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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 2013)
4 Street roots Nov. 2 2 , 2013 For the B ■ A compilation of tacts, large and small, about our community New voices, new stations converge on rare FM license offering BY DEVAN SCHWARTZ ap p licatio n s for co n sid erab ly ew low -pow er F M sta tio n s will so o n longer. b e co m e p a rt of P o rtla n d ’s m edia “N o th in g ’s lan d scap e, re p re s e n tin g a d ifferen t e v e r th a t s e t of v oices from co m m ercial and public c o n c re te w ith th e radio. FCC until th ey A m ong th e ap p lican ts a re stu d e n t-ru n give an official radio sta tio n s from P o rtlan d S ta te a n n o u n c e m e n t,” U niversity and R eed C ollege. T h e P o rtlan d th e d e v elo p m en t Radio P ro je ct, w hich re c e n tly lau n ch ed and online, now se e k s its own low-power FM co m m u n icatio n s licen se as well. d ire c to r for T h e ra n g e of low-power FM tra n s m itte rs P ro m e th e u s added. v ary b a se d on te rra in an d w atta g e b u t O n th e c o st of ru n n in g average a b o u t a 3.5 m ile rad iu s in cities. a low-power F M statio n , A ra re application w indow w as o p e n e d by W ierski said it can b e d o n e th e F e d e ra l C o m m un icatio n C o m m ission as fairly inexpensively, w ith ongoing c o sts ran g in g from $ 2 0 ,0 0 0 to a re s u lt of th e 2009 Local C om m u n ity R adio Act. T h e w indow w as originally s e t to close $ 5 0 ,0 0 0 p e r year. Oct. 29 and th e n e x te n d e d u n til Nov. 14 due In a m a rk e t as large as P o rtlan d , M ichael B row n said $ 1 00,000 p e r y e a r is a to th e g o v e rn m e n t sh u td o w n . R adio e x p e rts ex p lain ed to S tre e t R oots re a so n a b le fu n d raisin g goal for sta tio n s th a t low p o w er F M sta tio n s d id n ’t ev en e x ist se ek in g to pay a t le a s t o n e full-time staff in th e U n ited S ta te s u n til 1999. B etw een m em b er. th e n and now, th e FCC h a s n ’t o ffered any B esid es th e m oney, B row n ad d ed th a t o p p o rtu n itie s to apply for low -pow er FM organizing so m any v o lu n te e rs can b e lic e n se s in u rb a n a re as. difficult. “I t a p p e a rs b ro a d c a st rad io still h a s legs “You n e e d p eo p le w ho a re d e d ic a te d — and p e o p le a re still in te re s te d ,” said M ichael an d th a t’s th e g re a te s t challen g e. A rad io B row n of P o rtlan d -b ased B row n R adio sta tio n is like a baby th a t n e e d s to b e fed S e rv ice s, a rad io co n su ltin g com pany. e v ery tw o h o u rs, 24 h o u rs a day. I t’s an A handful of local ap p lican ts are ongoing th in g , it’s th e e ffo rt th a t n e v e r co n su ltin g w ith B row n R adio S e rv ice s and s le e p s .” Lo^-power FM lic e n se s offered in u rb an ab o u t 30 nationally. a re a s such as Portland means more groups “We’re working with groups that intend co m p etin g for few er freq u e n cie s. T h e to have a studio, lo ts of v o lu n te e rs an d lots c o m p e titiv e n ess h as also led so m e g ro u p s of co m m u n ity in volvem en t,” B row n said. to k e ep th e ir p lan s u n d e r w ra p s u n til th e P o rtla n d R adio P ro je c t’s n ew s d ire c to r ap p licatio n w indow is closed. R eb ecca W ebb says c o m m u n ity invo lv em en t In o rd e r to rew ard ap p lican ts w ith is a large p a r t of w hy th e y a re p u rsu in g a g e n u in e c o m m u n ity ties, P ro m e th e u s staff low p o w er F M lic en se — w h e th e r th a t’s ad v o cated for th e FCC to a d o p t a p o in t locally p ro d u c e d new s, m u sic p ro g ram m in g sy ste m for app licatio n s, w hich it did. o r in fo rm atio n a b o u t P o rtla n d non-profit F o r exam ple, a tw o-year e sta b lish e d o rganizations. co m m u n ity p re s e n c e gives an additional W ebb, a rad io v e te ra n , says d e c a d e s of point. T h e sam e g o e s for sta tio n s o ffering m ed ia co n so lid atio n h a s led to airw aves e ig h t h o u rs of tru ly local c o n te n t p e r day. d o m in a ted by co m m ercial sta tio n s and A n o th e r p o in t g o e s to publicly accessib le a u to m a te d p ro g ram m in g . So w h e n th e FCC stu d io s staffed 20 h o u rs a w eek o r m o re. a n n o u n ce d th e e x te n d e d filing window, sh e D escrib in g th e im p o rta n c e of low -pow er says th e y d ecid ed to ju m p aboard. FM , W ierski said w e o ften fo rg et th a t n o t “W ith all th e publicity of th e low p o w er ev ery o n e h a s a cc e ss to h ig h -sp eed In te rn e t, FM window, w e d ecid ed it w ould b e a good an d te rre s tria l rad io sta tio n s still play an idea if w e could g e t in o n