 Well, thank you all for coming this afternoon and braving the snow rain all the elements. I'd like to welcome you to the New America Foundation My name is Benjamin Lennett and I direct the policy team here at the open technology initiative Which is among many programs here at the foundation a bit about New America We are a public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing United States We have programmed and fellows that cover a wide variety of issues including education health care reform Economic growth and development as well as technology and communications The open technology initiative, which is the program that I work with promotes affordable universal and Abiquitous communications through partnerships with communities researchers industry and public interest groups We are committed to maximizing the potential of innovative open technologies particularly for poor rural and Other undeserved to constituencies to empower communities To tell their own stories in their own voices whether through telecommunications the internet or via the broadcast airwaves We have long supported the creation of the low-power FM service and we are delighted to host us such a tremendous Gathering of civil rights as well as communications rights advocates from here in DC as well as across the country And discuss the really sort of amazing And critical opportunity For community radio that's been enabled by the passage of the local community radio act Last year, so let me turn it over to Betty you from the Center for Media Justice to get us started. Thank you Good afternoon. How you guys doing and hello everyone on the live stream So my name is Betty you and I coordinate the media action grassroots network also known as magnet a Project of the Center for Media Justice Magnet is a local to local advocacy network of grassroots community Organizations working together for media change to end poverty eliminate racism and ensure human rights It's a local network. It's a national network of local grassroots organizations Who are working on culture arts immigrant rights? Housing education reform labor and other social racial and economic justice issues in our network We have about 120 grassroots organizations from around the country through grassroots advocacy and organizing From the bottom up magnet is advancing an exciting new vision for a justice-centered media policy agenda It's truly an honor to be here today I can't underscore enough what an amazing opportunity. We are presented with right now We've seen in recent months how the 99% has come together to expose and fight the 1% corporate elite We've all been I'm sure been deeply affected inspired and moved by the Occupy Wall Street movement Right now we have the power to transform the media landscape and fight the corporate media that is owned and controlled by the 1% This is not just about starting your own radio station But it's a chance for us historically marginalized communities of color immigrant and low-income folks to own the means of media production and Infrastructure on our terms We have to applaud and hand it to of course the dedicated folks at Prometheus radio project. Let's give them a hand They led this ten-year long campaign and fight along with other community leaders and civil rights leaders to win and pass Local Community Radio Act in December 2010 as Ben was mentioning this passage marks the largest expansion of community radio in US History, so this is huge right now is our chance for communities in rural and urban areas alike to start non-commercial radio stations in the service of social justice so that we can cover the issues that we care about cover the arts and culture and Immigrant social justice housing right education issues that we care about that are very very local to our micro communities Today you will hear from groups like Main Street project The anchor of the Minnesota magnet chapter who will talk about the collaborative efforts to start a station Low-income folks and communities of color in the Twin Cities now have an opportunity to tell and broadcast their own story Through their own voice about the struggles of homeless people losing access to their free voicemail systems That allow them to connect to their loved ones about rural communities and how they're affected by the digital divide Or about youth of color who continue to be criminalized by the prison industrial complex just to name a few issues and then there's one major success story that we must highlight which is Pukun, Oregon's farm worker union radio station. They're a magnet member and they're located in Woodburn, Oregon Pukun started their low-power radio station in 2005 and are going strong and of course Prometheus Was key played a key integral in starting that station They have named their station radio movement, which means movement radio with the slogan la voz del pueblo the voice of the people The radio station now broadcasts 24 7 to thousands of Latinos in a 10 mile radius around Woodburn Everyday community members hear voices of people hardly ever heard on the commercial Spanish language radio stations or even the corporate media On the stations on the station listeners will hear youth indigenous people speaking in their own dialect Women workers plus social justice leaders from the US and all over Latin America For the last six years they have trained dozens of workers and community members on radio production Helping to break the silence and give voice to their struggles against exploitation For instance during the immigrant rights March during May 1st several years ago It was Pukun and their station that brought us the the grass on other community stations That brought us the grassroots voices from the streets 2012 is going to be an extremely exciting year for community media as other magnet members like the United Workers Association in Baltimore and Vermont Workers Center pursue starting their own radio station Now is the time to challenge the the false choice between old versus new media our communities cannot afford to nor should we have to pick and choose Both matter and both play a really critical role in maintaining a healthy and vibrant Communications infrastructure Historically even today radio is still a vital vehicle for social justice movements particularly in low-income immigrant and communities of color It's an extremely accessible medium for communities in the US and abroad It's one of the most culturally and politically relevant outlets for many of us Why is it then that people of color only own seven percent of radio stations? Corporate media consolidation and deregulation has limited this access for communities of color While we must continue to organize and work to close the digital divide Through our various media justice fights. We need to ensure we do not lose people forever Guaranteeing access to this platform is crucial and especially with LP FM licenses that can be uniquely tailored to deliver Content to micro communities. This is a chance of a lifetime. We must seize this golden opportunity today I hope viewers out there especially our magnet members will tweet in questions with the hashtag civil rights on air In closing, let me end with a short quote by Almancar Cabral the famous freedom fighter Who says culture is an essential element of the history of a people and Culture as its material base the level of productive forces and mode of production Today we have a chance to ensure that cultural and economic health and well-being of our communities is strengthened Increase LP FM radio licenses and community radio can help us do this. