Copyright 2000 The Washington Post
The Washington
Post
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April 12, 2000, Wednesday, Final Edition
SECTION: OP-ED; Pg. A26; LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
LENGTH: 273 words
HEADLINE:
Public Radio on Your FM Dial
BODY:
In its
rush to add low-power radio stations to the crowded FM dial, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) has dropped long-standing technical safeguards
designed to protect the existing public broadcasting service--National Public
Radio (NPR) and its member stations.
Public radio stations are
vulnerable to interference from low-power FM stations for two
reasons. First, unlike music on commercial Top 40 radio, music typically heard
on public radio, such as Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo" or a Mozart symphony,
contains both soft and loud passages. This means that any interference can
affect the signal.
Second, most public radio stations operate on a
crowded "reserved band" of the dial (approximately 90 percent are located
between 87.9 and 91.9 FM), which makes them more susceptible to interference
from low-power stations.
The FCC's rules on low-power
FM also threaten the transmission of radio reading services for the
sight-impaired. More than a third of NPR's members provide these services on
subcarrier channels.
In mid-March NPR asked the FCC to take a few extra
months to reconsider its low-power rules before pushing ahead. The FCC, however,
has continued its implementation process.
Therefore, last week, NPR and
its member stations announced support for the Radio Broadcasting Preservation
Act of 2000, which provides for the implementation of low-power
FM without disrupting existing radio services. This bipartisan
compromise legislation provides a balanced approach toward the licensing of new,
low-power FM stations.
KEVIN KLOSE
President,
National Public Radio
Washington
LOAD-DATE: April 12, 2000
