Arrr!
Pirate radio for SLO Town
Micropower station Moon Radio wants to fill a community niche
BY GLEN STARKEY
PHOTOS BY CHRISTOPHER GARDNER
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First of all, it's illegal, and it carries fines of thousands of dollars and potential prison time. Second, it produces absolutely no income (who says crime pays?) Third, for its operator, there's precious little glory since he must remain incognito for fear of prosecution. So why in the world would anyone want to run a low-power pirate radio station?
Meet ... well, let's call him the Unknown Pirate, or U.P. for short. He's the yoga-practicing, Burning-Man-loving techno hippie behind SLO's own Moon Radio, a tiny 15-watt station located at 91.7 on the FM dial. U.P. broadcasts out of an old house in downtown SLO, and his broadcast reaches, oh, maybe a couple miles or so depending on atmospheric conditions. It's a modest little station playing mostly music, but it also airs Amy Goodman's left-wing talk news program "Democracy Now!" every day at noon as well as left-wing news program "Free Speech Radio News" at 9 a.m. (yesterday's news) and 5 p.m. (today's).
"Things are bad, and this is my do-it-yourself politics," explains U.P. "The news we're getting today is too narrow and filtered. 'Democracy Now!' and 'Free Speech Radio News' - I think those are serious counterbalances that need to be aired."
And he's willing to risk equipment confiscation, fines, and jail time to see that they are aired.
"What I'm doing is technically illegal, but morally it's the right thing to do. Our airwaves have been compromised, taken over by corporations. Even NPR is working against low-power radio. What is so threatening about a small public station that plays the music of local bands, that airs locally created programs? The real question to ask is this: Why are they [commercial stations and the FCC] so threatened by a station that wants to air community voices?
"If our country can begin with a revolution and we can have a revolutionary like General Washington as our national hero, why can't I fight for one little slot on the airwaves? Sometimes you break the law and you're a criminal and sometimes you break the law and you're revolutionary hero."
Not everyone thinks U.P. is a hero. In fact, for many commercial radio folks, he's just a common criminal.
According to Mark Wilson of the media conglomerate American General Media, which operates KZOZ, U.P.'s moral argument doesn't stand up: "That's bullshit. He's operating illegally; he's breaking the law. If I go into your house and steal from you and give your stuff to a bunch of poor people, is that okay? That may not be a good analogy, but the law is the law."
But where else can we hear "Democracy Now!" or have the potential for real community voices to access the airwaves?
"I think we already have that," says Wilson. "Legal commercial radio serves the community well. Talk radio locally does a great job, and people can get on and discuss anything they want. There's enough for everybody without having some illegal operator out there. If he's trying to say he's offering something the community needs, I think he's wrong; he's fooling himself. He's justifying his illegal activity."
U.P. would beg to disagree. He believes there are too many media outlets controlled by too few hands, which leads to news distortions, limited information, and a community's skewed perception of itself.
"Moon Radio is a non-commercial FM radio station covering much of San Luis Obispo city, part of a grass-roots movement to resist the homogenization and corporatization of communities," claims U.P. "I recently attended a conference on low-power radio and discovered there's a real movement afoot. People are really committed to making community radio a force in the country. Think of it as a political organization tool. All these forces are working to make our lives more homogenous: malls, media conglomeration - and the media really shapes how a community thinks of itself. How do you perceive yourself? Your local media shapes that. People want to see a reflection of themselves in their local media, a reflection of their hometown."
But the media both creates the public's image of itself and reflects it back toward it. That's why U.P. believes allowing the community access to the airwaves is key to allow the public to shape its own identity.
He foresees Moon Radio as a place where anyone's voice can be heard.
"I'd like to see kids at SLO High School produce an hour program and share it with the community. I want local people to DJ their own shows, have a place for local music to be heard, local issues to be aired."
According to U.P., modern computing is making this possible. His station is already 100 percent automated: "Right now I have a computer that does everything. I wrote some programs myself and got some off the Internet."
The computer plays music and airs his scheduled programming automatically.
"A lot of pirate stations are still at the [control] boards, doing everything manually," said John. "Now any computer can be a studio and people can upload their programming to me."
So what's holding U.P. back? Well, he'd really like to be legal and licensed. He's broadcast off and on since the '80s, but he signed off the air in 1998 because the FCC promised to begin licensing low-power stations. All across the nation, thousands of pirate radio operators shut down their transmission in the hope that they could apply for an operator's permit. Six years later, as it turns out, only about 300 licenses have been granted.
"They said they were going to start issuing licenses, so we decided to go legit and go off the air," says U.P. "Then I discovered the complex criteria - the need to be nonprofit, incorporated, to have a board of directors - required."
Feeling disenfranchised and without hope of ever getting a license on his own, he never bothered to apply.
