Seizing the Air Waves: A Free Radio Handbook

The first book to document and emphasize the myriad voices of the free radio movement, from Black Liberation Radio in Springfield, Illinois, to Free Radio Berkeley in Berkeley, California. The first section, "Media Monopoly And The Rise Of The Free Radio Movement" includes contributions from Robert McChesney on the political economy of radio in North America and a history and analysis of the burgeoning pirate radio movement. The second section, "On The Air," includes interviews with and commentary by some of the key grassroots participants in micropower broadcasting worldwide—from Canada, Holland, Haiti, and Mexico, as well as America. The final section of the book consists of a comprehensive technical guide and how-to manual for going on the air, complete with schematics and "sound" advice. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PREFACE: FREE SPEECH: A Fable by Stephen Dunifer INTRODUCTION: RHIZOMATIC RADIO AND THE GREAT STAMPEDE by Ron Sakolsky PART I: MOVING FROM CORPORATE ENCLOSURE TO FREE RADIO THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF RADIO by Robert W. McChesney BROADCAST CONFIDENTIAL by Lee Ballinger COMMUNITY RADIO AT THE CROSSROADS: Federal Policy and The Professionalization of a Grassroots Medium by Jon Bekken THE CANADIAN ALTERNATIVE: A Brief History of Unlicensed and Low Power Radio by Charles Fairchild "THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE WITHOUT A VOICE": An Interview With Louis Hiken by Rob Sakolsky FREQUENCIES OF RESISTANCE: The Rise of the Free Radio Movement by Ron Sakolsky PART II: ON THE AIR: VOICES FROM THE FREE RADIO MOVEMENT RADIO ACTIVISTS SPEAK OUT! by Micropower Radio Broadcasters Conference "WE'RE PART OF THE RESTORATION PROCESS OF OUR PEOPLE": An Interview With Mbanna Kantako (Human Rights Radio) by Jerry Landay "GHETTO RADIO" RAP SONG by Konnadi Kantako, Mbanna Kantako Jr. and Ebony Kantako "A NEW DRUM FOR OUR PEOPLE": An Interview With Napoleon Williams (Black Liberation Radio) by Stephen Dunifer and Carol Denney, with Pat Hall (Free Radio Berkeley) ATTACK ON BLACK LIBERATION RADIO by Lorenzo Komboa Ervin "WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE VOICELESS HAVE A VOICE": An Interview With Killu Nyasha (San Francisco Liberation Radio) by Sheila Nopper RADIO LATINO by Ricardo Omar Elizalde COMMUNITY STRUGGLE AND THE SWEET MYSTERY OF RADIO by DJ Tashtego RADIOACTIVE by Meme Sabon "THERE IS NO IDELA LISTENER": An Interview With Geov Parrish (Seattle Liberation Radio) by Captain Fred (Radio Califa) REFABRICATING COMMUNITY: An Interview With Charlie Goodman (Excellent Radio) by Stephen Dunifer PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA HOW POWERFUL THEY COULD BE: An Interview With Carol Denney (Free Radio Berkeley) by by Sheila Nopper SOAPBOXING THE AIRWAVES: An Interview With Internal eXile (Free Radio Berkeley) by Salvatore Salerno IF YOU CAN'T COMMUNICATE, YOU CAN'T ORGANIZE, AND IF YOU CAN'T ORGANIZE, YOU CAN'T FIGHT BACK: A Composite Interview With Stephen Dunifer (Free Radio Berkeley) by Ron Sakolsky ASSOCIATION OF MICROPOWER BROADCASTERS CONTACT NETWORK by Paul Griffin PART III: SETTING TECHNOLOGY FREE MICROPOWER BROADCASTING: A Technical Primer by Stephen Dunifer WHEN THE FCC KNOCKS ON YOUR DOOR ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS Let us conjure up a vision of a Wild Radio Stampede disrupting the territorialized lines of Authority artificially drawn in the air surrounding Mother Earth.