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VCPP Radio Free Richmond LPFM application
The Application to apply for a Low Power FM license consists primarily of: 1) The form itself : Pages 1 2 3 4 5 6 2) Exhibit A where we demonstrate our
educational mission 2a) This also includes "Letters Of Intent" from various
Exhibit A
Historical Introduction Demonstrating NonProfit Educational Community Presence The first task VCPP put itself to was the creation of a magazine designed to present the ideas and values of various citizens and groups that are often left out of the mainstream press. That proved expensive and attention shifted with years of success to Cable Public Access video productions and education programs. We did not amend the articles of incorporation [next pages following this introduction] to specifically focus on this change, but was within our mission. Our flagship show is "If I Had A Hammer", a live interactive call-in hour long show with the current president of VCPP as the usual host, that often brought in as many as 15 to20 phone calls per show. This show was also an educational affair, with people first learning how to produce live and taped shows … then guest hosting … then taking over whole blocks of time, then creating shows of their own with new people learning production for those shows as well as further editions of "Hammer". "Hammer" had a measurable impact on the community. For example, a series of shows were done on the demolition of a house built by freed slaves was found to have evidence of Underground Railroad beneath it. The president of VCPP chained himself to the bulldozer and that and discussions following that with pictures on the show brought comments from the citizenry on the streets for months afterward. This was new information on the nature of private Quaker efforts to bring real freedom to African-American (by training them to have real needed job skills, to build houses) right here in Richmond Virginia YEARS before the Civil War. This brought new understanding of a positive history rarely known or acknowledged before this series. That house was built in 1816 by trainee freed slaves … and was in such good shape that at first everyone thought it was built in the 1930s! "Hammer" also did a breathtaking show on the plight of children forced to become combatants, trained and goaded into killing their playmates if they wouldn't fight viscously enough in the name of whatever group of adults had brought them abruptly out of childhood. "Hammer" also coalitioned with other groups to create an entire evening of shows that revolved around the issue of Tibet, just a week before Clinton was to go to China. There are at least a dozen regularly appearing shows that originated from learning production and then guest hosting "Hammer" as well as a dozen of motly taped shows. "Hammer" has also allowed groups to show their point of view in a measured calm manner that engendered real debate, such as when a civic group wanted to prevent a park from being turned into a golf course. The Civic group spokesperson brought a slide show, we showed the slide show and got comments from many citizens on both sides of the issue thus helping the citizens engage their city government policymaking in a more explored manner and being able to have a conversation on issues instead of simply yelling at each other in a city council meeting. Back in 1992, a predecessor to VCPP's electronic media educational Cable Public Access programming effort, "Richmond Newshound's Society" (RNS) began an effort to convince the local public broadcaster, WCVE, to diversify their programming by building a second eclectic music, news and talk station. RNS brought in engineering data for 300watts on 89.7FM on Church Hill. WCVE said they had no money, RNS was given financial statements that showed that WCVE had an endowment in excess of $24 million. One of the managers of WCVE (Steve Clark) said, "If you know so damn much about radio, why don't you start your own station?" And the Radio Free Richmond Project was born. We like to credit Steve Clark of WCVE for giving us the idea. Unfortunately for this fledgling grassroots effort, the American Family Association applied for 89.7 within months of that event (uncharacteristically applying for an urban area) and there was no organization, not NPR, not Pacifica and not the National Federation of Community Broadcasters that would advise us of what could be done. Attention swung back to influencing programming at WCVE, resulting in a petition drive to bring back the only environmental news show "Living On Earth" … the almost 800 signatures were ignored. Shortly after that Ethyl Corporation bulldozed an entire section of a historic working class neighborhood and there were questions why public radio did not do any local news or talk shows on the matter. That is when it was discovered that the Chairman of the board that controls WCVE was none other than the "Vice President for External Affairs" (public relations) for Ethyl Corporation, A. Prescott Rowe. Ethyl Corporation became famous for their lead-based octane additive that improved gasoline to the point that it prevented a shift to an alcohol or propane fuel system (or back to the electric cars that dominated the late 19th century birth of the automobile) for the United States individual automobile transportation systems. Shortly before cancellation, "Living On Earth" had just done a story critical of the oil industry's alternative (to Ethanol) fuel oxygenation additive MTBE years before CBS's "60 Minutes" got around to the issue. It became obvious that ownership affects programming. That realization that a key component of "Big Oil" controlled taxpayer
funded public radio programming choices then resulted in the realization
that the only way that many citizens would have a voice in Richmond was
to start our own radio station. Radio Free Richmond Project began in earnest.
