SEIZING THE AIRWAVES A Free Radio Handbook edited by Ron Sakolsky & Stephen Dunifer © Copyright: 1998 Ron Sakolsky and Stephen Dunifer ISBN 1-873176-99-6 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this title is available from the Library of Congress. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Published by: AKPress AKPress p.o. Box 12766 P.O. Box 40682 Edinburgh, Scotland San Francisco, CA EH89YE 94140-0682 Cover collage, book design and layout work donated by Freddie Baer. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments v Preface: Free Speech: A Fable 1 Stephen Dunifer Introduction: Rhizomatic Radio and the Great Stampede 7 Ron Sakolsky PART I: MOVING FROM CORPORATE ENCLOSURE TO FREE RADIO The Political Economy of Radio ____________17 Robert McChesney Broadcast Confidential _______________25 Lee Ballinger Community Radio At the Crossroads: Federal Policy and the Professionalization of a Grassroots Medium 29 Jon Bekken The Canadian Alternative: A Brief History of Unlicensed and Low Power Radio 47 Charles Fairchild The American People Are Without a Voice: An Interview with Louis Hiken 58 Ron Sakolsky Frequencies of Resistance: The Rise of the Free Radio Movement _________68 Ron Sakolsky PART II: ON THE AIR: VOICES FROM THE FREE RADIO MOVEMENT Radio Activists Speak Out! A Panel Discussion at the 1996 International Micropower Broadcasters Conference (featuring Bill Mandel, Napoleon Williams, Black Rose, Stephen Dunifer, Antonio Coello, Annie Voice and Liszet Squatter) 83 We're Part of the Restoration Process of Our People: An Interview with Mbanna Kantako (Human Rights Radio) 94 Jerry Landay "Ghetto Radio" Rap Song 101 Mbanna, Konnadi Jr. and Ebony Kantako A New Drum For Our People: An Interview with Napoleon Williams (Black Liberation Radio) 107 Stephen Dunifer and Carol Denney (Free Radin Rp.rkp.lp.y) Attack on Black Liberation Radio 117 Lorenzo Komboa Ervin We Have to Make Sure the Voiceless Have a Voice: An Interview with Kiilu Nyasha (San Francisco Liberation Radio) 121 Sheila Nopper Radio Latino __________________127 Ricardo Omar Elizalde Community Struggle and the Sweet Mystery of Radio 133 DJ Tashtego Radiactive 143 Meme Sabon There Is No Ideal Listener: An Interview with Geov Parrish (Seattle Liberation Radio) ________147 Captain Fred (Radio Califa) Refabricating Community: An Interview with Charlie Goodman (Excellent Radio) _________151 Stephen Dunifer People Have No Idea How Powerful they Could Be: An Interview with Carol Denney (Free Radio Berkeley) __ 157 Sheila Nopper Soapboxing the Air waves: An Interview with Internal eXile (Free Radio Berkeley) 165 Salvatore Salerno If You Can't Communicate, You Can't Organize, and If You Can't Organize, You Can't Fight Back: An Interview with Stephen Dunifer (Free Radio Berkeley) 173 Ron Sakolsky Association of Micropower Broadcasters Contact Network 181 Paul Griffin PART III: SETTING THE TECHNOLOGY FREE Micropower Broadcasting _____________185 Stephen Dunifer When the FCC Knocks on Your Door _________206 About the Contributors _______________209 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Ron wishes to thank his partner-in-crime, Sheila Nopper, for her myriad labors which helped bring this project to fruition. To Ramsey and Bill for a place to hang his raincoat during the course of the research. To Freddie Baer for that first pot of designer tea. To Stephen Perkins, the man with the suitcase. To Sue Gardner, for bringing the noise to Canada. To Michael Townsend, who knows that a working class hero is something to be. To Jason Arnold, transcriber par excellance of the University of Illinois at Springfield, which provided some of the technical support for this project. To Lizzie Borden's flaming birth. And to DJ Elijah, wherever he may be... Stephen wishes to thank his attorneys of record, Luke Hiken and Allen Hopper, and Peter Franck and Alan Korn of the National Lawyers Guild's Com­ mittee on Democratic Communications for their incredible legal support and dedication to the defense of First Amendment rights. Special recognition goes to FCC agent David Doon, former agent, Phillip Kane, FCC attorney, David Silberman, and the rest of the FCC bureaucracy whose unique response to mi­ cropower radio has contributed to the overall success of this movement. And thanks to the entire crew of Free Radio Berkeley who have made it possible to be where we are today, especially Radman, Captain Fred, Tom Schreiner, and technical support volunteers, Matt Dott, Doug Forbes and Govinda Dalton. We would both like to acknowledge Laura Hermann of the Loyola Radio Conference for providing the radio-active setting wherein your co-editors struck up the conversation which eventually became this book. Finally, we gratefully acknowledge the hydra-headed micropowered free radio movement without which this book would not be possible, and most particularly, the man who started it all, Mbanna Kantako. vi - SEIZING THE AIRWAVES: A FREE RADIO HANDBOOK Thefollowing magazine articlesappear in reworked,updated and expanded