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be here and I'm pleased to introduce Rashid who is the executive director of color of change and he's gonna give you some opening remarks How's everyone doing today? All right, my name is Rashad Robinson and I'm the executive director of color of change Color of change is the largest online black political organization With over 800,000 members we take on issues impacting black America every single day For instance about two and a half years ago when Glenn Beck went on the air and called President Obama a Racist with a deep-seated hatred for white people in white culture Color of change mobilized We mobilized over 285,000 of our members over the course of two years to take on over a hundred corporations To eventually drop the Glenn Beck show making race baiting unprofitable sport for Fox News and For those of us who may be watched the last episode of Glenn Beck the only Advertisers you really saw with that company that sort of melted down Goal you can melt down goal and send it in and get some cash back and that invisible line You put under your eye to do home home facelifts But sort of all joking aside Every single day a color of change we hear from our members we hear the voices of Mothers who are afraid for the future of their sons or daughters with the criminal justice system that is unfair and unequal We hear from young people who see a future that is Murky and opportunities that look bleak with an economic system that continues to not have access to jobs or opportunities in their communities And on September 21st, I stood out in front of a jail in Georgia While the state of Georgia executed Troy Davis after a hundred thousand of our members mobilized to make their voices heard The work that we have to do every day to make democracy work isn't just about voting It's about using every tool possible to ensure that we are able to hold elected leaders and those in power accountable and Having access to an open internet to open airwaves and to the radio is critical For our voices to be heard and the voices of the mothers who are worried about their sons and the young people Who are worried about their future? So color of change is incredibly thankful to Prometheus and to everyone who's worked for this opportunity And we're gonna use this as an opportunity to give our members the the voice and the Opportunity and the tools and the information to set up radio stations all around the country with over 800,000 members that means we have 22,000 members in Philadelphia or 30 to 33,000 members in Detroit Or we have over 7,000 members in New Orleans Which is sort of the birthplace of of color of change as we started in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina when everyone was looking at the Failure of our system and of our government to take care of those most vulnerable. I I Want to courage those who are who are watching those of you who are here to visit us visit us at colorofchange.org If you have your cell phones, you can text 30644 that's 30644 You text 2012 to 30644 so 2012 30644 you could instantly become a member of color of change But the larger the larger work here for all of us is is how do we ensure that democracy works? How do we how do we make the world look different five or ten years from now? And so that will be the work of taking this opportunity to use low-power radio FM and Set up radio stations across the country in places like the Gulf region in places like Mississippi in places like Detroit in places like Philadelphia where we need to ensure that the voices of our community are heard and that we're giving people an Opportunity to ensure that they're being able to take the issues that they care about every day and Mobilize people to action so thank you all for joining I'm looking forward to the panel and really looking forward to the work that we will do from this point out to make sure that this Opportunity is not just sort of something that we think is a great a great chance at making our voices heard But something that we really put into action. Thank you very much Seems like we keep we keep doing this But I I don't I don't want to miss the opportunity to introduce a good friend Of mine Joe Torres of free press not only is Joe Torres a friend to color of change But free press has been an amazing friend and partner to our organization as we've worked on a number of battles to ensure Open internet and open media for all Good afternoon So right now we have today in 2012 we have an FCC that Recently announced that it was going to allow for greater consolidation in our media marketplace It said that it's going to lift the rule that allow Newspapers on television stations in the same market a rule that's been on exist in existence. It's 1975 it is a rule that all the Democrats Opposed just a couple of years ago President Obama with senator Kerry led the charge To prevent greater consolidation and prevent this various rule from going into existence The rule was overturned in the Senate by Democrats led the way to overturn in a rule. It didn't pass the house But here we are in 2012 and a rule that everyone knows is not good for greater democratization of media It's it's up again to to be old to to be implemented by a democratic FCC To go again to implement a rule that his own party Rejected now why is this ruling point is important for so many reasons, but for people of color The majority people of color. There's only 3% of all TV stations in his country are owned by people of color And those three in 90 I believe the statistic is 90% of those stations are Located outside the top four so this rule the FCC rule says that if your newspaper you can buy a TV station outside of the top four it's gonna further target and People of color and it's gonna make it harder for people of color to maintain the stations They own and also to buy new stations now to me ownership is critically important because Who owns a media outlet determines who gets to speak and who has the right to be heard? And we know in our community that we haven't had the right to be heard I mean, this is the fight or ownership is all about this is why LP FM is so critical because it democratizes our media system it places the places media in their hands of The voices of many instead of concentrating media in the hands of a few and as Rashad said as Betty said Radio is critically important for people of color to get their message out It was critically was critical during the civil rights movement for people of color to use radio and in the black DJs To get the message out about the fight for racial equality. One of my favorite stories is the 1949 Jesse Blayton became the first African-American to own a radio station a commercial station in the United States in the land of Georgia He was an accountant he was one of first accountants in a certified public accountants in in the state of Georgia and it was a failing station and He was convinced by owners of the business community in Atlanta to to to put up his fortune To buy this station this station was failing and within a couple of years he turned this station and he changed the format to a black appeals format of black radio station and He within a couple of years this station became one of the top ranked stations in Atlanta He turned it into a ratings or ratings winner But more importantly this station was a critical voice for the black community He had to move the station outside of Atlanta Because they didn't want a black owner of a radio station to have an office in segregated downtown Atlanta He had to move it out to the suburbs into a black neighborhood in Atlanta And a beneath his office beneath the station's office was Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference offices And whenever Dr. King wanted to make an announcement and wanted to get on a radio. He would take a broomstick and hit the sailing The DJ would say excuse me. We have a We just hear that Dr. King wants to give a message They will lower the microphone outside the window He will grab the mic and get on the air and give his message That's how important radio is to the black community. That's how close closely you work together the black community and and black radio It was critical for our for our community have a voice and yet as Betty said only seven percent of all radio stations Are owned by people of color and the commercialization of radio as well a very little programming That is it's about uplifting Providing news and information to uplift our community. This is why LP FM is critically important so you know radio has been around for a long time and I find radio really fascinating because When radio was found in the late 1800s, it was like a wondrous technology people wrote articles how it was going to democratize the world It's gonna bring people closer together and For a long time for about 30 or 40 years People did not know the big excuse me the big corporations did not know the commercial potential of radio So who developed radio it was amateurs amateurs develop radio Radio at the time was seen as just a point-to-point communication. That means ships will communicate to the shore through Morris code through wirelessly But it was it was amateurs who who think think around with this new technology and started to experiment it in broadcasting in 1909 in San Jose Dr. Dr. Harold started to Experiment in broadcasting University of Wisconsin Any any US citizen had the right to get an amateur radio license They were like 14,000 radio licenses given out in 1914 17,000 like 1917 thousands were given out each year