Media Foundation (AzCMF)
www.action.freepress.net/campaign/ownership.
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ASU Students Create Youtube for Radio Phoenix Project
Religious Broadcaster Seeks Review of FCC Ruling in Favor of AzCMF
On the heels of an FCC ruling on October 18, American Educational Broadcasting has asked the Media Bureau of the FCC to reconsider its dismissal last month of all of AEB's claims against AzCMF.
On October 16, 2007, AzCMF filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for authorization to construct a 100,000 watt full power FM community radio station to be based in Chandler.
The application was opposed by American Educational Broadcasting (AEB), an affiliate of the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), the largest religious broadcaster in the United States. At the time, AEB operated a small station in Globe (KLKA) which was nothing more than a robotic re-transmitter of programming from EMF relayed from Temple, Texas. Under the guise of being an educational, non-profit station, AEB and EMF tried to move the Globe station to Casa Grande and preclude AzCMF from filing. Unfortunately for them, their engineering was faulty and eventually their application to move the station was thrown out by the FCC.
Not being content with picking up their marbles and going home, AEB and EMF filed numerous objections to the AzCMF application, hoping to have the FCC dismiss our application so they could re-apply (there are 1.5 million people in the broadcast area). The legal staff at AzCMF responded and then everyone waited for the FCC to act. In October, 2008, the AzCMF application was "approved for filing" which meant that it met FCC technical standards, but nothing else happened.
Almost exactly four years to the day, the FCC Media Bureau threw out all of the objections lodged against AzCMF. On October 18, the Media Bureau issued its opinion letter dismissing AEB's claims. The Bureau ruled that AEB had failed to protect its interests by following the procedures of the FCC, that the dismissal of its application was final before AzCMF filed, that AEB failed to take the appeal it was entitled to, and in any case, the engineering hadn't been corrected and was still not in compliance with FCC regulations.
The AzCMF legal staff responded, and we are waiting for a ruling by the Bureau. Unfortunately, this is not the end of the matter, because an unfavorable ruling from the Media Bureau can be appealed by AEB to the entire FCC Commission. But, after four years, a few more months delay to allow AEB to exhaust its remedies will not injure the ultimate success of AzCMF and community radio.
As Winston Churchill said, "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." The Board, staff, and volunteers of AzCMF and Radio Phoenix look forward to the opportunity to proceed at the "end of the beginning." ________________________________________________________________________________
Under the guidance of Pablo Gomez, a former DJ with Radio Phoenix, whose show "Signal Flow" was on the cutting edge of electronica, a group of students in an environmental design class have created a Youtube video featuring the project they did for Radio Phoenix. The four students, Carrie Hardee, Randy Wright, Jonathan Whitbeck, and Pablo Gomez, had to make an artifact or object for a non-profit organization that would further one of the eight Millenium Development Goals of ASU. The artifact had to be useful to the organization in completing its mission, the students had to participate in the use of the artifact, and they had to make a video of how they made and used the artifact.
After consulting with Victor Aronow, president of AzCMF, they made a tri-fold table display describing the programing, mission, and history of Radio Phoenix for the Phoenix Urban Expo which occured in early December. All the students spent some time working the Radio Phoenix table at the Expo and the tri-fold was a big draw. The Youtube video is the result of their planning, construction, and participation.
Thanks to the four of you for thinking of Radio Phoenix and for providing us, not only with a new beautiful tri-fold, but with a video as well.
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Radio Phoenix expands on air programming in the East Valley through KVIT.
Sunday, September 4 at 6 am marked the beginning of what could be a long-term broadcast relationship between KVIT, 90.7 FM, "The Goldmine" and Radio Phoenix to provide over-the air broadcasting for our local music and feature programming. The first programs to be featured were "Celtic Spiral," produced by Laura Davidson-Crowley, broadcasting at 6 am, and "Full Moon Hacksaw," produced by Tom Coulson, at 7 am. Celtic Spiral is an eclectic blend of traditional and non-traditional Celtic music, including crossovers into R&B, the blues, and Americana. If you haven't heard "The Tartan Amoebas" lately, then tune into Laura's show. Full Moon Hacksaw is produced by local blues and jazz musician Tom Coulson, who brings his audience a blend of blues and jazz seldom heard on the radio.
