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International California: Low Power FM Merced Lobbyists Discover Washington the Hard Way
International California: Low Power FM Merced Lobbyists Discover Washington the Hard Way 
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| California: Low Power FM Merced Lobbyists Discover Washington the Hard Way |
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Modesto Bee August 28, 2000, Monday, ALL EDITION SECTION: B; Pg. B3 LENGTH: 824 words HEADLINE: MERCED LOBBYISTS DISCOVER WASHINGTON THE HARD WAY SMALL RADIO STATION BACKERS EXPERIENCE CAPITOL RUNAROUND BYLINE: By MICHAEL DOYLE, BEE WASHINGTON BUREAU DATELINE: WASHINGTON BODY: Lobbying can be an unforgiving business, as Merced resident and would-be broadcaster Mai Henderson discovered last week week. Traveling with newfound ally Mary Oney of Dos Palos, Henderson came to Washington with hopes of tuning in support for low-power FM radio stations. Henderson, Oney and some four dozen other San Joaquin Valley groups and churches have applied for the new licenses. The lobbying trip, though, offered double doses of political static. "This is a very cold place, as far as helping people who don't have access," Henderson said Friday. Oney and Henderson discovered after they arrived that Congress is out of session and lawmakers aren't around. They came without appointments; they waited hours for a television crew that never showed up, and the offices of California's two senators were closed by the time they arrived. In the Baltimore airport, Oney lost her glasses. And yet, for all that, the 48-year-old Oney and the 71-year-old Henderson, accompanied by Henderson's 70-year-old husband Johnny, were upbeat about the experience. "I was told that the first time you go to Washington, you can't do anything," Oney said, "but I learned a lot, about how everything works." These are lessons their opponents learned a long time ago. BIG-TIME BROADCASTERS PUT UP FIGHT The National Association of Broadcasters fears the low-power broadcasts could interfere with existing stations. Armed with campaign contributions totaling $374,000 since 1999, a professional lobbying force that spends more than $5 million a year, and some persuasive arguments on the merits, the big-time broadcasters so far are winning this battle of the bandwidths. A comfortable House majority, including Democratic Rep. Gary Condit of Ceres and Republican Reps. Richard Pombo of Tracy and George Radanovich of Mariposa, supported legislation earlier this year that limits the low-power stations pending another study. Next month, the Senate will consider the matter. "The issue is, let's have the study come in and tell us what the extent of the problem is," said Mike Lynch, Condit's chief of staff. "There have got to be some kind of limits (so) you don't undercut someone who's made a big investment in their station." The legislation requires a new six-month Federal Communications Commission evaluation of possible interference problems. The legislation also blocks low-power licenses unless Congress first gives the go-ahead. This new congressional power over FCC licenses would make it much harder for approval to be granted to the new stations, whose signals of up to 100 watts would only carry several miles. Condit and Dooley both supported -- and Pombo and Radanovich opposed -- an unsuccessful amendment that would have ordered the study but left licensing power up to the FCC. The FCC once estimated upward of 1,000 low-power licenses might be granted nationwide; the House legislation allows an initial 70 nationwide. DIVERSE SET OF APPLICANTS FROM VALLEY The San Joaquin Valley low-power radio applicants are diverse, ranging from the Christian Worship Center in Manteca to Modesto's United Pentecostal Church. Of 47 applications from groups between Stockton and Bakersfield, half come from churches. "We have a pretty good vision for what our community would like to do," said Gary Shriver, who organized the application for the Evangelical Free Church of Turlock. "We're just sitting on the starting blocks, waiting to begin." Shriver said the 1,000-member Turlock church wants to use the low-power station to broadcast live Sunday services, community events and local Christian musicians. In the Sierra Nevada, the Hume Lake Christian Camp used to run another small-range radio station. Program director Kevin Cookingham said the hope is to allow camp workers to stay in touch in an area not conducive to cell phones. Oney and Henderson both have secular ambitions for their separate radio proposals. Henderson, who once had a talk show on a Merced radio station, wants to "give access to community people who don't have a voice." Oney said she wants to broadcast local sports, school and senior activities to the 4,200 residents of her hometown. "In Dos Palos, you can drive around for hours punching dials and not find a radio station," Oney said. The next steps in Washington are unclear. The chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Arizona Republican John McCain, is more sympathetic to the low-power FM proponents than his House counterparts. One possibility is that the House legislation could be included in a larger spending bill. Then the issue will be left up to the president. Oney and Henderson say they will continue their organizing. "We're going to go back and start e-mailing, letter-writing, and everything it takes," Henderson said. Bee Washington Bureau writer Michael Doyle can be reached at (202) 383-0006 or mdoyle(at)mcclatchydc.com. LOAD-DATE: March 4, 2002 |