and people of color were among the first to get amateur radio license as well the Woolland Radio Association Chicago the Bannocker radio club in Baltimore in in San Antonio got named John C. Rodriguez Got an amateur radio station 1916 and a commercial station in 1922 But what happens in the 1920s? When government stepped in to regulate radio for the first time in 1927 it gave the all the most desirable stations the all the most powerful frequencies to NBC and CBS and what we have to remember NBC NBC was basically a government creation in 1920 1919 the radio corporation of America was created after World War one The purpose of the radio corporation America was made up of general electric and 18 T United fruits and Westinghouse was to take all the folks who held wireless patents the who manufacture radio equipment and to put to come together to work together the US Navy created it They had a person on the board to prevent foreign ownership of radio stations in the United States of radio frequencies So RCA creates NBC in 1926 it leads to the blue network and the red network creates NBC After the 1927 when government regulated radio for the first time he gave all the clear channels all the most powerful frequencies to NBC and CBS What is the most popular radio program in the country on NBC is aim is an aim Right aim is Nandi and this in this city WTOP Was a clan station? It was his origins. It was a clan station a cuckoo clan around that station It was a 10,000 watt station It was a one of the most powerful stations in the south in 1932 was sold to CBS. So here you had The centralization of media people of color kicked out and remember a lot of the early-day radio owners and radio stations were Were university stations were stations to run by universities and they were kicked off the dial, too But turn commercialized and the harm was happening Rashad's talking about Glenn Beck imagine having having half the radio listen audience back in 1931 listening to Amos and Andy every night the president United States supposedly stopped his schedule every day So listen to Amos and Andy blackface characters Robert manner the Pittsburgh Courier Creates a movement the Pittsburgh Courier the most powerful African-American newspapers in the country creates a news his newspaper Starts a petition drive to get Amos and Andy off the air what is set for shot more than 740,000 people in 1931 Right to the Federal Radio Commission said this is To get Amos and Andy off the air. That's pretty impressive right to be right before no internet radio You know cut off the petition put in the mail and mail it remember the mail right mail it The Federal Radio Commission ignored it a white racial narrative in broadcasting formed and We all know the Hong Cores when we cannot tell our own stories This is all about our ability to tell our own stories and speak for ourselves So this is why the fight over consolidation is a critical one in the fight to make sure there's more radio owners in Broadcast owners is critical because we have to tell our own stories because when we don't we are harmed So I'll leave it at that that's why I gotta say when I first joined free press I think for the first three months I Every day I went with Hannah Sassman to the hill to to to lobby on low power FM and It was it was my introduction into actually policy in lobbying. I learned a lot from the Prometheus folks Prometheus are like they know they're not a belt weight group I think they're like the best lobbyists in the world because they come to bed You know what it means with them? They know everything about your station your community. They got the local pastor Supporting LP FM. I mean so it was very it was very impressive and in such a It's told you how DC is so troubling a such a non-controversial bill like LP FM There's something that's gonna benefit the community. It takes Ten years of effort just to change some of the NAB didn't want in 2000 And you have to go hula-hooping outside the NAB to get it to change and all that So it's a tremendous victory. We did is a service. We need to Take advantage of so I'm gonna turn it over to Korean you and now LCCR was a leadership conference on civil and human rights Now it was a big supporter of LP FM Also a big supporter of minority ownership and broadcast and sent a letter to the FCC recently with a bunch of civil rights groups saying Telling the FCC you have to deal with the issue minority ownership. So with that I turn over to Korean Thanks, Joe and good afternoon everyone I'm gonna ask all of our panelists to also come to the stage now and I will introduce them one by one So I'm Korean you with a leadership conference on civil and human rights And for those who don't know us leadership conference is a coalition with 214 members now charged by its membership To promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States The leadership conference works toward in America. That's as good as its ideals And we haven't been around as long as radio has been around but we've been around for a long time and we've Led the legislative fight of every major piece of civil rights legislation I would put the local community radio act in to that bucket and You know ten years is a long time, but in civil rights years. It's actually not so long But we'll we're glad about the victory in any event On behalf of the leadership conference I'm delighted to join all of our co-sponsors at today's event and we've got a real all-star panel for you And I'm delighted To be here with them and I'm really looking forward to this event and hearing everyone's story and how they got Involved in the community radio fight very briefly Because I think it'll be much more interesting for you all to hear their stories rather than have me read their very Impressive bios I will introduce first Kai Ayatera who is on the board of directors of the Prometheus radio project Next is John Freeman. Who's the founder and executive director of K. O. C. Z. in Apollousis, Louisiana? Next is Albert Knighton. Who's the founder of Dunbar community radio in Dunbar, Florida? Jabari Mcketsi is the founder and CEO of a Gullah Sentinel in Beaufort, South Carolina Buford Beaufort Buford South Carolina Danielle McCauley and Cali is the media justice organizer at the Main Street project in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Stephen Doros is also at the Main Street project project in Minneapolis He's the media justice program director. I won't make any comments about today's snowstorm. Oh, I just did For our friends in Minneapolis So that is our all-star lineup And for this panel, we're going to undertake the following format We've not asked our panelists to make prepared Presentations or remarks were but I have a number of questions for our panel that I will be throwing out Sometimes to the panel as a whole and sometimes to individual panelists We'll leave some time at the end for questions both from our audience here at New America and also to our audience from our audience in the web and I'll just repeat on the Hashtag which is civil rights on air So please feel free to tweet your questions So first My first question is for the entire panel So with Arab Spring the Occupy movement the Tea Party movement We've seen firsthand how social media can help build movements, but we're not here to talk about social media We're here to talk about radio and so I'd like you to each take a few minutes to discuss how What the potential that you see for radio? As an organizing tool and I'm going to start with Steve at the end I just want to clarify Minneapolis had nothing to do with the snow today in Washington, DC Aside from that the potential that I see is For me, especially around LP FM is a much more localized potential The communities in particular in Minneapolis and St. Paul that we're focusing on Are dealing with transformation Both in the form of migration with new populations refugees that are moving to the city and changing the demographic or the makeup of those communities In addition, they're undergoing other types of transformation in Minneapolis and St. Paul And one of the communities that we're working in Frogtown They're undergoing some major transit development Which has a potential to impact who gets to live there in the future And in this critical moment of where a lot of public discourse is shaping the potential solutions And the potential impact those are the kinds of Places where we need to have a voice an LP FM can provide that one of our partner organizations in Frogtown is a neighborhood association Who has for the last couple years been trying