Educational Mission of the Virginia Center for Public Press As our partial history above in the introduction shows, we have trained citizens to tell their own stories their own way, to share their values with fellow citizens whose votes affect their lives. We have contributed to creating forums on public policy that have strengthened democratic civic involvement and brought reason to contentious debates where the many sides can have a chance to make their case. Article II of the Articles of Incorporation was further amended to say "The activities of the Corporation include distributing information to the general public on contemporary issues at nominal or no cost to the general public. Such information may be presented in the form of a magazine, a book, or any other form of printed material. Such information may also be presented in meetings, lectures, dialogues, debates, or any other forum or medium used for communication." Article II of the By-Laws further acknowledges our educational mission stating, "The Virginia Center for Public Press educates Virginians about issues affecting their communities through the production and distribution of public interest media. The Center accomplishes this by operating a "public press", a press that operates independent of profit motive influences and in partnership with the community. [Note, see educational plan that follows this page and Letters Of Intent from some of the community that was available for democratic decision-making in August] By reflecting the diversity of Virginia's and our nation's cultures, ideologies, and concerns, the Center exposes citizens to views of life unlikely to be seen in the traditional media and engages in dialogue those citizens who might not otherwise interact." Article IIb of the By-Laws state, "Goals … In fulfilling the ideal of a public press, the Center Intends to:
How a Low Power FM radio station will help VCPP further its educational mission: As you can see in some of the supporting Letters Of Intent from various organizations in our proposed primary service area, we intend to be a major resource to the community. We would like to pioneer some new programming techniques such as the idea of the "Extended Public Service Announcement". Our plan is to build "Radio For The Rest Of Us" which means to compliment and add to, not replace or duplicate programming, genres, value systems, religions and cultures already carried on the other radio stations. We see ourselves as tending to the scraps of the quilt that is the full spectrum of the human experience, the scraps left over after the five country stations, the five or six oldies stations, the two or three easy listening stations and the 6 or 7 evangelical stations have served the main body of Richmond's diverse citizenry. What some will see as ironic, we plan to be a resource to other broadcasters as well, creating PSAs that they might air, informing our listeners when they try to reach out to a new constituency and in general to bring back the "historically huge" 12% decline in listenership during the 1990s that Duncan American Radio cites as resulting from "a lack of programming innovation." VCPP and other LPFM stations can provide that programming innovation by bringing in a wide variety of volunteers from the many normally ignored corners of the human experience. This will then also strengthen democracy and further stabilize our economy as we create a resource where all may find the tools and fellow-citizens to become who they want to be. Additionally, democracy occurs locally on a geographic basis and so the global services such as Internet audio and Satellite audio will never replace the local aspect of terrestrial radio that LPFM is uniquely created to serve! Specifically, Our proposed daily weekday programming line-up is: 4am-6am: Various churches and spiritual groups locally that are not heard on evangelical stations … We also hope to air during this time such things as portions of the Richmond City Council Land-Use Committee that is increasingly controversial as the city housing is once again attractive to a culture that is more and more tired of suburban sprawl. There are also other civic bodies that the population may find interesting such as the Richmond School Board. Students may also discuss the best essay or science project or talent show for that month or semester. There are also lectures and events put on by student groups at university's that cannot be attended by those at or commuting to day jobs. 12N-4pm: National Talk Shows that cover Communities-Of-Interest ignored on other stations, such as Kojo Nnamdi with "Public Interest" or Amy Goodman with "Democracy Now!" or "The Diane Rehm Show" or Juan Williams with "Talk Of The Nation" which is no longer easily available since the AFA started WAUQ89.7fm blocking access to TOTN on WHRV89.5 from Norfolk. 4pm-7pm: Various World Beat, Jazz and other cultural and news programming for and from immigrants some of which may even be in their native nonenglish languages. 7pm-12Midnight: "Free Form" … anything that the DJ wants as long as that song is not already receiving regular airplay on another station. Also special simulcast events such as forums on street violence or special visits by bands or lecture series that cannot be attended by people for various reasons such as lack of accessible child care or having a night job. Also, there are some Cable Public Access and even regular cable shows (like CrossFire) that also serve our audience that we could simulcast the audio portion of for our audience that lacks cable. 12Midnight-4am: … Techno, Ambeint, Dance, Trance and other new forms of music that use the electronic medium and serve a new transcultural multiracial subculture generally ignored on most radio stations. that are not planned to be tied to a particular time of day (or particular day): 2) ... to serve and educate audiences ignored by other radio stations, such as: 2b) Single Parents of either sex 2c) To serve consumers of products sold on other radio stations ... and thus unlikely to transmit critiques of those products 2d) The "unheard third" of Americans who normally must rely CD stores as their only outlet to hear their culture and music… 2e) NonEnglish speakers ... Richmond has a large Indian, Hispanic and Korean/Chinese population. We plan to run a different language program during each afternoon. 2f) Book Reading clubs and other programming for those with a "life of the mind". Most radio stations pander to the base physical aspects of human nature, sex, food and fast cars. There is little room on the traditional radio station for those who read for fun, who think highly of scientists and theoretical discussions. 