Review of the book 'Micro Radio And The FCC' by Andy Opel that studied the micro radio movement in the US, written by Grant Goddard in September 2005 for The Radio Journal.

1. REVIEW: 'MICRO RADIO AND
THE F.C.C.' BY ANDY OPEL
by
GRANT GODDARD
www.grantgoddard.co.uk
September 2005

2. 'Micro Radio And The FCC: Media Activism And The Struggle
Over Broadcast Policy' by Andy Opel
Published by Praeger, Westport, CT, USA. 2004.
In 1970, I returned from my first visit to the United States with a set of walkietalkies purchased from a Woolworth store. Unscrewing the back of one of
them, I connected it to two turntables, a microphone and an audio mixer built
by a school friend. My mates could now zoom around our Surrey
neighbourhood on their bikes, listening on walkie-talkies to me sat at home
playing the latest chart hits and talking teenage drivel. I mention this only
because I suspect that I was neither the first nor the last kid to find alternative
uses for miniature radio transmitters that were on sale openly, without need of
a licence, in every American store.
However, according to this book, the 'micro radio movement' did not start until
27 November 1986, when a blind African-American plugged in a one-watt
transmitter in the living room of his Springfield, Illinois flat and launched Zoom
Black Magic Liberation Radio. This single assertion by author Opel performs a
disservice to the long history of unlicensed radio in the United States that has
been documented by Andrew Yoder’s excellent books on the subject since the
1980s. The glaring omission of Yoder’s name from the six-page bibliography at
the back of this book is the first indication that the author has failed to frame
America’s recent enthusiasm for Low Power FM radio in the historical context
of illegal broadcasting.
By his sixth page, Opel is desperate to convince the reader of his radio
credentials, offering us the irrelevant information that he was a DJ on his high
school radio station “three hours a week for all four years”. Sadly, the book
reveals that, since then, Opel has been no more than a bystander on the
subject of radio, confining his sources for this book to those available in any
university library. From his ivory tower, Opel writes glowingly of “scholars” who
become involved in the “media activism” of micro radio, but he is somewhat
dismissive of pirate radio operators such as Greg Ruggiero (founder of New
York station Steal This Radio) whose writing, according to Opel’s critique, is
“lacking the scholarly tone”. Opel’s snobbery is also evident in his fulsome
praise of “scholar” Ted Coopman (Master’s thesis: 'Sailing The Spectrum From
Pirates To Micro Broadcasters') who argues strenuously that America’s micro
radio movement is unrelated to previous pirate radio activism. According to
Coopman:
“The primary proponents of this movement have already committed
their lives to pursuing their definition of social justice, and they view
micro radio as an important tool in attaining their goals. Thus, the
use of radio is not an end in itself, nor is the right of a particular
person…. to broadcast. Rather, micro radio is a means to achieving
the principle of democratic communication.”
When Opel describes this statement as “a historical point by which to judge the
findings” of his book, the reader knows for sure that the author is nailing his
Review: 'Micro Radio And The F.C.C.' by Andy Opel
©2005 Grant Goddard
page 2

3. flag to a mast of pure ivory. Nowhere in this book is there any mention of the
audiences for these socio-academics’ micro radio stations. Nowhere is there
any mention of researching what the audiences of a micro radio station might
want to hear. Nothing of the fundamental characteristic of radio technology to
communicate a conversation between two empathetic parties can be heard in
the staff room banter of Opel and his chums. They view radio as a
demonstration of democratic freedom, but the peculiarly American type of
freedom that makes selfishness and self-centred action a constitutional right.
So the right of an American to open his/her own radio station becomes nothing
more than an extension of an American’s right to shoot someone dead, or
America’s right to invade a foreign country whose politics it does not like. This
credo of 'I am, so I can' permeates America and this book.
Opel likes to use language to assert superiority rather than to communicate
ideas with his readers, viz:
“While many ideas do circulate within and between these
categories, there is enough ‘meme-ic’ isolation to warrant the
identification of specific categories as opposed to a unified
homogeneous movement landscape.”
Does working in a university Department of Communication automatically
make one’s language so difficult to understand?
Opel’s snobby tone is wholly unjustified when he has produced a wafer thin
book so lacking in original research. One chapter resembles a quick rifle along
the 'recently received' bookshelf of his university’s media studies department.
Two chapters are devoted to a précis of posts to the micro radio 'listserv'
internet newsgroup, available to anyone with internet access. One chapter
examines three years’ press coverage of micro radio, available to anyone with
a few newspaper CD-ROMs. Two chapters examine Federal Communications
Commission documents, all available from its web site. By the final chapter,
Opel admits that “this research covered a small segment of a large, complex
social issue”.
From page two onwards, Opel tries to draw parallels between micro radio and
the environmentalist movement, but he makes not one mention of the radio
revolution taking place in every corner of America. By 2004, when this book
was published, you could walk in to any U.S. electronics store and legally buy
an FM transmitter for less than $50 that can be attached to an i-pod, a
computer or a hi-fi system. Choosing your desired FM frequency, you can
broadcast whatever you want to your neighbourhood, just as the Japanese
have been doing for years. It seems that while Opel was busy toiling away as
Assistant Professor at Florida State University, millions of normal Americans
were creating their own personal radio stations without having had to write a
Master’s thesis about it. They all understand one fundamental point – radio is
about communication. Opel has missed that vital point.
[Commissioned by The Radio Journal, unpublished]
Review: 'Micro Radio And The F.C.C.' by Andy Opel
©2005 Grant Goddard
page 3

4. Grant Goddard is a media analyst / radio specialist / radio consultant with thirty years of
experience in the broadcasting industry, having held senior management and consultancy
roles within the commercial media sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Details at
http://www.grantgoddard.co.uk
Review: 'Micro Radio And The F.C.C.' by Andy Opel
©2005 Grant Goddard
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