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This Just In: Broadcast

Radio Free Allston founder fights the power

By Dan Kennedy

Grassroots media impresario Steve Provizer, whose Radio Free Allston was shut down last year because it ran afoul of Federal Communications Commission regulations, is striking out in a new direction. Provizer and a half-dozen fellow activists have formed the Citizens' Media Corps. The purpose, according to a CMC press release, is "to bring direct media access to the people of Boston."

So how will CMC act on that rather vague-sounding goal? Provizer says the fledgling organization will educate people both in the ways of the media and in how to get their messages heard, through outlets such as college radio, small AM stations, public-access cable TV, and print. CMC is also involved in the effort to persuade the FCC to legalize low-power community radio stations such as Radio Free Allston.

CMC will hold its first meeting on Thursday, September 24, at 7:30 p.m. at the Jackson-Mann School, in Allston's Union Square. Dues for joining CMC are $10. "Anybody who comes," Provizer says, "is a potential activist." For more information, call (617) 232-3174.