2g) Tips for living cheaply ... most radio stations are run by people that suggest that freedom comes from higher wages. Not everyone can gain higher wages, but almost EVERYONE can learn to live well with less. But most radio stations count on increased consumption to increase their sales ... Radio Free Richmond can offer an alternative. Examples: 2g2) Apartment dwellers and those who rent out rooms in their houses 2g3) Multi-use land (such as growing gardens instead of grass) 2g4) Fix-It-Yourself tips and shows 2g5) Those fascinated with Democracy (reports on the various committee meetings of gov't bodies) 3b) Both of these applications of two minute xPSAs and NewsSnips is a new way of empowering people to create and re-create themselves new every day and become successful as they define it (see item #1) in short bursts that are mixed throughout all the programming. 3b2) A two minute Extended Public Service Announcement (xPSA) with a number at the end of the PSA that refers to an entry on our web site that leads people to more information on that subject, reading list, web links, contact people and groups so that the PSA is EXTENDED to the next level of usefulness, .... from merely proscriptive to a real resource source for that person to educate themselves. 3b3) A two minute series of segments, specialized mini-documentaries and tip items such as: 3b3b) Preachin' Potpourri: Expanded during a Sunday or Saturday night to a rotating series of sermons, a series of churches get every x'th Sunday ... rotated among many churches for a kind of spiritual buffet. 3b3c) Science Insights: Brief discussions of the science behind the technology we depend on for our civilization and the public policy decisions. 3b3d) History Insights: Brief discussions of the history behind the laws and customs we depend on for our civilization and the public policy decisions. 3b3e) Logical Thinking: Brief examples of faulty logic in editorials, statements by politicians and why the conclusion is not reasonable or logical not from an ideological perspective but from an investigation of the premises and conclusions offered. 3c2) What-If ...: A series of two minute documentaries on how problems are solved in unique new and nonmainstream ways all over the planet 3c22)With periodic samples of how this problem was solved in years and centuries past and in other cultures. Low Power FM volunteer radio can provide a place for voices and ideas that have no place created for them on other radio stations to reach out and find others of their own mind as well as share their stories with others. This then gives new people a sense of mattering, of existing, of having impact on the other citizens of Richmond who's voting and economic choices affect their lives. This then gives people a new sense of connection with government and encourages engagement instead of withdrawal. This then gives back to people a sense that voting and group action are worth the trouble. And the next time the United States has a significant economic (Great
Depression), political (war) or natural disaster (Hurricane Floyd) ...
there WILL be the necessary good will go join in their fellow citizens
for effective group action.
To do this we plan to intentionally reach out to as many and as wide a variety of cultures and values and activists throughout our signal coverage in Richmond. And as proof that we will follow through, we offer [attached after this page and the State Incorporation Papers] Letters Of Intent from the organizations and civic, active people that were able to react during the vacation season of August in our signal area. We offer our past years of effort on Cable Public Access as proof of our intentions. ATTACHED: Our State Corporation Papers and the selected Letters Of Intent
from organizations that serve Communities Of Interest often left off of
other radio stations.
Radio Free Richmond
We will play the News Views Jazz and Blues techno and free-form other radio stations would rather not use. In this way we will contribute to a stable and just society where everyone can become who they want to be. We seek to enable the weakest links in our society to become strong so that no-one can thrive on the pain and weakness of others. We are
Radio Free Richmond Founding Premises:
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The Big Broadcasters have had the rules bent for
decades to make room for their 40,000 and 100,000 watt stations to squeeze
onto the dial and spew horrible morning shows and repeat the same music
over and over and over ...
Now a few thousand churches, educational and community
civic groups want to get the same deal and make space on the FM dial to
build affordable radio stations to bring those stories, values, culture
and music that the big religious, NPR and commercial networks can't be
bothered with.
The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) received
13,000 requests for a slot to
Thousands of "pirate" radio stations have taken to the air for $1000 each or less. The FCC received over 3000 *formal* comments in the Low Power FM hearings, more than any other issue in FCC history!! And so the FCC created the "Low Power FM" broadcast service. Designed to be affordable (less than a new car) and protected from the big boys (only new and only new local ownership can apply for one). LPFM has BROAD *public* support, half of the LPFM
applicants are (often) conservative churches, half are educational organizations
or radical change organizations.
And the Big Broadcasters know this and can't stand the competition. The Big Broadcasters are trying to cut costs, cut jobs by running all their radio stations by remote control. They don't want to have to hire back that staff because some 98 watt LPFM weakling is doing a better job on local music, culture and news than they can remotely. And so here we are at the tail end of a Senate
Session. They were due to adjourn last week.
The Big Broadcasters are working hard to get our
Senators all lined up to kill LOCAL COMMUNITY AND CHURCH radio
The Big Broadcasters hope that President Clinton
will not follow through on his promise to veto
We need to provide Clinton with the support he needs to veto anti-LPFM legislation no matter what. We can do that by asking our Senators to *drop* their signature from the "Broadcast Preservation Act" and ADD THEIR SIGNATURE TO SENATOR McCAIN and KERREY's "Low Power Radio Act of 2000" (S2989) Yes, they will say that they will be seen as "flip
flopping",
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| Email Wrfr@aol.com
Phone: 804-649-WRFR Addr: Virginia Center for the Public Press Radio Free Richmond Project 1621 W Broad St. Richmond, Va. 23220 |
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