to start a newspaper because they don't have a neighborhood newspaper? Precisely for this for this moment because all of these different things are happening all these different changes are coming And they want to be engaged in being able to say what actually happens to their community and who gets to live there Unfortunately in the past where we've seen, you know transit development or any other form of transformation happening They haven't been as engaged and it's carried real consequences displacement Gentrification and these are the kinds of consequences that we're trying to avoid and we really see LP FM as a way to inject a New voice and empower people to create the type of community that they want to live in and have control over that great Danielle I think In particular for the neighborhoods that we're trying to bring LP FM to Their access to internet and computers at home Is pretty minimal and so we know that When they're using or getting on to social networking it it might be through their phone But we know that if we that they're using the radio more often to get information especially for folks that May not be English speakers We know that radio is in a very important way for them to see a reflection of themselves And the problems that are impacting them in a small Neighborhood level so the things that Steven we're talking about they have a chance to learn about those things in their own language In an LP FM setting we know that our Somali elders in Minneapolis and St. Paul Aren't going to Facebook to get their information But a radio is a viable place for them to to be able to get their information from and those are the folks that We're working with to be able to create LP FM stations in Minneapolis and St. Paul My name is mr. Moketsi, and I'm from Buford, South Carolina. I think the Potentials for LP FM is unlimited now, especially given in my community. I think the number one word would be empowerment empowerment radio the way I look at it radio influences and it also sets the The tone for the discussion of any given day has a huge influence it sets the discussion It decides what we talk about today what we talk about tomorrow. Well, you know, I was looking at a Documentary of the night called the the West, you know, and they were talking about the Native Americans and whatnot And I became aware of native Native American nations that I never knew exist And I always thought that I was pretty much a breast as far as our history is concerning the West and whatnot I didn't even know that it exists because they had just become a footnote in history And that's what I am afraid of in my given community and communities like mine the thing I'm afraid of we have in our community a community We call the Gullah community now some people may have heard of it some people may not and I'll talk about that a little later it's called the Gullah Geetje community and We do not have any kind of voice in that community and their communities like ours all across this country and Without that instant electronic media We find ourselves losing day by day by day socially politically economically and we don't want to become a footnote in history Thank you Good afternoon. My name is Albert and I'm from Fort Myers, Florida All my life. I've been fascinated with radio and in the Fort Myers in the Dunbar community where I was raised There has not been one R&B radio station there. There's a hip-hop station now, but nothing is R&B When I joined in military in 1985 I kind of figured that after I get out the Navy took 20 years to do it But after I get out the Navy there would be our R&B radio station after I got out there was not one I think that to have an R&B radio station or a low-power community radio station in the Dunbar community Will help our community grow so we can communicate with one another the stations that are there normally when they report things that happen In the Dunbar community, they only talk about What happened the crime they don't talk about the issues how we can fix these problems Radio station a low-power radio station in the Dunbar community We'll help the people there to communicate with one another and help our community grow to the next level Also, we'll be able to educate one another one another so we can solve the problems in our community. Thank you Can you hear me well? Thank you. I think that The potential Right now is untapped in terms of radio The way I see radio Delivery system is uniquely different than some of our communication technology today radio captures the essence of the soul the senses the mood You don't go in on in the word processor to feel good about a day but you go to radio to have a different sense a different feel so that Untapped resource have not been utilized and the major Media market now or radio people they consolidate all the music into one genre. There is no Scheduling of of creativity Innovation and they force feed everybody using the same old same old type of music and and and so When you think about radio in in the the way they trying to force feed us in terms of radio You can see the opportunity To change things they bury people like Gladys Knight BB King. I mean that's these major companies are Graveyard for people in the music Business the bluegrass music. I like bluegrass really real nice good music. You know keep your vibrant So the potential Is untapped and so there's room for this type of technology and creativity Good afternoon. I'm Kai. I eat oral and I'm on the board for Prometheus radio project and 23 years ago, I was introduced to community radio and at that time I Had only heard Urban, you know contemporary stations, you know We had KPRS in my hometown Which is a good thing, but I never knew anything about bluegrass I never knew anything about Zydeco I never knew anything about Cajun music or reggae music or any other Musics that were out there or any of those cultures and the people that were part of those cultures and Getting involved with community radio has exposed me to all of those different cultures and and activities within those communities so low-power FM the potential of having small stations like that in Throughout the cities where there are these groups of people who can express themselves Culturally will expose everybody to these different ways of thinking in these different cultures and will allow us all to Be more accepting What's the word? Acceptive of each other, so sounds great So you guys did a great job of setting the scene why low-power radio is so important. We've heard You know it has an organizing potential We can have our own voice be heard. We can expose people to different cultures And all of that is great. We now have a wonderful opportunity To expand the reach of radio, which is why you're all here in Washington today And why you're here participating on this panel and talking to to everyone So Kai I wanted to get you've got a long-standing background in this you were around for the You help people through the process in 2000 And I was wondering if you could just talk a little bit about what that experience was like how it may translate to 2012 what people should expect you know as we take advantage of this new opportunity It was great Just to to work with people of Different cultures I worked with the moon in Fresno, California who have a totally I mean there's I had to read a little bit about their culture before I even went to see them because When they accept you in their home, they're there's certain protocol that you follow You know and if you don't follow that then you've offended them You know and I didn't want to do that and that's something that the everyday person doesn't know so just being Exposed to that culture was was it was an eye-opener for me There were a lot of issues that we had to deal with Helping people to secure their license because there were a lot of religious religious conglomerates Who were also applying for the same frequencies and they would go into They would go into different cities where they had congregations and apply for a frequency and the congregation would even know that they had applied so This became an issue for a lot of the local Organizations who are applying for the same frequency because they ended up being mxed with these freak with these other organizations so we really had to work on Helping the FCC to recognize the Multiple applications that were going through for a frequency in a small community When it should go to the local one is instead of another group Ask me again Well, could you just compare what happened back in 2000, you know with what people should