Last December, I blogged about the Prometheus Radio Project and an upcoming meeting in Savannah to explore the possibility of various community groups starting low power FM (LPFM) nonprofit radio stations that could serve a variety of community needs.
In a post a couple of weeks later, I considered the issue of finding public spaces in the digital age — not corporately owned spaces like Facebook.
In a City Talk column in December, I wrote in more detail about the discussions at the meeting with the Prometheus Radio Project.
So just consider this a quick update from Sarah Todd writing for the Savannah Morning News: Community radio an opportunity for Savannah nonprofits.
From that column:
The Federal Communications Commission announced recently it will be accepting applications for low frequency radio station licenses from Oct. 15 to 29. This is the result of Congress’ 2010 legislation ordering the FCC to open up 1,000 new low power radio station frequencies to nonprofit organizations across the U.S. […]
Here in Savannah, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Savannah plans to apply for a license. It is seeking input from the community on the type of programs it feels are needed.
Complete its short online survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7KR5HQK/ by July 15, and your input will be considered in its plans.
Other nonprofits in Savannah can apply for station licenses. Prometheus Radio Project offers detailed information on qualifying for a station and great support throughout this process via its website, prometheusradio.org.
So if you’re interested in the quality of public discourse in the city of Savannah, go take that survey, consider getting involved with the UU’s proposed station, or talk to other nonprofit groups about getting in the game. There’s definitely some expense in the application process, mostly related to engineering and signal issues as I understand it, so get crackin’.