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Al Jezeera English and Free Speech Radio News Round out Afternoon News Hour
With Al Jezeera English news report at 4:00 pm and Free Speech Radio News from the Pacifica Foundation at 4:30 pm daily, Radio Phoenix now brings an hour of national and international news from an unvarnished, "dis-embedded." and critical point of view. Reporting on everything from Buddhist monks in Thailand to diabetes in Africa, the afternoon news hour complements "Democracy Now!" the Radio Phoenix morning news show with Amy Goodman at 9 am daily. Tune in every day for news you never hear anywhere else.
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AzCMF Letter to Senator McCain
Victor Aronow
Arizona Community Media Foundation
P.O. Box 27617
Tempe. AZ 85285-7617
March 18, 2011
Dear Senator McCain:
I am writing on behalf of the Board of the Arizona Community Media Foundation and the staff of its internet radio service, Radio Phoenix, to thank you for your efforts over the last ten years to bring low power and community radio service to millions of Americans. We have followed your efforts in the Senate and your persistence and ultimate success are laudable and will provide for a great expansion of media capability for unserved rural and Native American audiences, as well as for those citizens who reside in our cities and yet are unable to obtain the full benefits of modern radio service which is local and impacts their daily lives. We have put an article about your efforts on our web page at www.azcmf.org
Many of these new and developing stations depend upon funding from the federal government in order to launch themselves and purchase the equipment necessary for their beginning operations for the benefit of their communities. Since these stations are non-commercial, they cannot advertise, and if they do so, they often face fines of $10,000 or more from the Federal Communications Commission. In order to begin broadcasting and maintain financial viability, they must rely on underwriting from sponsors and financial contributions from their listeners. However, without start-up and equipment assistance from the federal government, they are unable to reach the audiences that would make alternative forms of revenue generation such as underwriting a viable pathway to financial stability.
In particular, one federal program, the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) has been essential over the past years for the development and growth of the very kinds of non-commercial and educational stations you spent so many years fighting for. The amount of money involved in the PTFP program, about $19 million, is minuscule compared to the overall federal budget, or even the budget of the Department of Commerce, which administers PTFP. The grants are small, usually in the range of $100,000, but they make a world of difference for communities such as the Hualapai Indians in Peach Springs, Arizona, who received a planning grant last year of $11,000 to enable them to determine if they could build a sustainable non-commercial station for their tribe.
On March 16, the House voted to cut funding for PTFP. I believe, as do many others in the radio and media world, that the House vote was motivated in part to punish or undermine National Public Radio. The Hualapai Tribe and the hundreds of other small, local, non-commercial stations are not NPR; they are vital forces in their own communities. The continuing resolution on federal funding passed by the House will soon be before the Senate. On behalf of our listeners and the thousands of Americans for whom local, community based broadcast media builds communities and brings the world to their doorway, we urge you to reinstate PTFP funding and permit local stations, for which you fought so hard, to flourish.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Victor Aronow, President
Arizona Community Media Foundation
Senator McCain's Response to AzCMF
March 30, 2011
Mr. Victor Aronow
Arizona Community Media Foundation
PO BOX 27617
Tempe, AZ 85285-7617
Dear Mr. Aronow:
Thank you for contacting me regarding federal funding to National Public Radio (NPR). I appreciate you taking the time to share your views with me.
In the wake of recent incidents at NPR, separate measures have been presented in the House of Representatives to both defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and prohibit NPR from receiving taxpayers' money. On March 17 the House passed H.R. 1076, to prohibit federal funding of NPR and the use of federal funds to acquire radio content. Please be assured I will keep your concerns in mind should this bill be considered in the Senate.
The federal government has already appropriated $430 million for the CPB for FY2011, and a recent report by the Congressional Research Service estimated that federal funds directly account for about four percent of NPR's budget. Eliminating the use of such funds for NPR and the CPB would reduce the federal budget by tens to hundreds of millions of dollars a year. I believe these are the type of common sense proposals necessary to control Washington's egregious federal spending.
Thank you again for taking the time to share your concerns with me. Please feel free to contact me in the future on this or any other matter of interest.
Sincerely,
John McCain
United States Senator