expect in 2012 Is it a difficult process? Is it an easy process? You know what do you think people need to know for all everyone out there who's contemplating applying for a low power station Well, the difficulty will be in whether or not there's going to be a frequency available for them so the first thing that you would want to do is to Find an engineer that can work with you and Find that frequency now We don't quite know what the rules are going to be for finding those frequencies yet But as soon as we do will definitely try to make sure that everybody knows but I Think one of the things that people should do is you know identify an engineer that they're going to work with so that they can work on securing that that frequency Basic organizational Infrastructure type information needs to be developed If you don't have a board Or finding the organization that has a board that's within The area of the frequency because there's going to be rules about that They might they may only they may have to live within a 10 mile radius or a 30 mile radius of that that transmitter We don't have to download everything that's in your brain right now I don't mean to put you on the spot because we of course we have Prometheus radio project who is point and brand use poise to help folks with questions but I just thought it would be interesting to sort of start at the very beginning and Then to move next to John who owns a radio station You know what what kinds of things? Can people expect as radio station owners You know any tips about how they should cover the community or your best practices that you've you've had I think those owners should have a feel for the sociology of the community the norms and What people respond to in terms of their culture and how best to set the tone for Information education and entertaining I think these aren't exciting times because I really enjoy Working with LPFM because it's almost like Simon says to us You know when we do something on our station the major station jump and they change their genre to sort of match what we do We we started out with poetry. They started putting poetry You know we started playing zydeco, which is a culture music in Louisiana sort of a French African influence Zydeco music they wouldn't even play zydeco now every major station in the area and beyond it's playing zydeco music and so I think that the timing for For people who are who own station is to understand what the community is about What are the needs and also? Somewhere in there fits some preservation for the music great That's great My next question is for both Jabari Moketsi and for Albert Knight and Jotoris in his remarks talked about how communities are or are not portrayed in commercial radio mainstream radio and I'm guessing that in your communities if you weren't there people would have a very different Perception of your particular community so Stated another way. Can you tell us how your community is portrayed locally in and what you have done to? either enhance that portrayal or prove their portrayal through your radio efforts When you start Jabari Moketsi again from Buford, South Carolina, and if you're in North Carolina, they call it Beaufort Beaufort, so Well in my community we I had a Recent talk show there once in my community. I did it for about 15 years on the local Minority-owned radio station, which was the only one there and that's gone now as of six months ago and We covered all of the issues, you know within the community that the Radio stations that that are broadcast from about 60 miles away which would be Savannah, Georgia or Charleston, South Carolina and Those stations of course, you know, I think they kind of broadcast everything that's wrong with commercial radio today and What we tried to do on that radio station that we had We tried to portray our community let people see The the gullah culture and I keep talking about gullah culture, you know The gullah culture what it what it is and what it's not because many people Who don't know anything about the gullah culture some people in here who may have heard the name Geetje? They think that's a kind of negative term and you call somebody a Geetje but when you find out you know that I mean it's not that at all and if we had a LPL LP FM station community station, you know, we would be able to turn turn all of that all that idea around and Let people know that what they are Thinking about people especially people who live in small towns, you know, I mean sometimes everybody got their preconceptions about Small people in small towns and you know, we don't have iPads and we don't have you know computers and whatnot but If we had a LPM FM station, you know, it would bring to the forefront, you know All what we are about and all we hope to hold on to and I'm gonna You know turn it over to that great Once again, my name is Albert Knight from Fort Myers, Florida and in the Dunbar community Like I said, well, I was where I was born and raised is predominantly African-American and when the news reports About activities in the Dunbar community. They normally report on the crime that happened who was robbed Who was shot? Sell them anything in the Dunbar community is reported good. I know they're trying to make a change. I want to Think the news press for the story. They did on us, which is very nice But most of the new most of the news is a lot of negativity What Dunbar radio did was brought a sense of pride We people came on the radio. They were very professional. Remember, this is the only R&B radio station gospel radio station that Fort Myers had at the time It was a source of pride Information anything that you wanted to know that was happening in the Dunbar community You can turn to Dunbar radio eat from the simplest things as who's cooking to support their church Right now it's off the air and it's currently missed Remember I'm hearing that when Dunbar radio went off the air One of the older ladies who listened to us on a Sunday morning actually cried because of all she knew that it Was going to be gone. We hope to come back But right now there's no Dunbar radio and like I said or it was a source of pride for us Steven Danielle just What have you done or would you do in the Twin Cities area to create that same source of pride that Albert just talked About in your community? What kind of advice do you give? Organizers or those who are interested in starting radio stations For us right now, I guess the source of pride comes from The belief that we're going to be able to get these stations in Minneapolis and St. Paul I've been an organizer for Over 10 years now, and I've never had such an easy time filling up rooms on Saturday mornings for our LP FM organizing meetings We have over 10 organizations that are committed to Working with us to get LP FM license We're going after two licenses in the Twin Cities one for Minneapolis one for St. Paul Those two licenses will be held in or the stations will be in what are known as our most economically Poor Neighborhoods in Minneapolis and St. Paul, but they are also the most diverse neighborhoods in Minneapolis and St. Paul in the Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis We have the largest concentration of urban American Indians in the United States. We also have large populations of immigrants in both of these in St. Paul Minneapolis Somali Latino African and historically black community in St. Paul where The station will be held and so for us. It's the the thrill of knowing that so many of Our great things that we're already organizing on in our neighborhoods all of the great, you know art and music We've got musicians on board. We've got Community development corporations on board. We've got a local radio station is one of our key partners actually and working to get LP FM in our cities We have a Native American community development corporation Artists all across the board that that want to be a part of this with us and I guess for me If you're looking to start a radio station somewhere What I've learned as an organizer and it's something that all organizers need to Need to know and I guess we relearn over and over is that there's sometimes some very unlikely partners, but To not not limit who you're going to talk to about working to build a radio station with Because I've been very impressed the people that are in the rooms on Saturday mornings Are as diverse ethnically as they are with their professions and everything else so That's that's been a source of pride for our neighborhoods right now Is that we know that we have a great opportunity to get our voices heard and