Native Public Media Urges Tribal Groups to Apply
for Radio Licenses
Window of opportunity Oct. 12 - Oct. 19
By Tanya Lee
WASHINGTON, April 5 -- Native Americans will have a chance in October from Oct. 12 to Oct. 19, to acquire some of the public air waves from the Federal Communications Commission, which is about to accept applications for full-power non-commercial educational radio frequencies.
Once those frequencies are assigned, Peggy Berryhill (Muskogee) of Native Public Media, said, they are gone, and there are no more. "The spectrum is like land or water," she said. "There is only so much to go around." Berryhill is pushing tribal entities to apply for the licenses. Acquiring the frequencies will allow tribes to use them for news, as well as entertainment, purposes.
Tribes need to be able to develop and broadcast news not only for tribal listeners but for the non-native communities around them, to air programming that contributes to cultural and language preservation, and to be able to alert their communities and neighbors about impending emergencies. "Had the Choctaw and Houma had radio stations during Katrina," she pointed out, "they could have warned people and then helped them deal with the aftermath.
"We want Native people to have their own voice," Berryhill said, noting that there are currently only 33 full-powered, non-commercial Native-operated stations. A full-power station can broadcast up to 50 miles.
Applying for the licenses is free, but the process can be daunting. Native Public Media is anxious to help as tribal groups with the application process. The tribal entities that may apply include tribal governments, non-profits, school boards and community colleges.
Berryhill said there will be stiff competition for the licenses. Religious groups, she said, have made a public commitment to obtaining as much of the available spectrum as they can.
But tribal groups have some advantage in the selection process, which relies on a point system. The FCC will be evaluating applications based on how local the applying agency is, diversity, and other factors that tribal entities automatically bring to the table. "Tribal groups have as good a chance, if not better, than other applicants of getting the licenses," Berryhill said.
Tribal groups need to prepare their applications in advance of the October submission dates and they will need to have them ready to file as soon as the window opens, said Berryhill. The first task is to get a broadcast engineer to do a frequency search. The second is to hire a telecommunications attorney to help with the legal technicalities. And the third is to start raising money because the FCC will want to know that the applicant has a reasonable chance of being able to get the station up and running.
In the area of finances, there is also help available. The National Telecommunications Facilities Program, a part of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, will supply up to 75 percent of the funds needed to build a public radio station. And once the station has been in operation for a year, it can apply for funds from National Public Radio.
This is an opportunity for Indian Country to speak in its own voice, and it is an opportunity that will not come again in our lifetimes, Berryhill said. She urges Native American groups to get in touch with Native Public Media to ask for free assistance in the application process.
Peggy Berryhill is Director of Planning and Services at Native Public Radio. She can be reached at 707/884-9957 or peggy@nativepublicmedia.org.
The FCC website has more information on the application process.
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