Free Radio: Electronic Civil Disobedience

by Lawrence Soley, Larry Soley

Free radio stations, sometimes called “pirate” or “clandestine” stations, are unlicensed broadcasting stations operated by political and cultural dissidents to protest government restrictions on expression over the airwaves. Free Radio is a history of these unlicensed radio stations.The earliest free radio stations were operated by opponents of Adolph Hitler, who banned political opponents from the airwaves. Other anti-Nazi free radio stations were operated by underground groups in Axis-occupied Europe during World War II.After World War II, free radio stations such as “Free Greece Radio” and “Voice of Free Indonesia” took to the airwaves, protesting European colonial policies. By the 1970s, free radio stations were broadcasting to nearly every country where repressive governments were in power.Although a few free radio stations appeared in the United States during the 1960s, it was not until the 1990s that free radio truly arrived in North America. Free Radio presents compelling evidence that unlicensed radio stations in the United States—which number in the hundreds—are a response to changes in federal broadcasting policies. The policy changes have led to the domination of the medium by a few large corporations that use their stations to promote their financial and political interests, rather than the interests of the communities they are supposed to serve.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published November 26, 1998

Reviews

[audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is a thing I did not know before reading this book, despite having worked with multiple radio stations: it is illegal for companies that manufacture and sell radio transmitters to sell that transmitter to anyone in the United States without the express permission of the FCC.

The United States is in fact the *only* country with this restriction. As one of the interviewees in this book puts it, "You can buy an Uzi fully assembled, but it's illegal to buy one of these [transmitters] fully assembled." Go figure.

Anyway, this is a wonderful look at all the ways governments can't stand not being able to control who can broadcast from a radio station, with a very heavy focus on the United States. There's a wonderful section on revolutionary radio stations around the world during the second World War which makes Allo Allo make even more sense than it used to, although the current US political administration is doing its bit to keep the show relevant as well.

But the majority of the book looks at all the ways that people in the United States have tried to operate their own radio stations while the FCC runs around telling them to stop because they inexplicably believe the US government owns all the air in the country.

"Inexplicably" is probably the wrong word there, because the explanation is actually "money, honey". The FCC acts to protect all the corporations that sell advertising and maintain stables of expensive thoroughbred lobbyists, and they do so by levying fines and raiding the apartments of suspected unlicensed radio stations, commando-style. Yes, the massive problem we are currently having with militarized police extends to how they use their "military" might to further the interests of corporations, businesses, and the FCC.

This makes for wild reading alongside another history of radio in the United States, Hello, Everybody!: The Dawn of American Radio. That book is much more about how great it is that the US has a long and storied history of radio programming, with the support of all those advertisers! And this, is not that.

The place where they agree though, is in that when they trace the history of radio back to the very beginning in the United States, it really was the purview of individual people. It was an eccentric hobby. Well, scratch that: first it was the Navy's hobby, during World War I, and then after that, the federal government gave one corporation the license to sell tons of transmitters to individual people, in the hopes that the more stations people created, the more transmitters *and receivers* the corporation could sell.

Unfortunately, then that corporation discovered advertising, which kicked off like, 70 years of the government defending corporate interests by kicking people's doors down to get the now-illegal transmitters back. (Seriously, both books. There's just not a good way to sugar-coat that.)

I loved all the stories of the individual stations, especially how they were laid out in these long winding histories that tracked the whole thing through the courts and made each one a thrilling tale unto itself. I loved reading about how radio stations were integral in providing alternative reporting to corporate media during political upheaval. I loved the stories of the individual stations even when those stories included how small radio stations tend to collapse under the weight of all the bizarre personality disorders of people who want to build small radio stations. And a surprising number of the stories were of radio stations I have listened to fondly, although there were a few I was surprised to see over-looked, although that is likely for the best.

Also, I did not realize how many pirate radio stations evade government interference and military action only to be knocked off the air when their boats sink. It really makes you think.

And I loved that each chapter has an extensive set of footnotes along with the bibliography because while I do like a good yarn, I appreciate being able to go do more research myself.

A very satisfying read for radio buffs and for everyone who thinks the FCC needs to get over themselves already.

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

Microradio, nice!