that those stations are going to be much More than just a radio station. They're going to be a place for us to develop Our children our elders as media makers in all of these neighborhoods, so it's going to be something much richer and much more unique then Then just a simple radio station to yeah, so that's what the pride where the pride comes from for us the only thing I'd add as advice is You know the because the communities that we're working in are so culturally diverse They have to be represented in the planning process a good organizer friend of mine says that if you're if you're not at the table You're you're you're on the menu so They have to be represented in the planning process and be leaders involved in the development of this idea In addition to that I would say like connecting with groups like Prometheus. I can't even tell you how How much how helpful it's been all the resources that they provide it So a lot of the things that you may be thinking in and thinking about putting together a meeting to talk about this An agenda is out there a sample agenda is out there a sample flyer is out there sample activities are out there, so So that's that would be my advice, you know making sure that the right people are at the table in addition Reaching out to groups who who have a lot of resources to share and Prometheus is definitely one of those organizations Thank you So I guess it was about 12 years ago The political climate was very different here in Washington We were able to actually get senator John McCain and the indigo girls at an event together on low-par radio 12 years later the landscape is very different It Washington is a hyper-partisan place But we still know that there's some there's some room to get some good things done. So What do you think policymakers in Washington need to know about low-power radio? What are few of the most important things that they need they need to know and what's important to your community? So I am gonna start in the middle with Albert Why don't you go ahead that it educates the community and that's the main thing In Dunbar one of the things that I heard that very annoyed me very much Is that some of the people did not vote and the reason they didn't vote was because they had a feeling that They were going to put in office wherever they wanted to put in office And we were able to explain to them your vote counts. If you don't vote I Don't let your vote go to waste and like I said education was a key factor in For community radio, so it's really critical since this is an election year. Yes, it is Very important for all of our communities John Freeman, what would you like policymakers to know? Having low-powered radio Enhances our democracy it is so important that the People in the communities have a voice Because this consolidation of all these radio stations by the major meter market It's very harmful for participation and the only way that the community can Access at a grassroots level would be Lpfms I did owe that and it's it's a voice for the voiceless and there's so many times when our youth are Influenced by the music that that they hear every day, you know, it's it's in the heavy rotations they hear the same thing over and over and over again and They become that image that they hear and there's so much more good music out there that's going to give them more of a Positive spin on life that they don't that they're not going to hear on commercial radio that they could hear on on non-commercial radio and low-power FM stations will give Communities an opportunity to to say who they are You know koojee chagalia, you know self-determination speak for themselves Steve Yeah, I mean I guess what I would say to the policy micros here in DC in particular those at the FCC is That they're in a critical moment right now where they're coming up with the rules, right? What are the rules going to be about how many actual channels are going to be available? How how many actual licenses are they going to give out? And in that process there's a lot of technicalities a lot of technical decisions that could be made choices that could be the difference between You know The Jabari Moketsi having a radio station in Buford, Louisiana abuse Buford, South Carolina versus us being able to build the two radio stations in Minneapolis Versus us not being able to reach the potential of what we've seen in Louisiana and so I would say don't allow technicalities to get in the way of Building the kinds of institutions that allow for the preservation of language that allow for the preservation of culture That allow for as I've heard multiple times as people tell their stories that LP FM stations actually create dialogue in communities a lot of commercial radio stations Create one-sided conversations and LP FM seems to work both ways And so do not allow technical technicalities to get in the way of that great potential Great. I would say That they shouldn't be scared of of making as many radio stations possible available as possible We know that low power FM is not going to Challenge those commercial radio stations We know that it'll just make our choices more rich and it's not going to take away From those people that may be putting money in their pockets or lobbying or things like that and that and that When we have the the tools of radio in our neighborhoods and in our communities It'll it'll help take some of the load off of them because we'll be able to come up with our more more ideas more solutions to our To our problems and that more communication between each other is only going to take some of the pressure off of them to Solving our problems in our own states. So I would say take a load off. Let us have some radio stations. That'd be great Well, I think it kind of I think it's cut two ways based on the question that you asked and I was thinking about it Others were talking. They kind of cut two ways the first way is that It informs and It empowers listeners, you know, that's what politicians should know that it informs and empowers the listeners of these radio stations and they should also know that They should be supporting the public and not the corporations, that's well said so I Think we have some time. I know we have some time for questions and we Have some questions in the audience. I know and probably on the web as well. So How about behind you the woman? Yes, right there Well, I have a question for Danielle Well, we I know that we need to have a lot of radio stations, but I think that we should expect also we're gonna have limited the channels And in some places where we have limited the channels, we have different groups that need to Come together But it's a big problem because a lot of groups don't want to be working together So you were mentioning that this is something that you notice in the work that you're doing So what are the steps that you will I don't know? recommend to certain groups to work together in order to get a license The way that we've kind of approached that is You know, we we have a way of working in the community that we always engage different organizations and and leaders in the community from various different backgrounds and so The organizations that we're partnering with to help build an LP FM I'll have unique relationships in the neighborhoods that they're a part of and well respected and trusting Relationship with all these different ethnic and cultural groups or LGBT, you know all these different groups and so that's been Probably our our biggest strength too is that We don't have to rely just on ourselves but that we have these organizations that have a really great reputation and So the people that may have been hesitant about working with someone from a different cultural group or Not know if they're what they're saying is really going to get listened to or respected or end up in the final project They know that they've they've been there before and they'll share that information with someone else I mean, we're working with another young man a Somali young man Muhammad Kali who He he may not want to get a license with us But he comes to the meetings because we have a lot of information We have a lot of resources and we're all working through this together And it's cool that he wants to build a Somali station We're excited about having a Somali station in the Twin Cities as well So I think we've created kind of a dynamic where people feel safe They feel respected and and they want to be a part of the process with us. So that that would be my advice Thank you. Do we have any questions? Betty from the web. Yeah, why don't you Take