Informational meeting on Community radio in Iowa City March 21

[rurallib]

Friend of mine applied for and was granted a license to broadcast on the NCE (non-commercial educational) end of the FM dial.
We intend for this to be a true community radio station. To begin the process (we have a little under 3 years to get on the air) we are holding an informational meeting Saturday March 21st at 2 PM in the Johnson County Senior Center room 202. Parking is available in the parking tower immediately north of the senior center. If you park in the tower the romm can be easily accessed via the walkway over the alley.
We will also be looking for input from those attending on what the station should be like.
We are not sure yet, but we may be able to cover a goodly portion of east central Iowa. Low Power FM may be available soon also. We will probably have a representative from a new station in central Iowa there also.
Why should the RW own the media?

Iowa City / Johnson County Senior Center
28 S. Linn
Iowa City
This is in down town Iowa City.

PM me with questions.

[Tashca]

1. Not sure I understand this

I'm not sure I understand all your terms like NCE end of the dial and low power FM.

But none the less this sounds interesting.

I have to be in Madison, Wi. on the 21st and would not be able to attend this to learn more. I hope you can post more information about the meeting or anything as it becomes available.

[rurallib]

3. quick explanation

NCE is the part of the FM band from 88.7 to 90.9 (I think those are the numbers). NCE means non-commercial, educational. If you think about it if you scan the FM dial, the NPRs and classical music and now a lot of Jesus stations are at that end of the dial.

Low power FM (LPFM) was introduced in the Clinton admin I think. These are small (100 watt or less) stations that cover 5 to 15 miles. Full power FM must have some space between frequencies thus limiting the amount stations. Yet many communities are way underserved because of this. They have no "local" station. On top of that with the consolidation in the industry even if a community has a radio station the station may not really serve the community. Community service was once a vital component of renewing a license with the FCC. Reagan/Bush did away with that.
So to fill the void for community stations and to get many more diverse voices on the air, LPFM was created so communities could have stations that didn't interfere with the big boys yet would allow for real community owned and run stations. This would get black, Latino, women and other seldom heard voices on the air.
But when LPFM was first allowed it was nit well advertised. There was a few real community stations applied, but mostly applications roared in from right-wing Christian groups and NPR. After sorting things out quite a few LPFMs were granted for the Christians before the FCC called a halt to the proceedings and asked congress for a better law.
Many people were not surprised that the Christians sucked up as many stations as they could. They have all that money that is brought in untaxed via churches, TV, radio and the internet. By grabbing stations they keep out competitive voices, especially liberal ones.
But why NPR? Well oddly, they were concerned about keeping competition out also.

New legislation regarding LPFM is snaking through congress. Ed Markey of Massachusetts is pushing it. Most Dems believe diverse voices are absolutely necessary for democracy.

BTW there is a great community radio station in SW Wisconsin called radio driftless. They are shooting for a full power license also.
http://www.radiodriftless.org/

[Tashca]

6. Thank you!!

You educated me with your post. You answered my questions. Maybe most people know this stuff. I had no idea all this had gone on the last few years. AND I thought I keep up on things fairly well. Makes sense on the religious stuff. Iowa City leads the state on many things.....

This is exciting!!

I hope you keep us posted. I do want to say if you are looking for donations I could probably help. Just let me know the details at some point.

[progressoid]

2. Wow, cool!

Hope it works out. It would be great to have a few hundred more of these around the country.

[rurallib]

4. We need time and money from folks

Unlike the repubs we don't have deep ockets. We are betting we have lots of folks who will donate some money and some time.

[progressoid]

5. My ockets have oles in them!

I would hope that in the I City area you can find the donors you need (with all of your vegan, treehuggin, gay, Priuos driving, Commie hippies).

I doubt that we have a dozen people around here that would donate & can afford it.