Make no mistake - that potential is not lost on those who control the stations. But to them, it really boils down to profits. They are in this for the money, selling commercials, making superstars out of selected artists, and above all not deviating from the norm - rather odd since most successful businesses become successful BECAUSE they did something different. And of course, the potential of radio is not lost on the authorities - whenever a government seeks to suppress its people, the radio stations are always the first stop the tanks make.

What both of these entities count upon is the individual (that's you) NOT realizing this potential. They want you to listen to the music they tell you is good. They want you to buy what they tell you to buy. They want you not to ask any embarrassing questions.

That is going to end.

There are still a handful of good radio stations out there, mostly in the noncommercial spectrum. A good radio station is defined by us as one in which the programmer plays what s/he wants and the listeners have a say in what the station is all about.

Since the rules on station ownership have been relaxed, we've seen huge corporations move in and take over stations left and right. There are now companies that own close to 500 stations! Many of these stations even give the appearance of competing against each other in the same city. Imagine one company owning your radio stations, your TV stations, your newspapers, your cable system, and your gateway to the Internet. If you think such a scenario isn't imminent, you haven't been paying attention.

But there are still more crises facing the "real" radio stations. While the above nightmare is limited to commercial stations, noncommercial radio is being increasingly victimized. National Public Radio has taken over numerous college/community stations and "converted" them to their satellite programming service. Religious broadcasters have also abused their nonprofit status and filled valuable noncommercial frequencies with their round-the-clock hawking of their doctrine. And despite all of these threats to freedom of speech and diversity, the threat defined by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) as the most significant is the microbroadcasting movement - a natural uprising of individuals fed up with the way radio has been destroyed who have started their own extremely low power stations. Over the past year, hundreds of these stations have been shut down by the FCC while more and more licensed stations fall to the monotony of being the same.

This site has been inspired by recent disturbing events at one of the nation's last remaining bastions of free speech, KPFA. On July 13, 1999, this station was effectively shut down by its parent company, the Pacifica Foundation, after a newscaster aired excerpts of a press conference that was critical of Pacifica. What is especially ironic and tragic is that Pacifica has a long history of tolerance, diversity, and adherance to the concept of freedom of speech. What has happened here could very well signal the end of Pacifica and the end of free radio.

It doesn't have to be this way. We can use the net to get the message out and to make sure everyone knows what is going on nationwide and even worldwide. On this site you will find links to other sites with more updated information. Most importantly, through this site you will be able to actually tune in to the few remaining radio stations that are doing something different and valuable. We hope to see that list grow over time. If you know of a station that needs to be heard (noncommercial only), this is the place to let us know. While many of these stations lack the funds to broadcast on the net, all it takes is a listener with some bandwidth to plug a radio into their system and the station can be heard worldwide.

Together, we have the resources to reclaim radio for the people. To do this, we will need some ingenuity, resourcefulness, access to technology, and a whole lot of people. We'd love to hear from you. Email: realradio@hotmail.com.