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NY Media Activists Help Spread Community Radio In Defiance of FCC
Regulation

by Greg Ruggiero

In oppostion to the FCC's recent wave of harrasment against small,
non-commercial community radio stations, the New York Free Media
Alliance
supported the spread of micropower radio by holding a benefit and free
"how-to" workshops in New York City on Feb 21, 22, and 23. As a result
of
the events, new micropower stations are taking to the airwaves in Harlem
and the Bronx. Funds were also raised for NY's micropower station "Steal
This Radio" and the upcoming "first regional east coast micropower radio
conference" being held in Philadelphia April 3-5.  (For info contact
<wppr@svaha.com>)

Saturday's workshop brought out about 40 people to the beautiful Julia
De
Burgos Center for Latino Arts and Culture on E. 106th Street.  The class
was so eager to learn HOW to start their own stations, that they
intervened
during the "history" section and asked the presenters to skip right to
the
hands-on section.  The class represented a truly diverse range of ages
and
races, and an equal balance of women and men as well.

Sunday's workshop  in the South Bronx brought out a similar size crowd.
Support from WBAI (doing an edition of Wake Up Call with Amy Goodman
around
our events and playing a NYFMA public service announcement, Media
Alliance,
the Daily News (running an endorsement of the workshops in Satuday's
edition) alongside of NYFMA's grassroots outreach and publicity worked
well
to reach beyond our usual mileau to folks who did not know anyone in
NYFMA
or the sponsoring groups. It was wonderful meeting new people and seeing
so
many new faces.

Not all of the participants plan to start radio stations in New York
City.
Two workshop goers were gathering know-how and equipment to bring back
to
Africa, with the plan of starting a radio station in their native land
of
Liberia. Another person is starting a microradio station in Jamaica.

On Sunday we raffled off  a 6 watt Dunifer-built transmitter, and the
winner represented a South Bronx based cultural center and garden.
Cheers
of delight went through the crowd when the winner was announced. Within
broadcast range of the center is a massive low-income housing project
and
Rikers Island.  The group plans to power their radio station with solar
panels, and to be on the air by the Spring.

Both workshops were video documented by Paper Tiger Television. (212)
940-2045.

For information about setting up a "how-to" micropower radio workshop in
your area, contact Radio Mutiny: <wppr@svaha.com>

The New York Free Media Alliance is an all volunteer group of
independent
media makers and activists dedicated to making media for change and to
changing the media. In cooperation with the recent  Media and Democracy
Congress in NYC, NYFMA organized the Media Mogul Tour that brought out
hundreds of people to Times Square to protest media conglomeration and
corporate hegemony.  Check out our cool web site for pictures of the
protest: http://artcon.rutgers.edu/papertiger/nyfma.


PUT THE DEMO BACK IN DEMOCRACY AND THE UNITY BACK IN COMMUNITY:
SUPPORT MICROPOWER RADIO!


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               NEW YORK <<< FREE MEDIA >>> ALLIANCE
               Media for Change   Changing the Media

                   listserve: nyfreemedia@tao.ca
                     voicemail: (212) 969-8636
           website: http://artcon.rutgers.edu/papertiger/nyfma

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