the mic this one is from Brian Mercer from the media mobilizing project and he wants to ask the panel How can other mediums support radio and vice versa? Okay, Steve great, you know, that's that's an interesting question because I think Betty was was talking about this earlier in her speech about not not seeing this not giving in to this old media versus new media Dynamic and the reality is that the radio stations that are going to be built around LP FM Have to have some forward thinking about the role that they're going to play within communities You know on a on a philosophical level, but also Practically, how are they going to exist? And you can't find There's very few radio stations out there that don't have some form of online streaming because they figured out that that's where an Expansion of their listenership can happen And for us at least in the Twin Cities the way we're looking at it is we really want to think about building The radio station of the future and we've seen a couple examples of where that's being done really well both actually in Illinois One in Champaign Urbana with the independent media center where they really see radio as just a part of everything else that they do They also do work around, you know, it's a digital media center where folks can come and get trained on Any level of media production? Another organization out in Chicago Radio Arte It's gonna be transitioning away from being a radio station, but they do Phenomenal trainings with youth in particular around radio production and around media production And and they really see it as a as a way to build You know skills within their communities in Pilsen and I can't remember the name of the other neighborhood in Chicago There are predominantly Latino building skills for young people that relate that can translate into jobs in the future So for us we really see radio as just a piece of other things that we can do and the two neighborhoods that we're working in are Among the lowest when it comes to digital literacy rates and digital Internet adoption rates in the Twin Cities and so really finding a way to use radio And use the radio station as a central hub where we can begin to address other social factors. Thank you Yes in the second row Thank you very much Speaking of the tie-in with I guess the new age digital media and radio How do you feel or do you feel if at all that the low power FM? I guess struggle to get things to the point It is that now it's gonna tie in with things with internet radio and internet issues such as so pa protect IP and so forth Who wants to take that question? Steve I can try I can't speak so much to the the sopa piece, but I do think it's a it's a major It's a major threat of what we're seeing Yeah, I mean I think again, it's not they're not mutually exclusive I think if if in the planning process in our meetings We've had very intentional conversations about how we begin to incorporate other forms of media in what we do Primarily because that we know that there's there's a future wave that's coming and we have to be prepared for it I actually have a radio show at a community radio station in Minneapolis called KFAI. They're a full power station and Even though we already exist we we can we struggle with these conversations every day And so if you if you check out our listserv, I mean it's we're having those conversations on a daily basis How do we maximize the potential of social media? How do we maximize the use of a video? But I think the policy question around so pa is is a very interesting one I just I don't feel prepared to answer it though Why don't we take another question from the web if we've got one Betty? Okay, this one comes from Our rich Potter, I don't know who that is but His question is actually about fundraising He says I would appreciate hearing about the fun a fundraising models proposed and employed by various stations And so maybe to kind of reframe that maybe folks can talk about What successful fundraising strategies they've seen to start a radio station? John everyone's looking Okay, I'll try to answer a little bit I think first to recognize that there is a market for for the LPFM radio station and That market is at the micro level and so many times people dismiss the micro people the micro businesses the micro underwriters So those micro Underwriters supports our station quite a bit because some of them don't have the Resources to access major media media So we we really concentrate on on the micro side of getting underwriters and then Involving the community in such a way that community makes a contribution and when we started to Expand zydeco music the the artists themselves supports the station Anyone else want to weigh in on that Danielle? That might be useful We we obviously we don't have stations yet but what we have done is Through contacts that we've made through Prometheus Reached out to other stations that have been in existence and talk to them a lot about you know What is their budget look like? How do they run things? Where are they getting their money from and you know kind like what John said a lot of underwriting and don't overlook? You know anybody in your neighborhood where you're going to have this station as someone that might want to be a part of Contributing to making it successful. So again, I guess reaching out to Prometheus and and using those folks that are already Having stations because people are excited about seeing other stations come about I Just wanted to add that one of the rich things about community radio low power FM radio is that you're bringing culture to the community and These different cultures like the Gullah zydeco aren't The common thing on regular radio. So there's not going to be those Shows that will bring in a zydeco great person or you know somebody who was going to really Express the culture to the community. So events are Really popular for Community radio and raising funds, you know, there are plenty people out there who need to be exposed And you have the opportunity to do that through your radio station. Thank you Yes My name is Lee young About the social economic justice such wonder Why radio cannot be used to prevent or expose Injustice from the beginning rather than let it go and then you are Talking about a lot more Minority in the prison or not now is a occupied Wall Street and occupied a globe and Then and then and other related issues And how do you address the issues to really promote the producer of a radio or TV or public access channel? For the producer to speak up About all those issues Who wants to take a step Steve? Oh No Well, I think you need first of all, I think you need the community so, you know In lockstep with you and behind you because you know when you have a radio station Which I've been in that radio business a long time and I'm also in the newspaper business as well It's called the Gullah Sentinel newspaper and you can get it online The Gullah Sentinel newspaper as well you find yourself in the same situations that many of the Large larger TV stations and larger magazines, especially like the black ones You find yourself in a situation where you kind of dependent on the Advertising dollar you kind of depending on it and sometimes sometimes, you know, you have to weigh the idea You know way whether or not you're gonna talk about this cigarette company Or do you want this cigarette company here? Contracts sometimes you in order to keep the actual newspaper going but Newspaper or TV or radio or whatever But if you have the public solely behind you now I mean, I don't know whether or not everybody subscribed to the idea of say the final call newspaper I don't know but I'll tell you this They don't depend on advertisers and that's why they can speak truth to power in that newspaper across the board because they're not depending on Advertises and no one else for anything So that's one of the things that we need to do in order to be able to speak to social and economic justice Gotta do that How about from the web? Do we have another question Betty? No, okay. The only thing I the other thing I wanted to add is it goes back to what Joe Torres was talking about earlier Which is ownership who gets to own The radio station who gets to own the newspaper and that dictates largely what gets talked about At the FCC the last time that LP FM was available became available the technical requirements Essentially made it almost impossible for urban areas to have an LP FM station So if you think about the concentration of where communities live that are dealing with some of the roughest We're living at