What's the Frequency?

[February 27th, 2002] After crossing swords with Congress, National Public Radio and corporate broadcasters, Portland's Microradio Implementation Project faces a final fight--with representatives of an even higher power.

Two years ago, the Federal Communications Commission OK'd a new breed of "low-power FM stations," nonprofit enterprises beaming low-watt signals into tiny territories. Activists concerned about corporate media dominance cheered. NPR and the National Association of Broadcasters grumbled, claiming microstations would overcrowd the FM dial.

After a Capitol Hill clash, watered-down legislation allowing low-power stations passed Congress last year. While sharp limits on frequency availability in urban areas disappointed Portland hopefuls like Sisters of the Road Cafe, the nonprofit MIP helped a diverse array of groups across the country apply. Applications in Oregon, for example, include bids from the Woodburn-based state farmworkers union, the Port of Portland and a host of liberal activist groups from Bend.

According to MIP organizer Andrea Cano, however, many pending applications may not be legit. She says national religious broadcasting outfits are prodding small-town churches and other groups to apply for low-power licenses, hoping to create networks of glorified translators for canned national programming. As a result, Cano says, the MIP is spending much of its last four months of grant funding scrutinizing FCC applications for telltale generic language that hints that a bid is something less than a grassroots effort.

"As low-power advocates, we have to take on a cop role, which is unfortunate," Cano says.

Cano says the MIP may challenge up to a third of the applications filed nationally, including an as-yet-unknown number in Oregon. Meanwhile, Cano says some legitimate applicants in Oregon may be on the air by this summer.