In Fact...

VICTORY FOR LOW-POWER RADIO OPERATORS

The Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has given an important boost to the cause of low-power FM radio--those small, limited-range, noncommercial stations that give voice to community concerns ignored by remote, conglomerate-owned broadcasters. The court held unconstitutional a "character" provision in the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act that prohibited awarding microradio licenses to applicants who had "engaged in any manner in the unlicensed operation of any station in violation" of the Federal Communications Act's original ban. The RBPA was passed after the FCC lifted the ban on microradio stations in an effort to increase diversity on the airwaves. Corporate broadcasters (and National Public Radio) successfully lobbied to limit the frequencies available to low-power stations, claiming they interfered with the broadcasters' signals. The "character" provision was added to the RBPA to blacklist the passionate low-power broadcasters who had broadcast as an act of civil disobedience to protest the original FCC ban. The court ruled that this part of the law had no rational purpose and was intended to punish the protesters and keep them off the air.

GIULIANI'S PAPERS GRAB

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