The passage of the Telecommunications act of 1996 brought an
unprecedented consolidation of corporate media in the United States.
Massive mergers have guaranteed that the information we receive and the
culture we enjoy is tightly controlled by a few corporations. The
airwaves are a public resource entrusted to broadcasters with the
understanding that they will be used responsibly to serve the people.
Unfortunately, the broadcast band has been hoarded by corporate
interests and exploited without regard for the public good.
Radio
helps shape our political environment, economic decisions, and even our
deepest beliefs and emotions through the cultural productions it
broadcasts. At the Prometheus Radio Project, we believe that every
civil society group that wants to start a community radio station
should be able to do so, that a diverse cross section of society should
be represented on the airwaves, and that commercial uses of spectrum
should no longer have priority over public uses.