"Thousands have applied, but so far only about 300 licenses have been issued."
Still, he's trying to find a local nonprofit group to take over Moon Radio.
"I want to connect with an organization with good values, help them apply for a license, build the station into something viable, and then I'll walk away - I won't be in the equation anymore. I couldn't be happier giving up my equipment. If the bird can fly, I'll let it go, but I don't want to kick it out of the nest before it can exist on its own. As soon as it can have a life of its own, though, I'm gone."
One reason those in commercial radio are so against pirates is transmission interference. Currently stations must have "two adjacency," meaning a band must exist between stations - for instance, between KCPR's 91.3 and Moon's 91.7, 91.5 must be free of broadcast.
"At one time, the government was trying to get third adjacency, which is ludicrous," says U.P. "That would really limit the number of stations."
Moon respects the adjacency rule, if not the licensing laws, and for one radio jock, that's enough.
According to Neal Losey of KCBX 90.1 FM's "Morning Cup of Jazz" show, "I don't think [pirate radio] is a threat. In fact, I'm a big fan of low-powered radio. It's nice to get these different voices out there."
Losey would like to see more of these low-power stations licensed and regulated, however.
"If they do official low power, those people have to be regulated, too," says Losey. "Then we could stop complaints that a low-power station is stepping on someone else's band. But pirates with consciences, ones who purposely try to stay off of others' signals - I'm okay with that."
Losey doesn't speak for National Public Radio, however, which has actively lobbied against licensing low-power stations.
"I think the only reason NPR was worried was competition, but in my opinion, these kinds of stations add to the listening experience," says Losey. "There are not many chances for real community voices to get on the commercial dial, and it's not likely a commercial station will be set up for locals to gain access to. It's nice to have local voices, and as long as the pirate is being really conscientious and responsible ... . In the case of Moon Radio airing 'Democracy Now!' and staying off others' bandwidth, that shows me he's trying to do the right thing and make radio viable and important. That's very commendable. Pirates who offer up information - that's very cool; that's the spirit of radio."
Even Radio Central Coast General Manager Nancy Leichter agrees, and in addition to KPYG and The Beach, she oversees KYNS Left Coast radio, a liberal talk news station: "I don't think it's an issue, sort of non-issue for us, because it doesn't affect us to my knowledge."
It doesn't affect many commercial stations. In fact, Wilson of American General Media even admitted he wasn't aware of the station's existence until New Times informed him.
"It's really not even on our radar screen," says Wilson. "Obviously operated illegally is never good, but are we going to make a call to the FCC? No, unless it's interfering with our signal. Or maybe we are obligated to call now that you've informed us. I'll have to think about whether we'll call the FCC or not."
Oops! Sorry U.P. It's not like it would be difficult for the FCC to track him down.
"As a radio station, you're constantly transmitting your locale," says U.P. "With their tracking equipment, the FCC could find us in no time"
For some in the community, that would be too bad, because many people feel served by tiny Moon Radio.
U.P. recently attended the local Green Earth Festival and was able to put a face to his audience.
"I met about 100 people who listen to the station, and it was great to know people were really listening. Other stations have ratings to tell them they have an audience, but I have no way to know if anyone's out there.
"When people do contact me, the number one thing I hear is, 'That was great music. How do I find it?' I thought, Okay, I'll put up a web site so people can find what's playing and they can get ahold of the music."
Go to moon.org and you'll find an up-to-the-minute listing for what's playing, and frequently you'll find local bands or obscure music you can't find anywhere else.
U.P. has several specific goals in mind for the station, goals he hopes the public (and a local nonprofit) will help him accomplish.
"I want to provide alternative news to SLO, and so far with 'Democracy Now!' and 'Free Speech Radio News,' that's been started. I also want to provide music not heard in SLO on other FM stations and to have local bands and locally produced shows. Are there DJs, activists, or journalists out there who want to help?
"I want to be a resource, both labor and equipment, for initiating a legal low-power station. Is there a nonprofit that wants to host (legally and physically) a station for San Luis only? I'd prefer to have a transmitter in many cities in the county, many small stations (15-40 watts) instead of a giant Cuesta Ridge station (thousands of watts). Are there readers out there who are ready to be civilly disobedient?"
One thing U.P. wants to make clear is this: Moon Radio is not seeking donations, but ...
"If a listener really loves it, donate directly to 'Democracy Now!' or 'Free Speech Radio News,' or offer to give money to KCBX if they will broadcast 'Democracy Now!' five days a week.
"At the conference I attended, a speaker said 'community radio is 10 percent radio and 90 percent community.' Moon Radio has built the 10 percent radio part; now it's time to build the community."
Glen Starkey always roots for the little guy.
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