There are several reasons. First of all, radio is cheap. Proponents also note that radio remains a far more accessible medium. Those who live and work online tend to forget that not everyone can afford the kinds of technologies that make downloading streaming audio feasible or worthwhile. A radio station with a broadcast area of four miles has no choice but to root itself in the concerns of its community.
Radio technology is also, by contrast, cheap, simple and easy to learn.
People with diverse points of view airing them in a civilized forum of time slots. The FCC's position is that low-power stations won't clog the dial and won't cause interference if properly regulated. Signal limiters, which keep transmission from bleeding into different frequencies, are cheap and easy to put in place. It's possible that given the mushrooming proliferation of micro-radio and the technical ease of setting it up, legalizing and regulating it may be the commission's way of managing potential problems. The widely written about Black Liberation Radio broadcast news of alleged police abuse and rap music to its audience, a predominantly black Springfield, Ill., housing project.