[SustainableTompkins] Be the Media, locally!

[Lyn Gerry]

Dear Fellow Environmental, Peace and Social Justice Activists in the Ithaca 
area,

Are you tired of :

Having the issues you care about ignored in the media?
OR
reduced to a sound byte?
OR
even mischaracterized and lied about?

Would you like to be able to:

*Play a role in deciding what is "news" and worthy of coverage?
*Be able to reach thousands of local people to dialog on important issues and 
the future direction of our communities, region, nation, planet?
*Use radio to organize and mobilize?

Then please help us get a full power, community-owned and operated radio 
station for the Ithaca area. We face a now or never chance. Read on for the 
details.

The broadcast media in the US are among the most heavily censored of "free" 
societies. It is done not through a board of censors but through access via the 
back door of ownership. The hurdles of the licensing system, including 
financial, ensure most radio stations will be owned by a class of people whose 
interests are congruent with a corporate-dominated society, and thus their 
coverage of issues will be biased in a corporate-friendly way. This applies even 
to the "non-commercial stations" which like NPR rely on big grants from 
corporate foundations and corporate "underwriting, " and often operate on an 
ethic that excludes the voices of  "average" people as broadcasters on the 
grounds we lack "expertise" and "qualifications."   

Community radio is different. It asserts the basic premise that anyone with a 
passion to communicate on issues of importance can learn the skills of radio 
broadcasting and journalism and "be the media" in order give voice to 
movements from below, rather than serving as a megaphone through which 
the priorities of the rich and powerful are handed down. Never has the 
divergence between the interests of the people and the actions of the 
"leaders" been more obvious. Never has the need for a people's media been 
more pressing, IMHO.  

Ithaca, a community of active people taking steps build a sustainable, just 
and free society has no radio station to support these efforts...yet. Ithaca 
Community Radio was formed five years ago to put such a station on the air. 
We've been waiting for the Federal communications Commission (FCC) to 
accept applications for new non-commercial FM radio licenses, and this 
window to apply will finally open from Oct 12-19 .  

For the past five years we've been operating 88.1 and have been 
rebroadcasting WEOS. The FCC has licensed 88.1 only as a translator; in 
other words we are only allowed to rebroadcast an existing full-power non-
commercial station. If we want to decide on the programming, and if we want 
to do the programming, we need our own full power station and that's what 
we're setting out to get!  

The FCC has not accepted new apps for more than 7 seven years, and most 
people in the know believe that this window is pretty much the last chance to 
get a license for a new station, as the bands are already so crowded. The  
Fundamentalist networks are expected to blanket the nation with applications 
for every available frequency - their excessive presence on the airwaves is 
already responsible for the lack of open frequencies for everyone else.  

We have been saving up from the contributions the community has given us 
over the years in anticipation of this day, and fortunately already have the 
funds we need for the expensive application process. While the FCC doesn't 
charge for a non-commercial license, in order to apply one must hire 
engineering consultants to perform studies to justify and then prepare the 
application technically, as well as communication lawyers to oversee the non-
technical aspects. We have retained some of the finest and best respected 
people in the field who also have a commitment to putting more community 
radio stations on the US airwaves.  

***But we urgently need PLEDGES OF FUTURE FUNDING now. I'm going to 
explain in detail below so you understand the hurdles the government is 
making us jump through; the licensing requirements are crafted in such a way 
as to exclude the "have-nots" from media ownership, without expressly stating 
that goal  This is part of the de facto ideological censorship through ownership 
I referred to earlier.  

Because this is the last chance for a frequency, our technical/legal advisors 
have advised us (and all the other community groups trying to get stations 
around the nation) to apply for as many possible frequencies within their 25-
mile local area as the engineers can identify, increasing the odds of getting 
one. We are not taking "NO!" for an answer - our engineers have identified five 
possible frequencies, and we are applying for them all, in the hope of getting 
ONE.  

Now I'm getting to the rub. I'm sorry this is so long, believe it or not I'm 
simplifying this to a very great degree.