th is w indow ,” im p o rta n t ro le in c o m m u n ity organizing. W ebb said. “I t’s o u r goal to a c t as a P ro m e th e u s w o rk ed w ith W oodburn- co m m u n ity hub. T h e m ed ia lan d scap e is so b a se d K PC N on its 2 0 0 6 launch. fra c tu re d rig h t now and it will b e in te re stin g T h e sta tio n calls itself “Radio to se e how th in g s sh ak e o u t.” M o v im ien to ” (M o v em en t R adio) an d se rv e s C urrently, th e P o rtlan d Radio P ro je c t as a co m m u n ity h u b th ro u g h Spanish- re n ts studio sp a ce a t M o u n tain A ir S tudios language b ro a d c a sts for L atino lis te n e rs in th e B rooklyn n e ig h b o rh o o d an d will se e k w ith in a 10-mile rad iu s, including a stro n g an existing F M tra n s m itte r if its application c o n c e n tra tio n of farm w o rk ers. is a ccep ted . B u t low-power F M can am plify th e voices T h e first wave of low p o w er F M lic e n se s of w h ich ev er g ro u p s a re involved — from will be g ra n te d in Jan u ary , acco rd in g to Julia ru ra l la b o re rs to college stu d e n ts. W ierski of th e P ro m e th e u s R adio P ro je ct, a T h e sta tio n a t P o rtlan d S ta te U n iv ersity P hiladelphia-based non-profit co m m u n ity is online only, alth o u g h it p reviously m ed ia advocacy grou p . b ro a d c a st th ro u g h a sta tio n -sh a re w ith B u t W ierski said co m p etitiv e m a rk e ts like K PB S a t B e n so n P olytechnic H igh School. P o rtlan d w o n ’t know th e re s u lts of th e ir C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R • Number of hospitals that are part of the CareOregon Health Plan Provider Network: 51 • Percentage of members of CareOregon Health Plan that are 19 and younger: 59% • Percentage of members of CareOregon Health Plan that do not speak English as their first language: 26% • Number of playgrounds that are part of Portland Parks and Recreation: 129 • Number of Community Gardens that are part of Portland Parks and Recreation: 48 • Miles of regional trails that are part of Portland Parks and Recreation: 155 • Annual volunteer hours for Portland Parks and Recreation: 475,324 • Number of basketball courts in Portland Parks and Recreation’s care: 229 • Total tonnage of cargo moved in and out of Port of Portland for September: 755,680 • Total PDX Flight Operations for September: 17,730 • Number of veterans in Oregon who receive SNAP benefits: more than 37,000 • Pounds of food the Oregon Food Bank Network received from July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2013: 86.3 million Sources: CareOregon; Portland Parks a n d Recreation 2013 Performance Report; Port o f Portland Aviation and M arine Statistics; Oregon Food B a n k Kristina W right | Real Estate Agent Bellmoore Realty 5 03 /4 79 .5 76 4 Kristina@PortlandHomeGal.com "Like" on Facebook @ Portland Home Gal • a ktxwtedgeabte matketer • with a designers eye • aprofesonaiphotografha- • The new Chinook Book is here! IS Chinook B ook'l îiyetythioç w* Fwrti Get yours today and help the sustainable economy grow and a response agent A ll wrapped into one REA IT OH N Featuring poetry from our Art Partner, Street Roots W hen th e sta tio n disaffiliated from P o rtlan d P ublic S chools 2010, th e p a rtn e rs h ip w ith th e u n iv ersity e n d ed , acco rd in g to K eeg an M eyer, sta tio n m a n a g e r at KPSU . Even in its online- only format, Meyer e stim a te s K PSU o ffers 12 h o u rs of live p ro g ram m in g p e r day. “W e’re d e d ic a te d to am plifying th e voice of P S U s tu d e n ts b u t a re also d e d ic a te d to in te g ra tin g in to th e g re a te r P o rtla n d a re a ,” M e y er said. “R adio is a v e ry in te re s tin g m ed iu m b e c a u se it can am plify any th o u g h ts o r id ea s p e o p le h a v e - th ro u g h m u sic p ro g ram m in g , le c tu re s, d e b a te s a n d talk show s, c u rr e n t e v e n ts — th e w indow s of o p p o rtu n ity a re kind of e n d le ss in o u r o p in io n .” A b o u t 20 p e rc e n t of th e s ta tio n ’s DJs a re co m m u n ity m e m b e rs an d th e r e s t stu d e n ts , M e y e r said. If th e FC C g ra n ts th e ir ap p licatio n , th e plan is to e re c t a tr a n s m itte r o n th e ro o f of O n d in e Hall. I t’s tr u e th a t th e P o rtla n d rad io m a rk e t alread y h a s m an y co m m erc ial sta tio n s, along w ith O reg o n P u b lic B ro a d ca stin g and co m m u n ity -ru n KBOO. B u t if you sc an y o u r rad io dial in th e com ing m o n th s, you ju s t m ay h e a r so m e th in g n ew rid in g th e airw aves. Vendors are regular contributors to Street Root: content, as columnists, poets and artists. Look for your favorite vendor’s writings in each edition of the paper.
