE to read more and to see a video of the event.

 

 

Student Broadcast: Learning Low Power Radio in School

Can you imagine waking up every morning, going to school, walking in its radio station and broadcasting to your classmates and community? Perhaps you haven’t heard the benefits Low Power FM (LPFM) radio stations bring to high schools and colleges around the nation. From helping students express themselves, to jump starting careers in radio, LPFMs give students remarkable and unique educational opportunities. READ ON about the innovative radio programs of several schools around the country.