The FCC has a list of qualifications that applicants must meet. One of these 
is financial - the FCC requires that the applicant already have on hand, or have 
commitments of funds, to cover purchasing and setting up the station facilities 
and operating it for 3 months. Long story short, because we are filing apps for 
five stations, we have to show financial commitments enough to build five 
stations, even though we aren't going to be granted five stations, even though 
we are just trying to get one station the air and must file five because of the 
Fundamentalist onslaught.  

You can see how the hidden agenda of censorship comes in. Even though an 
applicant has three years to build a station from the time the FCC approves 
the application, which is plenty of time of raise money based on a reality, the 
FCC demands people already have the funds, a hurdle designed only to let 
those with deep pockets move forward...or those who have a community that 
intends to have a station hell or high water.  

***This is is how you can help. Our situation basically is that we have to get 
commitments of funds to build more stations than we will actually be granted 
by the FCC; statistically, only 50 percent of applicants are successful in 
getting a license from the FCC - (receiving even one therefore is total victory 
for us)  

Therefore, we are asking you to pledge money that in all likelihood will not be 
needed for its pledged purpose (buying transmitters and other gear, leasing 
towers, etc.) We are asking, and need, pledges of support five times in 
excess of reality. In the eventuality that the FCC grants us more than one 
license (a nice problem to have) we can deal with that when it happens. 
Remember, the reason we have applied for so many is that every frequency is 
expected to have competing applicants. (The FCC has criteria for deciding 
among them, and we have positioned our applications to gain the maximum 
number of points possible, including a perpetual commitment to local control - 
if you want the details on this call me, this post is already way long)  

This is why we need pledges from you and we need them now! We must raise 
250K in pledges immediately.

These pledges can be:

A pledge to make an outright donation of any amount (the more the better) in 
the eventuality we are awarded a license

OR

A pledge to loan ICR some amount for the purpose of building the station. This 
can include the use of a credit card or equity line

OR

A pledge by your organization to hold a fundraiser that will raise xxx dollars

OR

The donation of an item worth xxx to be auctioned - please be prepared to 
document its reasonable market value, as we would have to if challenged.

OR

The donation of necessary pieces of broadcast/audio equipment, new or used 
- if you have such things. Please contact me directly to discuss what you 
might have, as this is rather specific and involves items from small to large.

Thanks for reading this far. I guess if you have, you understand how important 
this is, and what a positive difference a station will make to all our efforts.

You can make pledges by filling out a form we've created on our web site 
http://www.ithacaradio.org

Just click on the make a pledge button and fill out your details. These pledges 
are ***not a contract**** How could we possibly ask you to actually give us 
the funds until we knew whether the FCC was in fact going to give us the 
license. Your pledge forms won't be sent to the FCC at this time. They are 
kept in our files to be used if a competitor challenges our application on the 
grounds of financial viability, causing the FCC to demand we show proof of our 
financial support  

If what you wish to pledge requires further discussion, please call me at home 
607-535-0147 any time - I get up early and go to bed late as a rule.  

I can't emphasize enough that your pledges of support are just as vital to 
making a station a reality as a good engineering study, as we MUST meet 
every requirement the FCC demands, whether fair, reasonable or not.  

I firmly believe that who controls the media will greatly impact our future for 
good or ill, and unless we are able to organize effectively for the world we 
want, we'll be stuck with a nightmare imposed upon us by others for their own 
benefit. We have all seen it taking shape on many fronts.  

Thanks for reading, and I hope,  for pledging! Please forward this widely. I'm 
sending this message to the lists and groups I belong to, and it would help if 
you could do the same. I'm sure many of you have questions I haven't 
addressed in this post. If so,  call me, whether you already know me or not.  

Thanks,

Lyn
(607) 535-0147
co-founder and Board member, Ithaca Community Radio
Producer/host "Unwelcome Guests" radio show
Democracy School movement activist
Graduate, Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute
co-founder and co-manager, Watkins Glen Farmers Market