USA TODAY, October 5, 1998

Radio pirates urge FCC to end crackdown
by Paul Davidson

Pirate radio broadcasters from around the country plan to converge today
on Washington to protest the Federal Communications Commission's
intensifying crackdown on the airwave outlaws.
   The FCC has shut down 314 of the so-called micro stations since August
1997, up from about 100 the previous year. By the FCC's count, that makes
the pirates an endangered species. The agency says only about 100 remain
nationwide, though the pirates put their numbers closer to 1,000.
   "We're calling for an end to the crackdown," says Jesse Walker, a
journalist who helped organize the march, which will include stops at the
National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the FCC.
   Low-power radio operators use an antenna, transmitter and microphone to
broadcast from basements and modest studios, beaming their under-100-watt
FM signals without getting an FCC license.
   They brand themselves freedom fighters supplying local, minority and
offbeat voices on a dial increasingly homogenized thanks to a flurry of
media mergers. Typically selling no advertising, they say the FCC is
violating their right to free speech because the agency doesn't even
license stations under 100 watts. "They're bringing programming and forms
of music that otherwise would be missing from the airwaves," Walker says.
   But the FCC considers them rogues who might interfere with mainstream
broadcasters and airplane communications. The pirates say that rarely
happens. Still, "They're violating the law," says FCC spokesman David
Fiske.
   Pirates say the FCC launched the crackdown only after being pressured
last summer by the NAB, an assertion the FCC denies.
   Separately, FCC Chairman William Kennard, concerned about the media
consolidation, this year wants to consider a proposal to license radio
stations at one watt or higher.