Now, the group lobbies for provisions in low-power licenses that would create the sort of community radio they wanted to see. Then once the service gets put in place, we want to help stations around the country. The Prometheus Radio Project objectives go even further. They include requirements for local ownership of licenses and mandatory local programming. A chance for music to be heard that wouldn't be played by robots that are responding to some demographic survey, but in fact by people who love music and enjoy playing it.
Audience is another matter.
McChesney concedes the trouble that the public-access genre of programming has had in attracting large numbers. Meanwhile, activists like Tridish who are pleased with the LPFM proposal are still maintaining a healthy level of skepticism. When people start talking about how a new technology has the potential for good and saying we should rely on it to change what's basically a social, legal and economic question, I get really suspicious. After all, the formation of LPFM makes no impact on the consolidation of media outlets. Fiona Morgan is an associate editor for Salon News.