form in these pages: Ricardo Omar Elizalde. "Pirate Radio: Voices of Discontent," Frontera #4, 1996 (PO Box 30529, Los Angeles, CA 90030-0529). Lorenzo Komboa Ervin. "Attack on Black Liberation Radio," Slingshot (Spring, 1997) (3124 Shattuck Ave,Berkeley, CA 94705). Ron Sakolsky. "Radio-Activity: Community AnimationYou Can Dance To," Cultural Democracy (Spring 1990). ___ ."Anarchy on the Airwaves: A Brief History of the Micro-Radio Movement," Social Anarchism (#17,1992). ___ . "Black Liberation Radio," Index on Censorship (Vol 22,#2, Febru­ ary,1993) (Writers and Scholars International Ltd, 32 Queen Victoria St,London, EC4N 4SS UK). ___ . "Radio Resistor: An Interview With Stephen Dunifer, Oakland, CA, December, 1995," The Bleeding Edge (#1, 1996) (PO Box 1233, Springfield,IL 62705). ___ . "Frequencies of Resistance: The Micropower Radio Movement Goes Global," Social Anarchism (#23, 1997) (2743 Mary land Ave, Baltimore, MD 21218). Peter Spagnuolo. "Steal This Radio," The Shadow (#38, May-June, 1996) (PO Box 20298, NY, NY 10009). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - vii "U nlicensed broadcasting creates chaos on the airwaves. It's anarchy on the airwaves .... Your honor, this opens up such a can of worms." Statement 0/ David Silberman, Attorney for the General Counsel's Office 0/ the FCC in the case 0/ "u.S.A. vs. Stephen Paul Duni/er" from Transcript a/the Proceedingsbe/ore U.S. Districtjudge Claudia Wilken (Northern District o/ California) on January 20,1995. PREFACE FREE SPEECH A Fable Stephen Dunifer In a far distant country lived a people called the Mericans. A proud, stoic lot were they. Unlike many surrounding lands they had overthrown the mantle of obedience to a feudal monarchy and established what was called a republic. Creating a document known as the Declaration of Independence they set forth certain principles such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as their pri­ mary goals. Elaborating further on this, they created a Constitution which reluctantly established certain basic rights of every citizen, known as the Bill of Rights. Such things as freedom of speech, equal protection under the law, pro­ tection from unreasonable search and seizure and so forth. Allof these sought to redress and prohibit the type of mistreatment they had received under the prior monarchy they had done away with. Allof this sounded very well and good. As time turned the pages of history it became obvious that certain legal con­ cepts were not stated but very well established and enforced. As the country grew with every advancing wave of industrial development and technology even the less astute among its citizens realized that something was amiss in the Land of Liberty. Unfortunately the means of communication had, for the most part, resided in the hands of those who could ownthem. In fact, in earlier times print­ ing presses had been licensed by the king. Such restrictions prevented dissent­ ing views from reaching a mass number of the citizens of Merica. What information and contrary views that did leak out were attacked without mercy PREFACE: FREE SPEECH - I Illustration by Sean Vile by the captains of industry, affectionately known as the Robber Barons. Despite smashing of printing presses by the hirelings of what had become a ruling elite, citizens committed to the basic tenets of the Constitution persisted in their ef­ forts under the banner of Freedom of Speech. Technologycontinued its march forward in the land of Merica. Other forms of communication were developed. One of these was known as Radio. Unlike 2 - SEIZING THE AIRWAVES: A FREE RADIO HANDBOOK newspapers and books, it carried the spoken word to all who had a radio receiver. A person spoke or sang into an instrument known as a microphone which con­ verted the sound vibrations into electrical impulses which were converted into radio waves by a unit called a transmitter. A radio receiver picked up these radio waves and converted them back into sound vibrations that were made audible by a loudspeaker. Radioreceivers began proliferating by the tens of thousands. Communities and various organizations found they could set up their own trans­ mitters and broadcast their views to all who might listen. This was far easier than owning big printing presses. Being their somewhat slow reacting selves, the ruling elite finally caught on to what a money making proposition radio was. They could use it to sell more commodities and convince people that slavery was freedom. Only one problem stood in their way, many dissenting voices had already taken to the airwaves in the naive belief that freedom of speech was the right of every citi­ zen. Shaking the puppet strings of those they controlled in government, they pulled the usual trick of creating yet another regulatory body over which they would have full control. This regulatory body finally became known as the Fed­ eral Communications Commission. Restoring order to what they called "chaos" of the airwaves, the FCC proceeded to silence all of the small voices.