Boston Globe: Give Radio Pirates Chance To Go Legit

In an editorial published Thursday, the Boston Globe states "The massive fines levied last month against two unlicensed Boston stations that served the Haitian immigrant community went too far."

As The Globe see its...shut down a pirate radio station, and you might be shutting down a community’s lifeline.

Editorial Highlights:

While there can be good cause for the federal government to close down radio stations that operate in the shadows — like their failure to transmit emergency broadcasts or disclose political ad donors — the massive fines levied last month against two unlicensed Boston stations that served the Haitian immigrant community went too far. Radio is still a vital service in many immigrant communities, and while policing the airwaves, the federal government also needs to work harder to help integrate immigrants into what can be a daunting licensing system.

One of the fines, $453,015 against Radio TeleBoston operator Gerlens Cesar, is the largest the agency has ever slapped on a pirate broadcaster — and it even made one of the FCC’s commissioners uneasy. The agency says Cesar broadcast without authorization on the 90.1 and 92.1 FM bands from a variety of locations in Greater Boston. Another broadcaster, Acerome Jean Charles, was fined $151,005 for illegally broadcasting Radio Concorde on 106.3 FM from Mattapan.

The FCC cracked down because pirate radio stations, beaming their signals out of basements or storefronts, may cause a variety of problems. Because they don’t participate in the Emergency Alert System, they arguably put their listeners in danger. And they don’t necessarily follow consumer protection rules against payola or disclosure in political advertising. Their signals can interfere with licensed broadcasters who are following the rules.

According to The Globe editorial many pirates operations act as the glue that holds some immigrant communities together, providing foreign-language news and connections to home countries. Finding a way for such stations to operate legally would be in keeping with the FCC’s mandate to supervise the airwaves in the public interest.

The editorial acknowledges FCC chairman Ajit Pai has suggested some options for unlicensed Haitian operators: broadcasters could shift to internet radio or apply for time on WBCA-LP, a low-power station owned by the City of Boston. Pai has also touted the FCC’s plan to auction off 130 vacant frequencies — though as it turns out, none of those frequencies are in Massachusetts.

The Globe concludes:

As the internet gobbles up traditional media, the persistence of pirate radio shows that there’s still a demand for over-the-air broadcasts, especially in urban immigrant communities. Congress and the FCC should accommodate that demand by finding a viable way for such communities to connect to each other and their culture without being outlaws.