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LPFM Funding Ends/ The LPFM Mapping Project by Kai Aiyetoro June, 2004 LPFM Funding Ends Nonprofit organizations were given the opportunity to start LPFM stations in 2000, when the FCC opened windows to accept applications for specific frequency allocations. There are only 238 stations licensed and on the air, leaving over 500 unresolved construction permits that will continue to need organizational, legal and technical support. NFCB has offered this support to LPFM applicants over the past two years using funding from The Ford Foundation and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. This financial support ends in June 2004. Business, legal and engineering consultations have been given to many of these LPFM applicants (regardless of membership status) during this two-year period, along with direct financial support for registration to the annual Community Radio Conference. Forty-two LPFM groups have become associate members of NFCB and will move on to participant status by next year. They will continue receiving services that the federation provides to all of its members. A startup manual was created during this period, and is available for
organizations to use during development of their stations. This manual
deals mainly with the infrastructural processes of starting a station,
such as budgeting, developing MX settlement agreements, programming,
fundraising, and FCC compliance. The Public Radio Legal Handbook
is also available to better understand FCC rules and regulations governing
LPFM and full power noncommercial radio stations. These publications
are available to the public and discounted for NFCB members. The LPFM Mapping Project LPFM stations have been occupied with construction permits for a couple of years now, and there are still many more to come. There are 238 community, school, municipal/state or church oriented stations currently licensed and on the air. A survey was recently sent to all recently licensed LPFM stations. This information has been compiled and will soon be made available on our website. Each station will be plotted on a map of the United States, displaying the location of the station along with contact information, format, and other pertinent information. This information will give other stations an opportunity to share programs and other information with LPFM stations. Artists will be able to provide stations with genre appropriate music. It will also allow funders and LPFM activists to see the impact LPFM has on the country. If you want specific information about adding your station to the roster,
complete the information on the LPFM Mapping Project form (upon receipt
of the station's license) and return it to NFCB. Kai Aiyetoro
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