Born of the conflict with KUAC last summer involving the station's programming changes, a new Fairbanks group, Open Radio, is organizing to start a new community radio station focused on local issues.
In the summer of 2005 KUAC made programming changes that removed several progressive programs as well as the comments period at borough assembly meetings. A flood of letters to the editor showed up in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and the discord led to the creation of a KUAC Listener's Alliance. The group's goals were to restore the programs that were removed and to create a community advisory board.
In November KUAC created a taskforce to analyze the problem and advise the station on the creation of an oversight board. As former state representative and task force co-chair John Davies put it, "We hoped to get consensus, but it was never reached. We couldn't even figure out the name [of the committee]." Davies also questioned the leadership of the Listener's Alliance: "[It's] a loose membership with a central group orchestrating, that was not appointed or elected, it's a dozen people who were routinely there."
At an April 23 meeting, more than 75 people got together in Ester for a fundraiser. The room was packed with people sitting anywhere they could, even on a spiral staircase in the middle of the room.
Standing in front of the group was organizer Sean McGuire, who said that Fairbanks is a great grassroots community.
"There is so much out there, and we don't have a voice," McGuire said. He also noted that on several AM stations in town, the group's motives and actions are being attacked daily. "This may be the most important thing we can ever do," he said.
Jennifer Peterson, who has taken lead of the engineering side of the project, gave a report on how the station would function. The plan is to create a non-commercial station (87 - 92 MHz). The cost to get the station up and running would be between $60,000 and $80,000. They must first raise about $8,000 to hire an engineer and lawyer to get an application ready to submit to the FCC. The FCC must approve new stations before they can begin transmitting. According to Peterson, the FCC will open an application window within the next six months to a year. At that time they will have a five-day window to file their completed application. The projected date that the station will be broadcasting is sometime within the next two years, but the exact date is still uncertain.
The group has already begun to raise money, and held an auction after the meeting. By the end of the night they had raised $5,803.
The Fairbanks Open Radio organizing committee has also decided to give the station the nickname "Koyote Radio." Coyotes as McGuire put it, "survive under tremendous odds." In a handout answering several FAQ's it cites that the coyote is a newcomer to our area and a survivor. "Like Wile E. Coyote, he perseveres despite seemingly insurmountable odds and numerous setbacks."
Susan Todd, a leader in the group, was optimistic about the project. She said they hope to "stimulate, provoke, and inspire the unexpected." Todd spoke of the problems after the beginning of the controversy. "[We] were stonewalled by KUAC, and the task-force. They came to no agreement and took up a lot of peoples' time."
For programming Todd is hopeful for lots of community involvement. She wants to air programs that focus on youth, Native, union, and special interest issues, and provide syndicated programs such as Democracy Now and Counterspin, both of which currently air on KSUA. She also said there should be programs from both liberals and conservatives, because that reflects the diversity of political views currently found in Fairbanks.
Greg Petrowich the General Manager of KUAC said that he had no concerns about a new station.
"It doesn't seem like it would impact us," Petrowich said on the topic of competition. He also said that he had nothing against its formation and was, "supportive of anything that brings more voices to the media."
Not everybody is supportive of the new group. Alaska State Rep. David Guttenberg, who was a strong opponent to KUAC's changes and member of the Listener's Alliance, is not interested in starting a new radio station. "I'm not ready to walk away from KUAC. I started listening to KUAC in 1969." He does wish to see changes but will not leave KUAC's corner. "Don't leave your friends," Guttenberg said. He said KUAC has been a part of shaping the Fairbanks community, and we shouldn't change that fact.
As expressed by several people on both sides, this project is a huge undertaking one that will take lots of time, effort, and money by many people.
"It's a huge commitment, and are people ready to make that commitment?" Guttenberg asked.