the social margins communities of color immigrant communities a lot of them Are tend to be densely populated in urban areas Those areas did not have an opportunity to own an LP FM station because of the technical requirements So looking into present day where we're at now We have a potential if we can get past a few of the technicalities to really make that available in doing so How do you influence some of the other major media markets? It kind of goes to what John Freeman was talking about earlier where they started playing zydeco music a genre of music That was completely ignored by all the other major commercial radio stations And they realized that it was popular enough that they had to do it themselves So imagine a world in which you have LP FM stations across the country where speaking truth to power Bringing up issues of social justice at the forefront rather than reporting on you know The bad stuff that happens having that be the norm where everybody else has to follow suit because that's what the reality is And that's what that's what's normalized So I think that's the real potential here with LP FM in the broader context is we can change public discourse Thank you. So Betty go ahead Okay, this question comes from Hakeem Bellamy from the media literacy project He asked how can the traditionally disadvantaged increase our content presence against media consolidation with LP FM? Who wants to take a He asked how can the traditionally disadvantaged increase our content presence To fight against media consolidation through community radio and LP FM Hi, do you want to take involvement? you know communities need to get involved with The low-power FM movement with community radio I think that a lot of people don't think that they can even walk into the Doors of a radio station, you know And once you realize that you can and that you can own that station then you can address all the issues so involvement and You know contra contributions as well Yes in the second row Kamala Lane communications daily in terms of the FCC implement implementing the local community radio act I know that the FCC put out a few rule makings on Implementation so just wanted to hear From some of the panelists if the FCC seems to be taking the right approach and are they asking the right questions? For comment in the rulemaking notices Yeah, I think there's I think basically three major issues right now that I think there's still Bending as Dr. King would say bending and the bending towards justice But we'll see if it gets completely there the three main issues are around translator applications And figuring out what are you going to do with this backlog of translator applications that they have and the sense? That we've gotten which may or may not be true is that you know They're they're looking towards dismissing most of those in order to make the most amount of channels available In addition to that there's questions about the use of second adjacent Channel wave second adjacent frequency waivers which would allow for places that are more densely populated to have you know The the availability of some channels and then in the last piece is to really kind of loosen up the rules to allow for You know the most densely populated markets to use You know other types of you know technology To really try to squeeze in as many potential radio stations. I think we're heading in the right direction I'm not a hundred percent certain that we'll we'll get all the way there But um, but I think there is a real sense from the FCC that they'd like to make as many Radio stations available as possible Anyone else have a comment? well, we we had a meeting today with one of the FCC commissioners they listened to us and they listen to us from the meteors and they asked questions and It was a great meeting great some things still need to be worked on but at least they listened The great first step Yes in the back Hey, my my questions for Albert You mentioned that done bar radio is missed in your community I was wondering if you could share a little more of your story and the story of done bar radio Yes like say a done bar radio was Excuse me done by radio was to create create it as a need in the African-American Community community because there was no representation for The people in the done bar community. There was no R and B being played and basically there was no talk informant talk being Issues being discussed in the done bar community such as crime that was taking place in the done bar community the high rate of teen pregnancies HIV and And Also with the gospel that is not being played right now done bar radio is being missed especially with the talk program and The Sunday morning programs you can't imagine how many older folks are actually missing it just like back in the day when grandma Woke up start cooking the Sunday dinner and played the gospel music having the radio station on all day long Listening to a gospel preaching and the gospel music right now in the done bar community that is gone And we hope to bring it back Last question I'm Hello, my name is David. What's denim with a local Pacifica station WP of W here I'm curious about since we have the advantage of the panel just your perspectives on the intersection of smartphone use There's always a lot of mainstream commentary about how people of color are using their phones so much. What does that mean for you folks? Anyone can take it you can this could be for all of you or one of you however you want to take it I just like to say that Everybody doesn't have a smartphone Okay, just like everybody doesn't have a computer at home. So radio will always be there Or at least until we get things implanted in our skin, you know, so I'd like to take a shot at this smartphone phone thing It's a good marriage it's not either are you know this the smartphone with the technology it has I Mean I could do everything with my smartphone. I could access all my towel with Information I could hear what's going on the station. I can plug into some device and plug it in on the channel on my radio in a car I mean, you know, so it's a it's a good thing. I Think and it's not going to diminish you so it's only going to help That technology and also with the QRs now that that's up All of that's going to help, you know, really expand LPF and community involvement and participation I think that the smartphone is a great thing as well as a matter of fact my Friend back there. He has a smartphone and we would have made it to Prometheus this morning So I think it's a good thing But you know as we were laughing and talking about that we came up with one more thing, you know I mean as smart as that phone is Still some things that it can't do you said I mean so for example, you know, it can't It won't allow you to wash your car and play with the phone at the same time Well, I won't allow you to cook your dinner, you know and play with the phone at the same time not play with it But you understand what I'm saying So, you know radio is one of those things that's going to always be here because It allows you to do things while you're doing other things. So no one is going to give up that Anyone else smart phone is good with a younger generation But where I was we kind of cater to the older folks and folks that you know Don't even want to touch a computer because that think they think it has something to do with the devil So, you know radio is simple. You turn it on you turn it off. That's all you need to do I would say just develop the app as well. I mean there's a lot of Great sort of do-it-yourself techies out there that are developing apps even for the community radio station that I'm at In Minneapolis, you know, someone just decided upon themselves to make one and so So I think they're they're definitely not mutually exclusive. They're together. I think it is true though That there you have to be conscious of where the trends are of where people are actually accessing media But it at the same time especially when it comes to wireless technology, you know I would never say the smartphone is a is a substitute for a computer or the substitute for you know High-speed internet access and it's the same thing with radio. The smartphone is definitely not not always going to be a substitute so it's great, I think that question was a great bookend to my initial question about social media and We we've come to the end of our time I wanted to thank all of our panelists for this great panel and for coming to DC to talk to all of us and I Hope to see you again, and so let's just give them a great round of applause. Thank you