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| Michigan: Airwaves are supposed to serve 'public interest' |
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Copyright 2006 Ann Arbor Time All Rights Reserved Ann Arbor News (Michigan) May 1, 2006 Monday LENGTH: 902 words HEADLINE: Letters BODY: Airwaves are supposed to serve 'public interest' Johnny Danger's pirate radio station in Depot Town was certainly operating outside Federal Communications Commission regulations (The Ann Arbor News, April 20). But that tiny 100-watt signal wasn't the problem. The problem was the rigged game used to allocate broadcasting licenses that prevents community broadcasting in the first place. In 1934, Congress declared the airwaves public property, to be used "in the public interest." Looking at radio today, those words are meaningless. Want to start a community radio station? The barriers are huge. It's not the cost of equipment - it's the cost of lawyers, lobbyists, engineering studies, fees. Those who have licenses - members of the National Association of Broadcasters and especially National Public Radio - challenge all low power FM licensing on the grounds that smaller stations will interfere with their signals. Do they own those frequencies? They act as if they do. They don't. Do Clear Channel stations and others owned by gigantic media corporations serve your interests as citizens of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti? Does dedicating so many frequencies to playing the same NPR programs at exactly the same time give you a voice on the radio? There is one bright, shining example: University of Michigan's WCBN (88.3 FM), a great model for a local, community-based radio station. Too bad you can't hear it in Ypsilanti. Alan G. Benard, Ann Arbor |
