June 28, 2006
Senate Committee Votes to Expand Local Radio Broadcasting
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
In a win for small organizations and free speech, a bipartisan amendment to expand low power FM (LPFM) radio service was approved today in the Senate Commerce Committee. LPFM allows hundreds of civil society groups -- such as school, activists, and emergency responders -- to better communicate with local communities over low frequency signals.
The FCC originally intended in 2000 to grant numerous licenses across the nation, but was undermined by organizations like the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), who got Congress to withhold about 75% of the licenses and restricted them from being granted in large market cities. "The NAB didn't want more competition," Pete Tridish of the Prometheus Radio Project told BuzzFlash.com. The project helps start and promote progressive radio stations.
"The bill (approved in committee today) undoes what Congress did in 2000 and restores the FCC plan," said Tridish. As an example of how the new bill will help, Tridish told BuzzFlash about one of the stations helped by Prometheus, Radio Free Nashville. Because of the restrictions, the station is limited to broadcast in Pasquo, TN, a small Nashville suburb. The proposed expansion would help allow it to reach a larger audience in the city.
Tridish also expressed the importance of spreading LPFM to small, rural communities that "the progressive media often overlooks."
One of the bill's sponsors, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), argued that LPFM was about allowing the diverse voices of America to speak. "The only people left opposing this bill are those who oppose that diversity."
"I've had about all the diversity I can stand," Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), one of the seven Republicans who voted against the amendment, has said about LPFM.
The next step will be a vote on the bill by the full Senate.
The following are the Committee's votes on the amendment:
For:
Boxer (D-CA)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kerry (D-MA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Nelson (D-FL)
Pryor (D-AK)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Allen (R-VA)
Lott (R-MS)
McCain (R-AZ)
Sununu (R-NH)
Vitter (R-LA)
Against:
Burns (R-MT)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Hutchinson (R-TX)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Stevens (R-AK)
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT