TV Special Chronicles Low-Power Radio, Airs Sept. 26

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "LPFM: The People's Choice," a new documentary to premiere on NBC-TV stations beginning Sept. 26, chronicles how low-power FM radio is bringing diverse audiences closer together and giving new life to declining communities, new strength to neighborhoods and new voices in the marketplace of ideas, according to a news release from the National Council of Churches USA.
     "LPFM: The People's Choice" is produced by the United Church of Christ(UCC) Office of Communication, Cleveland. The program is part of the 2004 "Horizons of the Spirit" series of the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission (IBC), a partnership of the NCC, the Jewish Theological Seminary, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Southern Baptist Broadcast Communications Group.  The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is an IBC partner through the NCC.
     Initiated by former Federal Communication Commission Chairman William E. Kennard in January 2000, LPFM is a low-cost service designed to promote diversity and localism and to encourage voices from the margins, the release said. Despite LPFM's promise, there have been powerful forces seeking to halt its presence. The National Association of Broadcasters and others have mounted significant challenges to LPFM, claiming that low-power stations interfere with their larger signals. An independent study ordered by the U.S. Congress has concluded that this is untrue, the NCC release said.
     In "LPFM: The People's Choice" viewers will meet the people who helped launch low-power FM radio and see LPFM stations in action from Florida to Maine, California to Washington, D.C., and in the heartland of the United States. Viewers learn how a low- power radio service withstood the rigors of Congress and special-interest attacks, the NCC release said.
     The program includes interviews with Kennard and a variety of other government, media and church leaders:
     + Michael Bracy and Cheryl Leanza, media advocates
     + Michael Copps, FCC commissioner
     + The Rev. Robert Edgar, NCC general secretary
     + Wade Henderson, executive director, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
     + U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.)
     + Pete Tridish and Andrea Cano, LPFM organizers
     + Gloria Tristani, former FCC commissioner
     + The Rev. Leslie Tune, NCC communication officer, Washington, D.C.
     The UCC is promoting a bill in Congress that would enable the licensing of thousands of new LPFM radio stations, the release said.
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     *Information was provided by the National Council of Churches USA.

     Information about the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission is at http://www.interfaithbroadcasting.com and http://www.ncccusa.org/about/comcomtv.html on the Web.

     The home page of the United Church of Christ is at http://www.ucc.org on the Web.

     
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news