Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Thu, Sep 30 2004
Raiding Radio
After 10 years of operating without an FCC license, but with much support from listeners in the local community, Free Radio Santa Cruz had its equipment confiscated yesterday.
Why on earth does it take so long to get a legitimate license for a low-wattage station (which serves its own community), when commercial radio stations easily get licenses to blast the same Top 40 noise at us, year after year, with plenty of wattage and plenty of clients willing to buy 30-second ads for everything from eggplants to implants? If the public owns the airwaves, why don't we have any say in what we listen to? Obviously, I need to learn more about this whole licensing process. Just who are the real pirates in pirate radio?
You might want to take a look around and see what kinds of stations the FCC deems worthy of a license in your own neighborhood. If you are reading this from outside Santa Cruz County in California, you've probably never heard a broadcast from this little station, but you're still inadvertently responsible for its fate. Your taxpayer money (and mine) helped fund all those FCC guns and U.S. Marshalls in that raid yesterday. But don't fret. The FCC apparently knows how to think globally and act locally. They could be coming soon to a radio station near you. Stay tuned.
posted at: 06:51 | category: /Politics | link to this entry
After 10 years of operating without an FCC license, but with much support from listeners in the local community, Free Radio Santa Cruz had its equipment confiscated yesterday.
Why on earth does it take so long to get a legitimate license for a low-wattage station (which serves its own community), when commercial radio stations easily get licenses to blast the same Top 40 noise at us, year after year, with plenty of wattage and plenty of clients willing to buy 30-second ads for everything from eggplants to implants? If the public owns the airwaves, why don't we have any say in what we listen to? Obviously, I need to learn more about this whole licensing process. Just who are the real pirates in pirate radio?
You might want to take a look around and see what kinds of stations the FCC deems worthy of a license in your own neighborhood. If you are reading this from outside Santa Cruz County in California, you've probably never heard a broadcast from this little station, but you're still inadvertently responsible for its fate. Your taxpayer money (and mine) helped fund all those FCC guns and U.S. Marshalls in that raid yesterday. But don't fret. The FCC apparently knows how to think globally and act locally. They could be coming soon to a radio station near you. Stay tuned.
posted at: 06:51 | category: /Politics | link to this entry
