An examination of how activists combine political advocacy and
technical practice in their promotion of the emancipatory potential of
local low-power FM radio. The United States ushered in a new era of
small-scale broadcasting in 2000 when it began issuing low-power FM
(LPFM) licenses for noncommercial radio stations around the country.
Over the next decade, several hundred of these newly created
low-wattage stations took to the airwaves. In Low Power to the People,
Christina Dunbar-Hester describes the practices of an activist
organization focused on LPFM during this era. Despite its origins as a
pirate broadcasting collective, the group eventually shifted toward
building and expanding regulatory access to new, licensed stations.
These radio activists consciously cast radio as an alternative to
digital utopianism, promoting an understanding of electronic media
that emphasizes the local community rather than a global audience of
Internet users. Dunbar-Hester focuses on how these radio activists
impute emancipatory politics to the “old” medium of radio
technology by promoting the idea that “microradio” broadcasting
holds the potential to empower ordinary people at the local community
level. The group's methods combine political advocacy with a rare
commitment to hands-on technical work with radio hardware, although
the activists' hands-on, inclusive ethos was hampered by persistent
issues of race, class, and gender. Dunbar-Hester's study of activism
around an “old” medium offers broader lessons about how political
beliefs are expressed through engagement with specific technologies.
It also offers insight into contemporary issues in media policy that
is particularly timely as the FCC issues a new round of LPFM licenses.
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Pirates, Protest, and Politics in FM Radio Activism
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780262320504
Publisert
2016
Utgiver
Random House Publishing Services
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter