Big Foot Comes Back to Life
On October 9, the FCC dismissed the "minor modification" application which American Educational Broadcasting had filed on behalf of its Globe, Arizona station KLKA.  The application, if granted, would have allowed KLKA to be transformed from a small 1.5 kilowatt  FM station serving the Globe area into an 85 kilowatt giant which would have covered cental Arizona like a blanket.  Operating under an FCC "main studio waiver,"  KLKA did nothing but rebroadcast from a Texas station.  KLKA, although licensed to Globe, had no local studio, no local broadcasting, and no local interests.   The application requested that it allowed to move to Casa Grande, continue its studio waiver, and increase its power.  Most importantly, KLKA requestred a change of frequency from the one it had been assigned to the one which was requested by Arizona Community Media Foundation.  If the application had been approved, it would have effectively ended any ability by real community based local organizations such as AzCMF to apply for full power licenses under the FCC's full power  filing window which opened on October 12.

AzCMF, its supporters and friends of community radio filed many objections to the proposed application, and on October 9, the FCC dismissed the application on the grounds that the engineering of  the directional antenna failed to comply with FCC regulations.   The dismissal of the application cleared the way for local non-profit groups to file for real community radio in central Arizona.  AzCMF was able to file its application while the dismissal was in effect, otherwise the AzCMF application would have been thrown out.

But this was not the end of Big Foot.  Like many dragons, it came back to life. Because the dismissal was on narrow technical grounds, American Eductional filed what it claimed were technical changes that corrected the problem.  A new application was filed by American Educational in November.   AzCMF  has already filed two 20 page  informal objections and is ready  to defend the freedom of the airwaves against the mega-media conglomerates.  Independently, people are writing to the FCC opposing the grant of the application filed by American Broadcasting, and supporting the application of AzCMF.  Letters expressing your views and opinions on these matters can be sent to  "Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554."  If you do write, be sure to mention that the parties involved are American Educational Braodcasting, KLKA, and Arizona Community Media Foundation.

AzCMF Files Two Applications for Full Power FM Community Radio.

For the first time in eight years, the FCC opened a filing window for non-commercial educational FM broadcast licenses.  Although the window was only five days long and the FCC had imposed a ten filing per organization limit, there were still over 3,800 filings nation-wide, showing the pent-up demand for more non-commercial stations.  The massive number of filings caused a break-down in the FCC computer system and required an extension of the window for an additional two days.

In Arizona, 88 applications were submitted, including two from AzCMF.  The two applications, one for Apache Junction and the other for Chandler, cover over 500,000 potential listeners in the southeast Valley and Phoenix areas.  To view the AzCMF applications, go to

FCC Chair Gives a "Holiday Gift" to Big Media

In an FCC press release on November 13,  Chairman Kevin Martin proposed new rules for media ownership which would set aside the 32 year old absolute ban on cross ownership of newspaper and broadcast media, claiming that allowing newspapers to own broadcast facilities would "preserve the viability of newspapers." 

Under the proposed rules, in  any of the top 20 media markets in the country where there is one newspaper, the  newspaper could own a major television station as well as AM and FM radio stations.   The TV station could not be among the top four stations in the market.  The rules would also create a presumption in favor of these mergers, which would make it even more difficult for members of the public to oppose consolidations that would place local and independent news coverage in jeopardy.

However, as Commissioners Copps and Adelstein  argued in a joint press release issued the same day, the top twenty markets include 43% of the population, or 120 million people.  Further, an exception to the rule would allow a waiver of the requirements for smaller markets. And, as they point out, since the top four TV stations are usually national network stations, the newspapers would be buying up the small, independent, local stations, thus further stifling any kind of community based, independent, local news broadcasting.

Chariman Martin also announced that the FCC would be accepting public comment on the proposed rules until December 11, a date which, as Copps and Adelstein pointed out, only gave 19 working days for the public to provide input on this significant change in the rules.

They summarized their position by saying, "all [these procedures are] designed to make sure that the Chairman can deliver a generous gift to Big Media before the holidays.  For the rest of us: a lump of coal."

To read the transcript of a recent Bill Moyers program in which Commissioner Copps and others discussed the rush toward media consolidation, go to http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11162007/transcript5.html 

You might also enjoy this video http://youtube.com/watch?v=bPMCs9lg0-A 
 
Numerous national organizations have joined in a campaign to help the public express their views on  media consolidation.  You can contact Congress and the FCC through the following addresses: www.stopbigmedia.com,
  www.action.freepress.net/campaign/ownership.

Media consolidation should be a major public concern.  Will it, as Chairman Martin argues, actually assist newspapers in providing more local and community news coverage and information, or will consolidation, as expressed by Commissioners Copps and Adelstein, stifle independent local broadcasting?  AzCMF urges you to become educated on this important issue, and then let Congress and the FCC know where you stand.